Today is Thursday, Oct. 21, the 295th day of 2004. There are 71 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Oct. 21, 1879, Thomas Edison invented a workable electric light at his lab in Menlo Park, N.J.

On this date:

In 1797, the U.S. Navy frigate Constitution, also known as “Old Ironsides,” was launched in Boston’s harbor.

In 1805, a British fleet commanded by Adm. Horatio Nelson defeated a French-Spanish fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar; Nelson, however, was killed.

In 1944, during World War II, U.S. troops captured the German city of Aachen.

In 1945, women in France were allowed to vote for the first time.

In 1959, the Guggenheim Museum in New York opened to the public.

In 1960, Democrat John F. Kennedy and Republican Richard M. Nixon clashed in their fourth and final presidential debate.

In 1964, the movie musical “My Fair Lady,” starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison, had its world premiere at the Criterion Theater in New York.

In 1966, more than 140 people, mostly children, were killed when a coal waste landslide engulfed a school and several houses in south Wales.

In 1967, tens of thousands of Vietnam War protesters marched in Washington, D.C.

In 1971, President Nixon nominated Lewis F. Powell and William H. Rehnquist to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Ten years ago: United States and North Korea signed an agreement requiring the communist nation to halt its nuclear program and agree to inspections. Thirty-two people were killed when a section of a bridge collapsed in Seoul, South Korea. President Clinton conceded in a news conference that Democrats would lose seats in the upcoming election. The wife of CIA turncoat Aldrich Ames, Rosario Ames, was sentenced to five years in prison for her role in her husband’s espionage.

Five years ago: France’s highest court upheld the conviction of Maurice Papon, the former Vichy official who’d fled France rather than face prison for his role in sending Jews to Nazi death camps; Papon was captured in Switzerland and deported the following day.

One year ago: Invoking a hastily-passed law, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush ordered a feeding tube reinserted into Terry Schiavo, a brain-damaged woman at the center of a bitter right-to-die battle. The Senate voted to ban the practice that critics call partial-birth abortion. The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a resolution demanding that Israel tear down a barrier jutting into the West Bank. Boston anti-busing activist Louise Day Hicks died at age 87. Actor Fred Berry died in Los Angeles at age 52. The New York Yankees pulled away from the Florida Marlins for a 6-1 victory and a 2-1 World Series lead.

Today’s Birthdays: Baseball Hall-of-Famer Whitey Ford is 76. Rock singer Manfred Mann is 64. Musician Steve Cropper (Booker T. & the MG’s) is 63. Singer Elvin Bishop is 62. TV’s Judge Judy Sheindlin is 62. Actor Everett McGill is 59. Musician Lee Loughnane (Chicago) is 58. Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is 55. Musician Charlotte Caffey (The Go-Go’s) is 51. Actress-author Carrie Fisher is 48. Singer Julian Cope is 47. Rock musician Steve Lukather (Toto) is 47. Rock musician Che Colovita Lemon is 34. Christian rock musician Charlie Lowell (Jars of Clay) is 31. Actor Jeremy Miller is 28. Actor Will Estes is 26.

Thought for Today: “There are three things which the public will always clamor for, sooner or later: namely, Novelty, novelty, novelty.” – Thomas Hood, British poet (1799-1845).