Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/August 16
August 16: Independence Day in Cyprus (1960)
- 1777 - American Revolutionary War: British troops and Hessian mercenaries were routed in the Battle of Bennington.
- 1819 - Cavalry charged into a crowd, turning a public meeting in Manchester, England into the Peterloo massacre.
- 1920 - Cleveland Indian shortstop Ray Chapman was hit by a pitch and died the following day, the only such fatality in a Major League Baseball game to date.
- 1960 - Joseph Kittinger parachuted from a balloon over New Mexico at 102,800 feet (31,330 m), setting records for: high-altitude jump, free-fall height, and fastest speed by a human without an aircraft.
- 1962 - The Beatles fired Pete Best and replaced him with Ringo Starr.