■ On Oct. 5, 1986, in an incident that helped expose the Iran-Contra affair, a plane secretly ferrying supplies to Nicaraguan Contra rebels was shot down over southern Nicaragua by Sandinista forces. ■ In 1829, the 21st president of the United States, Chester Alan Arthur, was born in North Fairfield, Vt. ■ In 1931, Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon completed the first non-stop flight across the Pacific Ocean, arriving in Washington some 41 hours after leaving Japan. read more