16th July
July 16 is the 197th day (198th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 168 days remaining.
Events
- 622 - Beginning of the Islamic calendar.
- 1769 - First performance of Mozart's opera The Abduction from the Seraglio.
- 1769 - Father Junipero Serra founds Mission San Diego de Alcalá, the first mission in California. The mission later evolves into the city of San Diego
- 1779 - American Revolutionary War: United States forces led by General Anthony Wayne capture Stony Point, New York from British troops.
- 1783 - Grants of land in Canada to American loyalists announced.
- 1790 - The signing of the Residence Bill establishes a site along the Potomac River as the District of Columbia (seat of government) of the United States (see Washington, DC).
- 1862 - American Civil War: David G. Farragut becomes the first United States Navy rear admiral.
- 1880 - First woman licensed to practice medicine in Canada - Dr. Emily Howard Stowe.
- 1914 - Hellenic Holocaust: According to the German Consul Kuchhoff: "The entire Greek population of Sinope and the coastal region of the county of Kastanome has been exiled. Exile and extermination in Turkish are the same, for whoever is not murdered, will die from hunger or illness."
- 1918 - Russian Revolution: At Ekaterinburg, Bolsheviks execute Czar Nicholas II of Russia and his family.
- 1942 - Holocaust: On order from the Vichy France government headed by Pierre Laval, French police officers round-up 13,000-20,000 Jews and imprison them in the Winter Velodrome.
- 1945 - Manhattan Project: The Atomic Age begins when the United States successfully detonates a plutonium-based test nuclear weapon at the Trinity site near Alamogordo, New Mexico.
- 1951 - The novel Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger was published.
- 1957 - United States Marine Major John Glenn flies a F8U supersonic jet from California to New York in 3 hours, 23 minutes and 8 seconds setting a new transcontinental speed record.
- 1969 - Apollo program: Apollo 11 launches off from Cape Kennedy, Florida with the goal to become the first manned space mission to land on the moon.
- 1973 - Watergate Scandal: Former White House aide Alexander P. Butterfield informs the United States Senate committee investigating scandal that President Richard Nixon had secretly recorded potentially incriminating conversations.
- 1979 - Iraqi President Hasan al-Bakr resigns and Saddam Hussein replaces him.
- 1990 - In the Philippines, an earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter Scale kills over 1600.
- 1994 - The planet Jupiter is hit by fragments of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet.
- 1994 - The civil war in Rwanda comes to an end.
- 1999 - Off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, a plane piloted by John F. Kennedy Jr. crashes with his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and her sister Lauren Bessette on board. All three are killed in the crash.
- 2001 - The FBI arrests Dmitry Sklyarov at a convention in Las Vegas, Nevada for violating a provision of the DMCA.
- 2002 - Simon & Garfunkel release the album Live In New York City, 1967, a live recording of their January 22, 1967 concert at Philharmonic Hall.
- 2003 - an Australian research team led by Graham Giles of The Cancer Council published a medical study which concluded that frequent masturbation by males may help prevent the development of prostate cancer, marking the almost complete rehabilitation of the sexual practice from a dangerous health risk to a beneficial preventative health measure.
- 2004 - Millennium Park, considered the first and most ambitious architectural project in the early 21st century for Chicago, is opened to the public by Mayor of Chicago Richard M. Daley.
- 2004 - Barclays Bank freezes the bank accounts of the British National Party
Births
- 1486 - Andrea del Sarto, painter (d. 1530)
- 1821 - Mary Baker Eddy, founded Christian Science (d. 1910)
- 1834 - Franz Adolf Lüderitz, salesman and politician (d. 1886)
- 1872 - Roald Amundsen, explorer, discovered South Pole (d. 1928)
- 1888 - Percy Kilbride, actor (Pa Kettle) (d. 1964)
- 1896 - Trygve Lie, the first United Nations Secretary General (d. 1968)
- 1902 - Georg Schwarz, writer (d. 1991)
- 1903 - Carmen Lombardo - singer, saxophonist, composer, arranger (d. 1971)
- 1907 - Barbara Stanwyck, actress
- 1907 - Dr. Frances Horwich, "Miss Francis" from Ding Dong School (d. 2001)
- 1911 - Ginger Rogers, actress and dancer (d. 1995)
- 1913 - Peter van Eyck, actor (d. 1969)
- 1919 - Choi Kyuha, President of South Korea
- 1924 - Bess Myerson, former Miss America, television personality
- 1925 - Cal Tjader, musician (d. 1982)
- 1948 - Rubén Blades, actor, musician, politician
- 1952 - Stewart Copeland, musician
- 1956 - Tony Kushner, playwright
- 1963 - Phoebe Cates, actress
- 1963 - Fatboy Slim, musician
- 1963 - Srečko Katanec, Slovenian football player, coach
- 1964 - Miguel Induráin, Spanish cyclist
- 1964 - Phil Hellmuth, professional poker player
- 1968 - Barry Sanders, Pro Football Hall of Famer
- 1971 - Corey Feldman, Actor
Deaths
Holidays and observances
- Botswana - President's Day (2nd day)
- Catholic - Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
July 15 - July 17 - June 16 - August 16 -- listing of all days
