Mao Zedong with Red army soldiers on the Long March, 1935.

The Long March

Born on This Day

Portrait of Oscar Wilde with Cane

Oscar Wilde

1854 - 1900

Irish playwright and poet known for "The Picture of Dorian Gray." Once quipped, "I can resist everything except temptation."

Angela Lansbury

Angela Lansbury

1925 - 2022

British-born actress who enchanted on film ("The Manchurian Candidate"), TV ("Murder She Wrote") and stage ("Sweeney Todd").

2024 Brisbane International: Day 2

Naomi Osaka

1997 -

American-born Japanese tennis player and activist who's won four Grand Slam titles.

Oscar WildeBettmann Archive

Angela LansburyGetty Images

Naomi OsakaGetty Images

1846

OCT16

Modern anesthesia is born when dentist and physician William T.G. Morton demonstrates ether for the first time during a public surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. His earlier efforts included stimulants, intoxication, opium and mesmerism.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on October 16th

Marie Antoinette is beheaded

Nine months after the execution of her husband, the former King Louis XVI of France, Marie Antoinette follows him to the guillotine on October 16, 1793. The daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Francis I, she married Louis in 1770 to strengthen the French-Austrian alliance. At a time of economic turmoil in France, she lived […]

0:46m read read

Celebrated writer Oscar Wilde is born

Oscar Wilde is born on October 16, 1854 in Dublin, Ireland. He grew up in Ireland and went to England to attend Oxford, where he graduated with honors in 1878. A popular society figure known for his wit and flamboyant style, he published his own book of poems in 1881. He spent a year lecturing […]

1:18m read read

Abraham Lincoln speaks out against slavery

On October 16, 1854, an obscure lawyer and Congressional hopeful from the state of Illinois named Abraham Lincoln delivers a speech regarding the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which Congress had passed five months earlier. In his speech, the future president denounced the act and outlined his views on slavery, which he called “immoral.” Under the terms of […]

John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry

Abolitionist John Brown leads a small group on a raid against a federal armory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), in an attempt to start an armed revolt of enslaved people and destroy the institution of slavery. Born in Connecticut in 1800 and raised in Ohio, Brown came from a staunchly Calvinist and antislavery […]

A shoemaker leads German soldiers in a robbery

On October 16, 1906, Wilhelm Voigt, a 57-year-old German shoemaker, impersonates an army officer and leads an entire squad of soldiers to help him steal 4,000 marks. Voigt, who had a long criminal record, humiliated the German army by exploiting their blind obedience to authority and getting them to assist in his audacious robbery. Wearing […]

1:18m read read

An undated portrait of Wilhelm von Voigt as Hauptmann von Köpenick

Walt Disney Company is founded

On October 16, 1923, Walt Disney and his brother Roy found the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio in Hollywood, California. The studio, now known as the Walt Disney Company, has had an oversized impact on the entertainment industry and is now one of the largest media companies in the world. A talented artist from a young age, […]

Nazi war criminals executed

At Nuremberg, Germany, 10 high-ranking Nazi officials are executed by hanging for their crimes against humanity, crimes against peace and war crimes during World War II. Two weeks earlier, the 10 were found guilty by the International War Crimes Tribunal and sentenced to death along with two other Nazi officials. Among those condemned to die […]

1:22m read read

Alfred Rosenberg is executed

On October 16, 1946, Alfred Rosenberg, the primary fabricator and disseminator of Nazi ideology, is hanged as a war criminal. Born in Estonia in 1893, Rosenberg studied architecture at the University of Moscow. After receiving his degree, he stayed in Russia through the early days of the Russian Revolution and may have even flirted with […]

2:20m read read

Chevrolet introduces the El Camino

On October 16, 1958, Chevrolet begins to sell a car-truck hybrid that it calls the El Camino. Inspired by the Ford Ranchero, which had already been on the market for two years, the El Camino was a combination sedan-pickup truck built on the Impala body, with the same “cat’s eye” taillights and dramatic rear fins. […]

1:40m read read

China joins A-bomb club

The People’s Republic of China joins the rank of nations with atomic bomb capability, after a successful nuclear test on October 16, 1964. China is the fifth member of this exclusive club, joining the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain and France. U.S. officials were not terribly surprised by the test; intelligence reports since […]

1:44m read read

Tommie Smith and John Carlos raise their fists at the 1968 Olympics

American runners Tommie Smith and John Carlos ascend the podium to receive the gold and bronze medals for the men’s 200-meter race at the Mexico City Olympics on October 16, 1968. Once their medals have been placed around their necks, as the American flag is raised and “The Star-Spangled Banner” begins to play over the […]

3:26m read read

Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber release “Jesus Christ Superstar” concept album

On October 16, 1970, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice release a double-LP “concept” album called Jesus Christ Superstar, which only later would become the smash-hit Broadway musical of the same name. The duo would go on to become the most successful composer-lyricist team in modern theater history. From the late 1950s to the mid […]

2:18m read read

Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho awarded Nobel Peace Prize

Henry Kissinger and North Vietnamese diplomat Le Duc Tho are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating the Paris peace accords. Kissinger accepted, but Tho declined the award until such time as “peace is truly established.”

Baby Jessica rescued from a well as the world watches

On October 16, 1987, in an event that had viewers around the world glued to their televisions, 18-month-old Jessica McClure is rescued after being trapped for 58 hours in an abandoned water well in Midland, Texas. The drama unfolded on the morning of October 14, 1987, when McClure fell through the 8-inch-wide opening of an […]

1:54m read read

23 diners massacred at Texas restaurant

George Jo Hennard drives his truck through a window in Luby’s Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas, and then opens fire on a lunch crowd of over 100 people, killing 23 and injuring 20 more. Hennard then turned the gun on himself and died by suicide. The incident was one of the deadliest shootings in U.S. history. […]

1:00m read read

Million Man March

An enormous crowd consisting mostly of African American men demonstrates on the National Mall on October 16, 1995, an event known as the Million Man March. Driven by their desire to see Congress act in the interests of African Americans, and to combat negative stereotypes of Black men, a disputed but undeniably high number of […]

Stampede kills 84 at World Cup match

A stampede of soccer fans before a World Cup qualifying match in Guatemala City kills 84 people and seriously injures more than 100 on October 16, 1996. The Guatemala national team was set to face off against Costa Rica on a Wednesday night in Guatemala City. Approximately 60,000 fans, most dressed in blue and white, […]

1:18m read read

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