THIS DAY IN HISTORY: On October 16, 2002, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina opened in Egypt, commemorating the ancient library of Alexandria. To learn more about the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, CLICK HERE.

October 16 is the birthday of the eminently quotable Irish author OSCAR WILDE (1854-1900).

"The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast."

"I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best."

"Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination."

“I think that God, in creating man, somewhat overestimated his ability."

"Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder."

"One must have a heart of stone to read the death of little Nell without laughing."(On the death of LIttle Nell in Charles Dickens' "Old Curiosity Shop.")

"Everything popular is wrong."

"I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying."

THIS DAY IN HISTORY: On October 16, 1590, the composer CARLO GESUALDO murdered his wife, Donna Maria d'Avalos, and her lover, Fabrizio Carafa, in Naples. He caught them “in flagrante delicto.” To learn more, CLICK HERE.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY: On October 16, 1793, Marie Antoinette, the widow of Louis XVI, was guillotined in La Place de La Concorde in Paris. Her final words were "Pardon me sir, I meant not to do it.” She was apologizing to the executioner for accidentally stepping on his foot. To learn more, CLICK HERE.

October 16 is the birthday of French Baroque painter, sculptor, architect and engineer PIERRE PUGET (1620-1694). He was born at the home of his father, "a stone mason, in the working-class neighborhood of Panier, in Marseille. As his two older brothers were trained as stone masons, he was trained as a woodcarver. He began his career at the age of fourteen, carving the elaborate wooden ornament of the galleys built in the Marseille shipyards. He also showed talent as a painter. To learn more, CLICK HERE.

October 16 is the birthday of American lexicographer and English-language spelling reformer NOAH WEBSTER (1758-1843). To learn more about Webster’s efforts at spelling reform, CLICK HERE.

October 16 is the birthday of Italian sculptor REMBRANDT BUGATTI (1884-1916). He was known primarily for his bronze sculptures of wildlife subjects. During World War I, he volunteered for paramedical work at a military hospital in Antwerp, an experience that triggered in Bugatti the onset of depression, aggravated by financial problems, which eventually caused him to commit suicide on 8 January 1916 in Paris, France when he was 31 years old. To learn more, CLICK HERE.