February 16Birthdays & History

On this day: February 16 in history

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

1. 1249Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khagan of the Mongol Empire.EuropeAsia
2. 1270The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Livonian Order in the Battle of Karuse.Europe
3. 1630Dutch forces led by Hendrick Lonck capture Olinda in what was to become part of Dutch Brazil.EuropeLatin America
4. 1646Battle of Torrington, Devon: The last major battle of the First English Civil War.Europe
5. 1699First Leopoldine Diploma is issued by the Holy Roman Emperor, recognizing the Greek Catholic clergy enjoyed the same privileges as Roman Catholic priests in the Principality of Transylvania.Europe
6. 1742Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington, becomes British Prime Minister.Europe
7. 1796Colombo in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) falls to the British, completing their invasion of Ceylon.AsiaEurope
8. 1804First Barbary War: Stephen Decatur leads a raid to burn the pirate-held frigate USS Philadelphia.North America
9. 1862American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Donelson, Tennessee.North America
10. 1866Spencer Compton Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington becomes British Secretary of State for War.Europe
11. 1881The Canadian Pacific Railway is incorporated by Act of Parliament at Ottawa (44th Vic., c.1).North America
12. 1899Iceland's first football club, Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur, is founded.Europe
13. 1900The Southern Cross expedition led by Carsten Borchgrevink achieves a new Farthest South of 78° 50'S, making the first landing at the Great Ice Barrier.World
14. 1918The Council of Lithuania unanimously adopts the Act of Independence, declaring Lithuania an independent state.Europe
15. 1923Howard Carter unseals the burial chamber of Pharaoh Tutankhamun.Middle East
16. 1930The Romanian Football Federation joins FIFA.Europe
17. 1934The Commission of Government is officially sworn in; ending 79 years of responsible government in Newfoundland.North America
18. 1934The Austrian Civil War ends with the defeat of the Social Democrats and the Republikanischer Schutzbund.Europe
19. 1936The Popular Front wins the 1936 Spanish general election.Europe
20. 1937Wallace H. Carothers receives a United States patent for nylon.North America
21. 1940World War II: Altmark incident: The German tanker Altmark is boarded by sailors from the British destroyer HMS Cossack. A total of 299 British prisoners are freed.Europe
22. 1942World War II: Attack on Aruba, first World War II German shots fired on a land based object in the Americas.Europe
23. 1942World War II: In Athens, the Greek People's Liberation Army is establishedEurope
24. 1943World War II: In the early phases of the Third Battle of Kharkov, Red Army troops re-enter the city.Europe
25. 1945World War II: American forces land on Corregidor Island in the Philippines.North AmericaAsia
26. 1945The Alaska Equal Rights Act of 1945, the first anti-discrimination law in the United States, was signed into law.North America
27. 1959Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba after dictator Fulgencio Batista was overthrown on January 1.Latin America
28. 1960The U.S. Navy submarine USS Triton begins Operation Sandblast, setting sail from New London, Connecticut, to begin the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe.North America
29. 1961Explorer program: Explorer 9 (S-56a) is launched.North America
30. 1962The Great Sheffield Gale impacts the United Kingdom, killing nine people; the city of Sheffield is devastated, with 150,000 homes damaged.Europe
31. 1962Flooding in the coastal areas of West Germany kills 315 and destroys the homes of about 60,000 people.Europe
32. 1968In Haleyville, Alabama, the first 9-1-1 emergency telephone system goes into service.North America
33. 1968Civil Air Transport Flight 010 crashes near Shongshan Airport in Taiwan, killing 21 of the 63 people on board and one more on the ground.Asia
34. 1978The first computer bulletin board system is created (CBBS in Chicago).North America
35. 1983The Ash Wednesday bushfires in Victoria and South Australia kill 75.Oceania
36. 1984Iran launches Operation Dawn 5, a major offensive during the Iran–Iraq War targeting the Basra–Baghdad highway, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides.Middle East
37. 1985Hezbollah is founded.Middle East
38. 1986China Airlines Flight 2265 crashes into the Pacific Ocean near Penghu Airport in Taiwan, killing all 13 aboard.Asia
39. 1986The Soviet liner MS Mikhail Lermontov runs aground in the Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand.EuropeOceania
40. 1991Nicaraguan Contras leader Enrique Bermúdez is assassinated in Managua.Latin America
41. 1996A Chicago-bound Amtrak train, the Capitol Limited, collides with a MARC commuter train bound for Washington, D.C., killing 11 people.North America
42. 1998China Airlines Flight 676 crashes into a road and residential area near Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in Taiwan, killing all 196 aboard and six more on the ground.Asia
43. 2000Emery Worldwide Airlines Flight 17 crashes near Sacramento Mather Airport in Rancho Cordova, California, killing all three aboard.North America
44. 2005The Kyoto Protocol comes into force, following its ratification by Russia.AsiaEurope
45. 2005The National Hockey League cancels the entire 2004–05 regular season and playoffs.North America
46. 2006The last Mobile army surgical hospital (MASH) is decommissioned by the United States Army.North America
47. 2013A bomb blast at a market in Hazara Town, Quetta, Pakistan kills more than 80 people and injures 190 others.Asia
48. 2021Five thousand people gathered in the town of Kherrata, Bejaia Province to mark the second anniversary of the Hirak protest movement. Demonstrations had been suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic in Algeria.Africa

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