June 16

Historic Events

2019

Upwards of 2,000,000 people participate in the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, the largest in Hong Kong's history. ›

2016

Shanghai Disneyland Park, the first Disney Park in mainland China, opens to the public. ›

2015

American businessman Donald Trump announces his campaign to run for President of the United States in the upcoming election. ›

2013

A multi-day cloudburst, centered on the North Indian state of Uttarakhand, causes devastating floods and landslides, becoming the country's worst natural disaster since the 2004 tsunami. ›

2012

China successfully launches its Shenzhou 9 spacecraft, carrying three astronauts, including the first female Chinese astronaut Liu Yang, to the Tiangong-1 orbital module. ›

2012

The United States Air Force's robotic Boeing X-37B spaceplane returns to Earth after a classified 469-day orbital mission. ›

2010

Bhutan becomes the first country to institute a total ban on tobacco. ›

2002

Padre Pio is canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. ›

2000

The Secretary-General of the UN reports that Israel has complied with United Nations Security Council Resolution 425, 22 years after its issuance, and completely withdrawn from Lebanon. The Resolution does not encompass the Shebaa farms, which is claimed by Israel, Syria and Lebanon. ›

1997

Fifty people are killed in the Daïat Labguer (M'sila) massacre in Algeria. ›

1995

The Astronomy Picture of the Day website is launched. ›

1989

Revolutions of 1989: Imre Nagy, the former Hungarian prime minister, is reburied in Budapest following the collapse of Communism in Hungary. ›

1981

US President Ronald Reagan awards the Congressional Gold Medal to Ken Taylor, Canada's former ambassador to Iran, for helping six Americans escape from Iran during the hostage crisis of 1979–81; he is the first foreign citizen bestowed the honor. ›

1977

Oracle Corporation is incorporated in Redwood Shores, California, as Software Development Laboratories (SDL), by Larry Ellison, Bob Miner and Ed Oates. ›

1976

Soweto uprising: A non-violent march by 15,000 students in Soweto, South Africa, turns into days of rioting when police open fire on the crowd. ›

1972

The largest single-site hydroelectric power project in Canada is inaugurated at Churchill Falls Generating Station. ›

1963

Soviet Space Program: Vostok 6 mission: Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space. ›

1963

In an attempt to resolve the Buddhist crisis in South Vietnam, a Joint Communique is signed between President Ngo Dinh Diem and Buddhist leaders. ›

1961

While on tour with the Kirov Ballet in Paris, Rudolf Nureyev defects from the Soviet Union. ›

1958

Imre Nagy, Pál Maléter and other leaders of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising are executed. ›

1955

In a futile effort to topple Argentine President Juan Perón, rogue aircraft pilots of the Argentine Navy drop several bombs upon an unarmed crowd demonstrating in favor of Perón in Buenos Aires, killing 364 and injuring at least 800. At the same time on the ground, some soldiers attempt to stage a coup but are suppressed by loyal forces. ›

1948

Members of the Malayan Communist Party kill three British plantation managers in Sungai Siput; in response, British Malaya declares a state of emergency. ›

1940

World War II: Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain becomes Chief of State of Vichy France (Chef de l'État Français). ›

1940

The Soviet Union occupies Lithuania, which will eventually become the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR). ›

1933

The National Industrial Recovery Act is passed in the United States, allowing businesses to avoid antitrust prosecution if they establish voluntary wage, price, and working condition regulations on an industry-wide basis. ›

1930

Sovnarkom establishes decree time in the USSR. ›

1925

Artek, the most famous Young Pioneer camp of the Soviet Union, is established. ›

1922

General election in the Irish Free State: The pro-Treaty Sinn Féin party wins a large majority. ›

1911

IBM founded as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company in Endicott, New York. ›

1904

Eugen Schauman assassinates Nikolay Bobrikov, Governor-General of Finland. ›

1903

The Ford Motor Company is incorporated. ›

1903

Roald Amundsen leaves Oslo, Norway, to commence the first east–west navigation of the Northwest Passage. ›

1897

A treaty annexing the Republic of Hawaii to the United States is signed; the Republic would not be dissolved until a year later. ›

1884

The first purpose-built roller coaster, LaMarcus Adna Thompson's "Switchback Railway", opens in New York's Coney Island amusement park. ›

1883

The Victoria Hall theatre panic in Sunderland, England, kills 183 children. ›

1871

The Universities Tests Act 1871 allows students to enter the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Durham without religious tests (except for those intending to study theology). ›

1858

Abraham Lincoln delivers his House Divided speech in Springfield, Illinois. ›

1846

The Papal conclave of 1846 elects Pope Pius IX, beginning the longest reign in the history of the papacy. ›

1836

The formation of the London Working Men's Association gives rise to the Chartist Movement. ›

1824

A meeting at Old Slaughter's coffee house in London leads to the formation of what is now the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA). ›

1819

A major earthquake strikes the Kutch district of western India, killing over 1,543 people and raising a 6-metre-high (20 ft), 6-kilometre-wide (3.7 mi), ridge, extending for at least 80 kilometres (50 mi), that was known as the Allah Bund ("Dam of God"). ›

1815

Battle of Ligny and Battle of Quatre Bras, two days before the Battle of Waterloo. ›

1811

Survivors of an attack the previous day by Tla-o-qui-aht on board the Pacific Fur Company's ship Tonquin intentionally detonate a powder magazine on the ship, destroying it and killing about 100 attackers. ›

1795

French Revolutionary Wars: In what became known as Cornwallis's Retreat, a British Royal Navy squadron led by Vice Admiral William Cornwallis strongly resists a much larger French Navy force and withdraws largely intact, setting up the French Navy defeat at the Battle of Groix six days later. ›

1779

American Revolutionary War: Spain declares war on the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Great Siege of Gibraltar begins. ›

1760

French and Indian War: Robert Rogers and his Rangers surprise French held Fort Sainte Thérèse on the Richelieu River near Lake Champlain. The fort is raided and burned. ›

1755

French and Indian War: The French surrender Fort Beauséjour to the British, leading to the expulsion of the Acadians. ›

1746

War of the Austrian Succession: Austria and Sardinia defeat a Franco-Spanish army at the Battle of Piacenza. ›

1745

War of the Austrian Succession: New England colonial troops under the command of William Pepperrell capture the Fortress of Louisbourg in Louisbourg, New France (Old Style date). ›

1632

The Plymouth Company grants a land patent to Thomas Purchase, the first settler of Pejepscot, Maine, settling at the site of Fort Andross. ›

1487

Battle of Stoke Field: King Henry VII of England defeats the leaders of a Yorkist rebellion in the final engagement of the Wars of the Roses. ›

1407

Ming–Hồ War: Retired King Hồ Quý Ly and his son King Hồ Hán Thương of Hồ dynasty are captured by the Ming armies. ›

632

Yazdegerd III ascends the throne as king (shah) of the Persian Empire. He becomes the last ruler of the Sasanian dynasty (modern Iran). ›