Today is Saturday, Oct. 16, the 290th day of 2004. There are 76 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Saturday, Oct. 16, the 290th day of 2004. There are 76 days left in the year. On this date in 1978, the College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church chooses Cardinal Karol Wojtyla to be the new pope; he takes the name John Paul II.
In 1846, dentist William T. Morton demonstrates the effectiveness of ether as an anesthetic by administering it to a patient undergoing jaw surgery before an audience of doctors in Boston. In 1859, abolitionist John Brown leads a group of about 20 men in a raid on Harper's Ferry. In 1916, Margaret Sanger opens the first birth control clinic, in New York City. In 1946, 10 Nazi war criminals condemned during the Nuremberg trials are hanged. In 1962, the Cuban missile crisis begins as President Kennedy is informed that reconnaissance photographs have revealed the presence of missile bases in Cuba. In 1964, Harold Wilson of the Labor Party assumes office as prime minister of Great Britain, succeeding Conservative Sir Alec Douglas-Home. In 1970, Anwar Sadat is elected president of Egypt, succeeding the late Gamal Abdel Nasser. In 1984, Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu is named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for his decades of non-violent struggle for racial equality in South Africa. In 1987, a 58-hour drama in Midland, Texas, ends happily as rescuers free Jessica McClure, an 18-month-old girl trapped in an abandoned well. In 1994, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl is re-elected to a fourth term; heavy rains begin drenching southeast Texas, resulting in floods that leave 20 people dead and force 14,000 people from their homes in 35 counties. In 1999, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake in the Mojave Desert shakes three states and derails an Amtrak train, but causes no serious damage or injuries; Hurricane Irene rumbles up the East Coast; a New York Air National Guard plane rescues Dr. Jerri Nielsen from a South Pole research center after she'd spent five months isolated by the Antarctic winter, which forced her to treat herself for a breast lump; radio raconteur Jean Shepherd dies in Sanibel, Fla., at age 78. In 2003, the U.N. Security Council unanimously adopts a resolution aimed at attracting more troops and money to help stabilize Iraq and speed its independence.
October 16, 1979: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development informs Youngstown Mayor J. Phillip Richley that the city has lost its eligibility for Urban Development Action Grants because the city has not cleared the way for construction of housing in the city for low- and moderate-income families.
A number of major domestic airlines are being invited by Youngstown to consider launching new air passenger service at Youngstown Municipal Airport if United Airlines carries out its plan to drop service to Pittsburgh, New York and Washington.
Former Mahoning County Sheriff Ray T. Davis is found guilty on all counts of federal racketeering charges following a trial in U.S. District Court in Cleveland.
October 16, 1964: Communist China announces it exploded its first atomic bomb in the western region of China.
Total contributions of $1.5 million are reported at the final meeting of the United Appeal drive at the Central YMCA, the largest amount by $115,000 ever raised by United Appeal.
October 16, 1954: Shirley Pitts of Youngstown is the 1954 Homecoming Queen at Youngstown College. Members of her court are Shirley Granny of Girard, Dian Burke of Youngstown and Paula DeBrakeleer of Farrell, Pa.
Trumbull County officials tell Youngstown City Engineer James C. Ryan that they want their sewer districts in Liberty Township to become part of Youngstown's projected multimillion-dollar sewage treatment system.
October 16, 1929: Sixteen Campbell residents will be called into federal court in Cleveland to show cause why their places should not be padlocked, following the serving of federal injunction notices on owners and tenants of places raided by U.S. dry agents.
Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, famous New York orator, will be the featured speaker at Youngstown's "good will" dinner on Armistice Day.
More than 500 members of the Sunday school of First Baptist Temple in Youngstown plan on spending all day Sunday, Oct. 20, copying the Bible in longhand. As far as is known, this will be the first attempt to get a complete longhand version of the Bible in one day.