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This day in history

This day in history: 16 August

Events, births and deaths on this date, ordered by how many people look them up.

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Born on this day · Died on this day216 · 112

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Key facts

397 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 16 August.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
2020: The August Complex fire in California burns more than one million acres of land.

Holidays and observances

Bennington Battle Day (Vermont, United States)

Children's Day (Paraguay)

Christian feast day: Ana Petra Pérez Florido

Christian feast day: Armel (Armagillus)

Christian feast day: August 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Christian feast day: Diomedes of Tarsus

Christian feast day: Roch

Christian feast day: Stephen I of Hungary

Christian feast day: Translation of the Acheiropoietos icon from Edessa to Constantinople. (Eastern Orthodox Church)

Gozan no Okuribi (Kyoto, Japan)

National Airborne Day (United States)

Restoration Day (Dominican Republic)

Events

2020The August Complex fire in California burns more than one million acres of land.

2015More than 96 people are killed and hundreds injured following a series of air-raids by the Syrian Arab Air Force on the rebel-held market town of Douma.

2015Trigana Air Flight 267, an ATR 42, crashes in Oksibil, Bintang Mountains Regency, killing all 54 people on board.

2013The ferry St. Thomas Aquinas collides with a cargo ship and sinks at Cebu, Philippines, killing 61 people with 59 others missing.

2012South African police fatally shoot 34 miners and wound 78 more during an industrial dispute at Marikana near Rustenburg.

2010AIRES Flight 8250 crashes at Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport in San Andrés, San Andrés y Providencia, Colombia, killing two people.

2008The Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago is topped off at 1,389 feet (423 m), at the time becoming the world's highest residence above ground-level.

2005West Caribbean Airways Flight 708, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, crashes in Machiques, Venezuela, killing all 160 people on board.

1991Indian Airlines Flight 257, a Boeing 737-200, crashes during approach to Imphal Airport, killing all 69 people on board.

1989A solar particle event affects computers at the Toronto Stock Exchange, forcing a halt to trading.

1987Northwest Airlines Flight 255, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, crashes after takeoff in Detroit, Michigan, killing 154 of the 155 on board, plus two people on the ground.

1986A Sudan Airways Fokker F27 Friendship is shot down near Malakal in present day South Sudan, killing 60.

1975Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam symbolically hands over land to the Gurindji people after the eight-year Wave Hill walk-off, a landmark event in the history of Indigenous land rights in Australia, commemorated in a 1991 song by Paul

1972In an unsuccessful coup d'état attempt, the Royal Moroccan Air Force fires upon Hassan II of Morocco's plane while he is traveling back to Rabat.

1966Vietnam 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 meet

1964Vietnam War: A coup d'état replaces Dương Văn Minh with General Nguyễn Khánh as President of South Vietnam. A new constitution is established with aid from the U.S. Embassy.

1960Cyprus gains its independence from the United Kingdom.

1960Joseph Kittinger parachutes from a balloon over New Mexico, United States, at 102,800 feet (31,300 m), setting three records that held until 2012: High-altitude jump, free fall, and highest speed by a human without an aircraft.

1954The first issue of Sports Illustrated is published.

1946Mass riots in Kolkata begin; more than 4,000 people would be killed in 72 hours.

1946The All Hyderabad Trade Union Congress is founded in Secunderabad.

1945The National Representatives' Congress, the precursor of the current National Assembly of Vietnam, convenes in Sơn Dương.

1944First flight of a jet with forward-swept wings, the Junkers Ju 287.

1943World War II: 317 Greek civilians are murdered by soldiers of the German 1st Mountain Division in the village of Kommeno, Greece.

1942World War II: US Navy L-class blimp L-8 drifts in from the Pacific and eventually crashes in Daly City, California. The two-man crew cannot be found.

1933Christie Pits riot takes place in Toronto, Ontario.

1930The first British Empire Games are opened in Hamilton, Ontario, by the Governor General of Canada, the Viscount Willingdon.

1930The first color sound cartoon, Fiddlesticks, is released by Ub Iwerks.

1929The 1929 Palestine riots break out in Mandatory Palestine between Palestinian Arabs and Jews and continue until the end of the month. In total, 133 Jews and 116 Arabs are killed.

1927The Dole Air Race begins from Oakland, California, to Honolulu, Hawaii, during which six out of the eight participating planes crash or disappear.

1923The United Kingdom gives the name "Ross Dependency" to part of its claimed Antarctic territory and makes the Governor-General of the Dominion of New Zealand its administrator.

1920Polish–Soviet War: The Battle of Radzymin concludes; the Soviet Red Army is forced to turn away from Warsaw.

1920Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians is hit on the head by a fastball thrown by Carl Mays of the New York Yankees. Next day, Chapman will become the second player to die from injuries sustained in a Major League Baseball game.

1920The congress of the Communist Party of Bukhara opens. The congress would call for armed revolution.

1918The Battle of Lake Baikal is fought between the Czechoslovak Legion and the Red Army.

1916The Migratory Bird Treaty between Canada and the United States is signed.

1914German admiral Wilhelm Souchon hands over the two warships under his command to the Ottomans and becomes commander of the Turkish navy, leading later to the entry of the Ottoman Empire in World War I.

1913Completion of the Royal Navy battlecruiser HMS Queen Mary.

1913Tōhoku Imperial University of Japan (modern day Tohoku University) becomes the first university in Japan to admit female students.

1906The 8.2 Mw Valparaíso earthquake hits central Chile, killing 3,882 people.

Born on this day

2001Jannik Sinner, Italian tennis player

1999Karen Chen, American figure skater

1997Greyson Chance, American musician

1996Caeleb Dressel, American swimmer

1996Sophie Cunningham, American basketball player

1993Cameron Monaghan, American actor and model

1992Diego Schwartzman, Argentinian tennis player

1991Evanna Lynch, Irish actress

1991José Eduardo de Araújo, Brazilian footballer

1991Young Thug, American rapper, singer and songwriter

1990Godfrey Oboabona, Nigerian footballer

1989Cedric Alexander, American wrestler

1989Moussa Sissoko, French footballer

1989Wang Hao, Chinese race walker

1988Ismaïl Aissati, Moroccan footballer

1988Rumer Willis, American actress

1988Ryan Kerrigan, American football player

1987Carey Price, Canadian ice hockey player

1987Eri Kitamura, Japanese voice actress and singer.

1986Kany Diabaté Ahn, French dancer and choreographer

1986Martín Maldonado, Puerto Rican baseball player

1986Shawn Pyfrom, American actor

1986Yu Darvish, Japanese baseball player

1985Cristin Milioti, American actress

1984Candice Dupree, American basketball player

1984Konstantin Vassiljev, Estonian footballer

1984Matteo Anesi, Italian speed skater

1983Nikolaos Zisis, Greek basketball player

1982Cam Gigandet, American actor

1982Joleon Lescott, English footballer

1981Roque Santa Cruz, Paraguayan footballer

1980Emerson Ramos Borges, Brazilian footballer

1980Vanessa Carlton, American singer-songwriter

1979Ian Moran, Australian cricketer

1979Paul Gallacher, Scottish footballer

1975Didier Agathe, French footballer

1975George Stults, American actor

1975Jonatan Johansson, Finnish footballer, coach, and manager

1975Taika Waititi, New Zealand director, screenwriter and actor

1974Didier Cuche, Swiss skier

Died on this day

2026Hayden Panettiere, American actress and singer (born 1989)

2023Howard S. Becker, American sociologist (born 1928)

2021Sean Lock, English comedian and actor (born 1963)

2019Peter Fonda, American actor, director, and screenwriter. (born 1940)

2019Richard Williams, Canadian-British animator (born 1933)

2018Aretha Franklin, American singer-songwriter (born 1942)

2018Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Indian poet and 12th Prime Minister of India (born 1924)

2018Wakako Yamauchi, American-Japanese writer (born 1924)

2016João Havelange, Brazilian water polo player, lawyer, and businessman (born 1916)

2016John McLaughlin, American television personality (born 1927)

2015Anna Kashfi, British actress (born 1934)

2015Jacob Bekenstein, Mexican-American physicist, astronomer, and academic (born 1947)

2015Mile Mrkšić, Serb general (born 1947)

2015Shuja Khanzada, Pakistani colonel and politician (born 1943)

2014Mario Oriani-Ambrosini, Italian-South African lawyer and politician (born 1960)

2014Patrick Aziza, Nigerian general and politician, Governor of Kebbi State (born 1947)

2014Peter Scholl-Latour, German journalist, author, and academic (born 1924)

2014Vsevolod Nestayko, Ukrainian author (born 1930)

2013David Rees, Welsh mathematician and academic (born 1918)

2012Abune Paulos, Ethiopian patriarch (born 1935)

2012Martine Franck, Belgian photographer and director (born 1938)

2012Princess Lalla Amina of Morocco (born 1954)

2012William Windom, American actor (born 1923)

2011Mihri Belli, Turkish activist and politician (born 1916)

2010Dimitrios Ioannidis, Greek general (born 1923)

2008Dorival Caymmi, Brazilian singer-songwriter and actor (born 1914)

2008Masanobu Fukuoka, Japanese farmer and author (born 1913)

2008Ronnie Drew, Irish musician, folk singer and actor (born 1934)

2007Bahaedin Adab, Iranian engineer and politician (born 1945)

2006Alfredo Stroessner, Paraguayan general and dictator; 46th President of Paraguay (born 1912)

Quote of the day

“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.”

Marcus Aurelius

Questions people ask

Where do the entries come from?

From Wikipedia’s on-this-day pages for this language, updated once a day and ordered by how often each article is read.

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