16 July

Events

• 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.
• 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.
• 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 for violating a provision of the DMCA.
• 2002 - Simon & Garfunkel release the album Live In New York City, 1967, a live recording of their 22 January 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.

Births

• 1486 - Andrea del Sarto, painter (+ 1530)
• 1821 - Mary Baker Eddy, founded Christian Science (+ 1910)
• 1834 - Franz Adolf Lüderitz, salesman and politician (+ 1886)
• 1872 - Roald Amundsen, explorer, discovered South Pole (+ 1928)
• 1888 - Percy Kilbride, actor (Pa Kettle) (+ 1964)
• 1896 - Trygve Lie, the first United Nations Secretary General (+ 1968)
• 1902 - Georg Schwarz, writer (+ 1991)
• 1903 - Carmen Lombardo - singer, saxophonist, composer, arranger (+ 1971)
• 1907 - Barbara Stanwyck, actress
• 1907 - Dr. Frances Horwich, "Miss Francis" from Ding Dong School (+ 2001)
• 1911 - Ginger Rogers, actress and dancer
• 1913 - Peter van Eyck, actor (+ 1969)
• 1924 - Bess Myerson, former Miss America, television personality
• 1925 - Cal Tjader, musician (+ 1982)
• 1948 - Rubén Blades, actor, musician, politician
• 1952 - Stewart Copeland, musician
• 1956 - Tony Kushner, playwright
• 1963 - Phoebe Cates, actress
• 1963 - Fatboy Slim, musician
• 1964 - Miguel Induraín, Spanish cyclist

Deaths

• 1848 - Jons Jacob Berzelius, Swedish chemist
• 1979 - Alfred Deller, singer, early modern countertenor
• 1981 - Harry Chapin, singer and songwriter
• 1999 - John F. Kennedy Jr.
• 2003 - Celia Cruz, Cuban salsa musician
• 2003 - Carol Shields, Canadian author

Holidays and observances

• Botswana - President's Day (2nd day)

July 15 - July 17 - June 16 - August 16 -- listing of all days

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Referenced By