What happened this day in history - October 18
1867 - Russia sold Alaska to America for $7.2milion - two cents per acre.
1890 - John Owen became the first person to run a 100-yard dash in under 10 seconds.
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1898 - Puerto Rico was turned over to the United States following the Spanish-American War.
1922 - The British Broadcasting Company (later Corporation) was officially formed, to provide a national broadcasting service.
1931 - American gangster Al Capone was convicted of federal income-tax evasion and was subsequently sentenced to 11 years in prison.
1954 - Texas Instruments announced the first transistor radio.
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1967 - A Russian spacecraft made the first soft landing on Venus.
1968 - American athlete Bob Beamon set a world long jump record which was to stand for more than 20 years.
2007 - Former prime minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto returned after 8 years of self imposed exile and within a few hours of arrival suicide bombers struck her motorcade killing 100 of her supporters, but she escaped unharmed.