October 16......

October 16 is the 289th day of the year (290th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 76 days remaining in the year.

EVENTS

● 456 - Magister militum Ricimer defeats the Emperor Avitus at Piacenza and becomes master of the western Roman Empire

● 1775 - Portland, Maine burned by the British

● 1780 - Royalton, Vermont and Tunbridge, Vermont last major raid of the American Revolutionary War

● 1781 - George Washington captures Yorktown, Virginia

● 1793 - Marie Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI is guillotined at the height of the French Revolution.

● 1793 - Battle of Wattignies

● 1813 - The Sixth Coalition attacks Napoleon Bonaparte in the Battle of Leipzig.

● 1834 - Much of the ancient structures of the Palace of Westminster in London is burnt down

● 1841 - Queen's University is founded in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

● 1843 - Sir William Rowan Hamilton invents the concept of quaternions.

● 1859 - Abolitionist John Brown leads raid with a group of about 20 men on Harper's Ferry, West Virginia

● 1869 - Cardiff Giant, one of the most famous American hoaxes, discovered.

● 1869 - England's first residential college for women, Girton College, Cambridge, is founded.

● 1882 - The Nickel Plate Railroad opens for business.

● 1906 - The Partition of Bengal (India) occurred.

● 1906 - The Captain of Köpenick fools the city hall of Köpenick and several soldiers by impersonating a Prussian officer.

● 1916 - Margaret Sanger founds Planned Parenthood by opening the first U.S. birth control clinic, in New York City.

● 1923 - The Walt Disney Company is founded by Walt Disney and his brother, Roy Disney.

● 1934 - Chinese Communists begin the Long March; it ended a year and four days later, by which time Mao Zedong had regained his title as party chairman.

● 1940 - Benjamin O. Davis Sr. named first African American general in the United States Army

● 1940 - Warsaw Ghetto established

● 1946 - Ten war criminals of the Second World War, condemned in the Nuremberg trials hanged.

● 1949 - Nikos Zakhiariadis, leader of the Communist Party of Greece, announces a "temporary cease-fire", effectively ending the Greek Civil War.

● 1951 - The first Prime Minister of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan, is assassinated in Rawalpindi

● 1961 - Cork International Airport opened in Ireland.

● 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.

● 1964 - People's Republic of China detonates its first nuclear weapon

● 1966 - Grace Slick`s first live performance with Jefferson Airplane

● 1967 - Joan Baez arrested in Vietnam protest; Folk singer Joan Baez is arrested in a peace demonstration as rallies take place across America to protest against the continuing war in Vietnam.

● 1968 - United States athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos are kicked out of the USA's team for performing a Black Power salute during a medal ceremony.

● 1968 - Kingston, Jamaica is rocked by the Rodney Riots, inspired by the barring of Walter Rodney from the country.

● 1969 - United States - The "miracle" New York Mets win the World Series.

● 1970 - Canada - In response to the October Crisis terrorist kidnapping, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau invokes the War Measures Act.

● 1970 - Anwar Sadat was elected president of Egypt, succeeding the late Gamal Abdel Nasser.

● 1972 - Rainbow, a British television programme for children, debuts.

● 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.

● 1974 - Maze prison goes up in flames; Three prison staff are in hospital and dozens of prisoners injured after rioting and fires at the Long Kesh Maze prison.

● 1975 - The Balibo Five, a group of Australian television journalists based in the town of Balibo in the then Portuguese Timor (now East Timor), are killed by Indonesian troops.

● 1978 - Polish Cardinal Karol Józef Wojtyła was elected pope by the Roman Catholic Church's College of Cardinals; he took the name John Paul II. The first non-Italian Pope for more than 400 years.

● 1984 - Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

● 1987 - Great Storm of 1987: hurricane force winds hit much of the South of England killing 23 people. Southern Britain begins a massive clear-up operation after the worst night of storms in living memory.

● 1987 - Rescuers freed Jessica McClure, an 18-month-old girl who had been trapped in an abandoned well for 58 hours in Midland, Texas.

● 1991 - Luby's massacre: George Hennard crashes a pickup truck and runs amok in Killeen, Texas, killing 23 and wounding 19 in Luby's Cafeteria.

● 1991 - Jharkhand Chhatra Yuva Morcha is founded at a conference in Ranchi, India.

● 1992 - Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson files a 1.4 million USD lawsuit against French tabloids for running topless photos taken of her on the French Riviera, including some of Texas millionaire John Bryan suckling on her toes.

● 1995 - A vast throng of black men gathered in Washington for the ''Million Man March'' led by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

● 1996 - 84 are killed and more than 180 injured as 47,000 soccer fans attempt to squeeze into the 36,000-seat Estadio Mateo Flores in Guatemala City.

● 1996 - Handguns to be banned in the UK; The British Government announces plans to outlaw almost all handguns following Dunblane massacre in March.

● 1998 - David Trimble and John Hume were named recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize for brokering the Northern Ireland peace accord.

● 1998 - British police arrested former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in London.

● 2000 - Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan and his son were killed in a plane crash south of St. Louis while en route to a rally for Carnahan's U.S. Senate campaign. Despite being dead, Carnahan will defeat John Ashcroft in the General Election. Ashcroft will be appointed U.S. Attorney General instead.

● 2001 - U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: U.S. warplanes mistakenly bomb International Red Cross warehouse in Kabul, Afghanistan.

● 2001 - Twelve Senate offices were closed and hundreds of staffers were tested for anthrax.

● 2002 - President George W. Bush signed a congressional resolution authorizing war against Iraq.

● 2002 - The White House announced that North Korea had disclosed it had a nuclear weapons program.

● 2002 - Bibliotheca Alexandrina in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, a commemoration of the Library of Alexandria that was lost in antiquity, is officially inaugurated.

● 2003 - The Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees face off in a historical ALCS game 7 at Yankee Stadium. The game ends in dramatic fashion with an Aaron Boone walk off home run.

● 2004 - Arsenal lose their first league match since May 7, 2003, a record 49 games.

BIRTHS

● 1396 - William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, English soldier (d. 1450)

● 1430 - King James II of Scotland (d. 1460)

● 1483 - Gasparo Contarini, Italian diplomat and cardinal (d. 1542)

● 1535 - Niwa Nagahide, Japanese warlord (d. 1585)

● 1663 - Prince Eugene of Savoy, French-born Austrian general (d. 1736)

● 1708 - Albrecht Von Haller, Swiss biologist (d. 1777)

● 1710 - Andreas Hadik, Austro-Hungarian general (d. 1790)

● 1714 - Giovanni Arduino, Italian geologist (d. 1795)

● 1726 - Daniel Chodowiecki, Polish painter (d. 1801)

● 1758 - Noah Webster, American lexicographer (d. 1843)

● 1815 - Francis Lubbock, Governor of Texas (d. 1905)

● 1840 - Kuroda Kiyotaka, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1900)

● 1841 - Prince Hirobumi Ito, Japanese governor of Korea (d. 1909)

● 1854 - Oscar Wilde, Irish writer and playwright (d. 1900)

● 1855 - Samedbey Mehmandarov, Russian general (d. 1931)

● 1861 - J. B. Bury, Irish historian (d. 1927)

● 1863 - Austen Chamberlain, English statesman, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1937)

● 1878 - Maxey Long, American athlete (d. 1959)

● 1886 - David Green Ben-Gurion, first Prime Minister of Israel and secretary of defense (1948-53, 1955-63) (d. 1973)

● 1888 - Eugene O'Neill in New York City, American writer, regarded as the foremost American playwright of his time, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1953)

● 1888 - Paul Popenoe, American activist (d. 1979)

● 1890 - Michael Collins, Irish patriot (d. 1922)

● 1890 - Paul Strand, American photographer (d. 1975)

● 1898 - William Orville Douglas, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (1939-75) (d. 1980)

● 1900 - Edward Ardizzone - Artist and illustrator (d. 1979)

● 1900 - Primo Conti, Italian painter (d. 1988)

● 1903 - Ford Lee Buck Washington, American jazz musician (d. 1955)

● 1903 - Cecile de Brunhoff, French storyteller (d. 2003)

● 1908 - Enver Hoxha, Albanian dictator (d.1985)

● 1914 - Zahir Shah, King of Afghanistan

● 1917 - Alice Pearce, American actress (d. 1966)

● 1918 - Louis Althusser, French Marxist philosopher (d. 1990)

● 1919 - Kathleen Winsor, American writer (d. 2003)

● 1922 - Max Bygraves, English singer songwriter

● 1923 - Bert Kaempfert, German orchestra leader and songwriter (d. 1980)

● 1923 - Linda Darnell, American film actress (d. 1965)

● 1925 - Angela Lansbury, English-born actress (''Murder, She Wrote'')

● 1927 - Günter Grass, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate

● 1928 - Mary Daly, American feminist

● 1928 - Fernanda Montenegro, Brazilian actress

● 1931 - Charles Colson, American Watergate conspirator

● 1936 - Andrei Chikatilo, Russian serial killer (d. 1994)

● 1936 - Akira Machida Japanese judge

● 1936 - Peter Bowles, English actor

● 1937 - Tony Anthony, Actor

● 1938 - Carl Gunter Jr, Louisiana State Representative (d. 1999)

● 1940 - Barry Corbin, American actor

● 1940 - Dave DeBusschere, American basketball player (d. 2003)

● 1941 - Tim McCarver, baseball player and commentator

● 1943 - C. Fred Turner, Canadian bass player (Bachman-Turner Overdrive)

● 1946 - Suzanne Somers, American actress

● 1947 - Terry Griffiths, Welsh snooker player

● 1947 - Bob Weir, American musician (Grateful Dead)

● 1947 - David Zucker, American film director and producer

● 1948 - Leo Mazzone, American baseball coach

● 1948 - Jim Ed Norman, Producer-record company executive

● 1951 - Daniel Gerroll, Actor

● 1952 - Christopher Cox, Securities and Exchange Commission chairman

● 1952 - Boogie Mosson, American musician (P Funk)

● 1952 - Ron Taylor, American actor (d. 2002)

● 1953 - Paulo Roberto Falcão, Brazilian footballer

● 1956 - Johnny Chavis, Native American Football Coach

● 1958 - Tim Robbins, American actor, director, and writer

● 1959 - Gary Kemp, British musician and actor

● 1959 - Erkki-Sven Tüür, Estonian composer

● 1959 - Brian Harper, baseball player

● 1960 - Bob Mould, Rock musician (Husker Du)

● 1961 - Randy Vasquez, American actor (''JAG'')

● 1961 - Marc Levy, French novelist

● 1962 - Flea, Australian musician (Red Hot Chili Peppers)

● 1962 - Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Russian baritone

● 1962 - Flea, Rock musician (Red Hot Chili Peppers)

● 1965 - Steve Lamacq, British journalist and disc jockey

● 1967 - Davina McCall, British television presenter

● 1968 - Elsa Zylberstein, French actress

● 1969 - Wendy Wilson, American pop singer (Wilson Phillips)

● 1969 - Roy Hargrove, Jazz musician

● 1969 - Terri J. Vaughn, Actress

● 1970 - Mehmet Scholl, German footballer

● 1970 - Kazuyuki Fujita, Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial arts fighter

● 1971 - B-Rock, Rapper (B-Rock and the Bizz)

● 1972 - Tomas Lindberg, Swedish musician (At The Gates)

● 1972 - Darius Kasparaitis, National Hockey League player

● 1973 - Peter Polaco, American professional wrestler

● 1974 - Paul Kariya, Canadian hockey player

● 1974 - Deo Grech, Maltese television presenter, songwriter

● 1975 - Kellie Martin, American actress

● 1977 - John Mayer, American musician

● 1979 - Misty Mundae, B-movie actress

● 1980 - Sue Bird, American basketball player

● 1980 - Timana Tahu, Australian Rugby League Player

● 1980 - Jeremy Jackson, Actor (''Baywatch'')

● 1982 - Vincy Chan, Hong Kong singer

● 1984 - Melissa Lauren, pornographic actress

DEATHS

● 1355 - Louis, King of Sicily, felled by the Black Death

● 1553 - Lucas Cranach the Elder, German painter (b. 1472)

● 1555 - Hugh Latimer, English protestant (martyred)

● 1591 - Pope Gregory XIV (b. 1535)

● 1594 - William Cardinal Allen, English Catholic cardinal (b. 1532)

● 1621 - Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, Dutch composer (b. 1562)

● 1628 - François de Malherbe, French poet and critic (b. 1555)

● 1649 - Isaac van Ostade, Dutch painter (b. 1621)

● 1655 - Joseph Solomon Delmedigo, Italian physician, mathematician, and music theorist (b. 1591)

● 1680 - Raimondo Montecuccoli, Italian-Austrian general (b. 1608 or 1609)

● 1750 - Sylvius Leopold Weiss, German composer and lutenist (b. 1687)

● 1755 - Saint Gerard Majella, Catholic saint (b. 1725)

● 1781 - Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke, British naval officer (b. 1705)

● 1793 - Marie Antoinette, Queen of France (executed) (b. 1755)

● 1796 - Victor Amadeus III of Savoy (b. 1726)

● 1810 - Nachman of Breslov, founder of Breslov Hasidut (b. 1772)

● 1865 - Andrés Bello, Venezuelan poet, lawmaker, philosopher, and sociologist (b. 1781)

● 1877 - Theodore Barrière, French dramatist (b. 1823)

● 1888 - John Wentworth, Mayor of Chicago (b. 1815)

● 1893 - Patrice MacMahon, duc de Magenta, President of France (b. 1808)

● 1937 - Jean de Brunhoff, French writer (b. 1899)

● 1946 – The following were all found guilty and hung at Nuremburg:
● Hans Frank, German war criminal (b. 1900)
● Wilhelm Frick, German war criminal (b. 1877)
● Alfred Jodl, German military officer (b. 1890)
● Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Austrian SS officer (b. 1903)
● Wilhelm Keitel, German military officer (b. 1882)
● Joachim von Ribbentrop, German politician (b. 1893)
● Alfred Rosenberg, Nazi ideologist (b. 1893)
● Fritz Sauckel, German war criminal (b. 1894)
● Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Austrian Nazi leader (b. 1892)
● Julius Streicher, German propagandist (b. 1887)

● 1959 - George Marshall, United States Secretary of State, Nobel laureate (b. 1880)

● 1962 - Gaston Bachelard, French philosopher and poet (b. 1884)

● 1966 - George O'Hara, American actor (b. 1899)

● 1968 - Ellis Kinder, baseball player (b. 1914)

● 1972 - Hale Boggs, U.S. Congressman from Louisiana (b. 1914)

● 1972 - Leo G. Carroll, English actor (b. 1892)

● 1973 - Gene Krupa, American musician (b. 1909)

● 1978 - Dan Dailey, American actor (b. 1913)

● 1979 - Johan Borgen, Norwegian author (b. 1903)

● 1981 - Moshe Dayan, Israeli general (b. 1915)

● 1982 - Mario del Monaco, Italian tenor (b. 1915)

● 1983 - Jakov Gotovac, Croatian composer (b. 1895)

● 1983 - Kelso, American racehorse (b. 1957)

● 1986 - Arthur Grumiaux, Belgian violinist (b. 1921)

● 1989 - Cornel Wilde, American actor (b. 1915)

● 1990 - Art Blakey, American jazz drummer (b. 1919)

● 1992 - Shirley Booth, American actress (b. 1898)

● 1996 - Eric Malpass, English novelist (b. 1910)

● 1996 - Jason Bernard, American actor (b. 1938)

● 1997 - James Michener, American writer

● 1997 - Audra Lindley, American actress (b. 1918)

● 1998 - Jon Postel, American Internet pioneer (b. 1943)

● 1999 - Jean Shepherd, American writer and actor (b. 1921)

● 2000 - Mel Carnahan, American politician (b. 1934)

● 2002 - Angela Dawson, American murder victim

● 2003 - Avni Arbas, Turkish artist (b. 1919)

● 2003 - Stu Hart, Canadian professional wrestler (b. 1915)

● 2003 - László Papp, Hungarian boxer (b. 1926)

● 2004 - Pierre Salinger, John F. Kennedy's and Lyndon B. Johnson’s White House Press Secretary (b. 1925)

● 2005 - "Len" Dresslar, American singer and voice actor (b. 1925)

● 2005 - David Reilly, American singer (God Lives Underwater) (b. 1971)

HOLIDAYS AND OBSERVANCES

● World Food Day

● Boss's Day


Click on this LINK to see original Wikipedia list with many having links with details.

Additional facts taken from:

On this day in the New York Times

The BBC’s Take on the day

Permanent Backlink to Post