November 16



Events

Up to 1950 
 1272 - Edward I of England becomes King while fighting in the Ninth Crusade.
 1532 – Inca ruler Atahualpa is captured by Spanish Conquistadors.
 1632 – Thirty Years' War: Swedish troops defeat an imperial army under Albrecht von Wallenstein, but lose their king, Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden.
 1776 - American Revolutionary War: British and Hessian units capture Fort Washington from the patriots.
 1776 - The United Provinces (Low Countries) recognize US independence.
 1793 - Reign of Terror: 90 anti-republican Roman Catholic priests are executed by drowning in Nantes, France.
 1797 - Frederick William III of Prussia becomes King.
 1849 – A Russian court sentences Fyodor Dostoevsky to death for anti-government activities linked to a radical intellectual group; his execution is canceled at the last minute.
 1855 – David Livingstone becomes the first European to reach Victoria Falls.
 1857 - 24 Victoria Crosses are given in one day, a record that still stands.
 1863 - American Civil War: The Battle of Campbell's Station is fought near Knoxville, Tennessee.
 1869 - The Suez Canal is opened to shipping.
 1885 - Canadian rebel leader Louis Riel is executed for treason.
 1896 – First transmission of electrical power between two cities was sent from Niagara Falls to industries in Buffalo, New York.
 1904 – John Ambrose Fleming invents the vacuum tube.
 1907 – Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory become Oklahoma and are admitted as the 46th U.S. state.
 1907 - RMS Mauretania is launched by the Cunard Line. The ship sets sail on its first voyage from Liverpool to New York City.
 1914 – The Federal Reserve System in the United States officially starts business.
 1915 - The characterised Coca-Cola bottle is patented in the United States.
 1920 - Australian airline Qantas is founded as the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited.
 1933 – The United States and the Soviet Union establish formal diplomatic relations.
 1933 - American Jimmie Angel re-discovers Angel Falls in Venezuela.
 1940 – World War II: In response to Germany leveling Coventry two days before, the Royal Air Force bombs Hamburg.
 1944 - World War II: The German city of Düren is destroyed by Allied bombing.
 1945 – UNESCO is founded.

From 1951 
 1957 – Serial killer Ed Gein murders his last victim, Bernice Worden.
 1959 - The Sound of Music opens on Broadway, New York.
 1965 – The Soviet Venera 3 probe is launched to the planet Venus.
 1970 – Hafez al-Assad comes to power in Syria.
 1973 - NASA launches Skylab 4 with three astronauts on board for an 84-day mission, from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
 1973 - US President Richard Nixon signs the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act into law, allowing for building work to begin on the Trans-Alaska oil Pipeline.
 1979 - The first line of the Bucharest Metro is opened.
 1980 - An explosion at a military base in Bangkok, Thailand kills 38 people.
 1988 – The Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR declares that the Estonia was "sovereign" but stopped short of declaring independence.
 1988 – In the first open election in more than a decade, voters in Pakistan choose Benazir Bhutto to be Prime Minister.
 1993 – Guyana joins the UN.
 1994 - Emomalii Rahmon becomes President of Tajikistan.
 1996 – Mother Teresa receives honorary US citizenship.
 1997 - After 18 years of imprisonment, the People's Republic of China releases activist Wei Jingsheng for medical reasons.
 2000 – Bill Clinton becomes the first current US President to visit Vietnam.
 2006 – Rioting occurs in Nuku'alofa, Tonga.
 2013 - Sachin Tendulkar, one of most famous cricketers in the world, retires from playing cricket after his last test match (India v. West Indies).
 2017 - Cambodia's highest court declares the main opposition party illegal.
 2018 - After several resignations in the British cabinet over Brexit, Stephen Barclay is appointed Brexit Secretary and former Home Secretary Amber Rudd becomes Work and Pensions Secretary.
 2019 - Gotabaya Rajapaksa is elected President of Sri Lanka.

Births

Up to 1900 
 42 BC – Tiberius, Roman Emperor (d. 37)
 1436 - Leonardo Loredan, Doge of Venice (d. 1521)
 1569 - Paul Sartorius, German composer and organist (d. 1609)
 1643 - Jean Chardin, French explorer (d. 1703)
 1717 – Jean le Rond d'Alembert, French mathematician (d. 1793)
 1720 - Carlo Antonio Campioni, Italian composer (d. 1788)
 1753 - James McHenry, American statesman (d. 1816)
 1766 - Rodolphe Kreutzer, French violinist (d. 1831)
 1807 – Jónas Hallgrímsson, Icelandic poet (d. 1845)
 1823 - Henry G. Davis, United States Senator (d. 1916)
 1827 - Charles Eliot Norton, American scholar (d. 1908)
 1835 - Eugenio Beltrami, Italian mathematician (d. 1900)
 1836 – David Kalakaua, King of Hawaii (d. 1891)
 1839 - Louis-Honoré Fréchette, Canadian poet, author and politician (d. 1908)
 1841 - Jules Violle, French physicist (d. 1923)
 1847 - Edmund James Flynn, 10th Premier of Quebec (d. 1927)
 1850 - Federico Errázuriz Echaurren, President of Chile (d. 1901)
 1851 - Minnie Hauk, American soprano (d. 1929)
 1855 – Tommaso Tittoni, Italian Prime Minister (d. 1931)
 1857 – Jón Sveinsson, Icelandic writer (d. 1944)
 1873 – W. C. Handy, American blues musician (d. 1958)
 1874 - Alexander Kolchak, Russian explorer and politician (d. 1920)
 1880 - Alexander Blok, Russian poet (d. 1921)
 1883 - Emil Breitkreutz, American runner (d. 1972)
 1886 - Arthur B. Krock, American political journalist (d. 1974)
 1889 - George Kaufman, American playwright (d. 1961)
 1890 – Elpidio Quirino, President of the Philippines (d. 1956)
 1891 - Julius Leber, German politician and Resistance activist (d. 1945)
 1892 - Guo Moruo, Chinese poet, author and historian (d. 1978)
 1895 – Paul Hindemith, German composer (d. 1963)
 1896 – Pavel Alexandrov, Russian mathematician (d. 1982)
 1896 - Joan Lindsay, Australian novelist, playwright, essayist and visual artist (d. 1984)
 1896 – Oswald Mosley, British fascist politician (d. 1980)
 1896 - Lawrence Tibbett, American baritone (d. 1960)
 1897 – Choudhary Rahmat Ali, Pakistani student (d. 1951)
 1898 – Warren McCulloch, American neuropsychologist (d. 1969)

1901  1950 
 1901 – Ernest Nagel, Czech philosopher (d. 1985)
 1904 – Nnamdi Azikiwe, first President of Nigeria (d. 1996)
 1905 – Eddie Condon, American jazz musician (d. 1973)
 1907 – Burgess Meredith, American actor (d. 1997)
 1908 – Soeur Emmanuelle, French-Belgian nun (d. 2008)
 1909 - Maurizio Valenzi, Italian politician (d. 2009)
 1913 - Ellen Albertini Dow, American actress (d. 2015)
 1915 - Jean Fritz, American writer (d. 2017)
 1916 - Daws Butler, American voice actor (d. 1988)
 1916 - Al Lucas, Canadian jazz musician (d. 1983)
 1921 - Edmondo Fabbri, Italian footballer (d. 1995)
 1922 – José Saramago, Portuguese writer (d. 2010)
 1922 - Gene Amdahl, American computer scientist, physicist and engineer (d. 2015)
 1924 - Mel Patton, American athlete (d. 2014)
 1925 - Gianfranco Dell'Innocenti, Italian footballer (d. 2012)
 1930 – Chinua Achebe, Nigerian novelist, poet and academic (d. 2013)
 1930 - Salvatore Riina, Italian mafia boss (d. 2017)
 1931 - Hubert Sumlin, American blues musician (d. 2011)
 1935 – Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, Iraqi-Lebanese spiritual leader (d. 2010)
 1935 – France-Albert René, former President of the Seychelles (d. 2019)
 1935 - Elizabeth Drew, American journalist
 1935 - Magdi Yacoub, Egyptian heart surgeon
 1937 - Lothar Spaeth, German politician (d. 2016)
 1938 – Robert Nozick, American philosopher (d. 2002)
 1940 - Donna McKechnie, American actress, singer and dancer
 1942 – Willie Carson, Scottish jockey
 1942 - Chi Coltrane, American musician and singer
 1946 – Wolfgang Kleff, German footballer
 1946 - Terence McKenna, American philosopher (d. 2000)
 1946 - Ole Olsen, Danish speedway rider
 1946 - Colin Burgess, Australian drummer
 1948 – Arie Haan, Dutch footballer
 1948 - Norbert Lammert, German politician
 1948 - Bonnie Greer, American playwright and critic
 1950 - David Leisure, American actor
 1950 - David Wilson-Johnson, English operatic baritone

1951  1975 
 1951 - Miguel Sandoval, American actor
 1952 – Shigeru Miyamoto, Japanese video game creator (Nintendo)
 1952 - Sam Watson, Australian indigenous activist, politician and writer (d. 2019)
 1952 - Piero Falchetta, Italian archivist, essayist and translator
 1953 – Griff Rhys Jones, Welsh actor, comedian and writer
 1953 - Brigitte Zypries, German politician
 1954 - Luis Conte, Cuban drummer
 1955 - Héctor Cúper, Argentine footballer and coach
 1957 - Rafael Amador, Mexican footballer
 1957 - Jacques Gamblin, French actor
 1958 - Sooronbay Jeenbekov, President of Kyrgyzstan
 1958 – Marg Helgenberger, American actress
 1961 – Frank Bruno, British boxer
 1961 - Corinne Hermès, French singer
 1962 - Gary Mounfield (Mani), English musician
 1962 - Darwyn Cooke, Canadian comic writer (d. 2016)
 1962 - Josh Silver, American musician
 1963 – Zina Garrison, American tennis player
 1964 – Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Italian actress
 1964 - Luciano Floridi, Italian philosopher
 1964 - Dwight Gooden, American baseball player
 1964 – Diana Krall, Canadian jazz singer
 1964 - Maeve Quinlan, American actress
 1965 - Mika Aaltonen, Finnish footballer
 1965 - Mark Benton, English actor
 1966 - Joey Cape, American singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer
 1966 - Christian Lorenz, German musician
 1967 – Lisa Bonet, American actress
 1968 - Shobha Nagi Reddy, Indian politician (d. 2014)
 1970 - Martha Plimpton, American actress
 1971 - Alexander Popov, Russian swimmer
 1971 - Waqar Younis, Pakistani cricketer
 1972 - Michael Irby, American actor
 1972 - Missi Pyle, American actress
 1973 - Christian Horner, British Formula One team principal
 1974 – Paul Scholes, English footballer
 1974 - Brooke Elliott, American actress and singer
 1974 - Maurizio Margaglio, Italian ice dancer

From 1976 
 1976 – Danny Wallace, British writer
 1977 – Maggie Gyllenhaal, American actress
 1977 – Oksana Baiul, Ukrainian figure skater
 1978 – Gary Naysmith, Scottish footballer
 1979 – Bruce Irons, American surfer
 1980 – Osi Umeniyora, American football player
 1981 – Allison Crowe, Canadian singer-songwriter
 1981 – Caitlin Glass, American voice actress, singer and director
 1981 – Kate Miller-Heidke, Australian singer-songwriter
 1982 – Amar'e Stoudemire, American basketball player
 1983 – Kari Lehtonen, Finnish ice hockey player
 1983 – Britta Steffen, German swimmer
 1983 – Victor Vazquez, American musician and artist
 1984 – Kimberly J. Brown, American actress
 1985 - Sanna Marin, Finnish politician, Prime Minister of Finland
 1985 – Saori Yamamoto, Japanese model
 1986 – Saeko, Japanese actress
 1986 – Maxime Médard, French rugby player
 1986 – Aleksey Kozlov, Russian footballer
 1987 – Vicky Pattison, British television personality
 1988 – Siva Kaneswaran, British singer (The Wanted)
 1989 – Vicki Adams, Scottish curler
 1991 – Tomomi Kasai, Japanese actress and singer (AKB48)
 1993 – Pete Davidson, American comedian and actor
 1995 – Noah Gray-Cabey, American actor and pianist

Deaths

Up to 1900 
 498 - Pope Anastasius II
 1093 – Saint Margaret, Queen Consort of Scotland, wife of King Malcolm III, mother of Kings Alexander I, David I and Edgar (b. 1045)
 1240 - Edmund Rich, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1175)
 1272 – Henry III, King of England (b. 1207)
 1328 - Prince Hisaaki, Japanese shogun (b. 1276)
 1632 – King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden (b. 1594) (killed in battle)
 1672 - Heinrich Schuetz, German composer (b. 1585)
 1724 - Jack Sheppard, English highwayman  (b. 1702)
 1779 - Pehr Kalm, Finnish explorer and naturalist (b. 1716)
 1790 - Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, American Continental Congressman (b. 1723)
 1797 – Frederick William II of Prussia (b. 1744)
 1802 - André Michaux, French botanist (b. 1746)
 1806 - Moses Claeveland, American lawyer and surveyor (b. 1754)
 1878 - Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine (b. 1874)
 1885 - Louis Riel, Canadian political activist (b. 1844)

1901  2000 
 1907 - Robert I, Duke of Parma (b. 1848)
 1908 - Henri-Gustave de Lotbinière, 4th Premier of Quebec (b. 1829)
 1911 - A. A. Ames, American politician (b. 1842)
 1911 - Lawrence Feuerbach, American athlete (b. 1879)
 1912 - William Larrabee, 13th Governor of Iowa (b. 1832)
 1922 – Max Abraham, German physicist (b. 1875)
 1934 – Carl von Linde, German inventor and engineer (b. 1842)
 1941 - Eduard Ellman-Eelma, Estonian footballer (b. 1902)
 1945 – Sigurdur Eggerz, Prime Minister of Iceland (b. 1875)
 1947 - Giuseppe Volpi, Italian businessman and politician (b. 1877)
 1950 - Bob Smith, American physician and surgeon (b. 1879)
 1956 - Otori Tanigoro, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1887)
 1960 - Gilbert Harding, English television personality (b. 1907)
 1960 – Clark Gable, American actor (b. 1901)
 1961 – Sam Rayburn, American Speaker of the House (b. 1882)
 1965 – W. T. Cosgrave, Irish Taoiseach (b. 1880)
 1971 – Edie Sedgwick, American actress (b. 1943)
 1972 - Vera Karalli, Russian ballerina and actress (b. 1889)
 1973 - Alan Watts, English writer and philosopher (b. 1915)
 1974 - Walther Meissner, German technical physicist (b. 1882)
 1980 - Jayan, Indian actor (b. 1938)
 1982 - Pavel Sergeevich Alexandrov, Russian mathematician (b. 1896)
 1985 - Omayra Sanchez, Colombian girl, high-profile victim of the Nevado del Ruiz volcanic eruption (b. 1972)
 1986 - Siobhan McKenna, Irish actress (b. 1923)
 1993 - Lucia Popp, Slovakian soprano (b. 1939)
 1999 – Daniel Nathans, American microbiologist (b. 1928)
 2000 - Russ Conway, British pianist, composer and singer (b. 1925)
 2000 - DJ Screw, American hiphop DJ (b. 1971)

From 2001 
 2004 - Margaret Hassan, Irish aid worker (b. 1945)
 2005 – Henry Taube, Canadian-born chemist (b. 1915)
 2006 – Milton Friedman, American economist (b. 1912)
 2008 – Reg Varney, British actor (b. 1916)
 2009 – Edward Woodward, British actor (b. 1930)
 2009 – Antonio de Nigris, Mexican footballer (b. 1978)
 2012 - Aliu Mahama, Ghanaian politician (b. 1946)
 2014 - Peter Kassig, American aid worker (b. 1988)
 2014 - Kim Ja-ok, South Korean actress (b. 1951)
 2014 - Sik Kok Kwong, Hong Kong Buddhist monk (b. 1919)
 2014 - Jadwiga Pilsudska, Polish pilot (b. 1920)
 2014 - Carl Sanders, American politician, Governor of Georgia (b. 1925)
 2014 - Serge Moscovici, French psychologist (b. 1925)
 2015 - Nando Gazzolo, Italian actor (b. 1928)
 2015 - David Canary, American actor (b. 1938)
 2015 - Michael C. Gross, American graphic designer (b. 1945)
 2015 - Bert Olmstead, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1926)
 2016 - Melvin Laird, American politician, United States Secretary of Defense (b. 1922)
 2016 - Jay Wright Forrester, American computer technology pioneer (b. 1918)
 2017 - Tobias Enverga, Filipino-Canadian politician (b. 1955)
 2017 - Robert Hirsch, French comedian and actor (b. 1925)
 2017 - Franciszek Kornicki, Polish fighter pilot (b. 1916)
 2017 - Erik Meijs, Dutch badminton player (b. 1991)
 2017 - Hiromi Tsuru, Japanese voice actress (b. 1960)
 2017 - Ann Wedgeworth, American actress (b. 1934)
 2017 - Adalberto Giazotto, Italian physicist (b. 1940)
 2018 - Scott English, American songwriter (b. 1937)
 2018 - Pablo Ferro, Cuban-American graphic movie title designer (b. 1935)
 2018 - William Goldman, American screenwriter (b. 1931)
 2018 - Hiromasa Yonekura, Japanese businessman (b. 1937)
 2019 - John Campbell Brown, Scottish astronomer (b. 1947)
 2019 - Zeng Guoyuan, Singaporean businessman and politician (b. 1953)
 2019 - Diane Loeffler, American politician (b. 1953)
 2019 - Terry O'Neill, British photographer (b. 1938)

Observances 
 Icelandic Language Day
 International Day of Tolerance
 Day of Declaration of Sovereignty (Estonia)

Days of the year