August 16



Events

Up to 1900 
1 BC  China: Wang Mang is declared marshal of the state. Emepror Ai of Han, who died the previous day, had no living heirs.
1513  Battle of Guinegate: Henry VIII of England and his imperial allies defeat French forces who are then forced to retreat.
1728  Vitus Bering reaches the Diomede Islands between Siberia and Alaska in the now-named Bering Strait.
1777  American Revolutionary War: American troops defeat British forces at the Battle of Bennington in Walloomsac, New York.
1780  American Revolutionary War: Battle of Camden - British forces defeat American forces near Camden, South Carolina.
1787  Lieutenant William Bligh takes command of HMAV Bounty.
1801  Horatio Nelson fails in an attempt to attack a French fleet in Boulogne-sur-Mer on France's English Channel coast.
1812  War of 1812 - American General William Hull surrenders Fort Detroit, without a fight, to the British Army.
1812  Arnold Abbuehl, Joseph Bortis and Alois Volker become the first people to climb the mountain Finsteraarhorn in the Swiss Alps.
1819  Peterloo Massacre: 17 people die and over 600 are injured in cavalry charges at a public meeting in St. Peter's Field, Manchester, England, UK.
1858  US President James Buchanan inaugurates a new transatlantic telegraph cable by exchanging greetings with Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. A weak line forces the service to close after just a few weeks.
1863  Fighting starts between the Dominican Republic and Spain over Dominican independence.
1868  Arica, in Peru (now in Chile) is hit by a magnitude 8.5 earthquake. Resulting tsunamis kill thousands of people.
1870  Franco-Prussian War: The Battle of Mars-la-Tour is fought, resulting in a Prussian victory.
1896  Klondike Gold Rush: Keish, George Carnack and Dawson Charlie discover gold in a tributary of the Klondike River in the Yukon, northwestern Canada.

1901  2000 
1906  A magnitude 8.2 earthquake strikes Valparaiso, Chile, killing almost 3,900 people.
1913  Tohoku Imperial University becomes the first university in Japan to allow female students to study at its institution.
1914  World War I: The Battle of Cer begins troops of Austria-Hungary enter Serbian territory.
1930  The first colour sound cartoon, Fiddlesticks, is created by Ub Iwerks.
1930  The first British Empire Games begin in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. In later years, these games become better known as the Commonwealth Games.
1935  The first successful climb of Gunnbjorn Fjeld, the highest mountain in Greenland, takes place.
1936  1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany end.
1936  Spanish Civil War: Republican troops land on Mallorca, starting the Battle of Mallorca.
1942  German U-Boat U-507 sinks three civilian Brazilian ships off Brazil's coast. They are Araraguara (131 killed), Anibal Benevelo (150 killed) and Baependy (270 killed).
1944  First flight of a Junkers Ju 287 aircraft.
1945  Puyi, the last Chinese Emperor, and ruler of Manchuria, is captured by Soviet troops.
1945  An assassination attempt is made on Prime Minister of Japan Kantaro Suzuki.
1945  Poland cedes 46 % of its previous territory to the Soviet Union.
1946  Mass riots begin in Kolkata, killing 4,000 people in 3 days.
1954  The first issue of Sports Illustrated is published.
1960  Cyprus gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
1960  Joseph Kittinger parachutes from a balloon over New Mexico.
1962  The Beatles fire Pete Best and hire Ringo Starr.
1962  Algeria joins the Arab League.
1964  A coup occurs in South Vietnam, where President Duong Van Minh is replaced by Nguyen Khanh.
1972  An unsuccessful coup attempt is made in Morocco, as the Royal Moroccan Air Force fires at the plane of King Hassan II of Morocco, who is flying back to the capital, Rabat, at the time.
1974  The Ramones play their first show in the New York City nightclub CBGB's.
1975  Police arrest serial killer Ted Bundy.
1976  A magnitude 7.9 earthquake strikes the island of Mindanao, Philippines.
1976  ABBA's hit single Dancing Queen is released.
1977  Singer, musician and actor Elvis Presley dies at the age of 42, leading to a worldwide outpouring of grief.
1987  A McDonnell Douglas MD-82 aircraft of Northwest Airlines crashes in Detroit, killing 154 people, leaving only one survivor.
1988  The dam of the Bagauda Reservoir in Nigeria breaks, killing 23 people.
1989  A solar flare from the Sun creates a geomagnetic storm that affects micro chips.

From 2001 
2004  Heavy rains cause a river to flood the small coastal town of Boscastle in Cornwall, England.
2004  The Cassini Huygens space probe discovers two moons of Saturn.
2005  A West Caribbean Airlines plane crashes near Machiques in Northwestern Venezuela, killing all 160 people on board.
2007  Tropical Storm Erin makes landfall near Lamar, Texas.
2008  The Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago is topped off at 423 meters (1,389 feet).
2012  South African police shoot 34 miners dead during an industrial dispute at the Marikana Mine.
2012  Ecuador agrees to give asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who remains in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London.
2013  Over 80 protestors are killed in violence across Egypt, two days after hundreds of people were killed in Cairo.
2013  The ferry St. Thomas Aquinas sinks off Cebu, Philippines, killing at least 61, and leaving over 59 missing. The accident happened as a result of a collision with a cargo ship.
2013  In addition to the 10,000-meter title six days earlier, Mo Farah also wins the 5,000-meter title at the World Athletics Championships in Moscow. He is only the second man to hold these titles in both the Olympics and World Championships at the same time.
2018  American singer Aretha Franklin dies aged 76 on the 41st anniversary of Elvis Presley's death, and on Madonna's 60th birthday.

Births

Up to 1900 
1355  Philippa, 5th Countess of Ulster (d. 1382)
1378  Hongxi Emperor, Chinese Emperor (d. 1425)
1397  Albert II of Germany, nobleman (d. 1439)
1401  Jacqueline, Countess of Hainault (d. 1436)
1557  Agostino Carracci, Italian painter (d. 1602)
1564  Federico Borromeo, Italian cardinal (d. 1631)
1573  Anna of Austria, Queen of Poland (d. 1598)
1596  Frederick V, Elector Palatine (d. 1632)
1604  Bernard of Saxony-Weimar, German general (d. 1639)
1645  Jean de la Bruyère, French writer (d. 1696)
1650  Vincenzo Coronelli, Italian mapmaker (d. 1718)
1682  Louis, Dauphin of France, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1712)
1744  Pierre Méchain, French physician (d. 1804)
1761  Yevstingney Fomin, Russian composer (d. 1800)
1798  Mirabeau B. Lamar, President of the Republic of Texas (d. 1859)
1802  Isaac Adams, American inventor (d. 1883)
1815  John Bosco, Italian Catholic priest (d. 1888)
1820  Andrew Rainsford Wetmore, 1st Premier of New Brunswick (d. 1892)
1821  Arthur Cayley, English mathematician (d. 1895)
1831  John Jones Ross, 7th Premier of Quebec (d. 1901)
1832  Wilhelm Wundt, German psychologist (d. 1920)
1842  Jakob Rosanes, Ukrainian-German mathematician, chess player and academic (d. 1922)
1845  Gabriel Lippmann, French physicist (d. 1921)
1849  Johan Kjeldahl, Danish chemist (d. 1900)
1855  James McGowen, Australian politician, 18th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1922)
1856  Aparicio Saravia, Uruguayan politician and military leader (d. 1904)
1860  Jules Laforgue, French poet (d. 1887)
1862  Amos Alonzo Stagg, American baseball player and coach (d. 1965)
1864  Elsie Inglis, Scottish physician and suffragist (d. 1917)
1865  James Joseph Dougherty, Archbishop of Philadelphia (d. 1951)
1869  Leon Kauffman, Prime Minister of Luxembourg (d. 1952)
1871  Zakaria Paliashvili, Georgian composer (d. 1933)
1876  Ivan Bilibin, Russian illustrator (d. 1942)
1882  Christian Mortensen, Danish-American supercentenarian (d. 1998)
1884  Hugo Gernsback, Luxembourg-American writer (d. 1967)
1887  Hugh Dalton, British politician (d. 1962)
1888  T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), British writer and soldier (d. 1935)
1888  Armand J. Piron, American violinist, bandleader and composer (d. 1943)
1891  Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen (d. 1971)
1892  Otto Messmer, American cartoonist (d. 1983)
1895  Albert Cohen, Swiss novelist (d. 1981)

1901  1950 
1902  Georgette Heyer, British writer (d. 1974)
1904  Minoru Genda, Japanese military aviator and politician (d. 1989)
1904  Wendell Meredith Stanley, American chemist (d. 1971)
1905  Marian Rejewski, Polish mathematician (d. 1980)
1906  Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein (d. 1989)
1908  Orlando Cole, American cello teacher (d. 2010)
1911  E. F. Schumacher, German-British economist (d. 1977)
1912  Ted Drake, English cricketer and footballer (d. 1995)
1913  Menachem Begin, 6th Prime Minister of Israel (d. 1992)
1920  Charles Bukowski, American writer (d. 1994)
1924  Fess Parker, American actor (d. 2010)
1928  Ann Blyth, American actress and singer
1928  Eydie Gormé, American singer (d. 2013)
1928  Ara Güler, Armenian-Turkish photojournalist (d. 2018)
1929  Helmut Rahn, German footballer (d. 2003)
1929  Bill Evans, American jazz musician, composer and bandleader (d. 1980)
1930  Robert Culp, American actor (d. 2010)
1930  Frank Gifford, American football player and announcer (d. 2015)
1930  Leslie Manigat, 43rd President of Haiti (d. 2014)
1930  Wolfgang Völz, German actor (d. 2018)
1933  Stuart Roosa, American astronaut (d. 1994)
1934  Diana Wynne Jones, British writer (d. 2011)
1934  Pierre Richard, French actor
1935  Andreas Stamatiadis, Greek footballer and coach
1937  Lorraine Gary, American actress
1938  Rocco Granata, Italian singer
1938  Bill Masterton, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1968)
1939  Valery Ryumin, Soviet-Russian cosmonaut
1939  Trevor McDonald, Trinidadian-British broadcaster and journalist
1939  Sean Brady, Irish cardinal and Archbishop of Armagh
1940  Bruce Beresford, Australian director
1940  John Craven, British journalist
1940  Aleksander Mandziara, Polish footballer and coach (d. 2015)
1941  Ahmed al-Mirghani, President of Sudan (d. 2008)
1942  Lesley Turner, Australian tennis player
1944  Kevin Ayers, British singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
1945  Suzanne Farrell, American ballet dancer
1946  Lesley Ann Warren, American actress
1946  Massoud Barzani, First President of Iraqi Kurdistan
1947  Ephraïm Inoni, Prime Minister of Cameroon
1947  Carol Moseley Braun, American lawyer and politician
1948  Earl Blumenauer, American politician
1948  Annemarie Huber-Hotz, Swiss Federal Chancellor (d. 2019)
1949  Scott Asheton, American musician (The Stooges)
1950  Hasely Crawford, Trinidadian athlete
1950  Jack Unterweger, Austrian murderer (d. 1994)

1951  1975 
1951  Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, President of Nigeria (d. 2010)
1953  Kathie Lee Gifford, American talk show host, singer and actress
1954  James Cameron, Canadian movie director
1954  George Galloway, British politician
1956  Vahan Hovhannisyan, Armenian politician (d. 2014)
1956  R. R. Patil, Indian politician (d. 2015)
1957  Laura Innes, American actress
1957  Phil Murphy, American politician, diplomat and investment banker, 56th Governor of New Jersey
1958  Madonna, American singer and actress
1958  Angela Bassett, American actress
1958  Oscar Collodo, Swiss-Italian rugby player and coach
1960  Timothy Hutton, American actor
1960  Franz Welser-Möst, Austrian conductor
1962  Ayub Bachchu, Bangladeshi singer-songwriter (d. 2018)
1962  Steve Carell, American actor and comedian
1963  Christine Cavanaugh, American voice actress (d. 2014)
1964  Jimmy Arias, American tennis player
1964  Barry Venison, English footballer and journalist
1967  Ulrika Jonsson, Swedish-British television personality
1970  Fabio Casartelli, Italian cyclist (d. 1995)
1970  Manisha Koirala, Nepalese Bollywood actress
1970  Seth Peterson, American actor
1971  Matthew Bingley, Australian footballer
1971  Dirk Lehmann, German footballer
1971  Stefan Klos, German footballer
1971  Rulon Gardner, American wrestler
1972  Stan Lazaridis, Australian footballer
1972  Emily Robison, American country music singer (Dixie Chicks)
1972  Frankie Boyle, Scottish comedian
1974  Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Guyanese cricketer
1974  Ivan Hurtado, Ecuadorean footballer
1975  Didier Agathe, French footballer
1975  Tamara Natalie Madden, Jamaican-American artist (d. 2017)

From 1976 
1976  Jonatan Johansson, Finnish footballer
1978  Fu Mingxia, Chinese diver
1979  Cleo Lemon, American NFL player
1980  Hwangbo, South Korean singer, rapper and actress
1980  Vanessa Carlton, American singer-songwriter and pianist
1980  Robert Hardy, British musician (Franz Ferdinand)
1981  Roque Santa Cruz, Paraguayan footballer
1982  Joleon Lescott, English footballer
1983  Poom Jensen, Thai royal (d. 2004)
1983  Nikolaos Zisis, Greek basketball player
1984  Candice Dupree, American basketball player
1984  Matteo Anesi, Italian speed skater
1987  Carey Price, Canadian ice hockey player
1988  Kevin Schmidt, American actor
1989  Wang Hao, Chinese athlete
1991  G.E.M., Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actress
1991  Kwon Ri-se, South Korean singer (d. 2014)
1991  Evanna Lynch, Irish actress
1991  Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse, Canadian actress
1993  Cameron Monaghan, American actor
1997  Greyson Chance, American singer
1997  Piper Curda, American actress and singer

Deaths

Up to 1900 
1027  King Giorgi I of Georgia (b. 998)
1297  John II of Trebizond (b. 1262)
1358  Albert II, Duke 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, Consort of Louis XI of France (b. 1424)
1532  John, Elector of Saxony (b. 1468)
1705  Jakob Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician and scientist (b. 1654)
1791  Charles-Francois de Broglie, marquis de Ruffec, French soldier and diplomat (b. 1719)
1836  Marc-Antoine Parseval, French mathematician (b. 1755)
1880  Herschel Vespasian Johnson, American politician, Governor of Georgia (b. 1812)
1886  Ramakrishna, Bengali saint (b. 1836)
1888  John Pemberton, American inventor of Coca-Cola (b. 1831)
1893  Jean-Martin Charcot, French neurologist (b. 1825)
1899  Robert Wilhelm Bunsen, German chemist (b. 1811)
1900  Eça de Queiroz, Portuguese writer (b. 1845)

1901  2000 
1910  Pedro Montt, President of Chile (b. 1849)
1911  Patrick Francis Moran, Irish-Australian cardinal (b. 1830)
1921  Peter I of Serbia (b. 1844)
1937  Rodolfo Chiari, President of Panama (b. 1869)
1938  Robert Johnson, American musician (b. 1911)
1940  Henri Desgrange, French journalist (b. 1865)
1945  Takijirō Ōnishi, Japanese naval leader (b. 1891)
1948  Babe Ruth, American baseball player (b. 1895)
1949  Margaret Mitchell, American writer (b. 1900)
1951  Louis Jouvet, French actor and producer (b. 1887)
1956  Bela Lugosi, Hungarian actor (b. 1882)
1957  Irving Langmuir, American chemist (b. 1881)
1959  Wanda Landowska, Polish harpsichordist (b. 1879)
1961  Maulvi Abdul Haq, Indian Urdu educator and linguist (b. 1870)
1972  Pierre Brasseur, French actor (b. 1905)
1973  Selman Waksman, Ukrainian-American biochemist (b. 1888)
1975  Vladimir Kuts, Ukrainian distance runner (b. 1927)
1977  Elvis Presley, American singer and actor (b. 1935)
1978  Tjarda von Starkenborgh Stachouwer, Dutch nobleman and statesman (b. 1888)
1979  John Diefenbaker, Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1895)
1986  Jaime Saenz, Bolivian writer (b. 1921)
1989  Amanda Blake, American actress (b. 1929)
1989  Jean-Hilaire Aubame, Prime Minister of Gabon (b. 1912)
1991  Luigi Zampa, Italian movie director (b. 1905)
1993  Stewart Granger, British actor (b. 1913)
1998  Dorothy West, American author (b. 1907)

From 2001 
2002  Abu Nidal, Palestinian political leader (b. 1937)
2003  Idi Amin, Dictator of Uganda (b. around 1928)
2004  Ivan Hlinka, Czech ice hockey coach (b. 1950)
2005  Frère Roger, Swiss monk and mystic (b. 1915)
2006  Alfredo Stroessner, President of Paraguay (b. 1912)
2007  Max Roach, American musician and composer (b. 1924)
2008  Ronnie Drew, Irish singer (The Dubliners) (b. 1934)
2009  Warren E. Earnes, 46th Governor of Missouri (b. 1923)
2010  Dimitrios Ioannidis, Greek military officer (b. 1923)
2010  Nicola Cabibbo, Italian physicist (b. 1935)
2011  Andrej Bajuk, Slovenian banker and politician (b. 1943)
2012  Abune Paulos, Ethiopian Orthodox Church Patriarch (b. 1935)
2012  William Windom, American actor (b. 1923)
2013  Roy Bonisteel, Canadian journalist and television host (b. 1930)
2014  Peter Scholl-Latour, German historian and author (b. 1924)
2014  Fernand St. Germain, American politician (b. 1928)
2015  Shuja Khanzada, Pakistani politician (b. 1943)
2016  Joao Havelange, Brazilian football official, President of FIFA (b. 1916)
2017  Vera Glagoleva, Russian actress (b. 1956)
2017  David Somerset, 11th Duke of Beaufort, British peer (b. 1928)
2017  Roger Pinto Molina, Bolivian politician (b. 1960)
2017  Jon Shepodd, American actor (b. 1924)
2017  Vicente Sota, Chilean politician (b. 1924)
2018  Benny Andersen, Danish writer and pianist (b. 1929)
2018  Donald E. Edwards, American general (b. 1937)
2018  Aretha Franklin, American singer (b. 1942)
2018  Kim Yong-chun, North Korean politician (b. 1936)
2018  Yelena Shushunova, Russian gymnast (b. 1969)
2018  Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Indian politician, Prime Minister of India (b. 1924)
2019  Gustavo Barreiro, Cuban-American politician (b. 1959)
2019  Princess Christina of the Netherlands (b. 1947)
2019  Peter Fonda, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1940)
2019  Felice Gimondi, Italian cyclist (b. 1942)
2019  Faisal Masud, Pakistani physician and educator (b. 1954)
2019  José Nápoles, Cuban-Mexican boxer (b. 1940)
2019  Richard Williams, Canadian-British animator and director (b. 1933)

Observances 
 Battle of Bennington Day (Vermont)

Days of the year