February 16
February 16 is the 47th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 318 days remaining (319 in leap years).
Events:
- 1804 - Stephen Decatur leads a raid to burn the pirate-held frigate Philadelphia.
- 1857 - The National Deaf Mute College (later renamed Gallaudet College) is established in Washington, DC becoming the first school for the advanced education of the deaf.
- 1868 - In New York City the Jolly Gorks organization is renamed the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE).
- 1883 - Ladies Home Journal is published for the first time.
- 1918 - Lithuania declares its independence.
- 1923 - Howard Carter unseals the burial chamber of Pharaoh Tutankhamun.
- 1937 - Wallace H. Carothers receives a patent for nylon.
- 1945 - World War II: American forces land on Corregidor island in the Philippines.
- 1959 - Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba after President Fulgencio Batista was overthrown on January 1.
- 1968 - In Haleyville, Alabama the first 9-1-1 emergency telephone system goes into service.
- 1970 - Joe Frazier starts a heavyweight world boxing champion winning streak with the knock out of Jimmy Ellis in five rounds.
- 1983 - The Ash Wednesday bushfires in Victoria and South Australia claim the lives of 71 people in Australia's worst ever fires.
- 1987 - The trial of John Demjanjuk, who was accused of being a Nazi guard dubbed "Ivan the Terrible" in Treblinka extermination camp, starts in Jerusalem. He was eventually convicted, but this ruling was overturned by the Israeli Supreme Court.
- 1989 - Pan Am flight 103: Investigators announce that the cause of the crash was a bomb hidden inside a radio-cassette player.
- 1991 - Gulf War: U.S. and U.K. war planes bomb the suburbs of Baghdad injuring at least 11 civilians and killing three others.
- 1999 -
- In Uzbekistan a bomb explodes and gunfire is heard at the government headquarters in an apparent assassination attempt against President Islam Karimov
- Across Europe, Kurdish rebels take-over embassies and hold hostages after Turkey arrested one of their rebel leaders, Abdullah Ocalan.
- In Jasper, Texas, testimony begins in the trial of John William King who is accused of dragging African American James Byrd Jr to death in an apparent hate crime. King was later convicted and sentenced to the death penalty.
Births:
- 1497 - Philipp Melanchthon, humanist and reformer (+ 1560)
- 1620 - Friedrich Wilhelm, called "Great Elector" of Brandenburg-Prussia (+ 1688)
- 1826 - Joseph Victor von Scheffel, poet (+ 1886)
- 1834 - Ernst Haeckel, zoologist and philosopher (+ 1919)
- 1935 - Sonny Bono entertainer and politician
- 1959 - John MacEnroe tennis player
Deaths:
- 2002 Walter Winterbottom, the first England football manager.
Holidays and observances:
See Also: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
February 15 - February 17 - January 16 - March 16 - Historical anniversaries