August 16
is the 228th day of the year (229th in
leap years) in the
Gregorian Calendar. There are 137 days remaining.
*
1777 -
American Revolutionary War:
Battle of Bennington -
British forces are defeated by
American troops.
*
1780 - American Revolutionary War:
Battle of Camden - The British defeat the Americans near
Camden, South Carolina.
*
1812 -
War of 1812: American General
William Hull surrenders
Fort Detroit without a fight to the
British Army.
*
1819 - 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.
*
1841 -
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.
*
1858 - U.S. President
James Buchanan inaugurates the new
transatlantic telegraph cable 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.
*
1865 - Restoration Day in the
Dominican Republic, the Dominican Republic Regained it's independence after 4 years of fighting against the Spanish Annexation.
*
1868 - 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.
*
1869 -
Battle of Acosta Ñu, a massacre of a
Paraguay batallion made up of children by the
Brazilian Army during the
War of the Triple Alliance*
1896 -
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.
*
1913 - Tōhoku Imperial University (modern day
Tōhoku University) admits its first female students.
*
1914 -
World War I:
Battle of Cer begins.
*
1915 - 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 2/3 of
Dalmatia (from the river of
Krka to the city of
Bar).
*
1920 -
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.
*
1928 - Murderer
Carl Panzram is arrested in
Washington, DC after killing 20 people.
*
1930 - The first color sound
cartoon, called
Fiddlesticks, is made by
Ub Iwerks*
1942 -
World War II: - The two-person crew of the U.S. naval blimp L-8 disappear without a trace on a routine anti-submarine patrol over the
Pacific Ocean. The blimp drifts without her crew and crashlands in
Daly City,
California.
*
1946 - The Japan Business Federation, or
Keidanren, is established, and Ichirō Ishikawa is appointed its representative.
*
1960 -
Cyprus gains its independence from the
United Kingdom.
* 1960 -
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.
*
1964 -
Vietnam War: A
coup d'état 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.
*
1966 -
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.
*
1969 - Police raid on
Spahn Ranch,
Charles Manson arrested.
*
1972 - The
Royal Moroccan Air Force mistakenly fires upon, but fails to bring down,
Hassan II of Morocco's plane while he is traveling back to
Rabat.
*
1975 - Serial Killer
Ted Bundy originally arrested for suspicion of burglary, only to later escape twice.
*
1984 - Carmaker
John De Lorean is acquitted of all eight counts of possessing and distributing
cocaine.
*
1987 - A
McDonnell Douglas MD-82 carrying
Northwest Airlines flight 255 crashes on takeoff from
Detroit Metropolitan Airport killing 155 people onboard, with the sole survivor four-year old
Cecelia Cichan).
*
2003 -
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.
*
2005 -
West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 crashes near
Machiques,
Venezuela, killing the 160 aboard.
*
1355 -
Philippa Plantagenet, Countess of Ulster
*
1378 -
Hongxi Emperor of China (d.
1425)
*
1557 -
Agostino Carracci, Italian artist (d.
1602)
*
1596 -
Frederick V, Elector Palatine (d.
1632)
*
1645 -
Jean de La Bruyère, French writer (d.
1696)
*
1650 -
Vincenzo Coronelli, Italian cartographer and encylopedist (d.
1718)
*
1682 -
Louis, Duke of Burgundy, heir to the throne of France (d.
1712)
*
1832 -
Wilhelm Wundt, German psychologist (d.
1920)
*
1845 -
Gabriel Lippmann, French physicist,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1921)
*
1860 -
Jules Laforgue, French poet (d.
1887)
*
1862 -
Amos Alonzo Stagg, American coach (d.
1965)
*
1868 -
Bernarr McFadden, American publisher (d.
1955)
*
1884 -
Hugo Gernsback, Luxembourg-born editor and publisher (d.
1967)
*1884 -
Walther von Reichenau, German field marshal (d.
1942)
*
1888 -
T. E. Lawrence, English writer and soldier (d.
1935)
* 1888 -
Armand J. Piron, American musician (d.
1943)
*
1892 -
Otto Messmer, American cartoonist (d.
1983)
*
1894 -
George Meany, American labor union leader (d.
1980)
*
1895 -
Albert Cohen, Swiss novelist (d.
1981)
* 1895 -
Liane Haid, Austrian actress (d.
2000)
*
1902 -
Georgette Heyer, English novelist (d.
1974)
*
1904 -
Wendell Meredith Stanley, American chemist,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1971)
*
1911 -
E. F. Schumacher, German economist and statistician (d.
1977)
*
1912 -
Ted Drake English footballer (d.
1995)
*
1913 -
Menachem Begin,
Prime Minister of Israel, recipient of the
Nobel Peace Prize (d.
1992)
*
1920 -
Charles Bukowski, American poet (d.
1994)
*
1923 -
Millôr Fernandes, Brazilian cartoonist and playwright
*
1924 -
Fess Parker, American actor
*
1925 -
Willie Jones, baseball player (d.
1983)
*
1928 -
Ann Blyth, American actress
*
1929 -
Helmut Rahn, German footballer (d.
2003)
*
1929 -
Fritz Von Erich, Professional wrestler
*
1930 -
Robert Culp, American actor
* 1930 -
Frank Gifford, American football player and announcer
*
1931 -
Eydie Gorme, American singer
*
1933 -
Julie Newmar, American actress
*
1934 -
Diana Wynne Jones, British author
*
1937 -
David Anderson, Canadian politician
*
1939 -
Trevor Mcdonald OBE, Television Newsreader
*
1940 -
Bruce Beresford, Australian film director
*
1946 -
Massoud Barzani, Iraqi Kurdish politician
* 1946 -
Lesley Ann Warren, American actress
* 1946 -
Dick Murdoch, wrestler (d.
1996)
*
1948 -
Mike Jorgensen, baseball player
*
1950 -
Hasely Crawford, Trinidad and Tobago athlete
*
1952 -
Reginald VelJohnson, American actor
*
1953 -
Kathie Lee Gifford, French-born singer and actress
*
1954 -
James Cameron, Canadian film director
*
1958 -
Angela Bassett, American actress
* 1958 -
Madonna, American singer and actress
*
1960 -
Timothy Hutton, American actor
*
1963 -
Steve Carell, American actor and comedian
*
1964 -
Jimmy Arias, American tennis player
*
1967 -
Ulrika Jonsson, Swedish-born television personality
*
1968 -
Mateja Svet, Slovenian alpine skier
*
1972 -
Stan Lazaridis, Australian footballer
*
1973 -
Damian Jackson, baseball player
*
1974 -
Krisztina Egerszegi, Hungarian swimmer
*1974 -
Iván Hurtado, Ecuadorian footballer
* 1974 -
Roger Cedeño, baseball player
*
1975 -
Didier Agathe, French footballer
* 1975 -
George Stults, American actor
*
1976 -
Jonatan Johansson, Finnish footballer
*
1978 -
Eddie Gill, American basketball player
*
1979 -
Michael Stahlman, American rower and coach
*
1980 -
Vanessa Carlton, American singer, songwriter, and pianist
* 1980 -
Robert Hardy, English bassist (
Franz Ferdinand)
*
1981 -
Taylor Rain, American actress
*
1987 -
Kyal Marsh, Australian actor
*
1027 -
Giorgi I, King of Georgia (b.
998)
*
1297 -
John II of Trebizond (b.
1262)
*
1327 -
Roch, French saint
*
1358 - Duke
Albert II of Austria (b.
1298)
*
1419 -
Wenceslaus, King of the Romans, King of Bohemia (b.
1361)
*
1443 -
Ashikaga Yoshikatsu, Japanese shogun (b.
1434)
*
1445 -
Margaret of Scotland (Dauphine of France), wife of
Louis XI. (b.
1424.
*
1518 -
Loyset Compère, French composer
*
1532 -
John, Elector of Saxony (b.
1468)
*
1661 -
Thomas Fuller, English churchman and historian (b.
1608)
*
1678 -
Andrew Marvell, English poet (b.
1621)
*
1705 -
Jakob Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician and scientist (b.
1654)
*
1733 -
Matthew Tindal, English deist (b.
1657)
*
1791 -
Charles-François de Broglie, marquis de Ruffec, French soldier and diplomat (b.
1719)
*
1876 -
Ivan Bilibin, Russian illusitrator (d.
1942)
*
1886 -
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Indian guru (b.
1836)
*
1893 -
Jean-Martin Charcot, French neurologist (b.
1825)
*
1899 -
Robert Wilhelm Bunsen, German chemist (b.
1811)
*
1907 -
James Hector, Scottish geologist (b.
1834)
*
1921 - King
Peter I of Serbia (b.
1844)
*
1938 -
Robert Johnson, American singer and guitarist (b.
1911)
* 1938 -
Andrej Hlinka, Slovak politician and priest (b.
1864)
*
1948 -
Babe Ruth, baseball player (b.
1895)
*
1949 -
Margaret Mitchell, American novelist (b.
1900)
*
1956 -
Bela Lugosi, Hungarian actor (b.
1882)
*
1957 -
Irving Langmuir, American chemist,
Nobel Prize laureate (b.
1881)
*
1959 -
Wanda Landowska, Polish harpsichordist (b.
1879)
*
1973 -
Selman Waksman, Ukrainian-born biochemist, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b.
1888)
*
1975 -
Vladimir Kuts, Ukrainian-born runner (b.
1927)
*
1977 -
Elvis Presley, American singer and actor (b.
1935)
*
1979 -
John Diefenbaker, thirteenth
Prime Minister of Canada (b.
1895)
*
1983 -
Earl Averill, baseball player (b.
1902)
*
1989 -
Amanda Blake, American actress (b.
1929)
*
1990 -
Pat O'Connor, wrestler (b.
1925)
*
1997 -
Gerard McLarnon, Irish playwright and actor (b.
1915)
*
2002 -
Abu Nidal, Palestinian political leader (b.
1937)
* 2002 -
Jeff Corey, American actor (b.
1914)
*
2003 -
Idi Amin, Ugandan dictator (b.
1928)
*
2004 -
Ivan Hlinka, Czech hockey coach (b.
1950)
* 2004 -
Robert Quiroga, American boxer (b.
1969)
*
2005 -
Frère Roger of Taizé, Swiss monk and mystic (b.
1915)
* 2005 -
Joe Ranft,
Pixar animator (b.
1960)
*
RC saints: feast day of Saint
Stephen I of Hungary; Saint
Roch (helps against plague and skin diseases)
*
Eastern Orthodox: commemoration of the translation of the
Acheiropoietos icon which means "Not made by hands", (also known as the
Mandelion; now lost) from Edessa to Constantinople on 16 August
944*
Palio dell'Assunta in
Siena* USA: legal
holiday in Vermont for the
Battle of Bennington in
1777 (which actually took place in the state of New York)
*
BBC: On This DayAugust 15 -
August 17 -
July 16 -
September 16 --
listing of all days
