What Happened on Oct 16

Native American Attack Severely Damages Town of Hatfield

Hatfield was founded in 1660 on land granted to General Daniel Dennison and Governor William Bradford. It was formally incorporated as a town in... Read more

Battle Of San Fernando De Omoa

The Battle of San Fernando de Omoa was a short siege and battle between British and Spanish forces fought not long after Spain entered the American... Read more

Royalton Raid

The Royalton Raid was a British-led Indian raid in 1780 against various towns along the White River Valley, Vermont, and was part of the American... Read more

Marie Antoinette Is Executed

Marie Antoinette was declared guilty of treason in the early morning of 16 October, after two days of proceedings. The same day at 12:15 pm, two... Read more

'Jane Eyre' is Published

Jane Eyre is a wildly emotional romance, with a lonely heroine and a tormented Byronic hero, pathetic orphans, dark secrets, and a mad-woman in the... Read more

Lincoln Delivers Peoria Speech

Speech on the Repeal of the Missouri Compromise Abraham Lincoln Speech at Peoria, Illinois October 16, 1854 The repeal of the Missouri... Read more

Oscar Wilde Is Born

Oscar Wilde was born at 21 Westland Row, Dublin (now home of the Oscar Wilde Centre, Trinity College, Dublin) the second of three children born to... Read more

John Brown Leads Raid on Harpers Ferry

Late on the night of October 16, 1859, John Brown and twenty-one armed followers stole into the town of Harper's Ferry, Virginia (now West... Read more

Battle of the Yser

The Battle of the Yser secured part of the coastline of Belgium for the allies in the "Race to the Sea" after the first three months of World War... Read more

France Declares War on Bulgaria

In the aftermath of the Balkan Wars, Bulgarian opinion turned against Russia and the western powers, whom the Bulgarians felt had done nothing to... Read more

Finland and Soviet Union Hold Negotiations to Resolve Border Dispute

On 5 October 1939, the Soviet Union invited a Finnish delegation to Moscow for negotiations. J.K. Paasikivi, the Finnish ambassador to Sweden, was... Read more

Warsaw Ghetto established

The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of the Jewish ghettos located in the territory of General Government in occupied Poland during World War... Read more

"Limelight" (film) is Released

Limelight is a 1952 comedy-drama film written, directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin, co-starring Claire Bloom, with an appearance by Buster... Read more

Pan Am Flight 6 Crashes

In October 1956, they were passengers aboard a commercial aircraft that also lost two engines, forcing the pilot to land on open water - in their... Read more

Antonio Villas Boas Abducted from Brazilian Farm

Believe or not, a sexual intercourse was engaged by her. Such relationship was short, but normal (if we can say so). His "pleasure" was sometimes... Read more

President Kennedy Assembles EXCOMM Upon Viewing Photographs of Soviet Missiles in Cuba

Kennedy saw the photographs on October 16; he assembled the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (EXCOMM), fourteen key officials... Read more

China tests its first atomic bomb to become the world's fifth nuclear power, code named 596

596 is the codename of the People's Republic of China's first nuclear weapons test, detonated on October 16, 1964 at the Lop Nur test site. It was... Read more

Ronald Reagan Calls for a Harder Line on War Protestors

Stop the Draft Week organizers lead 3000 marchers to the Oakland Army Induction Center on October 16, 1967. The sitting protesters force draftees... Read more

Operation "Wrath of God"

Operation Wrath of God, also called Operation Bayonet, was a covert operation directed by Israel and the Mossad to assassinate individuals alleged... Read more

1976 World Series

The 1976 season witnessed the return of baseball's most successful postseason-dynasty to the Fall Classic. After a twelve year hiatus, the New York... Read more

John Mayer is born

John Clayton Mayer (pronounced /ˈmeɪ.ər/ MAY-ər; born October 16, 1977) is an American musician. Originally from Connecticut, he attended Berklee... Read more

John Paul II is elected Pope

he Venerable Pope John Paul II (Polish: Jan Paweł II, Latin: Ioannes Paulus PP. II, Italian: Giovanni Paolo II), born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May... Read more

FDA Approves Pharmacia and UpJohn's Xanax

Xanax is a tranquilizer used in the short-term relief of symptoms of anxiety or the treatment of anxiety disorders. Anxiety disorder is marked by... Read more

Baltimore Orioles Beat Philadelphia Phillies in World Series

The 1983 World Series matched the American League champion Baltimore Orioles against the National League champion Philadelphia Phillies, with the... Read more

1990 World Series

The 1990 World Series matched the defending champions and heavily-favored Oakland Athletics against the Cincinnati Reds, with the Reds sweeping the... Read more