‘Elementary’ glimpses into week in history

“On Oct. 21, 1797, he USS Constitution, a 44-gun U.S. Navy frigate built to fight Barbary pirates off the coast of Tripoli, is launched in Boston Harbor. During the War of 1812, the Constitution won its enduring nickname “Old Ironsides” when shots seemed to merely bounce off the ship’s sides.

“On Oct. 17, 1906, Wilhelm Voigt, a 57-year-old German shoemaker, impersonates an army officer and leads an entire squad of soldiers to help him steal 4,000 marks. Voigt, who had a long criminal record, humiliated the German army by exploiting its soldiers’ blind obedience to authority and getting them to assist in his audacious robbery.

“On Oct. 20, 1930, Sherlock Holmes debuts on the radio starring William Gillette as Holmes. In 1939, Basil Rathbone took on the part, supported by Nigel Bruce as his faithful sidekick, Watson. The program ran, with different actors and some interruptions, until 1956.

“On Oct. 22, 1942, child star Annette Funicello is born in Utica, N.Y. Funicello became a featured Mouseketeer on Disney’s Mickey Mouse Club and later starred in several Disney features, including “The Shaggy Dog” (1959).

“On Oct. 18, 1961, the movie version of the Broadway musical “West Side Story” opens at New York’s Rivoli Theater. The musical retold the story of Romeo and Juliet, but set the action in contemporary New York.

“On Oct. 19, 1982, maverick automobile executive John DeLorean is arrested by the FBI in a Los Angeles airport motel with a briefcase containing $24 million worth of cocaine. Two years later a federal jury ruled that DeLorean was a victim of entrapment.