October 16

October 16 is the 290th day of the year, and the American record for it runs from 1780 to 1995 — a span of 215 years. The entry that anchors it: Cuban Missile Crisis begins, 1962.

In the years around independence, the date turns political. In 1780, American Revolutionary War — the British-led Royalton raid is the last Native American raid on New England.

By the middle of the nineteenth century the date carries heavier freight. In 1859, Origins of the American Civil War — Abolitionist John Brown and his supporters launch a raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia)

In the postwar nineteenth century the date tracks a nation rebuilding. In 1875, Brigham Young University was founded in Provo, Utah, United States. Then, in 1891, a diplomatic incident between the United States and Chile occurred after U.S. sailors were attacked in Valparaíso, nearly leading to war.

In the first half of the twentieth century the date turns technological. In 1909, William Howard Taft and Porfirio Díaz hold the first summit between a U.S. and a Mexican president. They narrowly escape assassination. Seven years on, in 1916, Margaret Sanger established the United States' first family planning clinic in Brooklyn, New York.

The postwar entries show a nation both expanding and contesting itself. In 1962, Cuban Missile Crisis begins — U.S. President John F. Kennedy is informed of photos taken on October 14 by a U-2 showing nuclear missiles (the crisis will last for 13 days starting from this point)

Closer to the present, the date is still accumulating. In 1995, the Million Man March takes place in Washington, D.C. About 837,000 attend.

The date is also a birthday. Among the Americans born on October 16: Morgan Lewis (1754), American general, lawyer, and politician, 3rd Governor of New York; Noah Webster (1758), American lexicographer; Paul Hamilton (1762), American soldier and politician, 3rd United States Secretary of the Navy; William Burton (1789), American physician and politician, 39th Governor of Delaware; and William Buell Sprague (1795), American minister, historian, and author.

October 16 is also a date of endings. Among the Americans who died on it: John Wentworth (1888), American journalist and politician, 19th Mayor of Chicago; Ralph Rose (1913), American shot putter, discus, and hammer thrower; Robert Redfield (1958), American anthropologist of Mexico; and Minor Hall (1959), American drummer.

The date carries formal observance as well — Boss's Day (United States). October 16 carries 8 entries spread across 215 years. None of the people in them knew they were sharing a date; that is a pattern only visible looking back.