Years Ago

October 16, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Today is Saturday, Oct. 16th, the 289th day of 2010. There are 76 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1793: During the French Revolution, Marie Antoinette, the queen of France, is beheaded.

1859: Radical abolitionist John Brown leads a group of 21 men in a raid on Harpers Ferry in western Virginia. (Ten of Brown’s men are killed and five escape. Brown and six followers end up being captured; all are executed.)

1901: Booker T. Washington dines at the White House as the guest of President Theodore Roosevelt, whose invitation to the black educator sparks controversy.

1916: Margaret Sanger opens the first birth control clinic, in Brooklyn, N.Y. (The clinic ends up being raided by police and Sanger is arrested.)

1962: The Cuban missile crisis begins as President John F. Kennedy is informed that reconnaissance photographs have revealed the presence of missile bases in Cuba.

1968: American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos spark 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.

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

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.

1987: A 581/2-hour drama in Midland, Texas, ends happily as rescuers free Jessica McClure, an 18-month-old girl trapped in an abandoned well.

1995: A vast throng of black men gathers in Washington, D.C., for the “Million Man March” led by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

VINDICATOR FILES

1985: Dr. William Binning, chairman of the Mahoning County Republican Party, warns party members that the integrity of the November general election could be jeopardized if not enough Republicans sign up as poll workers. At least 50 more are needed.

A coalition of communities negotiating with Ohio Water Service are attempting to hold the company to increases of 8.7 percent in 1985 and 4.7 percent in 1986, which they say the parties have agreed upon. The company says it has received a sizable increase in insurance rates and needs more.

Enrollment at Youngstown State University drops to 15,026, a decrease of 228 students from a year earlier.

1970: Mahoning County commissioners give $15,000 to Sheriff Ray T. Davis to allow him to make payroll through Nov. 6.

A state grand jury in Ravenna says the right to dissent on university campuses has been over emphasized and exonerates National Guard troops who fired on students, killing four and wounding nine.

“America is still man’s greatest experiment in civility,” Willis B. Boyer, president of Republic Steel Corp. and a former Youngstown resident, tells 300 volunteers at the kickoff dinner of the Youngstown Area United Appeal’s $1.9 million campaign at the Hotel Ohio.

1960: The Vindicator straw poll indicates that Sen. John F. Kennedy, Democrat, will carry Trumbull County over Vice President Richard M. Nixon, but by a smaller percentage than President Truman won the county in 1948.

McKay Machine Co. is the first to win an award in the Industrial Division after pledging $4,360 to the Community Chest, an increase of 45 percent over a year earlier.

1935: During testimony in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court the Columbus distributor of slot machines testifies that the machines pay out between 68 percent and 74 percent of what is played.

The Federal Housing Administration is making low-interest loans available through local banks for buying new or existing homes and for home improvements.