July 16

Historic Events

2019

A 100-year-old building in Mumbai, India, collapses, killing at least 10 people and leaving many others trapped. ›

2015

Four U.S. Marines and a United States Navy Sailor are killed in the a shooting spree targeting military installations in Chattanooga, Tennessee. ›

2013

As many as 27 children die and 25 others are hospitalized after eating lunch served at their school in eastern India. ›

2013

Syrian civil war: The Battle of Ras al-Ayn resumes between the People's Protection Units (YPG) and Islamist forces, beginning the Rojava–Islamist conflict. ›

2009

Teoh Beng Hock, an aide to a politician in Malaysia is found dead on the rooftop of a building adjacent to the offices of the Anti-Corruption Commission, sparking an inquest that gains nationwide attention. ›

2007

An earthquake of magnitude 6.8 and 6.6 aftershock occurs off the Niigata coast of Japan killing eight people, injuring at least 800 and damaging a nuclear power plant. ›

2005

An Antonov An-24 crashes near Baney in Bioko Norte, Equatorial Guinea, killing 60 people. ›

1994

The comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 is destroyed in a head-on collision with Jupiter. ›

1990

The Luzon earthquake strikes the Philippines with an intensity of 7.7, affecting Benguet, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, La Union, Aurora, Bataan, Zambales and Tarlac. ›

1990

The Parliament of the Ukrainian SSR declares state sovereignty over the territory of the Ukrainian SSR. ›

1983

Sikorsky S-61 disaster: A helicopter crashes off the Isles of Scilly, causing 20 fatalities. ›

1979

Iraqi President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr resigns and is replaced by Saddam Hussein. ›

1969

The Apollo 11 lunar landing mission is launched from Cape Kennedy in Florida, USA. ›

1965

The Mont Blanc Tunnel linking France and Italy opens. ›

1957

KLM Flight 844 crashes off the Schouten Islands in present day Indonesia (then Netherlands New Guinea), killing 58 people. ›

1951

King Leopold III of Belgium abdicates in favor of his son, Baudouin of Belgium. ›

1951

J. D. Salinger publishes his popular yet controversial novel, The Catcher in the Rye. ›

1950

Chaplain–Medic massacre: American POWs are massacred by North Korean Army. ›

1950

Uruguay beats hosts Brazil 2–1 to win the World Cup in a match dubbed as the Maracanazo. ›

1948

Following token resistance, the city of Nazareth, revered by Christians as the hometown of Jesus, capitulates to Israeli troops during Operation Dekel in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. ›

1948

The storming of the cockpit of the Miss Macao passenger seaplane, operated by a subsidiary of the Cathay Pacific Airways, marks the first aircraft hijacking of a commercial plane. ›

1945

Manhattan Project: The Atomic Age begins when the United States successfully detonates a plutonium-based test nuclear weapon near Alamogordo, New Mexico. ›

1942

Holocaust: Vel' d'Hiv Roundup (Rafle du Vel' d'Hiv): The government of Vichy France orders the mass arrest of 13,152 Jews who are held at the Vélodrome d'Hiver in Paris before deportation to Auschwitz. ›

1935

The world's first parking meter is installed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. ›

1931

Emperor Haile Selassie signs the first constitution of Ethiopia. ›

1927

Augusto César Sandino leads a raid on U.S. Marines and Nicaraguan Guardia Nacional that had been sent to apprehend him in the village of Ocotal, but is repulsed by one of the first dive-bombing attacks in history. ›

1916

Max Reger's Hebbel Requiem is first performed in a memorial concert for the composer, conducted by Philipp Wolfrum. ›

1915

Henry James becomes a British citizen to highlight his commitment to Britain during the first World War. ›

1915

At Treasure Island on the Delaware River in the United States, the First Order of the Arrow ceremony takes place and the Order of the Arrow is founded to honor American Boy Scouts who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law. ›

1910

John Robertson Duigan makes the first flight of the Duigan pusher biplane, the first aircraft built in Australia. ›

1909

Persian Constitutional Revolution: Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar is forced out as Shah of Persia and is replaced by his son Ahmad Shah Qajar. ›

1877

The Imperial Russian army under Grand Duke Nicholas defeats the Ottoman army and takes the city of Nikopol (modern Bulgaria). ›

1862

American Civil War: David Farragut is promoted to rear admiral, becoming the first officer in United States Navy to hold an admiral rank. ›

1861

American Civil War: At the order of President Abraham Lincoln, Union troops begin a 25-mile march into Virginia for what will become the First Battle of Bull Run, the first major land battle of the war. ›

1858

The last apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, France. ›

1849

Antonio María Claret y Clará founds the Congregation of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, popularly known as the Claretians in Vic, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. ›

1809

The city of La Paz, in what is today Bolivia, declares its independence from the Spanish Crown during the La Paz revolution and forms the Junta Tuitiva, the first independent government in Spanish America, led by Pedro Domingo Murillo. ›

1790

The District of Columbia is established as the capital of the United States after signature of the Residence Act. ›

1779

American Revolutionary War: Light infantry of the Continental Army seize a fortified British Army position in a midnight bayonet attack at the Battle of Stony Point. ›

1769

Father Junípero Serra founds California's first mission, Mission San Diego de Alcalá. Over the following decades, it evolves into the city of San Diego, California. ›

1683

Manchu Qing dynasty naval forces under commander Shi Lang defeat the Kingdom of Tungning in the Battle of Penghu near the Pescadores Islands. ›

1661

The first banknotes in Europe are issued by the Swedish bank Stockholms Banco. ›

1536

Jacques Cartier, navigator and explorer, returns home to St. Malo after claiming Stadacona (Quebec), Hochelaga (Montreal) and the River of Canada (St. Lawrence River) region for France. ›

1377

King Richard II of England is crowned. ›

1251

Celebrated by the Carmelite Order–but doubted by modern historians–as the day when Saint Simon Stock had a vision of the Virgin Mary. ›

1232

The Spanish town of Arjona declares independence and names its native Muhammad ibn Yusuf as ruler. This marks the Muhammad's first rise to prominence; he later established the Nasrid Emirate of Granada, the last independent Muslim state in Spain. ›

1212

Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa: After Pope Innocent III calls European knights to a crusade, the forces of kings Alfonso VIII of Castile, Sancho VII of Navarre, Peter II of Aragon and Afonso II of Portugal defeat those of the Berber Muslim leader Almohad, thus marking a significant turning point in the Reconquista and in the medieval history of Spain. ›

1054

Three Roman legates place - acting illegally on their own authority - a bull of excommunication against Michael I Cerularius, the patriarch of Constantinople, and his followers on the altar of Hagia Sophia during Saturday afternoon divine liturgy. Historians frequently describe the event as the formal start of the East–West Schism. ›

997

Battle of Spercheios: Bulgarian forces of Tsar Samuel are defeated by a Byzantine army under general Nikephoros Ouranos at the Spercheios River in Greece. ›

622

The Hijrah of Muhammad begins, marking the beginning of the Islamic calendar. ›