TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

Oct. 16, 1793

During the French Revolution, Marie Antoinette, the queen of France, was beheaded.

ALSO ON THIS DATE

1758

American lexicographer Noah Webster was born in Hartford, Connecticut.

1859

Radical abolitionist John Brown led a group of 21men in a raid on Harpers Ferry in western Virginia.

1916

Planned Parenthood had its beginnings as Margaret Sanger and her sister, Ethel Byrne, opened the first birth control clinic in Brooklyn, New York.

1934

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

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.

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.

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.

1987

A 58-1⁄2-hour drama in Midland, Texas, ended happily as rescuers freed Jessica McClure, an 18-month-old girl trapped in a narrow, abandoned well.