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On This Day October 16

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Celebrity Birthdays

1925 – Oscar, Emmy, Tony and Grammy-winning actress Angela Lansbury, best known for playing sleuth Jessica Fletcher in the popular CBS mystery series “Murder, She Wrote” (d. 2022)

1946 – Actress Suzanne Somers, best known for her role in the TV sitcom “Three’s Company”

1958 – Oscar-winning actor-director-activist Tim Robbins (“Bull Durham,” “The Player,” “Shortcuts,” “The Shawshank Redemption,” “The Hudsucker proxy,” “Dead Man Walking,” “Mystic River,” “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy”)

1962 – Musician Flea, born Michael Balzary, bassist for the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers

1975 – Actress Kellie Martin (“Life Goes On,” “ER”)

1977 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter John Mayer (“Your Body Is a Wonderland,” “Daughters”)

History Highlights

1934 – Embattled Chinese Communists break through Nationalist enemy lines and begin a year-long, 6,000-mile pilgrimage north from their encircled headquarters in southwest China in what comes to be called The Long March.

1964 – A new contender joins the nuclear arms race as the People’s Republic of China successfully tests an atomic bomb.

1967 – With the Vietnam War raging, folk singer Joan Baez is among more than 100 draft protesters arrested in Oakland, California.

1973 – Henry Kissinger, then U.S. Secretary of State, and North Vietnamese diplomat Le Duc Tho are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating the Paris peace accords. Kissinger accepts, but Tho declines the award.

1987 – Millions of TV viewers around the world watch live news coverage as 18-month-old Jessica McClure (“Baby Jessica”) is rescued from an abandoned well in Midland, Texas, where she was trapped for 58 terrifying hours.

1991 – One of the deadliest shootings in U.S. history begins when George Hennard drives his truck into a Luby’s Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas, and opens fire on the lunch crowd. He kills 23 people and injures more than 20 others before turning the gun on himself.

Musical Milestones

1965 – “Yesterday” plants The Beatles in the middle of a four-week ride atop the Billboard singles chart.

1966 – Grace Slick joins the San Francisco-based rock band Jefferson Airplane (which later becomes Jefferson Starship and then Starship), contributing her unique vocal talents to songs like “Somebody to Love” and “White Rabbit.”

1971 – Rod Stewart is midway through a five-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Maggie May,” off his “Every Picture Tells a Story” album.

1976 – Rick Dees, who would go on to become one of the nation’s most popular DJs, quacks his way to the top of the singles chart with “Disco Duck.”

1982 – “Jack & Diane,” by John Cougar Mellencamp, is in the midst of a four-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1993 – Mariah Carey rules the pop chart with “Dreamlover,” which holds the top spot for eight weeks.

1999 – “Heartbreaker,” by Mariah Carey featuring Jay-Z, enters its second and final week as a Billboard singles chart-topper.

2004 – Goodies,” by Ciara featuring Petey Pablo, enters its sixth week at No. 1 on the pop chart.

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