Today is Saturday, Oct. 16, the 289th day of 2021. There are 76 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Oct. 16, 1859, radical abolitionist John Brown led a raid on the U.S. arsenal at Harpers Ferry in what was then a part of western Virginia. (Ten of Brown’s men were killed and five escaped. Brown and six followers were captured; all were executed.)
On this date:
In 1793, during the French Revolution, Marie Antoinette, the queen of France, was beheaded.
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 1964, China set off its first atomic bomb, codenamed “596,” on the Lop Nur Test Ground.
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 1984, Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for his decades of non-violent struggle for racial equality in South Africa.
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 2002, President George W. Bush signed a congressional resolution authorizing war against Iraq. The White House announced that North Korea had disclosed it had a nuclear weapons program.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Angela Lansbury is 96. Sportscaster Tim McCarver is 80. Actor Suzanne Somers is 75. Rock singer-musician Bob Weir is 74. Actor-director Tim Robbins is 63. Singer Wendy Wilson (Wilson Phillips) is 52. Singer John Mayer is 44. U.S. Olympic and WNBA basketball star Sue Bird is 40. Actor Kyler Pettis is 29. Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper is 29. Tennis star Naomi Osaka is 24.
