On This Day: October 16

An 18-year-old from Saskatchewan named Gordie Howe made an instant impact in his NHL debut, scoring a goal in the Detroit Red Wings' 3–3 tie with the Toronto Maple Leafs. It was the first of his 801 NHL goals. Remarkably, his last one came in 1980, when “Mr. Hockey” was 52 and playing for the Hartford Whalers.

The 10-team NHL realigned into two divisions. The Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Maroons, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators and New York Americans formed the Canadian Division, while Boston, Pittsburgh and the league's three newest franchises, the New York Rangers, Detroit Cougars and Chicago Black Hawks, made up the American Division.

Norm Ullman of the Toronto Maple Leafs became only the fourth player in NHL history to reach 1,000 career points. The Alberta-born centre picked up two assists in a 5–3 loss to the New York Rangers at Maple Leaf Gardens.

Cardinal Karol Józef Wojtyła of Poland was elected pope and took the name John Paul II. He was the first non-Italian pontiff in 455 years. Six days later, on October 22, he was formally inaugurated in St. Peter's Square.

Brothers Roy and Walt Disney founded the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio in Hollywood, laying the foundation for what would become one of the world's largest entertainment companies. Five years later, a certain mouse named Mickey made his debut in Steamboat Willie.

Boston's Tremont House, considered America's first modern luxury hotel, held its grand opening. Its innovations set new standards for hotels across the country, from private rooms with locks to indoor plumbing.

At Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, William Thomas Green Morton demonstrated the use of ether as a general anesthetic before a gathering of physicians. Surgery would never be the same: for the first time, patients could be spared the agony of an operation.

English novelist Charlotte Brontë published Jane Eyre under the pseudonym Currer Bell. The novel was an immediate success and remains a classic, admired for the new truthfulness it brought to the portrayal of a woman's inner life.

Workers digging a well on a farm in Cardiff, New York, unearthed what appeared to be a petrified prehistoric man, three metres tall. Crowds paid to see the “Cardiff Giant” until it was exposed as a hoax: a statue carved from gypsum and buried there the year before.