Today in History [16th October, 2015]

A chronological timetable of historical events that occurred on this day in history. Historical facts of the day in the areas of military, politics, science, music, sports, arts, entertainment and more. Discover what happened today in history.
Today in History
October 16

1555		The Protestant martyrs Bishop Hugh Latimer and Bishop Nicholas Ridley are burned at the stake for heresy in England.
1701		Yale University is founded as The Collegiate School of Kilingworth, Connecticut by Congregationalists who consider Harvard too liberal.
1793		Queen Marie Antoinette is beheaded by guillotine during the French Revolution.
1846		Ether was first administered in public at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston by Dr. William Thomas Green Morton during an operation performed by Dr. John Collins Warren.
1859		Abolitionist John Brown, with 21 men, seizes the U.S. Armory at Harpers Ferry, Va. U.S. Marines capture the raiders, killing several. John Brown is later hanged in Virginia for treason.
1901		President Theodore Roosevelt incites controversy by inviting black leader Booker T. Washington to the White House.
1908		The first airplane flight in England is made at Farnsborough, by Samuel Cody, a U.S. citizen.
1934		Mao Tse-tung decides to abandon his base in Kiangsi due to attacks from Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists. With his pregnant wife and about 30,000 Red Army troops, he sets out on the "Long March."
1938		Billy the Kid, a ballet by Aaron Copland, opens in Chicago.
1940		Benjamin O. Davis becomes the U.S. Army’s first African American Brigadier General.
1946		Ten Nazi war criminals are hanged in Nuremberg, Germany.
1969		The New York Mets win the World Series four games to one over the heavily-favored Baltimore Orioles.
1973		Israeli General Ariel Sharon crosses the Suez Canal and begins to encircle two Egyptian armies.
1978		The college of cardinals elects 58-year-old Karol Cardinal Wojtyla, a Pole, the first non-Italian Pope since 1523.
1984		A baboon heart is transplanted into 15-day-old Baby Fae–the first transplant of the kind–at Loma Linda University Medical Center, California. Baby Fae lives until November 15.
1995		The Million Man March for ‘A Day of Atonement’ takes place in Washington, D.C.
1995		Skye Bridge opens over Loch Alsh, Scotland
1998		General Augusto Pinochet, former dictator of Chile, arrested in London for extradition on murder charges
2002		Inaugural opening of Bibliotheca Alexandria in Alexandria, Egypt., a modern library and cultural center commemorating the famed Library of Alexandria that was lost in antiquity
Born on October 16
1758		Noah Webster, U.S. teacher, lexicographer and publisher who wrote the American Dictionary of the English Language.
1797		Lord Cardigan, leader of the famed Light Brigade.
1849		George Washington Wiliams, historian, clergyman and politician.
1854		Oscar Wilde, dramatist, poet, novelist and critic.
1886		David Ben-Gurion, Israeli statesman.
1888		Eugene O’Neill, Nobel Prize-winning playwright (A Long Day’s Journey Into Night, The Iceman Cometh).
1898		William O. Douglas, U.S. Supreme Court Justice.
1906		Cleanth Brooks, Kentucky-born writer and educator.
1919		Kathleen Winsor, writer Forever Amber.
1925		Angela Lansbury, stage, screen, and TV actress
1927		Gunther Grass, novelist, playwright, painter and sculptor best known for his first novel, The Tin Drum.
1930		Dan Pagis, Romanian-born Israeli poet.
1931		Charles "Chuck" Colson, special counsel to Pres. Richard Nixon (1969-73);  one of the "Watergate Seven," he was sentenced to prison for obstruction of justice.
1949		Suzanne Somers, actress (Three’s Company TV series).
1958		Tim Robbins, actor, screenwriter, director, producer; won Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in Mystic River 2003.
1969		Roy Hargrove, jazz trumpeter; won Grammy Awards for albums in 1998 (Habana) and 2002 (Directions in Music).
1977		John Mayer, singer, songwriter, musician, producer; won Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance ("Your Body is a Wonderland," 2003).
2003		Princess Kritika of Nepal.