NEWSToday in History: Balloon Boy and Hurricane HazelOn October 15, 2009, a report of a 6-year-old boy trapped inside a runaway helium balloon engrossed the nation before the boy, Falcon Heene, was found safe at home in what turned out to be a hoax.David Zalubowski, APA hot-air balloon is seen over Colorado, near Fort Collins. This is the balloon that was thought to have contained Falcon Heene.KMGH-TV APFalcon Heene is shown with his father, Richard, outside the family's home in Fort Collins, Colo., after Falcon Heene was found hiding in a box in a space above the garage.David Zalubowski, APIn 1860, 11-year-old Grace Bedell wrote a letter to presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln, suggesting he could improve his appearance by growing a beard. Shown is Lincoln's response.Library Of CongressAbraham LincolnAlexander Gardner, Associated PressIn 1917, Dutch dancer Mata Hari, convicted of spying for the Germans, was executed by a French firing squad.APIn 1928, the German dirigible Graf Zeppelin landed in Lakehurst, New Jersey, completing its first commercial flight across the Atlantic.APIn 1946, Nazi war criminal Hermann Goering fatally poisoned himself hours before he was to have been executed.APIn 1954, Hurricane Hazel made landfall on the Carolina coast as a Category 4 storm; Hazel was blamed for some 1,000 deaths in Caribbean, 95 in the U.S. and 81 in Canada.Clifton Guthrie, Associated PressA police officer stands guard beside uprooted tree blown down in the White House drive by the hurricane in Washington,Oct. 15, 1954.Henry Griffin, Associated PressWorkmen are busy in Washington, disposing of trees felled on the U.S. Capitol grounds last night by Hurricane Hazel, Oct. 16, 1954.Associated PressHigh tides, whipped in by Hurricane Hazel, shatter boats and buildings in Swansboro, North Carolina, Oct. 15, 1954.Anonymous, ASSOCIATED PRESSThe Lawrence Ave. bridge, connecting two west Toronto suburbs, caught the full brunt of the hurricane Hazel-Swollen Humber River on Oct. 17, 1954.PT Associated PressThe damaged Lawrence Avenue Bridge, connecting two west Toronto suburbs, is shown in an Oct 17, 1954, photo following Hurricane Hazel. Several communities were isolated by similar washouts. A Category 4 hurricane with peak winds estimated at 140 mph, Hazel smashed shore in 1954, pushing an 18-foot storm surge, one of the highest to ever pound the Carolinas.Associated PressIn 1991, despite sexual harassment allegations by Anita Hill, the Senate narrowly confirmed the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court, 52-48.JOHN L. FOCHT, Associated Press