April 16Birthdays & History

On this day: April 16 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 1457 BCBattle of Megiddo: The first battle to have been recorded in what is accepted as relatively reliable detail.Middle East
2. 69Defeated by Vitellius' troops at Bedriacum, Roman emperor Otho commits suicide.Europe
3. 73Masada, a Jewish fortress, falls to the Romans after several months of siege, ending the First Jewish–Roman War.Europe
4. 556Pope Pelagius I is consecrated following Imperial approval by Emperor Justinian I.Europe
5. 682Pope Leo II is elected head of the Catholic Church, although he will not be consecrated until 17 August.Europe
6. 1346Stefan Dušan, "the Mighty", is crowned Emperor of the Serbs at Skopje, his empire occupying much of the Balkans.Europe
7. 1520The Revolt of the Comuneros begins in Spain against the rule of Charles V.Europe
8. 1582Spanish conquistador Hernando de Lerma founds the settlement of Salta, Argentina.EuropeLatin America
9. 1746The Battle of Culloden is fought between the French-supported Jacobites and the British Hanoverian forces commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, in Scotland.Europe
10. 1780Franz Friedrich Wilhelm von Fürstenberg founds the University of Münster.Europe
11. 1797The Spithead mutiny begins, immobilising the Channel fleet.Europe
12. 1799French Revolutionary Wars: The Battle of Mount Tabor: Napoleon drives Ottoman Turks across the River Jordan near Acre.EuropeMiddle East
13. 1818The United States Senate ratifies the Rush–Bagot Treaty, limiting naval armaments on the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain.North America
14. 1838The French Army captures Veracruz in the Pastry War.Europe
15. 1847Shooting of a Māori by an English sailor results in the opening of the Wanganui Campaign of the New Zealand Wars.EuropeOceania
16. 1853The Great Indian Peninsula Railway opens the first passenger rail in India, from Bori Bunder to Thane.Asia
17. 1858The Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is dissolved.Europe
18. 1862American Civil War: The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia, becomes law.North America
19. 1862American Civil War: Battle at Lee's Mills in Virginia.North America
20. 1863American Civil War: During the Vicksburg Campaign, gunboats commanded by acting Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter run downriver past Confederate artillery batteries at Vicksburg.North America
21. 1878The Senate of the Grand Duchy of Finland issues a declaration establishing a city of Kotka on the southern part islands from the old Kymi parish.Europe
22. 1881In Dodge City, Kansas, Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle.North America
23. 1908Natural Bridges National Monument is established in Utah.North America
24. 1910The oldest indoor ice hockey arena used for the sport in the 21st century, Boston Arena, opens for the first time.North America
25. 1912Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel.Europe
26. 1917Russian Revolution: Vladimir Lenin returns to Petrograd, Russia, from exile in Switzerland.Europe
27. 1919Polish–Lithuanian War: The Polish Army launches the Vilna offensive to capture Vilnius in modern Lithuania.Europe
28. 1919Mohandas Gandhi organizes a day of "prayer and fasting" in response to the killing of Indian protesters in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre by the British colonial troops three days earlier.AsiaEurope
29. 1922The Treaty of Rapallo, pursuant to which Germany and the Soviet Union re-establish diplomatic relations, is signed.Europe
30. 1925During the Communist St Nedelya Church assault in Sofia, Bulgaria, 150 are killed and 500 are wounded.Europe
31. 1941World War II: The Italian-German Tarigo convoy is attacked and destroyed by British ships.Europe
32. 1941World War II: The Nazi-affiliated Ustaše is put in charge of the Independent State of Croatia by the Axis powers after Operation 25 is effected.Europe
33. 1943Albert Hofmann accidentally discovers the hallucinogenic effects of the research drug LSD. He intentionally takes the drug three days later on April 19.Europe
34. 1944World War II: Allied forces start bombing Belgrade, killing about 1,100 people. This bombing fell on the Orthodox Christian Easter.Europe
35. 1945World War II: More than 7,000 die when the German transport ship Goya is sunk by a Soviet submarine.Europe
36. 1945World War II: The Red Army begins the final assault on German forces around Berlin, with nearly one million troops fighting in the Battle of the Seelow Heights.Europe
37. 1945World War II: The United States Army liberates Nazi Sonderlager (high security) prisoner-of-war camp Oflag IV-C (better known as Colditz).North America
38. 1947An explosion on board a freighter in port causes Texas City in the state of Texas, United States, to catch fire, killing almost 600 people.North America
39. 1947Bernard Baruch first applies the term "Cold War" to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union.North AmericaEurope
40. 1948The Organization of European Economic Co-operation is formed.Europe
41. 1961In a nationally broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declares that he is a Marxist–Leninist and that Cuba is going to adopt Communism.Latin America
42. 1963U.S. civil rights campaigner Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. writes his open letter from Birmingham Jail, sometimes known as "The Negro Is Your Brother", while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama, for protesting against segregation.North America
43. 1972Apollo program: The launch of Apollo 16 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.North America
44. 2001India and Bangladesh begin a five-day border conflict, but are unable to resolve the disputes about their border.Asia
45. 2003The Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens admitting ten new member states to the European Union.Europe
46. 2007Virginia Tech shooting: Seung-Hui Cho murders 32 people and injures 17 before committing suicide.North America
47. 2008The U.S. Supreme Court rules in the Baze v. Rees decision that execution by lethal injection does not violate the Eighth Amendment ban against cruel and unusual punishment.North America
48. 2012The trial for Anders Behring Breivik, the perpetrator of the 2011 Norway attacks, begins in Oslo, Norway.Europe
49. 2012The Pulitzer Prize winners are announced. It was the first time since 1977 that no book won the Fiction Prize.North America
50. 2013A 7.8-magnitude earthquake strikes Sistan and Balochistan province, Iran, killing at least 35 people and injuring 117 others.Middle East
51. 2013The 2013 Baga massacre is started when Boko Haram militants engage government soldiers in Baga.Africa
52. 2014The South Korean ferry MV Sewol capsizes and sinks near Jindo Island, killing 304 passengers and crew and leading to widespread criticism of the South Korean government, media, and shipping authorities.Asia
53. 2016Ecuador's worst earthquake in nearly 40 years kills 676 and injures more than 230,000.Latin America
54. 2018The New York Times and The New Yorker win the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for breaking news of the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse scandal.North America
55. 2024The historic Børsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, is severely damaged by a fire.Europe

Source: Wikipedia "April 16" / CC BY-SA 4.0