Hurricane Mitch was one of the most powerful and deadliest hurricanes ever observed, with maximum sustained winds of 180 mph (290 km/h). The storm was the ninth hurricane of the 1998 Atlantic hurricane season. At the time, Mitch was the strongest hurricane ever observed in the Atlantic Ocean in the month of October, though it has since been surpassed by Hurricane Wilma. Mitch formed in the western Caribbean Sea on October 22, and after drifting through extremely favorable conditions, it rapidly strengthened to peak as a Category 5 status on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. After drifting southwestward and weakening, the hurricane hit Honduras as a minimal hurricane. It drifted through Central America, reformed in the Bay of Campeche, and ultimately struck Florida as a strong tropical storm. Due to its slow motion, Hurricane Mitch dropped historic amounts of rainfall from October 29 to November 3, with unofficial reports of up to 75 inches (1,900 mm). Deaths due to catastrophic flooding made it the second deadliest Atlantic hurricane in history. The flooding caused extreme damage, amounting to around $7 billion (2005 USD).

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries: 1777: American Revolutionary War: The New Hampshire Militia led by John Stark routed British and German troops under Friedrich Baum in the Battle of Bennington. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bennington)

1819: Cavalry charged into a crowd, turning a public meeting in Manchester, England into the Peterloo Massacre. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peterloo_Massacre)

1896: A group led by Skookum Jim Mason discovered gold near Dawson City, Yukon, setting off the Klondike Gold Rush. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klondike_Gold_Rush)

1960: Joseph Kittinger parachuted from a balloon over New Mexico at 102,800 feet (31,330 m), setting records for: high-altitude jump, free-fall height, and fastest speed by a human without an aircraft. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Kittinger)

1962: The Beatles fired drummer Pete Best and replaced him with Ringo Starr. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringo_Starr)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"The world looks with some awe upon a man who appears unconcernedly indifferent to home, money, comfort, rank, or even power and fame. The world feels not without a certain apprehension, that here is some one outside its jurisdiction; someone before whom its allurements may be spread in vain; some one strangely enfranchised, untamed, untrammelled by convention, moving independent of the ordinary currents of human action." -- Winston Churchill (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill)