August 16 :: Historical Events

Famous Events

• 1384 - The Hongwu Emperor of Ming China hears a case of a couple who tore paper money bills while fighting over them—a case considered equal to the act of destroying stamped government documents, which by law necessitated one hundred floggings by a bamboo rod. However, the Hongwu Emperor decided to pardon them, seeing as how their intention was not to tear up the money.


• 1513 - Battle of Guinegate (Battle of the Spurs) - King Henry VIII of England defeats French Forces who were forced to retreat.


• 1780 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Camden - The British defeat the Americans near Camden, South Carolina.


• 1792 - Maximilien Robespierre presents the petition of the Commune of Paris to the Legislative Assembly, which demanded the formation of a revolutionary tribunal.


• 1812 - War of 1812: American General William Hull surrenders Fort Detroit without a fight to the British Army.


• 1819 - Eleven people die and 400 are injured by cavalry charges at the Peterloo Massacre at a public meeting at St. Peter's Field, Manchester, England.


• 1841 - U.S. President John Tyler vetoes a bill which called for the re-establishment of the Second Bank of the United States. Enraged Whig Party members riot outside the White House in the most violent demonstration on White House grounds in U.S. history.


• 1858 - U.S. President James Buchanan inaugurates the new transatlantic telegraph cable by exchanging greetings with Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. However, a weak signal will force a shutdown of the service in a few weeks.


• 1865 - Restoration Day in the Dominican Republic: The Dominican Republic regains its independence after 4 years of fighting against the Spanish Annexation.


• 1868 - Arica, Peru (now Chile) is devastated by a tsunami which followed a magnitude 8.5 earthquake in the Peru-Chile Trench off the coast. The earthquake and tsunami killed an estimated 25,000 people in Arica and perhaps 70,000 people in all.


• 1869 - Battle of Acosta Ñu: A Paraguay battalion made up of children is massacred by the Brazilian Army during the War of the Triple Alliance.


• 1870 - Franco-Prussian War: The Battle of Mars-La-Tour is fought, resulting in a Prussian victory.


• 1896 - Skookum Jim Mason, George Carmack and Dawson Charlie discover gold in a tributary of the Klondike River in Canada, setting off the Klondike Gold Rush.


• 1913 - Tōhoku Imperial University of Japan (modern day Tōhoku University) admits its first female students.


• 1914 - World War I: Battle of Cer begins.


• 1915 - World War I: Should victory be achieved over the Central Powers, the Triple Entente promises the Kingdom of Serbia: the Austro-Hungarian territories of Baranja, Srem, Slavonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina; and the eastern ⅔ of Dalmatia (from the river of Krka to the city of Bar).


• 1920 - Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians is hit in the head by a fastball thrown by Carl Mays of the New York Yankees, and dies early the next day. To date, Chapman is the only player to die from injuries sustained in a Major League Baseball game.


• 1920 - The congress of the Communist Party of Bukhara opens. The congress would call for armed revolution.


• 1930 - The first color sound cartoon, called Fiddlesticks, is made by Ub Iwerks.


• 1940 - World War II: The Communist Party is banned in German-occupied Norway.


• 1941 - HMS Mercury, Royal Navy Signals School and Combined Signals School opens at Leydene, near Petersfield, Hampshire, England.


• 1942 - World War II: The two-person crew of the U.S. naval blimp L-8 disappears without a trace on a routine anti-submarine patrol over the Pacific Ocean. The blimp drifts without her crew and crash-lands in Daly City, California.


• 1944 - First flight of the Junkers Ju 287.


• 1945 - An assassination attempt was made on Japan's prime minister, Kantaro Suzuki.


• 1945 - Puyi, the last Chinese emperor and ruler of Manchukuo, was captured by Soviet troops.


• 1946 - The Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, is established, and Ichirō Ishikawa is appointed its representative.


• 1960 - Cyprus gains its independence from the United Kingdom.


• 1960 - Joseph Kittinger parachutes from a balloon over New Mexico at 102,800 feet (31,330 m), setting three records that still stand today: High-altitude jump, free-fall, and fastest speed by a human without an aircraft.


• 1962 - Pete Best replaced by Ringo Starr (Richard Starkey) as drummer for The Beatles.


• 1964 - Vietnam War: A coup d'état replaces Duong Van Minh with General Nguyen Khanh as President of South Vietnam. A new constitution is established with aid from the U.S. Embassy.


• 1966 - Vietnam War: The House Un-American Activities Committee begins investigations of Americans who have aided the Viet Cong. The committee intends to introduce legislation making these activities illegal. Anti-war demonstrators disrupt the meeting and 50 people are arrested.


• 1972 - The Royal Moroccan Air Force fires upon, in an unsuccessful coup d'état attempt, Hassan II of Morocco's plane while he is traveling back to Rabat.


• 1987 - A McDonnell Douglas MD-82 carrying Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes on take-off from Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus, Michigan (Detroit), killing 155 passengers and crew. The sole survivor is four-year-old Cecelia Cichan.


• 1989 - A solar flare from the Sun creates a geomagnetic storm that affects micro chips, leading to a halt of all trading on Toronto's stock market.


• 1992 - In response to an appeal by President Fernando Collor de Mello to wear green and yellow as a way to show support for him, thousands of Brazilians take to the streets dressed in black.


• 1993 - The Debian distribution was first announced by Ian Murdock, then a student at Purdue University. Murdock initially called his system the "Debian Linux Release"


• 2003 - U.S. Representative from South Dakota Bill Janklow hits and kills a motorcyclist with his car at a rural intersection near Trent, South Dakota; he will eventually be convicted of manslaughter and will resign from Congress.


• 2005 - West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 crashes near Machiques, Venezuela, killing the 160 aboard.

Famous Births

• 1355 - Philippa Plantagenet, Countess of Ulster


• 1378 - Hongxi Emperor of China (d. 1425)


• 1401 - Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut, dauphine of France (d. 1436)


• 1557 - Agostino Carracci, Italian artist (d. 1602)


• 1573 - Anna of Austria, queen of Poland (d. 1598)


• 1596 - Frederick V, Elector Palatine (d. 1632)


• 1637 - Emilie Juliane of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, German countess and poet (d. 1706)


• 1645 - Jean de La Bruyère, French writer (d. 1696)


• 1650 - Vincenzo Coronelli, Italian cartographer and encylopedist (d. 1718)


• 1682 - Louis, duc de Bourgogne, heir-apparent to the French throne (d. 1712)


• 1761 - Yevstigney Fomin, Russian composer (d. 1800)


• 1815 - John Bosco, Italian priest and educator (d. 1888)


• 1820 - Andrew Rainsford Wetmore, Canadian politician (d. 1892)


• 1831 - John Jones Ross, Quebec politician (d. 1901)


• 1832 - Wilhelm Wundt, German psychologist (d. 1920)


• 1842 - Jakob Rosanes, German mathematician (d. 1922)


• 1845 - Gabriel Lippmann, French physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1921)


• 1858 - Arthur Achleitner, German writer (d. 1927)


• 1860 - Jules Laforgue, French poet (d. 1887)


• 1862 - Amos Alonzo Stagg, American coach (d. 1965)


• 1868 - Bernarr McFadden, American publisher (d. 1955)


• 1876 - Ivan Bilibin, Russian illustrator (d. 1942)


• 1884 - Hugo Gernsback, Luxembourg-born editor and publisher (d. 1967)


• 1884 - Walther von Reichenau, German field marshal (d. 1942)


• 1888 - T. E. Lawrence, English writer and soldier (d. 1935)


• 1888 - Armand J. Piron, American musician (d. 1943)


• 1892 - Otto Messmer, American cartoonist (d. 1983)


• 1894 - George Meany, American labor union leader (d. 1980)


• 1895 - Albert Cohen, Swiss novelist (d. 1981)


• 1895 - Liane Haid, Austrian actress (d. 2000)


• 1902 - Georgette Heyer, English novelist (d. 1974)


• 1904 - Wendell Meredith Stanley, American chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1971)


• 1908 - William Maxwell, American novelist and editor (d. 2000)


• 1911 - E. F. Schumacher, German economist and statistician (d. 1977)


• 1912 - Ted Drake, English footballer (d. 1995)


• 1913 - Menachem Begin, 6th Prime Minister of Israel, Nobel laureate (d. 1992)


• 1915 - Al Hibbler, American singer (d. 2001)


• 1916 - Iggy Katona, American race car driver (d. 2003)


• 1920 - Charles Bukowski, American poet (d. 1994)


• 1922 - Ernie Freeman, American pianist and arranger (d. 2001)


• 1923 - Millôr Fernandes, Brazilian playwright


• 1924 - Fess Parker, American actor


• 1925 - Willie Jones, American baseball player (d. 1983)


• 1928 - Ann Blyth, American actress


• 1929 - Bill Evans, American jazz pianist (d. 1980)


• 1929 - Helmut Rahn, German footballer (d. 2003)


• 1929 - Wyatt Tee Walker, American 1950s and 1960s Civil Rights Movement activist


• 1929 - Fritz Von Erich, American professional wrestler (d. 1997)


• 1930 - Robert Culp, American actor


• 1930 - Frank Gifford, American football player and announcer


• 1930 - Tony Trabert, American former tennis player


• 1931 - Eydie Gormé, American singer


• 1933 - Julie Newmar, American actress


• 1933 - Stuart Roosa, American astronaut (d. 1994)


• 1934 - Diana Wynne Jones, British author


• 1934 - Ketty Lester, American singer


• 1934 - Pierre Richard, French actor


• 1935 - Andreas Stamatiadis, Greek footballer and coach


• 1935 - Cliff Fletcher, Canadian National Hockey League executive


• 1937 - David Anderson, Canadian politician


• 1939 - Sir Trevor Mcdonald, Trinidadian-born British television newsreader


• 1940 - Bruce Beresford, Australian film director


• 1942 - Barbara George, American singer and songwriter (d. 2006)


• 1945 - Suzanne Farrell, ballet dancer


• 1946 - Massoud Barzani, Iraqi Kurdish politician


• 1946 - Lesley Ann Warren, American actress


• 1946 - Dick Murdoch, American professional wrestler (d. 1996)


• 1947 - Carol Moseley Braun, American politician and lawyer


• 1947 - Katharine Hamnett, English fashion designer


• 1947 - Marc Messier, Canadian actor


• 1948 - Mike Jorgensen, American baseball player


• 1948 - Pierre Reid, Canadian politician and teacher


• 1949 - Scott Asheton, American musician (The Stooges)


• 1950 - Hasely Crawford, Trinidadian athlete


• 1950 - Marshall Manesh, Iranian-born American actor


• 1950 - Stockwell Day, Canadian politician


• 1950 - Jeff Thomson, Australian cricketer


• 1951 - Richard Hunt, American puppeteer (d. 1992)


• 1952 - Reginald VelJohnson, American actor


• 1953 - Kathie Lee Gifford, American singer and actress


• 1953 - James "J.T." Taylor, American singer (Kool & The Gang)


• 1954 - James Cameron, Canadian film director


• 1956 - Daniel Willems, Belgian cyclist


• 1957 - Tim Farriss, Australian musician (INXS)


• 1958 - Angela Bassett, American actress


• 1958 - Madonna, American singer and actress


• 1958 - José Luis Clerc, Argentine tennis player


• 1959 - Laura Innes, American actress


• 1959 - Marc Sergeant, Belgian cyclist


• 1960 - Timothy Hutton, American actor


• 1961 - Christian Okoye, former American football player


• 1962 - Steve Carell, American actor and comedian


• 1964 - Jimmy Arias, American tennis player


• 1966 - Barry Lather, American choreographer, musician and actor


• 1967 - Ulrika Jonsson, Swedish television personality


• 1967 - Pamela Smart, American convicted murderess


• 1968 - Mateja Svet, Slovenian alpine skier


• 1970 - Bonnie Bernstein, American sportscaster


• 1970 - Fabio Casartelli, Italian cyclist (d. 1995)


• 1970 - Killah Priest, American rapper


• 1970 - Manisha Koirala, Indian actress


• 1970 - Saif Ali Khan, Indian actor


• 1971 - Rulon Gardner, American Greco-Roman wrestler


• 1971 - Stefan Klos, German footballer


• 1972 - Stan Lazaridis, Australian footballer


• 1972 - Emily Robison, American country singer, instrumentalist and songwriter (Dixie Chicks)


• 1973 - Damian Jackson, American baseball player


• 1974 - Roger Cedeño, Venezuelan baseball player


• 1974 - Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Guyanese cricketer


• 1974 - Krisztina Egerszegi, Hungarian swimmer


• 1974 - Iván Hurtado, Ecuadorian footballer


• 1975 - Didier Agathe, French footballer


• 1975 - George Stults, American actor


• 1976 - Jonatan Johansson, Finnish footballer


• 1976 - Dave Ockun, American concert producer


• 1977 - Tamer Hosny, Egyptian singer/actor


• 1978 - Eddie Gill, American basketball player


• 1978 - Fu Mingxia, Chinese female diver


• 1979 - Monder Rizki, Belgian athlete


• 1979 - Michael Stahlman, American rower and coach


• 1980 - Vanessa Carlton, American singer/songwriter


• 1980 - Robert Hardy, English bassist (Franz Ferdinand)


• 1981 - Roque Santa Cruz, Paraguayan footballer


• 1981 - Taylor Rain, American pornographic actress


• 1982 - Joleon Lescott, English footballer


• 1983 - Colin Griffiths, English TV presenter and DJ


• 1983 - Nikos Zisis, Greek basketball player


• 1983 - Colt Brennan, University of Hawai'i Quarterback


• 1985 - Agnes Bruckner, American actress


• 1986 - Shawn Pyfrom, American actor


• 1987 - Kyal Marsh, Australian actor


• 1988 - Kevin Schmidt, American actor


• 1988 - Rumer Willis, American actress


• 1988 - Amandah Wilkinson, Australian musician


• 1991 - Evanna Lynch, Irish actress


• 1991 - Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse, Canadian actress

Famous Deaths

• 1027 - Giorgi I, King of Georgia (b. 998)


• 1297 - John II of Trebizond (b. 1262)


• 1327 - Roch, French saint (b. 1295)


• 1358 - Duke Albert II of Austria (b. 1298)


• 1419 - Wenceslaus, King of the Romans, King of Bohemia (b. 1361)


• 1443 - Ashikaga Yoshikatsu, Japanese shogun (b. 1434)


• 1445 - Margaret of Scotland (Dauphine of France), wife of the future King Louis XI (b. 1424)


• 1518 - Loyset Compère, French composer


• 1532 - John, Elector of Saxony (b. 1468)


• 1661 - Thomas Fuller, English churchman and historian (b. 1608)


• 1678 - Andrew Marvell, English poet (b. 1621)


• 1705 - Jakob Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician and scientist (b. 1654)


• 1733 - Matthew Tindal, English deist (b. 1657)


• 1791 - Charles-François de Broglie, marquis de Ruffec, French soldier and diplomat (b. 1719)


• 1836 - Marc-Antoine Parseval, French mathematician (b. 1755)


• 1855 - Henry Colburn, British publisher (b. ?)


• 1886 - Sri Ramakrishna, Bengali saint, guru of Swami Vivekananda (b. 1836)


• 1888 - John Pemberton, American druggist and inventor of Coca-Cola (b. 1831)


• 1893 - Jean-Martin Charcot, French neurologist (b. 1825)


• 1899 - Robert Wilhelm Bunsen, German chemist (b. 1811)


• 1900 - Eça de Queiroz, Portuguese writer (b. 1845)


• 1907 - James Hector, Scottish geologist (b. 1834)


• 1921 - King Peter I of Serbia (b. 1844)


• 1938 - Robert Johnson, American blues singer and guitarist (b. 1911)


• 1938 - Andrej Hlinka, Slovak politician and priest (b. 1864)


• 1948 - Babe Ruth, American baseball player (b. 1895)


• 1949 - Margaret Mitchell, American novelist (b. 1900)


• 1951 - Louis Jouvet, French actor and producer (b. 1887)


• 1952 - Lydia Field Emmet, American painter (b. 1866)


• 1956 - Bela Lugosi, Hungarian actor (b. 1882)


• 1957 - Irving Langmuir, American chemist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1881)


• 1959 - Wanda Landowska, Polish harpsichordist (b. 1879)


• 1961 - Maulvi Abdul Haq, Father of Modern Urdu (b. 1870)


• 1971 - Spyros Skouras, Greek-American movie executive, chairman of the Twentieth Century Fox (b. 1893)


• 1972 - Pierre Brasseur, French actor (b. 1905)


• 1973 - Selman Waksman, Ukrainian-born biochemist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1888)


• 1975 - Vladimir Kuts, Ukrainian-born runner (b. 1927)


• 1977 - Elvis Presley, American singer and actor (b. 1935)


• 1978 - Alidius Warmoldus Lambertus Tjarda van Starkenborgh Stachouwer, Dutch lawyer and politician (b. 1888)


• 1979 - John Diefenbaker, 13th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1895)


• 1983 - Earl Averill, American baseball player (b. 1902)


• 1986 - Jaime Saenz, Bolivian poet, novelist, and short story writer (b. 1921)


• 1989 - Amanda Blake, American actress (b. 1929)


• 1990 - Pat O'Connor, New Zealand professional wrestler (b. 1925)


• 1991 - Shamu, One of the famous whales that star at SeaWorld (b. 1975)


• 1991 - Luigi Zampa, Italian film director (b. 1905)


• 1993 - Stewart Granger, British film actor (b. 1913)


• 1995 - J.P. McCarthy, American radio personality (b. 1933)


• 1997 - Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Pakistani musician (b. 1948)


• 1997 - Gerard McLarnon, Irish playwright and actor (b. 1915)


• 1999 - Pee Wee King, American country musician and songwriter (b. 1914)


• 2002 - Jeff Corey, American actor (b. 1914)


• 2002 - Abu Nidal, Palestinian political leader (b. 1937)


• 2002 - John Roseboro, American baseball player and coach (b. 1933)


• 2003 - Idi Amin, Ugandan dictator (b. 1928)


• 2004 - Ivan Hlinka, Czech ice hockey coach (b. 1950)


• 2004 - Carl Mydans, American photographer (b. 1907)


• 2004 - Robert Quiroga, American boxer (b. 1969)


• 2005 - Joe Ranft, American animator (b. 1960)


• 2005 - Frère Roger, Swiss monk and mystic (b. 1915)


• 2005 - Vassar Clements, American musician (b. 1928)


• 2005 - William Corlett, English children's writer(b. 1938)


• 2005 - Vicky Moscholiou, Greek singer (b. 1943)


• 2006 - Alex Buzo, Australian playwright and author (b. 1944)


• 2006 - Herschel Green, American pilot (b. 1920)


• 2006 - Jon Nödtveidt, Swedish musician (b. 1975)


• 2006 - Alfredo Stroessner, President of Paraguay (b. 1912)


• 2007 - Max Roach, American percussionist, drummer, and composer (b. 1924)


• 2007 - Bahaedin Adab, Iranian MP (b. 1945)


• 2007 - The Missing Link, professional wrestler (b. 1939)

Famous Holidays and observances

• Xicolatada is celebrated in Palau-de-Cerdagne


• Eastern Orthodox: commemoration of the translation of the Acheiropoietos icon which means "Not made by hands", (also known as the Mandelion) from Edessa to Constantinople on 16 August 944 This "Shroud of Constantinople" is believed to be the Shroud of Turin today by many scholars.