December 16Birthdays & History

On this day: December 16 in history

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

1. 533The Digest, the great collection of all Roman jurists' law, is issued together with a new official law textbook for legal schools, The Institutes.Europe
2. 714Pepin of Herstal, mayor of the Merovingian palace, dies at Jupille (modern Belgium). He is succeeded by his infant grandson Theudoald, while his widow Plectrude holds actual power in the Frankish Kingdom.Europe
3. 755An Lushan revolts against Chancellor Yang Guozhong at Yanjing, initiating the An Lushan Rebellion during the Tang dynasty of China.Asia
4. 1431Hundred Years' War: Henry VI of England is crowned King of France at Notre Dame in Paris.Europe
5. 1497Vasco da Gama passes the Great Fish River at the southern tip of Africa, where Bartolomeu Dias had previously turned back to Portugal.AfricaEurope
6. 1575An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 8.5Mw strikes Valdivia, Chile.Latin America
7. 1598Seven-Year War: Battle of Noryang: The final battle of the Seven-Year War is fought between the China and the Korean allied forces and Japanese navies, resulting in a decisive allied forces victory.AsiaAsia
8. 1653English Interregnum: The Protectorate: Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.Europe
9. 1689Convention Parliament: The Declaration of Right is embodied in the Bill of Rights.Europe
10. 1707The most recent eruption of Mount Fuji.Asia
11. 1761Seven Years' War: After a four-month siege, the Russians under Pyotr Rumyantsev take the Prussian fortress of Kołobrzeg.Europe
12. 1773American Revolution: Boston Tea Party: Members of the Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawk Indians dump hundreds of crates of tea into Boston harbor as a protest against the Tea Act.North America
13. 1777Virginia becomes the first state to ratify the Articles of Confederation.North America
14. 1782British East India Company: Muharram Rebellion: Hada and Mada Miah lead the first anti-British uprising in the subcontinent against Robert Lindsay and his contingents in Sylhet Shahi Eidgah.EuropeAsia
15. 1811The first two in a series of four severe earthquakes occur in the vicinity of New Madrid, Missouri.North America
16. 1826Benjamin W. Edwards rides into Mexican-controlled Nacogdoches, Texas, and declares himself ruler of the Republic of Fredonia.Latin AmericaNorth America
17. 1838Great Trek: Battle of Blood River: Voortrekkers led by Andries Pretorius and Sarel Cilliers defeat Zulu impis, led by Dambuza (Nzobo) and Ndlela kaSompisi in what is today KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.Africa
18. 1850The Charlotte Jane and the Randolph bring the first of the Canterbury Pilgrims to Lyttelton, New Zealand.Oceania
19. 1863American Civil War: Confederate President Jefferson Davis appoints General Joseph E. Johnston to replace General Braxton Bragg as commander of the Army of Tennessee.North America
20. 1864American Civil War: The Battle of Nashville ends as the Union Army of the Cumberland under General George H. Thomas routs and destroys the Confederate Army of Tennessee under General John Bell Hood, ending its effectiveness as a combat unit.North America
21. 1880Outbreak of the First Boer War between the Boer South African Republic and the British Empire.AfricaEurope
22. 1882Wales and England contest the first Home Nations (now Six Nations) rugby union match.Europe
23. 1883Tonkin Campaign: French forces capture the Sơn Tây citadel.Europe
24. 1905In rugby union, the "Match of the Century" is played between Wales and New Zealand at Cardiff Arms Park.EuropeOceania
25. 1912First Balkan War: The Royal Hellenic Navy defeats the Ottoman Navy at the Battle of Elli.EuropeMiddle East
26. 1914World War I: Admiral Franz von Hipper commands a raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby.Europe
27. 1920The Haiyuan earthquake of 8.5Mw rocks the Gansu province in China, killing an estimated 200,000.Asia
28. 1942The Holocaust: Schutzstaffel chief Heinrich Himmler orders that Roma candidates for extermination be deported to Auschwitz.Europe
29. 1944World War II: The Battle of the Bulge begins with the surprise offensive of three German armies through the Ardennes forest.Europe
30. 1951A Miami Airlines Curtiss C-46 Commando crashes in Elizabeth, New Jersey, killing all 58 aboard including dancer Doris Ruby.North America
31. 1960A United Air Lines Douglas DC-8 and a TWA Lockheed Super Constellation collide over Staten Island, New York and crash, killing all 128 people aboard both aircraft and six more on the ground.North America
32. 1968Second Vatican Council: Official revocation of the Edict of Expulsion of Jews from Spain.Europe
33. 1971The United Kingdom recognizes Bahrain's independence, which is commemorated annually as Bahrain's National Day.EuropeMiddle East
34. 1971Bangladesh Liberation War and Indo-Pakistani War of 1971: The surrender of the Pakistan Army brings an end to both conflicts. This is commemorated annually as Victory Day in Bangladesh and Vijay Diwas in India respectively.Asia
35. 1972The Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh is enacted.Asia
36. 1973Aeroflot Flight 2022 crashes in the Soviet Union's (now Russia) Volokolamsky District, killing all 51 aboard, including four Lithuanian doctors.Europe
37. 1986The Jeltoqsan riots erupt in Alma-Ata, Kazakh SSR, in response to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's dismissal of ethnic Kazakh Dinmukhamed Kunaev, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, and his replacement with Gennady Kolbin, an ethnic Russian from the Russian SFSR.AsiaEurope
38. 1989Romanian Revolution: Protests break out in Timișoara, Romania, in response to an attempt by the government to evict dissident Hungarian pastor László Tőkés.Europe
39. 1992Deportation of Hamas members: Israeli authorities began deporting hundreds of Palestinians suspected to be members of Hamas across the Lebanese border.Middle East
40. 1997Dennō Senshi Porygon: Over 600 kids in Japan suffer photosensitive epileptic seizures after watching an episode of the Pokémon anime.Asia
41. 2011The Zhanaozen massacre occurs when violent protests by oil workers take place in Zhanaozen, Kazakhstan, resulting in security forces killing at least 14 and injuring 100 more.Asia
42. 2013A bus falls from an elevated highway in Manila, capital of the Philippines, killing at least 18 people with 20 injured.Asia
43. 2014Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan militants attack an Army Public School in Peshawar, Pakistan, killing 150 people, 132 of them schoolchildren.Asia
44. 2022A landslide occurs at a camp at an organic farm near the town of Batang Kali in Selangor, Malaysia, trapping 92 people and killing 31.Asia
45. 2024The Abundant Life Christian School shooting in Madison, Wisconsin, United States, takes place, resulting in the death of three people.North America

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