Associated Press
On Oct. 16, 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.
1793- Marie Antoinette was beheaded during the French Revolution.
1859- Abolitionist John Brown, hoping to start an anti-slavery rebellion, led a raid on a federal armory at Harpers Ferry in present-day West Virginia.
1888- Playwright Eugene O’Neill was born in New York City.
1964- China detonated its first atomic bomb.
1969- The New York Mets, a previously hapless expansion team, won the World Series 4 games to 1 over American League powerhouse the Baltimore Orioles.
1970- Anwar Sadat was elected president of Egypt, succeeding the late Gamal Abdel Nasser.
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.
1978- Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtyla was elected pope by the Roman Catholic Church’s College of Cardinals; he took the name John Paul II.
1984- Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
1987- Rescuers freed Jessica McClure, an 18-month-old girl who had been trapped in an abandoned well for 58 hours in Midland, Texas.
1995- A vast throng of black men gathered in Washington for the “Million Man March” led by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
1998- David Trimble and John Hume were named recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize for brokering the Northern Ireland peace accord.
2002- President George W. Bush signed a congressional resolution authorizing war against Iraq.
2011- The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial was formally dedicated in Washington, D.C.
Today’s Birthdays:
Actress Angela Lansbury (“Murder, She Wrote”) turns 90 years old today.
Gunter Grass, Nobel Prize-winning author, 88
Suzanne Somers, Actress (“Three’s Company”), 69
Tim Robbins, Actor, 57
Bob Mould, Rock musician (Husker Du), 55
Flea Rock, musician (Red Hot Chili Peppers), 53
Wendy Wilson, Singer (Wilson Phillips), 46
Kellie Martin, Actress (“Life Goes On”), 40
John Mayer, Rock musician, 38
Sue Bird, Basketball player, 35
Bryce Harper, Baseball player, 23
Rock musician Bob Weir (Grateful Dead) turns 68 years old today.