TODAY IN HISTORY

On Oct. 16, 1987, a 58-1/2hour drama in Midland, Texas, ended happily as rescuers freed Jessica McClure, an 18-monthold girl trapped in a narrow, abandoned well.

On this date:

In 1793, during the French Revolution, Marie Antoinette, the queen of France, was beheaded.

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, New York.

In 1934, Chinese Communists, under siege by the Nationalists, began their "long march" lasting a year from southeastern to northwestern China.

In 1942, the ballet "Rodeo", with music by Aaron Copland and choreography by Agnes de Mille, premiered at New York's Metropolitan Opera House.

In 1946, ten Nazi war criminals condemned during the Nuremberg trials were hanged.

In 1957, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip began a visit to the United States with a stopover at the site of the Jamestown settlement in Virginia.

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 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, author James Michener died in Austin, Texas, at age 90. Ten years ago: President George W. Bush welcomed the Dalai Lama to the White House for a half-hour meeting. Libya won a seat on the U.N. Security Council. Actress Deborah Kerr (kahr) died in Suffolk, England, at age 86. Barbara West Dainton, believed to be the next-to-last survivor from the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912, died in Camborne, England, at age 96.