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This Week in Boomer History: ‘I Love Lucy’ ... Cuban Missiles
By Steve Mencher, October 12, 2014 02:00 AM
Notable events from our shared experience 
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is named the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize on Oct. 14, 1964. In his acceptance speech, he says: “I accept this award in the spirit of a curator of some precious heirloom which he holds in trust for its true owners — all those to whom beauty is truth and truth beauty — and in whose eyes the beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace is more precious than diamonds or silver or gold.”
After an American spy plane photographs construction sites for launching nuclear missiles on Oct. 14, 1962, the ensuing Cuban Missile Crisis brings the United States and Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war.
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I Love Lucy premieres Oct. 15, 1951. The first season includes the classic “Lucy Does a TV Commercial”(for Vitameatavegamin); the equally famous chocolate factory scene, below, comes the following season.
TV viewers tuned in to an Oct. 17, 1989, World Series game between the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics see the Loma Prieta earthquake rattle Candlestick Park. In the Bay area, 63 people are killed, 3,757 others injured.
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The Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam brings more than 2 million demonstrators to the streets of towns and cities across the United States on Oct. 15, 1969. Demonstrations grow on Nov. 15, but a plan to protest on the 15th of every month fizzles.
On Oct. 16, 1978, Poland’s Karol Wojtyla is elected Pope John Paul II, the first non-Italian pontiff in 455 years.
After his nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court spurs contentious Senate hearings, including allegations of sexual harassment by his former colleague Anita Hill, Clarence Thomas calls the televised proceedings a “high-tech lynching.” He is confirmed, 52-48,on Oct. 15, 1991.
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Images — Nobel medal: Nobelprize.org; Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill: AP
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