October 16

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

• 456 - Count Ricimer defeats the Roman Emperor Avitus at Piacenza and becomes master of the western empire
• 1775 - Portland, Maine burned by the British
• 1781 - George Washington captures Yorktown, Virginia
• 1859 - John Brown leads raid on Harper's Ferry, West Virginia
• 1934 - Chinese Communists under Mao Zedong begin their Long March
• 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 were hanged: Hans Frank, Wilhelm Frick, Alfred Jodl, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Wilhelm Keitel, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Alfred Rosenberg, Fritz Sauckel[?], Arthur Seyss-Inquart and Julius Streicher. Hermann Göring committed suicide the night before his planned execution.
• 1964 - People's Republic of China detonates its first nuclear weapon
• 1970 - Anwar Sadat elected President of Egypt
• 1973 - Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
• 1978 - Karol Wojtyla becomes Pope John Paul II
• 1984 - Desmond Tutu awarded the Nobel Peace Prize

Births:

• 1430 - James II of Scotland(+ 1460)
• 1663 - Eugene of Savoy, general of the Austrian army.
• 1714 - Giovanni Arduino, geologist (+ 1795)
• 1758 - Noah Webster, American lexicographer.
• 1854 - Oscar Wilde, Irish writer (+ 1900)
• 1886 - David Ben-Gurion, first Prime Minister of Israel (+ 1973)
• 1888 - Eugene O'Neill, American playwright (+ 1953)
• 1890 - Michael Collins, Irish patriot (+ 1922)
• 1890 - Paul Strand[?], photographer
• 1898 - William O. Douglas[?], justice of the United States Supreme Court
• 1925 - Angela Lansbury, actress
• 1927 - Günter Grass, German novelist
• 1931 - Charles Colson[?], Watergate scandal conspirator
• 1936 - Andrei Chikatilo, Russian serial killer
• 1940 - Barry Corbin[?], actor
• 1940 - Dave DeBusschere, NBA basketball player (+ 2003)
• 1941 - Tim McCarver[?], baseball star, commentator
• 1946 - Suzanne Somers[?], actress
• 1947 - Bob Weir[?], musician (The Grateful Dead)
• 1952 - Boogie Mosson[?], musician (P Funk)
• 1958 - Tim Robbins[?], American actor, director, writer
• 1959 - Gary Kemp[?], musician, actor
• 1962 - Flea, bassist (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
• 1965 - Steve Lamacq, journalist and BBC radio DJ

Deaths:

• 1793 - Marie Antoinette, queen of France
• 1796 - Victor Amadeus III of Savoy
• 1877 - Theodore Barrière, French dramatist
• 1888 - John Wentworth, mayor of Chicago, United States
• 1946 - Hans Frank, German war criminal
• 1946 - Wilhelm Frick, German war criminal
• 1946 - Alfred Jodl, German military officer
• 1946 - Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Austrian SS officer
• 1946 - Wilhelm Keitel, German military officer
• 1946 - Joachim von Ribbentrop, German politician
• 1946 - Alfred Rosenberg, Estonian collaborator
• 1946 - Fritz Sauckel[?], German war criminal
• 1946 - Artur Seiss-Inquart[?], Austrian Nazi leader, governor of The Netherlands during the German occupation (1940-1945).
• 1946 - Julius Streicher, German propagandist
• 1959 - George C. Marshall, general, United States Secretary of State
• 1972 - Hale Boggs, Congressman from Louisiana
• 1972 - Leo G. Carroll, actor
• 1973 - Gene Krupa, musician
• 1978 - Dan Dailey, actor
• 1981 - Moshe Dayan, Israeli general
• 1989 - Cornel Wilde, actor
• 1990 - Art Blakey, jazz drummer
• 1992 - Shirley Booth, actress
• 1997 - James Michener[?], writer
• 1998 - Jon Postel, American Internet pioneer
• 1999 - Jean Shepherd[?], writer, actor

Holidays:

• Bahá'í Faith - Feast of 'Ilm (Knowledge) - First day of the 12th month of the Bahá'í Calendar

October 15 - October 17 - September 16 - November 16 - more historical anniversaries