August 16 Events |
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| August 16th, 2005 (August 16 2005) | Event | West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 crashes near Machiques, Venezuela, killing the 160 aboard. | |
| August 16th, 2003 (August 16 2003) | Event | U.S. Representative from South Dakota Bill Janklow hits and kills a motorcyclist with his car at a rural intersection near Trent, South Dakota; he will eventually be convicted of manslaughter and will resign from Congress. | |
| August 16th, 1993 (August 16 1993) | Event | The Debian distribution was first announced by Ian Murdock, then a student at Purdue University. Murdock initially called his system the "Debian Linux Release" | |
| August 16th, 1992 (August 16 1992) | Event | In response to an appeal by President Fernando Collor de Mello to wear green and yellow as a way to show support for him, thousands of Brazilians take to the streets dressed in black. | |
| August 16th, 1989 (August 16 1989) | Event | A solar flare from the Sun creates a geomagnetic storm that affects micro chips, leading to a halt of all trading on Toronto s stock market. | |
| August 16th, 1987 (August 16 1987) | Event | A McDonnell Douglas MD-82 carrying Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes on take-off from Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus, Michigan (Detroit), killing 155 passengers and crew. The sole survivor is four-year-old Cecelia Cichan. | |
| August 16th, 1972 (August 16 1972) | Event | The Royal Moroccan Air Force fires upon, in an unsuccessful coup d etat attempt, Hassan II of Morocco s plane while he is traveling back to Rabat. | |
| August 16th, 1966 (August 16 1966) | Event | Vietnam War: The House Un-American Activities Committee begins investigations of Americans who have aided the Viet Cong. The committee intends to introduce legislation making these activities illegal. Anti-war demonstrators disrupt the meeting and 50 people are arrested. | |
| August 16th, 1964 (August 16 1964) | Event | Vietnam War: A coup d etat replaces Duong Van Minh with General Nguyen Khanh as President of South Vietnam. A new constitution is established with aid from the U.S. Embassy. | |
| August 16th, 1962 (August 16 1962) | Event | Pete Best replaced by Ringo Starr (Richard Starkey) as drummer for The Beatles. | Ringo Starr Quotes |
| August 16th, 1960 (August 16 1960) | Event | Cyprus gains its independence from the United Kingdom. | |
| August 16th, 1960 (August 16 1960) | Event | Joseph Kittinger parachutes from a balloon over New Mexico at 102,800 feet (31,330 m), setting three records that still stand today: High-altitude jump, free-fall, and fastest speed by a human without an aircraft. | |
| August 16th, 1946 (August 16 1946) | Event | The Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, is established, and Ichiro Ishikawa is appointed its representative. | |
| August 16th, 1945 (August 16 1945) | Event | An assassination attempt was made on Japan s prime minister, Kantaro Suzuki. | |
| August 16th, 1945 (August 16 1945) | Event | Puyi, the last Chinese emperor and ruler of Manchukuo, was captured by Soviet troops. | |
| August 16th, 1944 (August 16 1944) | Event | First flight of the Junkers Ju 287. | |
| August 16th, 1942 (August 16 1942) | Event | World War II: The two-person crew of the U.S. naval blimp L-8 disappears without a trace on a routine anti-submarine patrol over the Pacific Ocean. The blimp drifts without her crew and crash-lands in Daly City, California. | |
| August 16th, 1941 (August 16 1941) | Event | HMS Mercury, Royal Navy Signals School and Combined Signals School opens at Leydene, near Petersfield, Hampshire, England. | |
| August 16th, 1940 (August 16 1940) | Event | World War II: The Communist Party is banned in German-occupied Norway. | |
| August 16th, 1930 (August 16 1930) | Event | The first color sound cartoon, called Fiddlesticks, is made by Ub Iwerks. | |
| August 16th, 1920 (August 16 1920) | Event | Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians is hit in the head by a fastball thrown by Carl Mays of the New York Yankees, and dies early the next day. To date, Chapman is the only player to die from injuries sustained in a Major League Baseball game. | |
| August 16th, 1920 (August 16 1920) | Event | The congress of the Communist Party of Bukhara opens. The congress would call for armed revolution. | |
| August 16th, 1915 (August 16 1915) | Event | World War I: Should victory be achieved over the Central Powers, the Triple Entente promises the Kingdom of Serbia: the Austro-Hungarian territories of Baranja, Srem, Slavonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina; and the eastern ? of Dalmatia (from the river of Krka to the city of Bar). | |
| August 16th, 1914 (August 16 1914) | Event | World War I: Battle of Cer begins. | |
| August 16th, 1913 (August 16 1913) | Event | Tohoku Imperial University of Japan (modern day Tohoku University) admits its first female students. | |
| August 16th, 1896 (August 16 1896) | Event | Skookum Jim Mason, George Carmack and Dawson Charlie discover gold in a tributary of the Klondike River in Canada, setting off the Klondike Gold Rush. | George Mason Quotes |
| August 16th, 1870 (August 16 1870) | Event | Franco-Prussian War: The Battle of Mars-La-Tour is fought, resulting in a Prussian victory. | |
| August 16th, 1869 (August 16 1869) | Event | Battle of Acosta Nu: A Paraguay battalion made up of children is massacred by the Brazilian Army during the War of the Triple Alliance. | |
| August 16th, 1868 (August 16 1868) | Event | Arica, Peru (now Chile) is devastated by a tsunami which followed a magnitude 8.5 earthquake in the Peru-Chile Trench off the coast. The earthquake and tsunami killed an estimated 25,000 people in Arica and perhaps 70,000 people in all. | |
| August 16th, 1865 (August 16 1865) | Event | Restoration Day in the Dominican Republic: The Dominican Republic regains its independence after 4 years of fighting against the Spanish Annexation. | |
| August 16th, 1858 (August 16 1858) | Event | U.S. President James Buchanan inaugurates the new transatlantic telegraph cable by exchanging greetings with Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. However, a weak signal will force a shutdown of the service in a few weeks. | James Buchanan Quotes |
| August 16th, 1841 (August 16 1841) | Event | U.S. President John Tyler vetoes a bill which called for the re-establishment of the Second Bank of the United States. Enraged Whig Party members riot outside the White House in the most violent demonstration on White House grounds in U.S. history. | John Tyler Quotes |
| August 16th, 1819 (August 16 1819) | Event | Eleven people die and 400 are injured by cavalry charges at the Peterloo Massacre at a public meeting at St. Peter s Field, Manchester, England. | |
| August 16th, 1812 (August 16 1812) | Event | War of 1812: American General William Hull surrenders Fort Detroit without a fight to the British Army. | |
| August 16th, 1792 (August 16 1792) | Event | Maximilien Robespierre presents the petition of the Commune of Paris to the Legislative Assembly, which demanded the formation of a revolutionary tribunal. | Maximilien Robespierre Quotes |
| August 16th, 1780 (August 16 1780) | Event | American Revolutionary War: Battle of CamdenThe British defeat the Americans near Camden, South Carolina. | |
| August 16th, 1513 (August 16 1513) | Event | Battle of Guinegate (Battle of the Spurs)King Henry VIII of England defeats French Forces who were forced to retreat. | Henry VIII of England Quotes |
| August 16th, 1384 (August 16 1384) | Event | The Hongwu Emperor of Ming China hears a case of a couple who tore paper money bills while fighting over them-a case considered equal to the act of destroying stamped government documents, which by law necessitated one hundred floggings by a bamboo rodied in However, the Hongwu Emperor decided to pardon them, seeing as how their intention was not to tear up the money. | |
