June 16Birthdays & History

On this day: June 16 in history

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

1. 632Yazdegerd III ascends the throne as king (shah) of the Persian Empire. He becomes the last ruler of the Sasanian dynasty (modern Iran).Middle East
2. 1407Ming–Hồ War: Retired King Hồ Quý Ly and his son King Hồ Hán Thương of Hồ dynasty are captured by the Ming armies.Asia
3. 1487Battle of Stoke Field: King Henry VII of England defeats the leaders of a Yorkist rebellion in the final engagement of the Wars of the Roses.Europe
4. 1632The Plymouth Company grants a land patent to Thomas Purchase, the first settler of Pejepscot, Maine, settling at the site of Fort Andross.North America
5. 1745War of the Austrian Succession: New England colonial troops under the command of William Pepperrell capture the Fortress of Louisbourg in Louisbourg, New France (Old Style date).Europe
6. 1746War of the Austrian Succession: Austria and Sardinia defeat a Franco-Spanish army at the Battle of Piacenza.Europe
7. 1755French and Indian War: The French surrender Fort Beauséjour to the British, leading to the expulsion of the Acadians.EuropeNorth America
8. 1760French and Indian War: Robert Rogers and his Rangers surprise French held Fort Sainte Thérèse on the Richelieu River near Lake Champlain. The fort is raided and burned.EuropeNorth America
9. 1779American Revolutionary War: Spain declares war on the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Great Siege of Gibraltar begins.North AmericaEurope
10. 1795French Revolutionary Wars: In what became known as Cornwallis's Retreat, a British Royal Navy squadron led by Vice Admiral William Cornwallis strongly resists a much larger French Navy force and withdraws largely intact, setting up the French Navy defeat at the Battle of Groix six days later.Europe
11. 1811Survivors of an attack the previous day by Tla-o-qui-aht on board the Pacific Fur Company's ship Tonquin intentionally detonate a powder magazine on the ship, destroying it and killing about 100 attackers.North America
12. 1815Battle of Ligny and Battle of Quatre Bras, two days before the Battle of Waterloo.Europe
13. 1819A major earthquake strikes the Kutch district of western India, killing over 1,543 people and raising a 6-metre-high (20 ft), 6-kilometre-wide (3.7 mi), ridge, extending for at least 80 kilometres (50 mi), that was known as the Allah Bund ("Dam of God").Asia
14. 1824A meeting at Old Slaughter's coffee house in London leads to the formation of what is now the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA).Europe
15. 1836The formation of the London Working Men's Association gives rise to the Chartist Movement.Europe
16. 1846The Papal conclave of 1846 elects Pope Pius IX, beginning the longest reign in the history of the papacy.Europe
17. 1858Abraham Lincoln delivers his House Divided speech in Springfield, Illinois.North America
18. 1871The Universities Tests Act 1871 allows students to enter the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Durham without religious tests (except for those intending to study theology).Europe
19. 1883The Victoria Hall theatre panic in Sunderland, England, kills 183 children.Europe
20. 1884The first purpose-built roller coaster, LaMarcus Adna Thompson's "Switchback Railway", opens in New York's Coney Island amusement park.North America
21. 1897A treaty annexing the Republic of Hawaii to the United States is signed; the Republic would not be dissolved until a year later.North America
22. 1903Roald Amundsen leaves Oslo, Norway, to commence the first east–west navigation of the Northwest Passage.Europe
23. 1903The Ford Motor Company is incorporated.North America
24. 1904Eugen Schauman assassinates Nikolay Bobrikov, Governor-General of Finland.Europe
25. 1904Irish author James Joyce begins a relationship with Nora Barnacle and subsequently uses the date to set the actions for his novel Ulysses; this date is now traditionally called "Bloomsday".Europe
26. 1911IBM founded as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company in Endicott, New York.North America
27. 1922General election in the Irish Free State: The pro-Treaty Sinn Féin party wins a large majority.Europe
28. 1925Artek, the most famous Young Pioneer camp of the Soviet Union, is established.Europe
29. 1930Sovnarkom establishes decree time in the USSR.Europe
30. 1933The National Industrial Recovery Act is passed in the United States, allowing businesses to avoid antitrust prosecution if they establish voluntary wage, price, and working condition regulations on an industry-wide basis.North America
31. 1940The Soviet Union occupies Lithuania, which will eventually become the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR).Europe
32. 1940World War II: Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain becomes Chief of State of Vichy France (Chef de l'État Français).Europe
33. 1948Members of the Malayan Communist Party kill three British plantation managers in Sungai Siput; in response, British Malaya declares a state of emergency.EuropeAsia
34. 1955In a futile effort to topple Argentine President Juan Perón, rogue aircraft pilots of the Argentine Navy drop several bombs upon an unarmed crowd demonstrating in favor of Perón in Buenos Aires, killing 364 and injuring at least 800. At the same time on the ground, some soldiers attempt to stage a coup but are suppressed by loyal forces.Latin America
35. 1958Imre Nagy, Pál Maléter and other leaders of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising are executed.Europe
36. 1961While on tour with the Kirov Ballet in Paris, Rudolf Nureyev defects from the Soviet Union.Europe
37. 1963Soviet Space Program: Vostok 6 mission: Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space.Europe
38. 1963In an attempt to resolve the Buddhist crisis in South Vietnam, a Joint Communique is signed between President Ngo Dinh Diem and Buddhist leaders.Asia
39. 1972The largest single-site hydroelectric power project in Canada is inaugurated at Churchill Falls Generating Station.North America
40. 1976Soweto uprising: A non-violent march by 15,000 students in Soweto, South Africa, turns into days of rioting when police open fire on the crowd.Africa
41. 1977Oracle Corporation is incorporated in Redwood Shores, California, as Software Development Laboratories (SDL), by Larry Ellison, Bob Miner and Ed Oates.North America
42. 1981US President Ronald Reagan awards the Congressional Gold Medal to Ken Taylor, Canada's former ambassador to Iran, for helping six Americans escape from Iran during the hostage crisis of 1979–81; he is the first foreign citizen bestowed the honor.North AmericaMiddle East
43. 1989Revolutions of 1989: Imre Nagy, the former Hungarian prime minister, is reburied in Budapest following the collapse of Communism in Hungary.Europe
44. 1995The Astronomy Picture of the Day website is launched.World
45. 1997Fifty people are killed in the Daïat Labguer (M'sila) massacre in Algeria.Africa
46. 2000The Secretary-General of the UN reports that Israel has complied with United Nations Security Council Resolution 425, 22 years after its issuance, and completely withdrawn from Lebanon. The Resolution does not encompass the Shebaa farms, which is claimed by Israel, Syria and Lebanon.Middle East
47. 2002Padre Pio is canonized by the Roman Catholic Church.Europe
48. 2010Bhutan becomes the first country to institute a total ban on tobacco.Asia
49. 2012The United States Air Force's robotic Boeing X-37B spaceplane returns to Earth after a classified 469-day orbital mission.North America
50. 2012China successfully launches its Shenzhou 9 spacecraft, carrying three astronauts, including the first female Chinese astronaut Liu Yang, to the Tiangong-1 orbital module.Asia
51. 2013A multi-day cloudburst, centered on the North Indian state of Uttarakhand, causes devastating floods and landslides, becoming the country's worst natural disaster since the 2004 tsunami.Asia
52. 2015American businessman Donald Trump announces his campaign to run for President of the United States in the upcoming election.North America
53. 2016Shanghai Disneyland Park, the first Disney Park in mainland China, opens to the public.Asia
54. 2019Upwards of 2,000,000 people participate in the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, the largest in Hong Kong's history.Asia

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