On Oct. 16, 1859, radical abolitionist John Brown led a group of 21 men in a raid on Harpers Ferry in western Virginia, where they seized a US arsenal in hopes of sparking a slave revolt. (In the siege that followed, ten of Brown's men were killed and five escaped. Brown and six followers ended up being captured; all were executed.)
On this date:
In 1701, Yale University was founded.
In 1793, during the French Revolution, Marie Antoinette, the queen of France, was beheaded.
In 1868, America's first department store, ZCMI, opened in Salt Lake City.
One hundred years ago, in 1909, the Pittsburgh Pirates won the World Series, defeating the Detroit Tigers at Bennett Park in Game 7 by a score of 8-0.
In 1916, Margaret Sanger opened the first birth control clinic, in Brooklyn, N.Y. (The clinic ended up being raided by police and Sanger was arrested.)
In 1946, at Nuremberg, Germany, 10 high-ranking Nazi officials were executed by hanging for World War II war crimes. Hermann Goering, founder of the Gestapo and chief of the German air force, was to have been among them but he committed suicide in his cell the night before.
Fifty years ago, in 1959, American military leader and statesman George C. Marshall died in Washington, D.C. at age 78.
In 1962, the Cuban missile crisis began as President John F. Kennedy was informed that reconnaissance photographs had revealed the presence of missile bases in Cuba.
In 1964, China detonated its first atomic bomb.
In 1968, American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos sparked controversy at the Mexico City Olympics by giving "black power" salutes during a victory ceremony after they'd won gold and bronze medals in the 200-meter race.
Forty years ago, in 1969, the New York Mets capped their miracle season by winning the World Series, defeating the Baltimore Orioles, 5-3, in Game 5 played at Shea Stadium.
In 1972, a light plane carrying House Democratic leader Hale Boggs of Louisiana and three other men was reported missing in Alaska. The plane was never found.
In 1973, Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho, who negotiated a cease-fire in the Vietnam War, were named winners of the Nobel Peace Prize; Tho declined the award.
In 1978, the College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church chose Cardinal Karol Wojtyla to be the new pope; he took the name John Paul II.
In 1987, rescuers freed Jessica McClure, an 18-month-old girl who had been trapped in an abandoned well for 58 hours in Midland, Texas.
In 1991, a deadly shooting rampage took place in Killeen, Texas, as George Hennard opened fire at a Luby's Cafeteria, killing 23 people before taking his own life.
In 1995, a vast throng of black men gathered in Washington for the "Million Man March" led by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
In 1998, David Trimble and John Hume were named recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize for brokering the Northern Ireland peace accord. British police arrested former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in London.
In 1999, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake in the Mojave Desert shook three states and derailed an Amtrak train, but caused no serious damage or injuries. Hurricane Irene rumbled up the East Coast. A New York Air National Guard plane rescued Dr. Jerri Nielsen from a South Pole research center after she'd spent five months isolated by the Antarctic winter, which forced her to treat herself for a breast lump.
In 2002, the White House announced that North Korea had disclosed it had a nuclear weapons program. President George W. Bush signed a congressional resolution authorizing war against Iraq.
In 2004, the Soyuz spacecraft was forced to manually dock with the international space station after it closed in on the station at a dangerously high speed. Pierre Salinger, a journalist who'd served as press secretary in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, died in Le Thon, France, at age 79. The World Health Organization said smoke from home stoves and fires in developing countries had become a major cause of death and disease. In a letter to fans on her Web site, homemaking guru Martha Stewart assured all she was adjusting to life in a West Virginia federal prison which she described as "like an old-fashioned college campus -- without the freedom, of course."
In 2006, U.S. intelligence officials confirmed an underground explosion in North Korea a week before was the test of a nuclear device. The explosive yield was reported less than 1 kiloton of conventional explosives.
In 2007, Iraqi officials said their investigation of the killing of Iraqi citizens by Blackwater USA, a private security firm under contract to the U.S. State Department indicated the shootings were unprovoked.
In 2008, the latest Gallup poll gave Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama a 6-percentage-point nationwide lead over Republican nominee John McCain with less than a month before the election. U. S. Army Gen. David Petraeus was reported developing an assessment for strategy for Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and surrounding regions. The assessment will aim toward a new campaign plan for the Middle East and Central Asia, where Petraeus will oversee military operations. Volatile Wall Street pulled off another stunning U-turn, transforming a 380-point loss for the Dow Jones industrials into a 401-point gain.
Today's Birthdays October 16: Actress Angela Lansbury is 84. Author Gunter Grass is 82. Former presidential adviser Charles W. Colson is 78. Actor-producer Tony Anthony is 72. Actor Barry Corbin is 69. Sportscaster Tim McCarver is 68. Rock musician C.F. Turner (Bachman-Turner Overdrive) is 66. Actress Suzanne Somers is 63. Rock singer-musician Bob Weir is 62. Producer-director David Zucker is 62. Record company executive Jim Ed Norman is 61. Actor Daniel Gerroll is 58. Actor Morgan Stevens is 58. Comedian-actor Andy Kindler is 53. Actor-director Tim Robbins is 51. Actor-musician Gary Kemp is 50. Singer-musician Bob Mould is 49. Actor Randy Vasquez is 48. Rock musician Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers) is 47. Actor Todd Stashwick is 41. Jazz musician Roy Hargrove is 40. Actress Terri J. Vaughn is 40. Singer Wendy Wilson (Wilson Phillips) is 40. Rapper B-Rock (B-Rock and the Bizz) is 38. Rock singer Chad Gray (Mudvayne) is 38. Actress Kellie Martin is 34. Singer John Mayer is 32. Actor Jeremy Jackson is 29. Actress Brea Grant (TV: "Heroes") is 28.
Today In Entertainment History October 16:
In 1888, playwright Eugene O'Neill was born in New York City.
Seventy years ago, in 1939, the comedy "The Man Who Came to Dinner," by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, opened on Broadway.
In 1957, "You Send Me" by Sam Cooke was released. It was his first million-seller.
In 1967, Joan Baez and about 120 other anti-draft demonstrators were arrested for blocking the entrance to a military center in Oakland, Calif. They were jailed for 10 days.
In 1968, the New Yardbirds played their first concert at a club in London. They later changed their name to Led Zeppelin.
Forty years ago, in 1969, Leonard Chess died of a heart attack. He founded Chess Records with his brother Phil in the early 1950s.
In 1972, the members of Creedence Clearwater Revival announced they were breaking up.
In 1976, Stevie Wonder's album "Songs In The Key Of Life" was released.
In 1992, singer Sinead O'Connor was booed off the stage at a Madison Square Garden show honoring Bob Dylan's 30 years of music. The crowd was still reacting to O'Connor's appearance on Saturday Night Live" two weeks earlier, when she had torn up a picture of the pope.
In 1999, radio raconteur Jean Shepherd died on Sanibel Island, Fla., at age 78.
In 2003, Simon and Garfunkel reunited for their first concert tour in two decades, in Wilkes-Barre, Penn.
In 2007, Ellen DeGeneres opened her talk show in tears because she had adopted a dog and then given it to her hairdressers' daughters. The dog had been taken away by the adoption agency and DeGeneres felt bad for the girls.
Thought for Today: "What is time? The shadow on the dial, the striking of the clock, the running of the sand, day and night, summer and winter, months, years, centuries — these are but arbitrary and outward signs, the measure of Time, not Time itself. Time is the Life of the soul." — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet (1807-1882). [All that changed, of course, w/ the advent of digital time-keeping. — Ed.]
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