Day: October 16, 2012

Updated October 15, 2012, 2:28 pm

On Oct. 16, 1964, China detonated its first atomic bomb.

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On Oct. 16, 1888, Eugene Gladstone O’Neill, who was regarded as the foremost American playwright of his time, was born. Following his death on Nov. 27, 1953, his obituary appeared in The Times.

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On This Date

By The Associated Press

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.

Current Birthdays

By The Associated Press

Actress Angela Lansbury (“Murder, She Wrote”) turns 87 years old today.

AP Photo/Charles Sykes

Rock musician Bob Weir (Grateful Dead) turns 65 years old today.

AP Photo/Evan Agostini

1927	Gunter Grass, Nobel Prize-winning author, turns 85
1946	Suzanne Somers, Actress (“Three’s Company”), turns 66
1952	Christopher Cox, Former SEC chairman, turns 60
1958	Tim Robbins, Actor, turns 54
1960	Bob Mould, Rock musician (Husker Du), turns 52
1962	Flea, Rock musician (Red Hot Chili Peppers), turns 50
1969	Wendy Wilson, Singer (Wilson Phillips), turns 43
1975	Kellie Martin, Actress (“Life Goes On”), turns 37
1977	John Mayer, Rock musician, turns 35
1980	Sue Bird, Basketball player, turns 32

 

Historic Birthdays

10/16/1888 – 11/27/1953 Eugene Gladstone O’Neill American dramatist.Go to obituary »

69	Albrecht Von Haller 10/16/1708 – 12/12/1777 Swiss biologist
84	Noah Webster 10/16/1758 – 5/28/1843 American lexicographer
46	Oscar Wilde 10/16/1854 – 11/30/1900 Irish dramatist
87	David Ben-Gurion, aka David Green 10/16/1886 – 12/1/1973 Israeli statesman; first prime minister and secretary of defense (1948-53, 1955-63)
31	Michael Collins 10/16/1890 – 8/22/1922 Irish revolutionary leader and statesman
81	William Orville Douglas 10/16/1898 – 1/19/1980 American associate justice of the United States Supreme Court (1939-75)
51	Ford Lee Buck Washington 10/16/1903 – 1/31/1955 American jazz musician

 

Updated October 14, 2012, 2:28 pm

On Oct. 15, 1964, it was announced that Soviet leader Nikita S. Khrushchev had been removed from office. He was succeeded as premier by Alexei N. Kosygin and as Communist Party secretary by Leonid I. Brezhnev.

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On Oct. 15, 1844, Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, the influential German philosopher, was born. Following his death on Aug. 25, 1900, his obituary appeared in The Times.

Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »

On This Date

By The Associated Press

1860	Eleven-year-old Grace Bedell of Westfield, N.Y., wrote a letter to presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln, suggesting he could improve his appearance by growing a beard.
1946	Nazi war criminal Hermann Goering fatally poisoned himself hours before he was to have been executed.
1951	The situation comedy “I Love Lucy” premiered on CBS.
1964	It was announced that Soviet leader Nikita S. Khrushchev had been removed from office.
1976	Democrat Walter F. Mondale and Republican Bob Dole faced off in the first debate between vice-presidential nominees.
1990	Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev was named the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
1990	South Africa’s Separate Amenities Act, which had barred blacks from public facilities for decades, was scrapped.
1991	The Senate narrowly confirmed the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court, 52-48.
1993	Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk were named winners of the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to end apartheid in South Africa.
2002	ImClone Systems founder Sam Waksal pleaded guilty in New York in the biotech company’s insider trading scandal.
2005	Iraqis voted to approve a constitution.
2007	The New York Yankees and third baseman Alex Rodriguez agreed on a record 10-year, $275 million contract, the richest in sports history.
2009	A false report that a 6-year-old boy was aboard a runaway balloon in Colorado captivated a global TV audience. (The boy’s parents later pleaded guilty to charges they made up the story.)

Current Birthdays

By The Associated Press

Actress Linda Lavin (“Alice”) turns 75 years old today.

AP Photo/Peter Kramer

Singer Tito Jackson (The Jackson Five) turns 59 years old today.

AP Photo/Dan Steinberg

1924	Lee Iacocca, Former Chrysler chairman, turns 88
1935	Barry McGuire, Rock singer, turns 77
1943	Penny Marshall, Actress, director, turns 69
1945	Jim Palmer, Baseball Hall of Famer, turns 67
1946	Richard Carpenter, Singer, musician (The Carpenters), turns 66
1953	Larry Miller, Actor, turns 59
1954	Jere Burns, Actor, turns 58
1955	Tanya Roberts, Actress, turns 57
1959	Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, turns 53
1959	Emeril Lagasse, TV chef, turns 53
1966	Eric Benet, R&B singer, turns 46
1969	Paige Davis, TV host (“Trading Spaces”), turns 43
1969	Dominic West, Actor (“The Wire”), turns 43
1970	Ginuwine, R&B singer, turns 42

 

Historic Birthdays

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche 10/15/1844 – 8/25/1900 German philosopher.Go to obituary »

48	Virgil 10/15/70 BC – 9/21/19 BC Roman poet
39	Evangelista Torricelli 10/15/1608 – 10/25/1647 Italian physicist and mathematician
71	Allan Ramsay 10/15/1686 – 1/7/1758 Scottish poet
65	James Tissot 10/15/1836 – 8/8/1902 French artist
59	John Lawrence Sullivan 10/15/1858 – 2/2/1918 American professional boxer
89	Edith Bolling Galt Wilson 10/15/1872 – 12/28/1961 American first lady (1915-1921)
77	Marie C. C. Stopes 10/15/1880 – 10/2/1958 Scottish scientist and advocate of birth control
93	Sir P. G. Wodehouse 10/15/1881 – 2/14/1975 English comic novelist, short story writer, lyricist and playwright
50	S.S. VanDine 10/15/1888 – 4/11/1939 American critic, editor and author of popular detective novels
86	Mervyn LeRoy 10/15/1900 – 9/13/1987 American film director