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On this day in History Archives
 
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16 October, 2002
Bibliotheca Alexandrina in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, a commemoration of the Library of Alexandria that was lost in antiquity, is officially inaugurated. Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002, was signed into law by President George W. Bush.
16 October, 1996
Eighty-four people are killed and more than 180 injured as 47,000 football fans attempt to squeeze into the 36,000-seat Estadio Mateo Flores in Guatemala City.
16 October, 1995
The Million Man March occurs in Washington, DC.
16 October, 1991
Lubys massacre: George Hennard runs amok in Killeen, Texas, killing 23 and wounding 20 in Lubys Cafeteria. Jharkhand Chhatra Yuva Morcha is founded at a conference in Ranchi, India.
16 October, 1987
Great Storm of 1987: hurricane force winds to hit much of the South of England killing 23 people.
16 October, 1984
Desmond Tutu is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
16 October, 1978
Karol Józef Wojtyla becomes Pope John Paul II.
16 October, 1975
The Balibo Five, a group of Australian television journalists based in the town of Balibo in the then Portuguese Timor (now East Timor), are killed by Indonesian troops.
16 October, 1973
Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
16 October, 1970
Canada - In response to the October Crisis terrorist kidnapping, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau invokes the War Measures Act.
16 October, 1969
United States - The "miracle" New York Mets win the World Series, defeating the Baltimore Orioles 4 games to 1.
16 October, 1968
United States athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos are kicked out of the USAs team for performing a Black Power salute during a medal ceremony. Kingston, Jamaica is rocked by the Rodney Riots, inspired by the barring of Walter Rodney from the country.
16 October, 1964
Peoples Republic of China detonates its first nuclear weapon.
16 October, 1962
Cuban Missile Crisis between the United States and Cuba began.
16 October, 1961
Cork Airport opened in Ireland.
16 October, 1951
The first Prime Minister of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan, is assassinated in Rawalpindi.
16 October, 1949
Nikolaos Zachariadis, leader of the Communist Party of Greece, announces a "temporary cease-fire", effectively ending the Greek Civil War.
16 October, 1946
Ten war criminals of the Second World War, condemned in the Nuremberg trials are hanged.
16 October, 1945
The Food and Agriculture Organization was founded in Quebec City, Canada.
16 October, 1940
Benjamin O. Davis Sr. named first African American general in the United States Army. Warsaw Ghetto established.
16 October, 1939
World War II: First attack on British territory by German Luftwaffe.
16 October, 1934
Chinese Communists begin the Long March; it ended a year and four days later, by which time Mao Zedong had regained his title as party chairman.
16 October, 1923
The Walt Disney Company is founded by Walt Disney and his brother, Roy Disney.
16 October, 1916
Margaret Sanger founds Planned Parenthood by opening the first U.S. birth control clinic.
16 October, 1906
The Captain of Köpenick fools the city hall of Köpenick and several soldiers by impersonating a Prussian officer.
16 October, 1905
The Partition of Bengal (India) occurred.
16 October, 1882
The Nickel Plate Railroad opens for business.
16 October, 1875
Brigham Young University is founded in Provo, Utah.
16 October, 1869
Cardiff Giant, one of the most famous American hoaxes, is discovered. Englands first residential college for women, Girton College, Cambridge, is founded.
16 October, 1859
John Brown leads raid on Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
16 October, 1843
Sir William Rowan Hamilton comes up with the idea of quaternions, a non-commutative extension of complex numbers.
16 October, 1841
Queens University is founded in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
16 October, 1834
Much of the ancient structures of the Palace of Westminster in London is burnt down.
16 October, 1813
The Sixth Coalition attacks Napoleon Bonaparte in the Battle of Leipzig.
16 October, 1793
Marie Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI is guillotined at the height of the French Revolution. Battle of Wattignies.
16 October, 1781
George Washington captures Yorktown, Virginia after the Siege of Yorktown.
16 October, 1780
Royalton, Vermont and Tunbridge, Vermont last major raid of the American Revolutionary War.
16 October, 1775
Portland, Maine burnt by the British.
16 October, 456
Magister militum Ricimer defeats the Emperor Avitus at Piacenza and becomes master of the western Roman Empire.

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