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On This Day in History — January 16

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Highlights of January 16

2018 — In Mrauk U, Myanmar, police fired into a crowd protesting the ban of an event to mark the anniversary of the end of the Kingdom of Mrauk U, resulting in seven deaths and twelve injuries. Read more
2017 — Turkish Airlines Flight 6491 crashed in Manas International Airport (aftermath pictured) after the flight overflew the entire runway, which resulted in 39 deaths. Read more
2016 — After gunmen took hostages the previous night at a restaurant in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, government commandos stormed the premises to bring the situation to an end. Read more
1964 — The musical Hello, Dolly! opened at the St. James Theatre on Broadway, and went on to win ten Tony Awards, a record that stood for 37 years. Read more
1945 — World War II: Adolf Hitler and his staff moved into the Führerbunker in Berlin, where he would eventually commit suicide. Read more
1942 — TWA Flight 3 crashed into Potosi Mountain in Nevada, killing actress Carole Lombard and all of the other 21 people on board. Read more
1942 — World War II: During the Battle of Bataan, U.S. Army sergeant Jose Calugas (pictured) organized a squad of volunteers to man an artillery position under heavy fire, an action that later earned him the Medal of Honor. Read more
1920 — The League of Nations, the first worldwide intergovernmental organization with a focus on peace and security, held its first council meeting in Paris. Read more
1905 — Despite being blind in one eye, ice hockey player Frank McGee (pictured) set the record for most goals in a Stanley Cup game when he scored 14 against the Dawson City Nuggets. Read more
1883 — The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, establishing the United States Civil Service, was enacted by the U.S. Congress. Read more
1862 — A pumping engine at a colliery in New Hartley, England, broke and fell down the shaft, trapping miners below and resulting in 204 deaths. Read more
1809 — Peninsular War: French forces under Jean-de-Dieu Soult attacked the British amphibious evacuation under Sir John Moore at Corunna in Galicia, Spain. Read more
1780 — American Revolutionary War: The Royal Navy gained their first major naval victory over their European enemies in the war when they defeated a Spanish squadron in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent. Read more
1537 — Sir Francis Bigod began an armed rebellion against King Henry VIII and the English Parliament. Read more
1275 — Eleanor of Provence received permission from her son King Edward I of England to expel Jews from the towns of Worcester, Marlborough, Cambridge and Gloucester. Read more
27 BC — Gaius Octavianus was given the titles Augustus and Princeps by the Roman Senate when he became the first Roman emperor. Read more

Events

2020 — The first impeachment of Donald Trump formally moves into its trial phase in the United States Senate. Read more
2020 — The United States Senate ratifies the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement as a replacement for NAFTA. Read more
2018 — Myanmar police open fire on a group of ethnic Rakhine protesters, killing seven and wounding twelve. Read more
2017 — Turkish Airlines Flight 6491 crashes into a residential area near Manas International Airport in Kyrgyzstan, killing 39 people. Read more
2016 — Thirty-three out of 126 freed hostages are injured and 23 killed in terrorist attacks in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on a hotel and a nearby restaurant. Read more
2012 — The Mali War begins when Tuareg militias start fighting the Malian government for independence. Read more
2011 — Syrian civil war: The Movement for a Democratic Society (TEV-DEM) is established with the stated goal of re-organizing Syria along the lines of democratic confederalism. Read more
2006 — Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is sworn in as Liberia's new president. She becomes Africa's first female elected head of state. Read more
2003 — The Space Shuttle Columbia takes off for mission STS-107 which would be its final one. Columbia disintegrated 16 days later on re-entry. Read more
2002 — War in Afghanistan: The UN Security Council unanimously establishes an arms embargo and the freezing of assets of Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda, and the remaining members of the Taliban. Read more
2001 — Second Congo War: Congolese President Laurent-Désiré Kabila is assassinated by one of his own bodyguards in Kinshasa. Read more
2001 — US President Bill Clinton awards former President Theodore Roosevelt a posthumous Medal of Honor for his service in the Spanish–American War. Read more
1998 — In Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa, Guatemala, thirteen American students on a school trip are attacked and robbed at gunpoint; five were raped. Read more
1995 — An avalanche hits the Icelandic village Súðavík, destroying 25 homes and burying 26 people, 14 of whom died. Read more
1992 — El Salvador officials and rebel leaders sign the Chapultepec Peace Accords in Mexico City, Mexico ending the 12-year Salvadoran Civil War that claimed at least 75,000 lives. Read more
1991 — Coalition Forces go to war with Iraq, beginning the Gulf War. Read more
1984 — A radiation detector at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, United States, detects radioactivity after a truck carrying rebar accidentally passed through the laboratory's area, revealing a contamination incident that occurred in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, the previous month. Read more
1983 — Turkish Airlines Flight 158 crashes at Ankara Esenboğa Airport in Ankara, Turkey, killing 47 and injuring 20. Read more
1979 — Iranian Revolution: The last Iranian Shah flees Iran with his family for good and relocates to Egypt. Read more
1969 — Czech student Jan Palach commits suicide by self-immolation in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in protest against the Soviets' crushing of the Prague Spring the year before. Read more
1969 — Space Race: Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 perform the first-ever docking of crewed spacecraft in orbit, the first-ever transfer of crew from one space vehicle to another, and the only time such a transfer was accomplished with a space walk. Read more
1959 — Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 205 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean near Astor Piazzolla International Airport in Mar del Plata, Argentina, killing 51. Read more
1945 — World War II: Adolf Hitler moves into his underground bunker, the so-called Führerbunker. Read more
1942 — The Holocaust: Nazi Germany begins deporting Jews from the Łódź Ghetto to Chełmno extermination camp. Read more
1942 — Crash of TWA Flight 3, killing all 22 aboard, including film star Carole Lombard. Read more
1921 — The Marxist Left in Slovakia and the Transcarpathian Ukraine holds its founding congress in Ľubochňa. Read more
1920 — The League of Nations holds its first council meeting in Paris, France. Read more
1919 — Nebraska becomes the 36th state to approve the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. With the necessary three-quarters of the states approving the amendment, Prohibition is constitutionally mandated in the United States one year later. Read more
1913 — Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan writes his first letter to G. H. Hardy at Cambridge, stating without proof various formulae involving integrals, infinite series, and continued fractions, beginning a long correspondence between the two as well as widespread recognition of Ramanujan's results. Read more
1909 — Ernest Shackleton's expedition finds the magnetic South Pole. Read more
1900 — The United States Senate accepts the Anglo-German treaty of 1899 in which the United Kingdom renounces its claims to the Samoan islands. Read more
1883 — The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, establishing the United States Civil Service, is enacted by Congress. Read more
1878 — Russo-Turkish War (1877–78): Battle of Philippopolis: Captain Aleksandr Burago with a squadron of Russian Imperial army dragoons liberates Plovdiv from Ottoman rule. Read more
1862 — Hartley Colliery disaster: Two hundred and four men and boys killed in a mining disaster, prompting a change in UK law which henceforth required all collieries to have at least two independent means of escape. Read more
1847 — Westward expansion of the United States: John C. Frémont is appointed Governor of the new California Territory. Read more
1809 — Peninsular War: The British defeat the French at the Battle of La Coruña. Read more
1786 — Virginia enacts the Statute for Religious Freedom authored by Thomas Jefferson. Read more
1780 — American Revolutionary War: Battle of Cape St. Vincent. Read more
1757 — Forces of the Maratha Empire are defeated by the Durrani Empire in the Battle of Narela. Read more
1716 — King Philip V of Spain promulgates the Nueva Planta decree of the Principality of Catalonia, abolishing the Catalan institutions and its legal system, being replaced by those of Castile, thus putting an end to Catalonia as separate state and becoming a province of the new French-style Kingdom of Spain. Read more
1707 — The Scottish Parliament ratifies the Act of Union, paving the way for the creation of Great Britain. Read more
1641 — Reapers' War: The Junta de Braços (parliamentary assembly) of the Principality of Catalonia accepts the proposal of establishment of the Catalan Republic, under French protection. Read more
1605 — The first edition of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (Book One of Don Quixote) by Miguel de Cervantes is published in Madrid, Spain. Read more
1572 — Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk is tried and found guilty of treason for his part in the Ridolfi plot to restore Catholicism in England. Read more
1556 — Philip II becomes King of Spain. Read more
1547 — Grand Prince Ivan IV is crowned as Tsar of all Russia. Read more
1537 — Bigod's Rebellion, an armed insurrection attempting to resist the English Reformation, begins. Read more
1362 — Saint Marcellus's flood kills at least 25,000 people on the shores of the North Sea. Read more
1349 — Basel Massacre: Dozens to hundreds of Jews were burned to death by Christians after being accused of causing the Black Death. Read more
1275 — Edward I permits his mother Eleanor of Provence to expel the Jews from the towns Worcester, Marlborough, Cambridge and Gloucester. Read more
1120 — Crusades: The Council of Nablus is held, establishing the earliest surviving written laws of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. Read more
929 — Emir Abd-ar-Rahman III establishes the Caliphate of Córdoba. Read more
550 — The Ostrogoths, under King Totila, conquer Rome after a long siege, by bribing the Isaurian garrison. Read more
378 — General Siyaj K'ak' conquers Tikal, enlarging the domain of King Spearthrower Owl of Teotihuacán. Read more
27 BC — Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus is granted the title Augustus by the Roman Senate, marking the beginning of the Roman Empire. Read more
1458 BC — Hatshepsut dies at the age of 50 and is buried in the Valley of the Kings. Read more

Born on January 16

2000 — Andrew Nembhard, Canadian basketball player Read more
1998 — Boo Seung-kwan, South Korean singer Read more
1996 — Jennie, South Korean singer Read more
1996 — Zhou Qi, Chinese basketball player Read more
1995 — Jonathan Allen, American football player Read more
1995 — Mikaela Turik, Australian-Canadian cricketer Read more
1995 — Tre'Davious White, American football player Read more
1994 — Mikko Lehtonen, Finnish ice hockey player Read more
1993 — Hannes Anier, Estonian footballer Read more
1993 — Amandine Hesse, French tennis player Read more
1993 — Sungjin, South Korean musician Read more
1992 — Jason Zucker, American ice hockey player Read more
1991 — Matt Duchene, Canadian ice hockey player Read more
1990 — Dennis Kelly, American football player Read more
1988 — Nicklas Bendtner, Danish footballer Read more
1988 — Jorge Torres Nilo, Mexican footballer Read more
1988 — FKA Twigs, English singer-songwriter and actress Read more
1987 — Jake Epstein, Canadian actor Read more
1987 — Charlotte Henshaw, English swimmer Read more
1987 — Greivis Vásquez, Venezuelan basketball player Read more
1986 — Johannes Rahn, German footballer Read more
1986 — Mark Trumbo, American baseball player Read more
1986 — Reto Ziegler, Swiss footballer Read more
1985 — Joe Flacco, American football player Read more
1985 — Jayde Herrick, Australian cricketer Read more
1985 — Gintaras Januševičius, Russian-Lithuanian pianist Read more
1985 — Sidharth Malhotra, Indian actor Read more
1985 — Jonathan Richter, Danish-Gambian footballer Read more
1985 — Simon Richter, Danish-Gambian footballer Read more
1985 — Renée Felice Smith, American actress Read more
1984 — Stephan Lichtsteiner, Swiss footballer Read more
1984 — Miroslav Radović, Serbian footballer Read more
1983 — Emanuel Pogatetz, Austrian footballer Read more
1983 — Andriy Rusol, Ukrainian footballer Read more
1982 — Preston, English singer-songwriter Read more
1982 — Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, Danish actress Read more
1982 — Tuncay, Turkish footballer Read more
1981 — Jamie Lundmark, Canadian ice hockey player Read more
1981 — Paul Rofe, Australian cricketer Read more
1981 — Nick Valensi, American musician and songwriter Read more

Died on January 16

2025 — David Lynch, American filmmaker and actor (born 1946) Read more
2025 — Dame Joan Plowright, English actress (born 1929) Read more
2025 — Bob Uecker, American professional baseball catcher and sportscaster (born 1934) Read more
2022 — Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, Former Malian President (born 1945) Read more
2021 — Pedro Trebbau, German-born Venezuelan zoologist (born 1929) Read more
2021 — Chris Cramer, British journalist (born 1948) Read more
2021 — Phil Spector, American record producer, songwriter (born 1939) Read more
2020 — Christopher Tolkien, British academic and editor (born 1924) Read more
2019 — John C. Bogle, American businessman, investor, and philanthropist (born 1929) Read more
2019 — Lorna Doom, American musician (born 1958) Read more
2019 — Chris Wilson, Australian musician (born 1956) Read more
2018 — Ed Doolan, British radio presenter (born 1941) Read more
2018 — Oliver Ivanović, Kosovo Serb politician (born 1953) Read more
2017 — Eugene Cernan, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (born 1934) Read more
2016 — Joannis Avramidis, Greek sculptor (born 1922) Read more
2016 — Ted Marchibroda, American football player and coach (born 1931) Read more
2015 — Miriam Akavia, Polish-Israeli author and translator (born 1927) Read more
2015 — Yao Beina, Chinese singer (born 1981) Read more
2014 — Gary Arlington, American author and illustrator (born 1938) Read more
2014 — Ruth Duccini, American actress (born 1918) Read more
2014 — Dave Madden, Canadian-American actor (born 1931) Read more
2014 — Hiroo Onoda, Japanese lieutenant (born 1922) Read more
2013 — Wayne D. Anderson, American baseball player and coach (born 1930) Read more
2013 — André Cassagnes, French technician and toy maker, created the Etch A Sketch (born 1926) Read more
2013 — Gussie Moran, American tennis player and sportscaster (born 1923) Read more
2013 — Pauline Phillips, American journalist and radio host, created Dear Abby (born 1918) Read more
2013 — Glen P. Robinson, American businessman, founded Scientific Atlanta (born 1923) Read more
2012 — Joe Bygraves, Jamaican-English boxer (born 1931) Read more
2012 — Jimmy Castor, American singer-songwriter and saxophonist (born 1940) Read more
2012 — Sigursteinn Gíslason, Icelandic footballer and manager (born 1968) Read more
2012 — Lorna Kesterson, American journalist and politician (born 1925) Read more
2012 — Gustav Leonhardt, Dutch pianist, conductor, and musicologist (born 1928) Read more
2010 — Glen Bell, American businessman, founded Taco Bell (born 1923) Read more
2010 — Takumi Shibano, Japanese author and translator (born 1926) Read more
2009 — Joe Erskine, American boxer and runner (born 1930) Read more
2009 — John Mortimer, English lawyer and author (born 1923) Read more
2009 — Andrew Wyeth, American painter (born 1917) Read more
2006 — Stanley Biber, American soldier and physician (born 1923) Read more
2005 — Marjorie Williams, American journalist and author (born 1958) Read more
2004 — Kalevi Sorsa, Finnish politician 34th Prime Minister of Finland (born 1930) Read more

Holidays & observances

Christian feast day: Pope Benjamin (Coptic); Christian feast day: Berard of Carbio; Christian feast day: Blaise (Armenian Apostolic); Christian feast day: Fursey; Christian feast day: Joseph Vaz; Christian feast day: Honoratus of Arles; Christian feast day: Pope Marcellus I; Christian feast day: Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (Coptic Church); Christian feast day: Titian of Oderzo; Christian feast day: Eve of Saint Anthony observed with ritual bonfires in San Bartolomé de Pinares; Christian feast day: January 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics); National Religious Freedom Day (United States); Teachers' Day in Thailand and Myanmar

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Events, births and deaths from Wikipedia contributors, “January 16”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Lists are selections; the full record lives at the source.