April 16

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Template:Linked-title is the 106th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (107th in leap years). There are 259 days remaining.

Events

• 1178 BC - A solar eclipse may have marked the return of Odysseus, legendary King of Ithaca, to his kingdom after the Trojan War.
• 73 - Masada, a Jewish fortress, falls to the Romans after several months of siege, ending the Jewish Revolt.
• 1071 - Bari falls to Robert Guiscard, ending Byzantine rule in Italy.
• 1346 - Serbian Empire was proclaimed in Skopje by Dusan Silni, occupying much of the South-Eastern Europe.
• 1395 - Azzo X d'Este is defeated at the Battle of Castelmaggiore by Venetian-Ferrarese troops.
• 1521 - Martin Luther's first appearance before the Diet of Worms to be examined by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and the other estates of the empire.
• 1582 - Spanish conquistador Hernando de Lerma founds the settlement of Salta, Argentina.
• 1746 - Battle of Culloden
• 1780 - The University of Münster in Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany is founded.
• 1799 - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Mount Tabor – Napoleon drives Ottoman Turks across the River Jordan near Acre.
• 1853 - The first passenger rail opens in India, from Bori Bunder, Bombay to Thane.
• 1862 - American Civil War: Battle at Lee's Mills in Virginia.
• 1862 - American Civil War: A bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia became law.
• 1863 - American Civil War: Siege of Vicksburg – ships led by Union Admiral David Dixon Porter move through heavy Confederate artillery fire on approach to Vicksburg, Mississippi.
• 1881 - In Dodge City, Kansas, Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle.
• 1912 - Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel.
• 1917 - Vladimir Lenin returns to Saint Petersburg from exile in Finland.
• 1919 - Mohandas Gandhi organizes a day of "prayer and fasting" in response to the British slaughter of Indian protestors in the Amritsar Massacre.
• 1922 - The Treaty of Rapallo, in which Germany and the Soviet Union re-establish diplomatic relations between Berlin and Moscow, is signed.
• 1925 - During the Communist St Nedelya Church assault in Sofia, 150 are killed and 500 are wounded.
• 1926 - Lolly Willows by Sylvia Townsend Warner is distributed as the first Book-of-the-Month Club selection.
• 1941 - World War II: The Italian convoy Duisburg, directed to Tunisia, is attacked and destroyed by British ships.
• 1943 - Dr. Albert Hofmann discovers the psychedelic effects of LSD.
• 1945 - The Red Army begins the final assault on German forces around Berlin.
• 1945 - The United States Army liberates Nazi Sonderlager (high security) Prisoner of War camp Oflag IVc .
• 1945 - German ship Goya, overfilled with refugees, sinks after being torpedoed by a Soviet submarine, killing more than 7,000 people.
• 1946 - Syria gains independence.
• 1947 - Texas City Disaster: An explosion on board a freighter in port causes the city of Texas City, Texas, to catch fire, killing almost 600.
• 1947 - Bernard Baruch coins the term "Cold War" to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union.
• 1953 - Queen Elizabeth II launches the Royal Yacht Britannia.
• 1963 - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. pens his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting against segregation.
• 1964 - Sentences totalling 307 years were passed on 12 men who stole £2.6m in used bank notes in what became known as the Great Train Robbery.
• 1972 - Apollo program: Apollo 16 launches towards the Moon from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
• 1972 - Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue Offensive – Prompted by the North Vietnamese offensive, the United States resumes bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong.
• 1987 - British Conservative MP Harvey Proctor appears at Bow Street Magistrates' Court in London charged with gross indecency.
• 1988 - In Forlì, Italy, Red Brigades kill Italian Senator Roberto Ruffilli, an advisor of Prime Minister Ciriaco de Mita.
• 1992 - The Katina P. runs aground off of Maputo, Mozambique. 60,000 tons of crude oil spill into the ocean.
• 1998 - The Nashville Tornado of 1998, one of the most serious urban tornadoes causes one death and significantly damages downtown Nashville, Tennessee.
• 2003 - The Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens admitting 10 new member states to the European Union.

Births

• 778 - King Louis the Pious (d. 840)
• 1319 - King John II of France (d. 1364)
• 1495 - Petrus Apianus, German mathematician (d. 1557)
• 1646 - Jules Hardouin Mansart, French architect (d. 1708)
• 1660 - Hans Sloane, British collector and physician (d. 1753)
• 1661 - Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, British poet and statesman (d. 1715)
• 1682 - John Hadley, British inventor (d. 1744)
• 1728 - Joseph Black, Scottish chemist (d. 1799)
• 1730 - Henry Clinton, British general (d. 1795)
• 1755 - Élisabeth-Louise Vigée Le Brun, French painter (d. 1842)
• 1800 - George Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan, British soldier (d. 1888)
• 1821 - [{Collis Huntington]], one of the Big Four
• 1823 - Ferdinand Eisenstein, German mathematician (d. 1852)
• 1844 - Anatole France, French writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1924)
• 1847 - Hans Auer, Swiss architect, (d. 1906)
• 1859 - Winifred Cochrane, Countess of Dundonald, philanthropist (d. 1924)
• 1865 - Henry George Chauvel, Australian general (d. 1945)
• 1867 - Wilbur Wright, American aviation pioneer (d. 1912)
• 1871 - John Millington Synge, Irish writer (d. 1909)
• 1878 - Tip Foster, English cricketer (d. 1914)
• 1886 - Ernst Thälmann, German politician (d. 1944)
• 1889 - Charles Chaplin, English actor, writer, and film producer (d. 1977)
• 1904 - Fifi D'Orsay, Canadian actress (d. 1983)
• 1905 - Frits Philips, Dutch businessman (d. 2005)
• 1907 - August Eigruber, Austrian war criminal (d. 1947)
• 1912 - Garth Williams, American illustrator (d. 1996)
• 1912 - Catherine Scorsese, Italian-American actress (d. 1997)
• 1915 - Gerard McLarnon, Irish playwright (d. 1997)
• 1918 - Spike Milligan, British comedian (d. 2002)
• 1918 - Joan Alexander, American actress
• 1919 - Merce Cunningham, American dancer and choreographer
• 1919 - Tom Willmore, English geometer (d. 2005)
• 1921 - Peter Ustinov, English actor (d. 2004)
• 1922 - Kingsley Amis, English author (d. 1995)
• 1924 - Henry Mancini, American composer (d. 1994)
• 1927 - Edie Adams, American actress
• 1927 - Pope Benedict XVI
• 1927 - Peter Mark Richman, American actor
• 1928 - Dick "Night Train" Lane, American football player (d. 2002)
• 1930 - Herbie Mann, American jazz flute player (d. 2003)
• 1933 - Joan Bakewell, British broadcaster
• 1935 - Sarah Kirsch, German poet
• 1935 - Bobby Vinton, American singer
• 1937 - Joseph Whipp, American actor
• 1938 - Gordon Wilson, Scottish politician
• 1938 - Rich Rollins, American baseballer
• 1939 - Dusty Springfield, English singer (d. 1999)
• 1939 - Boris Dvornik, Croatian actor
• 1940 - Margrethe II of Denmark, queen regnant
• 1942 - Frank Williams, English Formula 1 constructor
• 1943 - Ruth Madoc, British actress
• 1944 - Omar Chkhaidze, Russian painter
• 1946 - Margot Adler, American journalist
• 1947 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, American basketball player
• 1947 - Gerry Rafferty, British musician and songwriter
• 1949 - Melody Patterson, American actress
• 1951 - Pierre Toutain-Dorbec, French photographer, painter, sculptor
• 1951 - Ioan Mihai Cochinescu, Romanian writer and photographer
• 1951 - Björgvin Halldórsson, Icelandic singer
• 1952 - Bill Belichick, American football coach
• 1952 - Billy West, American voice actor
• 1953 - Peter Garrett, Australian musician (Midnight Oil)
• 1953 - J. Neil Schulman, American writer
• 1954 - Ellen Barkin, American actress
• 1955 - Bruce Bochy, American baseball player and manager
• 1956 - Lise-Marie Morerod, Swiss skier
• 1959 - Alison Ramsay, Scottish field hockey player
• 1960 - Rafael Benítez, Spanish football manager
• 1960 - Pierre Littbarski, German footballer
• 1961 - Doris Dragović, Croatian singer
• 1962 - Ian MacKaye, American musician, (Fugazi and Minor Threat)
• 1963 - Jimmy Osmond, American pop singer (The Osmonds)
• 1964 - Dave Pirner, American rock singer (Soul Asylum)
• 1965 - Jon Cryer, American actor
• 1965 - Martin Lawrence, American actor
• 1965 - Michael Wong Man Tak, Hong Kong based actor, director, singer and producer
• 1971 - Selena, American singer (d. 1995)
• 1971 - Moses Chan, Hong Kong actor
• 1973 - Bonnie Pink, Japanese singer
• 1974 - Xu Jinglei, Chinese actress, singer and director
• 1975 - Sean Maher, American actor
• 1976 - Lukas Haas, American actor
• 1976 - Shu Qi, Taiwanese actress
• 1977 - Fredrik Ljungberg, Swedish footballer
• 1978 - Matthew Lloyd, Australian rules footballer
• 1978 - Lara Dutta, Indian actress and ex-Miss Universe
• 1979 - Howlin' Pelle Almqvist, Swedish musician (The Hives)
• 1979 - Christijan Albers, Dutch Formula 1 driver
• 1980 - Paul London, American professional wrestler
• 1982 - Boris Diaw, French basketball player
• 1982 - Barry Jones, Scottish magician
• 1982 - Jonathan Vilma, American football player
• 1983 - Cat Osterman, American softball pitcher
• 1983 - George Patis, Greek bandminton player
• 1984 - Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, young adult author
• 1985 - Mark Baker, Welsh author and historian
• 1985 - Luol Deng, British-Sudanese basketball player
• 1987 - Aaron Lennon, English footballer

Do not add your own name or people without Wikipedia articles to this list. No red links, please. Do not trust "this year in history" websites for accurate date information. Do not link multiple occurrences of the same year, just link the first occurrence. -->

Deaths

• 69 - Otho, Roman Emperor (b. 32)
• 744 - al-Walid II, Umayyad caliph
• 924 - Berengar of Friuli, King of Italy
• 1113 - Sviatopolk II of Kiev, Russian prince (b. 1050)
• 1118 - Adelaide del Vasto, wife of Roger II of Sicily
• 1198 - Duke Frederick I of Austria
• 1645 - Tobias Hume, English composer
• 1687 - George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, English statesman (b. 1628)
• 1689 - Aphra Behn, English dramatist (b. 1640)
• 1783 - Christian Mayer, Czech astronomer (b. 1719)
• 1788 - Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, French naturalist (b. 1707)
• 1828 - Francisco de Goya, Spanish painter (b. 1746)
• 1846 - Domenico Dragonetti, Italian composer (b. 1763)
• 1859 - Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian (b. 1805)
• 1888 - Zygmunt Florenty Wróblewski, Polish physicist (b. 1845)
• 1904 - Maximilian Kronberger, German poet (b. 1888)
• 1904 - Samuel Smiles, Scottish writer and reformer (b. 1812)
• 1914 - George William Hill, American astronomer (b. 1838)
• 1915 - Nelson W. Aldrich, American politician (b. 1841)
• 1930 - José Carlos Mariátegui, Peruvian journalist, political philosopher and activist (b. 1894)
• 1938 - Steve Bloomer, English footballer (b. 1874)
• 1946 - Arthur Chevrolet, Swiss-born race car driver and automobile designer (b. 1884)
• 1947 - Rudolf Hoess, commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp (b. 1900)
• 1958 - Rosalind Franklin, British chemist (b. 1920)
• 1968 - Edna Ferber, American author (b. 1885)
• 1972 - Kawabata Yasunari, Japanese writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
• 1978 - Lucius Clay, American general (b. 1897)
• 1985 - Scott Brady, American actor (b. 1924)

• 1991 - David Lean, British film director (b. 1908)
• 1992 - Neville Brand, American actor (b. 1920)
• 1994 - Ralph Ellison, American writer (b. 1913)
• 1995 - Iqbal Masih, Pakistani child slave labourer, activist (b. 1982)
• 1996 - Stavros Niarchos, Greek shipping tycoon (b. 1909)
• 1997 - Doris Angleton, American socialite (b. 1951)
• 1997 - Roland Topor, French illustrator (b. 1938)
• 1998 - Fred Davis, English snooker player (b. 1913)
• 1998 - Alberto Calderón, Argentine mathematician (b. 1920)
• 2001 - Michael Ritchie, American film director (b. 1920)
• 2001 - Alec Stock, English football manager (b. 1917)
• 2002 - Ruth Fertel, American restaurateur (b. 1927)
• 2002 - Robert Urich, American actor (b. 1946)
• 2003 - Graham Stuart Thomas, English author and garden designer (b. 1909)
• 2005 - Kay Walsh, British actress (b. 1911)
• 2005 - Marla Ruzicka, American humanitarian worker and peace activist (b. 1976)
• 2006 - Francisco Adam, Portuguese actor and model (b. 1983)

Holidays and observances

• Birthday of the Danish sovereign, Queen Margrethe, celebrated in Greenland.
• Mawlid in Shi'a Islam (2006).

Liturgical Feast days

in the Roman Catholic Church:

• Saint Benedict Joseph Labre
• Saint Drogo
• Saint Fructuosus
• Saint Paternus
• Saint Turibius
• Saints Martial, Urban, Eventius, Caecilian, Julia, and their companions, martyrs of 304
• Blessed Hervé of Tours
• Saint Bernadette

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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