July 16Birthdays & History

On this day: July 16 in history

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

1. 622The Hijrah of Muhammad begins, marking the beginning of the Islamic calendar.Europe
2. 997Battle of Spercheios: Bulgarian forces of Tsar Samuel are defeated by a Byzantine army under general Nikephoros Ouranos at the Spercheios River in Greece.Europe
3. 1054Three 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.EuropeMiddle East
4. 1212Battle 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.Europe
5. 1232The 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.Europe
6. 1251Celebrated by the Carmelite Order–but doubted by modern historians–as the day when Saint Simon Stock had a vision of the Virgin Mary.Europe
7. 1377King Richard II of England is crowned.Europe
8. 1536Jacques 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.North AmericaEurope
9. 1661The first banknotes in Europe are issued by the Swedish bank Stockholms Banco.Europe
10. 1683Manchu Qing dynasty naval forces under commander Shi Lang defeat the Kingdom of Tungning in the Battle of Penghu near the Pescadores Islands.Asia
11. 1769Father 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.North America
12. 1779American 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.North AmericaEurope
13. 1790The District of Columbia is established as the capital of the United States after signature of the Residence Act.North America
14. 1809The 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.Latin AmericaEuropeNorth America
15. 1849Antonio 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.Europe
16. 1858The last apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, France.Europe
17. 1861American 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.North America
18. 1862American Civil War: David Farragut is promoted to rear admiral, becoming the first officer in United States Navy to hold an admiral rank.North America
19. 1877The Imperial Russian army under Grand Duke Nicholas defeats the Ottoman army and takes the city of Nikopol (modern Bulgaria).EuropeMiddle East
20. 1909Persian Constitutional Revolution: Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar is forced out as Shah of Persia and is replaced by his son Ahmad Shah Qajar.Middle East
21. 1910John Robertson Duigan makes the first flight of the Duigan pusher biplane, the first aircraft built in Australia.Oceania
22. 1915Henry James becomes a British citizen to highlight his commitment to Britain during the first World War.Europe
23. 1915At 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.North America
24. 1916Max Reger's Hebbel Requiem is first performed in a memorial concert for the composer, conducted by Philipp Wolfrum.Asia
25. 1927Augusto 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.North AmericaLatin America
26. 1931Emperor Haile Selassie signs the first constitution of Ethiopia.Africa
27. 1935The world's first parking meter is installed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.North America
28. 1942Holocaust: 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.Europe
29. 1945Manhattan Project: The Atomic Age begins when the United States successfully detonates a plutonium-based test nuclear weapon near Alamogordo, New Mexico.North AmericaLatin America
30. 1948Following 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.Middle East
31. 1948The 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.North America
32. 1950Uruguay beats hosts Brazil 2–1 to win the World Cup in a match dubbed as the Maracanazo.Latin America
33. 1950Chaplain–Medic massacre: American POWs are massacred by North Korean Army.North AmericaAsia
34. 1951King Leopold III of Belgium abdicates in favor of his son, Baudouin of Belgium.Europe
35. 1951J. D. Salinger publishes his popular yet controversial novel, The Catcher in the Rye.Europe
36. 1957KLM Flight 844 crashes off the Schouten Islands in present day Indonesia (then Netherlands New Guinea), killing 58 people.AsiaEuropeOceania
37. 1965South Vietnamese Colonel Phạm Ngọc Thảo, a formerly undetected communist spy and double agent, is hunted down and killed by unknown individuals after being sentenced to death in absentia for a February 1965 coup attempt against Nguyễn Khánh.Asia
38. 1965The Mont Blanc Tunnel linking France and Italy opens.Europe
39. 1969The Apollo 11 lunar landing mission is launched from Cape Kennedy in Florida, USA.North America
40. 1979Iraqi President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr resigns and is replaced by Saddam Hussein.Middle East
41. 1983Sikorsky S-61 disaster: A helicopter crashes off the Isles of Scilly, causing 20 fatalities.World
42. 1990The Parliament of the Ukrainian SSR declares state sovereignty over the territory of the Ukrainian SSR.Europe
43. 1990The Luzon earthquake strikes the Philippines with an intensity of 7.7, affecting Benguet, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, La Union, Aurora, Bataan, Zambales and Tarlac.Asia
44. 1994The comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 is destroyed in a head-on collision with Jupiter.Europe
45. 2005An Antonov An-24 crashes near Baney in Bioko Norte, Equatorial Guinea, killing 60 people.Africa
46. 2007An 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.Asia
47. 2009Teoh 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.Asia
48. 2013Syrian civil war: The Battle of Ras al-Ayn resumes between the People's Protection Units (YPG) and Islamist forces, beginning the Rojava–Islamist conflict.Middle East
49. 2013As many as 27 children die and 25 others are hospitalized after eating lunch served at their school in eastern India.Asia
50. 2015Four U.S. Marines and a United States Navy Sailor are killed in the a shooting spree targeting military installations in Chattanooga, Tennessee.North America
51. 2019A 100-year-old building in Mumbai, India, collapses, killing at least 10 people and leaving many others trapped.Asia

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