TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS TUESDAY, OCT. 16, the 289th day of 2018. There are 76 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:
On this date in 1793, during the French Revolution, Marie Antoinette, the queen of France, was beheaded.
In 1758, American lexicographer Noah Webster was born in Hartford, Conn.
In 1859, radical abolitionist John Brown led a group of 21 men in a raid on Harpers Ferry in western Virginia. (Ten of Brown’s men were killed and five escaped. Brown and six followers were captured; all were executed.)
In 1916, Planned Parenthood had its beginnings as Margaret Sanger and her sister, Ethel Byrne, opened the first birth control clinic in Brooklyn, N.Y. (The clinic ended up being raided by police and Sanger was arrested.)
In 1934, Chinese Communists, under siege by the Nationalists, began their “long march” lasting a year from southeastern to northwestern China.
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 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.
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, a 58½-hour drama in Midland, Texas, ended happily as rescuers freed Jessica McClure, an 18-month-old girl trapped in a narrow, abandoned well.
In 1991, a deadly shooting rampage took place in Killeen, Texas, as a gunman 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, D.C., for the “Million Man March” led by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
In 1997, in the first known case in the United States, a Georgia woman gave birth after being implanted with previously frozen eggs.
In 2001, 12 Senate offices were closed as hundreds of staffers underwent anthrax tests.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actress Angela Lansbury is 93. Actor Barry Corbin is 78. Rock musician C.F. Turner (Bachman-Turner Overdrive) is 75. Actress Suzanne Somers is 72. Rock singer-musician Bob Weir and producer-director David Zucker are 71. Record company executive Jim Ed Norman is 70. Actress Martha Smith is 66. Actor-director Tim Robbins is 60. Actor-musician Gary Kemp is 59. Singermusician Bob Mould is 58. Rock musician Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers), movie director Kenneth Lonergan and actor Christian Stolte are 56. Jazz musician Roy Hargrove, actress Terri J. Vaughn and singer Wendy Wilson (Wilson Phillips) are 49. Rapper B-Rock (B-Rock and the Bizz), rock singer Chad Gray (Mudvayne) and actor Paul Sparks are 47. Actress Kellie Martin is 43. Singer John Mayer is 41.