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May 16
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
May 16 is the 136th day of the year (137th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 229 days remaining until the end of the year.
[edit] Events
- 1204 - Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders is crowned first Emperor of the Latin Empire.
- 1527 - The Florentines drive out the Medici for a second time and Florence re-establishes a republic.
- 1532 - Sir Thomas More resigns as Lord Chancellor of England.
- 1568 - Mary Queen of Scots flees to England.
- 1770 - 14-year old Marie Antoinette marries 15-year-old Louis-Auguste who later becomes king of France.
- 1771 - The Battle of Alamance, a pre-American Revolutionary War battle between local militia and a group of rebels called "The Regulators", occurs in present-day Alamance County, North Carolina.
- 1777 - Lachlan McIntosh and Button Gwinnett shoot each other during a duel near Savannah, Georgia. Gwinnett, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, dies three days later.
- 1811 - Peninsular War - The allies Spain, Portugal and Britain, defeat the French at the Battle of Albuera.
- 1815 - The Governor of New South Wales, Lachlan Macquarie, officially names the town of Blackheath in the upper Blue Mountains.
- 1822 - Greek War of Independence: the Turks capture the Greek town of Souli.
- 1836 - Edgar Allan Poe marries his 13-year-old cousin Virginia.
- 1843 - The first major wagon train heading for the Northwest sets out on the Oregon Trail with one thousand pioneers from Elm Grove, Missouri.
- 1866 - The U.S. Congress eliminates the half dime coin and replaces it with the five cent piece, or nickel.
- 1866 - Charles Elmer Hires invents root beer.
- 1868 - President Andrew Johnson is acquitted in his impeachment trial by one vote in the United States Senate.
- 1874 - A flood on the Mill River in Massachusetts destroys much of four villages and kills 139 people.
- 1877 - May 16, 1877 political crisis in France.
- 1910 - The U.S. Congress authorizes the creation of the United States Bureau of Mines.
- 1914 - The first ever Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup final is played. Brooklyn Field Club beats Brooklyn Celtic 2-1.
- 1918 - The Sedition Act of 1918 is passed by the U.S. Congress, making criticism of the government an imprisonable offense.
- 1919 - A naval Curtiss aircraft NC-4 commanded by Albert Cushing Read leaves Trepassey, Newfoundland, for Lisbon via the Azores on the first transatlantic flight.
- 1920 - In Rome, Pope Benedict XV canonizes Joan of Arc as a saint.
- 1929 - In Hollywood, California, the first Academy Awards are handed out.
- 1943 - Holocaust: the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising ends.
- 1948 - Chaim Weizmann is elected the first President of Israel.
- 1951 - The first regularly scheduled transatlantic flights begin between New York and London, operated by El Al Israel Airlines.
- 1960 - Nikita Khrushchev demands an apology from US President Dwight D. Eisenhower for U-2 spy plane flights over the Soviet Union thus ending a Big Four summit in Paris.
- 1960 - Theodore Maiman operates the first optical laser, at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California.
- 1965 - Campbell Soup Company introduces SpaghettiOs under its Franco-American brand.
- 1966 - The Communist Party of China issues the 'May 16 Notice', marking the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.
- 1967 - The city of Jerusalem is returned to the nation of Israel
- 1969 - Venera program: Venera 5, a Soviet spaceprobe, lands on Venus.
- 1974 - Josip Broz Tito was re-elected president of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. This time he was elected for life.
- 1975 - India annexes Sikkim after the mountain state holds a referendum in which the popular vote was in favour of merging with India.
- 1975 - Junko Tabei becomes the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
- 1983 - Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement rebels against the Sudanese government.
- 1986 - The Seville Statement on Violence is adopted by an international meeting of scientists, convened by the Spanish National Commission for UNESCO, in Seville, Spain.
- 1988 - A report by United States' Surgeon General C. Everett Koop states that the addictive properties of nicotine are similar to those of heroin and cocaine.
- 1992 - STS-49: Space Shuttle Endeavour lands safely after a successful maiden voyage.
- 2003 - In Casablanca, Morocco, 33 civilians are killed and more than 100 people are injured in the Casablanca terrorist attacks.
- 2004 - The Day of Mourning at Bykivnia forest, just outside of Kiev, Ukraine. Here during 1930s and early 1940s communist bolsheviks executed over 100,000 Ukrainian civilians.
- 2005 - Kuwait permits women's suffrage in a 35-23 National Assembly vote.
- 2006 - A large earthquake (7.4 on the Richter scale) occurs near New Zealand.
- 2007 - The General Assembly of the United Nations, recognizing that genuine multilingualism promotes unity in diversity and international understanding, proclaimed 2008 the International Year of Languages.
[edit] Births
- 1490 - Duke Albert of Prussia (d. 1568)
- 1578 - Everard Digby, English conspirator (d. 1606)
- 1611 - Pope Innocent XI (d. 1689)
- 1710 - William Talbot, 1st Earl Talbot, English politician (d. 1782)
- 1718 - Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Italian mathematician (d. 1799)
- 1763 - Louis Nicolas Vauquelin, French pharmacist (d. 1829)
- 1788 - Friedrich Rückert, German Poet, Translator and Orientalist (d. 1866)
- 1801 - William H. Seward, United States Secretary of State, bought Alaska at 2 ¢/acre (d. 1872)
- 1821 - Pafnuty Chebyshev, Russian mathematician (d. 1894)
- 1824 - Levi P. Morton, United States Vice President under Benjamin Harrison (d.1920)
- 1827 - Pierre Cuypers, Dutch architect (d. 1921)
- 1831 - David E. Hughes, American musician (d. 1900)
- 1845 - Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov, Russian microbiologist, Nobel laureate (d. 1916)
- 1891 - Richard Tauber, Austrian tenor (d. 1948)
- 1898 - Tamara de Lempicka, Polish-born painter (d. 1980)
- 1898 - Kenji Mizoguchi, Japanese film director (d. 1956)
- 1905 - Henry Fonda, American actor (d. 1982)
- 1906 - Alfred Pellan, French Canadian painter (d. 1988)
- 1906 - Arturo Uslar Pietri, Venezuelan writer (d. 2001)
- 1906 - Margret Rey, author and illustrator (d. 1996)
- 1909 - Margaret Sullavan, American actress (d. 1960)
- 1910 - Olga Berggolts, Russian poet (d. 1975)
- 1910 - Aleksandr Ivanovich Laktionov, Russian painter (d. 1972)
- 1912 - Studs Terkel, American writer
- 1913 - Woody Herman, American musician and band leader (d. 1987)
- 1914 - Edward T. Hall, American anthropologist and author
- 1916 - Adriana Caselotti, American actress (d. 1997)
- 1917 - Juan Rulfo, Mexican novelist (d. 1986)
- 1917 - James C. Murray, American politician (d. 1999)
- 1917 - George Gaynes, American actor
- 1918 - Wilf Mannion, English former footballer (d. 2000)
- 1919 - Liberace, American pianist (d. 1987)
- 1919 - Ramon Margalef, Spanish scientist (d. 2004)
- 1920 - Martine Carol, French actress (d. 1967)
- 1921 - Harry Carey, Jr., American actor
- 1923 - Merton Miller, American economist, Nobel laureate
- 1925 - Bobbejaan Schoepen, Belgian entertainer
- 1927 - Nílton Santos, Brazilian footballer
- 1928 - Billy Martin, American baseball player and coach (d. 1989)
- 1929 - John Conyers, American politician
- 1929 - Claude Morin, French Canadian politician
- 1929 - Adrienne Rich, American writer
- 1930 - Betty Carter, American jazz singer (d. 1998)
- 1930 - Friedrich Gulda, Austrian pianist (d. 2000)
- 1931 - Jack Dodson, American actor (d. 1994)
- 1931 - Denise Filiatrault, French Canadian actress and director
- 1931 - Natwar Singh, Indian politician
- 1931 - Lowell P. Weicker, Jr., American politician
- 1931 - Hana Brady, Killed during Holocaust
- 1935 - James Bolam, English actor
- 1936 - Roy Hudd, English radio and television actor
- 1936 - Karl Lehmann, German Catholic cardinal
- 1937 - Yvonne Craig, American actress
- 1944 - Billy Cobham, American virtuoso drummer
- 1944 - Danny Trejo, American actor
- 1945 - Nicky Chinn, English songwriter (Sweet, Suzi Quatro)
- 1946 - Robert Fripp, English guitarist (King Crimson)
- 1946 - Roger Earl, English rock drummer (Savoy Brown, Foghat)
- 1947 - Bill Smitrovich, American actor
- 1948 - Katia Dandoulaki, Greek actress
- 1948 - Judy Finnegan, English TV presenter (Richard & Judy)
- 1950 - J. Georg Bednorz, German physicist, Nobel laureate
- 1950 - Ray Condo, Canadian rockabilly musician
- 1951 - Christian Lacroix, French fashion designer
- 1951 - Jonathan Richman, American proto-punk icon
- 1952 - James Herndon, American media psychologist
- 1953 - Pierce Brosnan, Irish actor
- 1954 - Dafydd Williams, Canadian physician and astronaut
- 1955 - Olga Korbut, Russian gymnast
- 1955 - Jack Morris, American baseball player
- 1955 - Hazel O'Connor, English singer
- 1955 - Debra Winger, American actress
- 1959 - Mare Winningham, American actress
- 1961 - Charles Wright, American professional wrestler known as "The Godfather"
- 1963 - Jon Coffelt, American artist
- 1963 - Mercedes Echerer, Austrian actress and politician
- 1964 - John Salley, American basketball player
- 1964 - Boyd Tinsley, American violinist (Dave Matthews Band)
- 1964 - Edit Berces, Hungarian Ultra-Marathon runner
- 1965 - Krist Novoselic, American bassist (Nirvana)
- 1966 - Janet Jackson, American singer
- 1966 - Scott Reeves, American actor and singer
- 1966 - Thurman Thomas, American football player
- 1968 - Ralph Tresvant, American singer (New Edition)
- 1968 - Chingmy Yau, Hong Kong actress
- 1969 - David Boreanaz, American actor
- 1969 - Tucker Carlson, American television commentator
- 1969 - Tracey Gold, American actress
- 1969 - Steve Lewis, American athlete
- 1970 - Gabriela Sabatini, Argentine tennis player
- 1970 - Danielle Spencer, Australian singer and actress
- 1971 - Rachel Goswell, English singer and songwriter (Slowdive, Mojave 3)
- 1972 - Khary Payton, American actor
- 1973 - Special Ed, American rapper
- 1973 - Tori Spelling, American actress
- 1973 - Jason Acuña "Wee-Man", American television personality
- 1974 - Laura Pausini, Italian pop singer
- 1974 - Sonny Sandoval, American singer (P.O.D.)
- 1975 - Tony Kakko, Finnish singer (Sonata Arctica)
- 1975 - Tonéx, American singer
- 1977 - Dolcenera, Italian singer
- 1977 - Jean-Sébastien Giguère, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1978 - David Ford, English singer/songwriter
- 1978 - Lionel Scaloni, Argentine footballer
- 1979 - McKenzie Lee, English pornographic actress
- 1980 - Mikel Alonso, Spanish footballer
- 1980 - Michael Ryan, American ice hockey player
- 1981 - Jim Sturgess, English actor
- 1982 - Joo Ji Hoon, Korean actor and model
- 1982 - Łukasz Kubot, Polish tennis player
- 1983 - Nancy Ajram, Lebanese singer
- 1983 - Gordon McRory, Scottish Drummer (The Fratellis)
- 1983 - Kyle Wellwood, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1984 - Mickie Knuckles, American female professional wrestler
- 1984 - Jensen Lewis, American baseball player
- 1985 - Stanislav Ianevski, Bulgarian actor
- 1985 - Anja Mittag, German footballer
- 1985 - Corey Perry, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1986 - Megan Fox, American actress
[edit] Deaths
- 583 - Saint Brendan, Irish navigator (b. 484)
- 1265 - Saint Simon Stock, English saint (b. 1165)
- 1620 - William Adams, English navigator (b. 1564)
- 1657 - Andrzej Bobola, Polish Jesuit missionary (b. 1591)
- 1667 - Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton, English statesman (b. 1607)
- 1669 - Pietro da Cortona, Italian architect (b. 1596)
- 1691 - Jacob Leisler, American colonist (b. 1640)
- 1703 - Charles Perrault, French author (b. 1628)
- 1778 - Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness, English diplomat (b. 1718)
- 1782 - Daniel Solander, Swedish botanist (b. 1736)
- 1790 - Philip Yorke, 2nd Earl of Hardwicke, English politician (b. 1720)
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