November 16Birthdays & History

On this day: November 16 in history

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

1. 951Emperor Li Jing sends a Southern Tang expeditionary force of 10,000 men under Bian Hao to conquer Chu. Li Jing removes the ruling family to his own capital in Nanjing, ending the Chu Kingdom.Asia
2. 1272While travelling during the Ninth Crusade, Prince Edward becomes King of England upon Henry III of England's death, but he will not return to England for nearly two years to assume the throne.Europe
3. 1491An auto-da-fé, held in the Brasero de la Dehesa outside of Ávila, concludes the case of the Holy Child of La Guardia with the public execution of several Jewish and converso suspects.Europe
4. 1532Francisco Pizarro and his men capture Inca Emperor Atahualpa at the Battle of Cajamarca.Latin America
5. 1632King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden was killed at the Battle of Lützen during the Thirty Years' War.Europe
6. 1776American Revolutionary War: British and Hessian units capture Fort Washington from the Patriots.North AmericaEurope
7. 1793French Revolution: Ninety dissident Roman Catholic priests are executed by drowning at Nantes.Europe
8. 1797The Prussian heir apparent, Frederick William, becomes King of Prussia as Frederick William III.Europe
9. 1805Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Schöngrabern: Russian forces under Pyotr Bagration delay the pursuit by French troops under Joachim Murat.Europe
10. 1822American Old West: Missouri trader William Becknell arrives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, over a route that became known as the Santa Fe Trail.North AmericaLatin America
11. 1828Greek War of Independence: The London Protocol entails the creation of an autonomous Greek state under Ottoman suzerainty, encompassing the Morea and the Cyclades.EuropeMiddle East
12. 1849A Russian court sentences writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky to death for anti-government activities linked to a radical intellectual group; his sentence is later commuted to hard labor.Europe
13. 1855David Livingstone becomes the first European to see the Victoria Falls in what is now Zambia-Zimbabwe.EuropeAfrica
14. 1857Second relief of Lucknow: Twenty-four Victoria Crosses are awarded, the most in a single day.Asia
15. 1860Fisgard Lighthouse, built in the Colony of Vancouver Island, shines its first light, becoming the first permanent lighthouse in present-day British ColumbiaNorth AmericaEurope
16. 1863American Civil War: In the Battle of Campbell's Station, Confederate troops unsuccessfully attack Union forces which allows General Ambrose Burnside to secure Knoxville, Tennessee.North America
17. 1871The National Rifle Association of America receives its charter from New York State.North America
18. 1885Canadian rebel leader of the Métis and "Father of Manitoba" Louis Riel is executed for treason.North America
19. 1904English engineer John Ambrose Fleming receives a patent for the thermionic valve (vacuum tube).Europe
20. 1907Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory join to form Oklahoma, which is admitted as the 46th U.S. state.North America
21. 1914The Federal Reserve Bank of the United States officially opens.North America
22. 1920Qantas, Australia's national airline, is founded as Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited.Oceania
23. 1933The United States and the Soviet Union establish formal diplomatic relations.North AmericaEurope
24. 1938LSD is first synthesized by Albert Hofmann from ergotamine at the Sandoz Laboratories in Basel.Europe
25. 1940World War II: In response to the leveling of Coventry by the German Luftwaffe two days before, the Royal Air Force bombs Hamburg.Europe
26. 1940The Holocaust: In occupied Poland, the Nazis close off the Warsaw Ghetto from the outside world.Europe
27. 1940New York City's "Mad Bomber" George Metesky places his first bomb at a Manhattan office building used by Consolidated Edison.North America
28. 1944The Jussi Awards, the Finnish film award ceremony, is held for the first time at Restaurant Adlon in Helsinki.Europe
29. 1944World War II: In support of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, the town of Düren is destroyed by Allied aircraft.Europe
30. 1945UNESCO is founded.Europe
31. 1959National Airlines Flight 967 explodes in mid-air over the Gulf of Mexico, killing all 42 aboard.Latin America
32. 1959Aeroflot Flight 315 crashes on approach to Lviv Airport, killing all 40 people on board.Europe
33. 1965Venera program: The Soviet Union launches the Venera 3 space probe toward Venus, which will be the first spacecraft to reach the surface of another planet.Europe
34. 1966The Temptations release their Greatest Hits album, which goes on to be the Billboard Year-End R&B album of 1967.North America
35. 1967Aeroflot Flight 2230 crashes near Koltsovo Airport, killing 107.Europe
36. 1973Skylab program: NASA launches Skylab 4 with a crew of three astronauts from Cape Canaveral, Florida for an 84-day mission.North America
37. 1973U.S. president Richard Nixon signs the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act into law, authorizing the construction of the Alaska Pipeline.North America
38. 1974The Arecibo message is broadcast from Puerto Rico.Latin America
39. 1979The first line of Bucharest Metro (Line M1) is opened from Timpuri Noi to Semănătoarea in Bucharest, Romania.Europe
40. 1981Aeroflot Flight 3603 crashes during landing at Norilsk Airport, killing 99.Europe
41. 1988The Supreme Soviet of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic declares that Estonia is "sovereign" but stops short of declaring independence.Europe
42. 1988In the first open election in more than a decade, voters in Pakistan elect populist candidate Benazir Bhutto to be Prime Minister of Pakistan.Asia
43. 1989El Salvadoran army troops kill six Jesuit priests and two others at Jose Simeon Canas University.Latin America
44. 1990Pop group Milli Vanilli are stripped of their Grammy Award because the duo did not sing at all on the Girl You Know It's True album. Session musicians had provided all the vocals.North America
45. 1992The Hoxne Hoard is discovered by metal detectorist Eric Lawes in Hoxne, Suffolk.Europe
46. 1997After nearly 18 years of incarceration, China releases Wei Jingsheng, a pro-democracy dissident, from jail for medical reasons.Asia
47. 2002The first cases of the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak are traced to Foshan, Guangdong Province, China.Asia
48. 2004Half-Life 2 is released, a game winning 39 Game of the Year awards and being cited as one of the best games ever made.North America
49. 2005Following a 31-year wait, Australia defeats Uruguay in a penalty shootout to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.OceaniaLatin America
50. 2009Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-129 to the International Space Station.World
51. 2022Artemis Program: NASA launches Artemis 1 on the first flight of the Space Launch System, the start of the program's future missions to the moon.North America

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