Today is Wednesday, Oct. 20, the 294th day of 2004. There are 72 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Oct. 20, 1944, during World War II, Gen. Douglas MacArthur stepped ashore at Leyte in the Philippines, two and a half years after he’d said, “I shall return.”

On this date:

In 1803, the U.S. Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase.

In 1892, the city of Chicago dedicated the World’s Columbian Exposition.

In 1903, a joint commission ruled in favor of the United States in a boundary dispute between the District of Alaska and Canada.

In 1944, the Yugoslav cities of Belgrade and Dubrovnik were liberated during World War II.

In 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee opened hearings into alleged Communist influence and infiltration within the American motion picture industry.

In 1964, the 31st president of the United States, Herbert Hoover, died in New York at age 90.

In 1967, seven men were convicted in Meridian, Miss., of violating the civil rights of three murdered civil rights workers.

In 1968, former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis.

In 1973, in the so-called “Saturday Night Massacre,” special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox was dismissed and Attorney General Elliot L. Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William B. Ruckelshaus resigned.

In 1979, the John F. Kennedy Library was dedicated in Boston.

Ten years ago: The Pentagon announced that more than 100,000 U.S. troops were being taken off alert for possible movement to the Persian Gulf because the Iraqi threat to Kuwait had abated. Actor Burt Lancaster died in Los Angeles at age 80.

Five years ago: The government laid out new rules to protect children’s privacy on the Internet and to shield them from commercial e-mail. Elizabeth Dole abandoned her Republican bid to be America’s first woman president.

One year ago: President Bush pushed North Korea’s nuclear threat to the forefront of a 21-nation Asia-Pacific summit in Thailand. Israeli warplanes and helicopters pounded Palestinian targets in the Gaza Strip, killing ten people. A judge in Eagle, Colo., ordered Kobe Bryant to stand trial for sexual assault (however, the criminal case was later dropped). Character actor Jack Elam died in Ashland, Ore., at age 84.

Today’s Birthdays: Dancer Fayard Nicholas is 90. Columnist Art Buchwald is 79. Actor William Christopher is 72. Actor Jerry Orbach is 69. Country singer Wanda Jackson is 67. Singer Tom Petty is 54. Actress Melanie Mayron is 52. Baseball All-Star Keith Hernandez is 51. Actor Viggo Mortensen is 46. Rock musician Jim Sonefeld (Hootie & The Blowfish) is 40. Rock musician David Ryan (The Lemonheads) is 40. Rock musician Doug Eldridge (Oleander) is 37. Rapper Snoop Dogg is 33. Singer Dannii Minogue is 33. Country musician Jeff Loberg is 28. Actress Jennifer Nicole Freeman (“My Wife and Kids”) is 19.

Thought for Today: “Next to ingratitude, the most painful thing to bear is gratitude.” – Henry Ward Beecher, American clergyman (1813-1887).