Today’s Highlight in History:

On October 16, 1995, a vast throng of black men gathered in Washington, D.C. for the “Million Man March” led by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

On this date:

In 1793, during the French Revolution, Marie Antoinette, the queen of France, was beheaded.

In 1859, radical abolitionist John Brown led a group of 21 men in a raid on Harpers Ferry in western Virginia. (Ten of Brown’s men were killed and five escaped. Brown and six followers were captured; all were executed.)

In 1916, Margaret Sanger opened the first birth control clinic in Brooklyn, New York. (The clinic ended up being raided on October 25 by police who arrested Sanger.)

In 1934, Chinese Communists, under siege by the Nationalists, began their “long march” lasting a year from southeastern to northwestern China.

In 1943, Chicago Mayor Edward J. Kelly officially opened the city’s new subway system during a ceremony at the State and Madison street station.

In 1951, Johnnie Ray and the Four Lads recorded “Cry” by Churchill Kohlman and “The Little White Cloud That Cried” (written by Ray) in New York for Okeh Records.

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy was informed that reconnaissance photographs had revealed the presence of missile bases in Cuba.

In 1968, American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos sparked controversy at the Mexico City Olympics by giving “black power” salutes during a victory ceremony after they’d won gold and bronze medals in the 200-meter race.

In 1969, the New York Mets capped their miracle season by winning the World Series, defeating the Baltimore Orioles, 5-3, in Game 5 played at Shea Stadium.

In 1978, the College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church chose Cardinal Karol Wojtyla to be the new pope; he took the name John Paul II.

In 1984, Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for his decades of non-violent struggle for racial equality in South Africa.

In 1987, a 58-1/2-hour drama in Midland, Texas, ended happily as rescuers freed Jessica McClure, an 18-month-old girl trapped in an abandoned well.

Ten years ago: Polish television broadcast a recorded interview with Pope Benedict XVI, who said that he planned to visit Poland, the homeland of his predecessor, John Paul II. The Chicago White Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels 6-3 to win the American League Championship Series in five games, their first pennant since 1959. Elmer “Len” Dresslar Jr., the booming voice of the Jolly Green Giant, died at age 80.

Five years ago: Iran freed an American businessman jailed in Tehran for more than two years on suspicion of ties to an allegedly violent opposition group. (Reza Taghavi, 71, hadn’t been charged with a crime and denied knowingly supporting the organization, known as Tondar.) Actress Barbara Billingsley, the matriarch of TV’s “Leave It to Beaver,” died in Santa Monica, California, at age 94.

One year ago: During a special congressional hearing on the Ebola crisis, Republican lawmakers pressed for a ban on travel to the U.S. from the West African outbreak zone; the White House resisted the idea and tried to tamp down fear as the pool of Americans being monitored expanded. Tim Hauser, founder and a member of the Grammy-winning vocal troupe The Manhattan Transfer, died in Sayre, Pennsylvania, at age 72. Travis Ishikawa hit the first homer to end an NL Championship Series, a three-run drive that sent San Francisco to a 6-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 5.

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