November 16

Historic Events

2022

Artemis Program: NASA launches Artemis 1 on the first flight of the Space Launch System, the start of the program's future missions to the moon. ›

2009

Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-129 to the International Space Station. ›

2005

Following a 31-year wait, Australia defeats Uruguay in a penalty shootout to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. ›

2004

Half-Life 2 is released, a game winning 39 Game of the Year awards and being cited as one of the best games ever made. ›

2002

The first cases of the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak are traced to Foshan, Guangdong Province, China. ›

1997

After nearly 18 years of incarceration, China releases Wei Jingsheng, a pro-democracy dissident, from jail for medical reasons. ›

1992

The Hoxne Hoard is discovered by metal detectorist Eric Lawes in Hoxne, Suffolk. ›

1990

Pop group Milli Vanilli are stripped of their Grammy Award because the duo did not sing at all on the Girl You Know It's True album. Session musicians had provided all the vocals. ›

1989

El Salvadoran army troops kill six Jesuit priests and two others at Jose Simeon Canas University. ›

1988

The Supreme Soviet of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic declares that Estonia is "sovereign" but stops short of declaring independence. ›

1988

In the first open election in more than a decade, voters in Pakistan elect populist candidate Benazir Bhutto to be Prime Minister of Pakistan. ›

1981

Aeroflot Flight 3603 crashes during landing at Norilsk Airport, killing 99. ›

1979

The first line of Bucharest Metro (Line M1) is opened from Timpuri Noi to Semănătoarea in Bucharest, Romania. ›

1974

The Arecibo message is broadcast from Puerto Rico. ›

1973

Skylab program: NASA launches Skylab 4 with a crew of three astronauts from Cape Canaveral, Florida for an 84-day mission. ›

1973

U.S. president Richard Nixon signs the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act into law, authorizing the construction of the Alaska Pipeline. ›

1967

Aeroflot Flight 2230 crashes near Koltsovo Airport, killing 107. ›

1966

The Temptations release their Greatest Hits album, which goes on to be the Billboard Year-End R&B album of 1967. ›

1965

Venera program: The Soviet Union launches the Venera 3 space probe toward Venus, which will be the first spacecraft to reach the surface of another planet. ›

1959

National Airlines Flight 967 explodes in mid-air over the Gulf of Mexico, killing all 42 aboard. ›

1959

Aeroflot Flight 315 crashes on approach to Lviv Airport, killing all 40 people on board. ›

1945

UNESCO is founded. ›

1944

World War II: In support of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, the town of Düren is destroyed by Allied aircraft. ›

1944

The Jussi Awards, the Finnish film award ceremony, is held for the first time at Restaurant Adlon in Helsinki. ›

1940

World War II: In response to the leveling of Coventry by the German Luftwaffe two days before, the Royal Air Force bombs Hamburg. ›

1940

The Holocaust: In occupied Poland, the Nazis close off the Warsaw Ghetto from the outside world. ›

1940

New York City's "Mad Bomber" George Metesky places his first bomb at a Manhattan office building used by Consolidated Edison. ›

1938

LSD is first synthesized by Albert Hofmann from ergotamine at the Sandoz Laboratories in Basel. ›

1933

The United States and the Soviet Union establish formal diplomatic relations. ›

1920

Qantas, Australia's national airline, is founded as Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited. ›

1914

The Federal Reserve Bank of the United States officially opens. ›

1907

Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory join to form Oklahoma, which is admitted as the 46th U.S. state. ›

1904

English engineer John Ambrose Fleming receives a patent for the thermionic valve (vacuum tube). ›

1885

Canadian rebel leader of the Métis and "Father of Manitoba" Louis Riel is executed for treason. ›

1871

The National Rifle Association of America receives its charter from New York State. ›

1863

American Civil War: In the Battle of Campbell's Station, Confederate troops unsuccessfully attack Union forces which allows General Ambrose Burnside to secure Knoxville, Tennessee. ›

1860

Fisgard Lighthouse, built in the Colony of Vancouver Island, shines its first light, becoming the first permanent lighthouse in present-day British Columbia ›

1857

Second relief of Lucknow: Twenty-four Victoria Crosses are awarded, the most in a single day. ›

1855

David Livingstone becomes the first European to see the Victoria Falls in what is now Zambia-Zimbabwe. ›

1849

A Russian court sentences writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky to death for anti-government activities linked to a radical intellectual group; his sentence is later commuted to hard labor. ›

1828

Greek War of Independence: The London Protocol entails the creation of an autonomous Greek state under Ottoman suzerainty, encompassing the Morea and the Cyclades. ›

1822

American Old West: Missouri trader William Becknell arrives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, over a route that became known as the Santa Fe Trail. ›

1805

Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Schöngrabern: Russian forces under Pyotr Bagration delay the pursuit by French troops under Joachim Murat. ›

1797

The Prussian heir apparent, Frederick William, becomes King of Prussia as Frederick William III. ›

1793

French Revolution: Ninety dissident Roman Catholic priests are executed by drowning at Nantes. ›

1776

American Revolutionary War: British and Hessian units capture Fort Washington from the Patriots. ›

1632

King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden was killed at the Battle of Lützen during the Thirty Years' War. ›

1532

Francisco Pizarro and his men capture Inca Emperor Atahualpa at the Battle of Cajamarca. ›

1491

An auto-da-fé, held in the Brasero de la Dehesa outside of Ávila, concludes the case of the Holy Child of La Guardia with the public execution of several Jewish and converso suspects. ›

1272

While travelling during the Ninth Crusade, Prince Edward becomes King of England upon Henry III of England's death, but he will not return to England for nearly two years to assume the throne. ›

951

Emperor Li Jing sends a Southern Tang expeditionary force of 10,000 men under Bian Hao to conquer Chu. Li Jing removes the ruling family to his own capital in Nanjing, ending the Chu Kingdom. ›