May 16

### Up to 1900

- 218 – Elagabalus is proclaimed Roman Emperor.
- 1204 – Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders is crowned first Emperor of the Latin Empire.
- 1527 – The Florentines drive out the Medici for a second time and Florence re–establishes a republic.
- 1532 – Sir Thomas More resigns as Lord Chancellor of England.
- 1568 – Mary, Queen of Scots, flees to England.
- 1584 – Santiago de Vera becomes the 6th Governor–General of the Spanish colony of the Philippines.
- 1605 – Paul V becomes Pope.
- 1702 – The city of Uppsala in Sweden is destroyed by fire.
- 1770 – 14–year old Marie Antoinette marries 15–year–old Louis-Auguste who later becomes king of France.
- 1771 – Battle of Alamance, a pre–American Revolutionary War battle between local militia and a group of rebels called the "Regulators" occurs in present–day Alamance County, North Carolina.
- 1777 – Lachlan McIntosh and Button Gwinnett shoot each other during a duel near Savannah, Georgia. Gwinnett, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, dies three days later.
- 1811 – Peninsular War: Spain, the UK and Portugal defeat France in the Battle of Albuera.
- 1812 – Russian field marshal Mikhail Kutuzov signs the Treaty of Bucharest, ending the Russo-Turkish War. Bessarabia, mainly covering present–day Moldova, is annexed by Imperial Russia.
- 1843 – The first major wagon train heading for the Northwest sets out with one thousand pioneers from Elm Grove, Missouri on the Oregon Trail.
- 1863 – American Civil War: Battle of Champion Hill – Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant defeat Confederate forces under John C. Pemberton.
- 1866 – The U.S. Congress eliminates the half dime coin and replaces it with the five cent piece, or nickel (coin).
- 1866 – Charles Elmer Hires invents root beer.
- 1868 – President Andrew Johnson is acquitted during his impeachment trial, by one vote in the United States Senate.
- 1874 – A flood on the Mill River in Massachusetts destroys most of four villages, killing 139 people.
- 1887 – In Washington, DC, Emil Berliner demonstrates the gramophone.
- 1888 – Nikola Tesla delivers a lecture describing the equipment which will allow efficient generation and use of alternating currents to transmit electrical power over long distances.

### 1901 – 2000

- 1910 – The U.S. Congress authorizes the creation of the United States Bureau of Mines.
- 1918 – The Sedition Act is passed by the U.S. Congress, making criticism of the government a jailable offense.
- 1919 – United States Navy Naval Curtiss aircraft NC-4 commanded by Albert Cushing Read leaves Trepassey, Newfoundland, for Lisbon via the Azores on the first transatlantic flight.
- 1920 – In Rome, Pope Benedict XV canonizes Joan of Arc as a saint.
- 1929 – In Hollywood, California, the first Academy Awards are handed out.
- 1932 – On the return from its first voyage, French luxury steamer _Georges Philippar_ catches fire in the Gulf of Aden, killing 54 people.
- 1938 – A fire at the Terminal Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia, kills 35 people.
- 1943 – The Holocaust: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising ends.
- 1943 – World War II: The Dambuster Raids by RAF 617 Squadron on German dams.
- 1948 – Chaim Weizmann is elected as the first President of Israel.
- 1960 – Nikita Khrushchev demands an apology from US President Dwight D. Eisenhower for U-2 spy plane flights over the Soviet Union thus ending a Big Four summit in Paris.
- 1960 – Theodore Maiman operates the first optical laser.
- 1961 – Park Chung-hee leads a coup in South Korea.
- 1966 – Two extremely influential rock albums are released on the same day: Bob Dylan's _Blonde on Blonde _and The Beach Boys' _Pet Sounds._
- 1969 – Venera program: Venera 5, a Soviet space probe, lands on Venus.
- 1974 – Helmut Schmidt is chosen to succeed Willy Brandt as Chancellor of Germany.
- 1975 – India annexes Sikkim after the mountain state held a referendum where popular vote was in favour of merging with India.
- 1975 – Junko Tabei becomes the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
- 1983 – The Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement rebels against the Sudanese government.
- 1988 – A report by American Surgeon General C. Everett Koop states that the addictive properties of nicotine are similar to those of heroin and cocaine.
- 1991 – Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom becomes the first monarch to speak in front of the United States Congress.
- 1992 – STS-49: Space Shuttle Endeavour lands safely after a successful maiden voyage.
- 1995 – The leader of Aum Shinrikyo, Shoko Asahara, is arrested for his role in the Sarin Gas Attack on the Tokyo subway.
- 1997 – Zaire leader Mobutu Sese Seko flees the country. Soon after, the country is renamed the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

### From 2001

- 2002 – _Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones_ opens in cinemas.
- 2003 – Four suicide bombs explode in Casablanca, Morocco, killing over 40 people.
- 2005 – _Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith_ premieres in London.
- 2005 – Kuwait permits women's suffrage in a 35–23 National Assembly vote.
- 2005 – Sony's _PlayStation 3_ video game console is shown at a press conference (E3).
- 2007 – Nicolas Sarkozy becomes President of France, succeeding Jacques Chirac.
- 2007 – Alex Salmond becomes First Minister of Scotland. He is the first leader of the Scottish National Party to take this post.
- 2009 – In Moscow, Alexander Rybak wins the 54th Eurovision Song Contest for Norway, scoring a record number of points under the then–existing scoring system, 387.
- 2011 – The final flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour begins.
- 2013 – The Spanish language Wikipedia passes the milestone of a million articles.
- 2014 – The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, under Narendra Modi, wins India's elections, achieving an overall parliamentary majority and defeating the ruling Indian National Congress.

### Up to 1900

- 1418 – John II of Cyprus (died 1458)
- 1490 – Albert of Prussia, first duke of Prussia (died 1568)
- 1540 – Paschal Baylon, Spanish friar and saint (died 1592)
- 1578 – Everard Digby, English conspirator (died 1606)
- 1611 – Pope Innocent XI (died 1689)
- 1641 – Dudley North, English economist and politician (died 1691)
- 1678 – Andreas Silbermann, organ builder (died 1734)
- 1710 – William Talbot, 1st Earl Talbot, English politician (died 1782)
- 1718 – Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Italian mathematician (died 1799)
- 1763 – Louis Nicolas Vauquelin, French chemist (died 1829)
- 1776 – Luigi Lambruschini, Italian cardinal (died 1854)
- 1788 – Friedrich Rückert, German poet, translator and orientalist (died 1866)
- 1801 – William H. Seward, 24th United States Secretary of State and 12th Governor of New York (died 1872)
- 1805 – Alexander Burnes, Scottish explorer (died 1841)
- 1819 – Johann Voldemar Jannsen, Estonian journalist and poet (died 1890)
- 1821 – Pafnuty Chebyshev, Russian mathematician (died 1894)
- 1824 – Levi P. Morton, 22nd Vice President of the United States and 31st Governor of New York (died 1920)
- 1827 – Pierre Cuypers, Dutch architect (died 1921)
- 1827 – Norman Jay Coleman, American politician (died 1911)
- 1831 – David Edward Hughes, British inventor and musician (died 1900)
- 1834 – Hobart B. Bigelow, Governor of Connecticut (died 1891)
- 1845 – Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov, Russian biologist, won the 1908 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1916)
- 1849 – Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin, British statesman (died 1917)
- 1882 – Anne McCormick, journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner (died 1954)
- 1883 – Celal Bayar, President of Turkey (died 1986)
- 1886 – Ernest Burgess, sociologist (died 1966)
- 1887 – Jakob van Hoddis, German poet (died 1942)
- 1888 – Royal Raymond Rife, American inventor (died 1971)
- 1891 – Richard Tauber, Austrian tenor (died 1948)
- 1897 – Zvi Ziternik, Israeli entomologist (died 1994)
- 1898 – Tamara de Lempicka, Polish painter (died 1980)
- 1898 – Kenji Mizoguchi, Japanese movie director (died 1956)

### 1901 – 1950

- 1905 – Henry Fonda, American actor (died 1982)
- 1906 – Arturo Uslar Pietri, Venezuelan writer, diplomat and politician (died 2001)
- 1909 – Margaret Sullavan, American actress (died 1960)
- 1910 – Aleksandr Ivanovich Laktionov, Russian painter (died 1972)
- 1910 – Higashifushimi Kunihide, Japanese monk and educator, uncle of Emperor Akihito (died 2014)
- 1910 – Luigi Villoresi, Italian racing driver (died 1997)
- 1912 – Studs Terkel, American writer (died 2008)
- 1913 – Woody Herman, American musician and band leader (died 1987)
- 1913 – Sebastiano Baggio, Italian cardinal (died 1993)
- 1914 – Edward T. Hall, American anthropologist and ethnologist (died 2009)
- 1915 – Mario Monicelli, Italian director and screenwriter (died 2010)
- 1916 – Ephraim Katzir, Israeli President and scientist (died 2009)
- 1917 – Juan Rulfo, Mexican writer (died 1986)
- 1917 – George Gaynes, Finnish–American actor (died 2016)
- 1919 – Liberace, American pianist (died 1987)
- 1919 – Sik Kok Kwong, Hong Kong Buddhist monk (died 2014)
- 1919 – Gisela Uhlen, German actress (died 2007)
- 1920 – Martine Carol, French actress (died 1967)
- 1921 – Harry Carey, Jr., American actor (died 2012)
- 1923 – Merton Miller, American economist (died 2000)
- 1924 – Dawda Jawara, 1st President of the Gambia (died 2019)
- 1925 – Bobbejaan Schoepen, Belgian singer (died 2010)
- 1925 – Robert Pierpoint, American journalist (died 2011)
- 1925 – Nancy Roman, American astronomer (died 2018)
- 1925 – Nilton Santos, Brazilian footballer (died 2013)
- 1928 – Billy Martin, American baseball player and coach (died 1989)
- 1929 – John Conyers, American politician (died 2019)
- 1929 – Adrienne Rich, American poet, writer and feminist (died 2012)
- 1929 – Friedrich Nowottny, German journalist
- 1929 – Alberto Terry, Peruvian footballer (died 2006)
- 1929 – Betty Carter, American singer (died 1998)
- 1931 – Vujadin Boskov, Serbian footballer (died 2014)
- 1931 – K. Natwar Singh, Indian politician
- 1931 – Lowell P. Weicker, Jr., American politician, 85th Governor of Connecticut
- 1936 – Karl Lehmann, German cardinal and theologian (d. 2018)
- 1936 – Roy Hudd, British radio and television actor
- 1936 – Manfred Stolpe, German politician
- 1937 – Yvonne Craig, American actress (d. 2015)
- 1937 – Antonio Rattin, Argentine footballer
- 1938 – Edmond Classen, Dutch actor (d. 2014)
- 1940 – Ole Ernst, Danish actor (d. 2013)
- 1943 – Kay Andrews, Baroness Andrews, English politician
- 1943 – Dan Coats, American politician and diplomat, 29th United States Ambassador to Germany
- 1944 – Danny Trejo, American actor
- 1944 – Billy Cobham, American drummer and bandleader
- 1945 – Carlos Osoro, Archbishop of Valencia
- 1946 – Robert Fripp, British guitarist
- 1948 – Emma Georgina Rothschild, British historian
- 1948 – Judy Finnigan, British TV presenter
- 1948 – Mariano Gago, Portuguese engineer and politician (d. 2015)
- 1948 – Jimmy Hood, Scottish politician (d. 2017)
- 1949 – Karlheinz Hackl, Austrian actor (d. 2014)
- 1950 – J. Georg Bednorz, German physicist and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics 1987

### 1951 – 1975

- 1951 – Christian Lacroix, French fashion designer
- 1953 – Kitanoumi Toshimitsu, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 2015)
- 1953 – Pierce Brosnan, Irish actor
- 1954 – Jónína Leósdóttir, Icelandic writer
- 1954 – Dafydd Williams, Canadian physician and astronaut
- 1955 – Olga Korbut, Belarussian gymnast
- 1955 – Jack Morris, American baseball pitcher
- 1955 – Hazel O'Connor, British singer
- 1955 – Debra Winger, American actress
- 1957 – Bob Suter, American ice hockey player (d. 2014)
- 1957 – Nigel Twiston-Davies, English horse trainer
- 1958 – Amp Fiddler, musician (P Funk)
- 1961 – Sarah Boyack, Scottish politician
- 1961 – Kevin McDonald, Canadian actor
- 1963 – Rosie Perez, American actress
- 1964 – John Salley, American basketball player and actor
- 1964 – Milton Jones, English comedian
- 1965 – Danel Tammet, Estonian computer scientist and politician
- 1965 – Krist Novoselic, American musician, former bassist for Nirvana
- 1966 – Janet Jackson, American singer
- 1966 – Thurman Thomas, American football player
- 1969 – David Boreanaz, American actor
- 1969 – Steve Lewis, American athlete
- 1969 – Tucker Carlson, American print and television commentator
- 1969 – Ari-Pekka Nikkola, Finnish ski jumper
- 1970 – Gabriela Sabatini, Argentine tennis player
- 1972 – Andrzej Duda, President of Poland
- 1973 – Tori Spelling, American actress
- 1973 – Jason Acuña "Wee-Man", American television personality
- 1974 – Laura Pausini, Italian pop singer
- 1974 – Adam Richman, American actor and TV presenter (Man v. Food)
- 1974 – Sonny Sandoval, American singer (P.O.D.)
- 1975 – Tony Kakko, Finnish singer (Sonata Arctica)
- 1975 – Tonéx, American singer

### From 1976

- 1976 – Christian Califano, French rugby player
- 1977 – Dolcenera, Italian singer
- 1977 – Emilíana Torrini, Icelandic singer
- 1977 – Jean-Sébastien Giguère, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1978 – David Ford, English singer/songwriter
- 1978 – Olga Zaitseva, Russian athlete
- 1978 – Lionel Scaloni, Argentine footballer
- 1979 – McKenzie Lee, English pornographic actress
- 1980 – Mikel Alonso, Spanish footballer
- 1980 – Michael Ryan, American ice hockey player
- 1980 – Jens Spahn, German politician
- 1981 – Jim Sturgess, English actor
- 1982 – Joo Ji Hoon, Korean actor and model
- 1982 – Łukasz Kubot, Polish tennis player
- 1983 – Nancy Ajram, Lebanese singer
- 1983 – Gordon McRory, Scottish Drummer (The Fratellis)
- 1983 – Kyle Wellwood, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1984 – Mickie Knuckles, American female professional wrestler
- 1984 – Jensen Lewis, American baseball player
- 1984 – Rick Rypien, Canadian ice hockey player (died 2011)
- 1985 – Stanislav Ianevski, Bulgarian actor
- 1985 – Anja Mittag, German footballer
- 1985 – Corey Perry, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1985 – Tadayoshi Okura, Japanese singer-songwriter, dancer and actor
- 1986 – Megan Fox, American actress
- 1986 – Andy Keogh, Irish footballer
- 1987 – Olena Khomrova, Ukrainian fencer
- 1990 – Thomas Sangster, English actor
- 1991 – Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgarian tennis player
- 1993 – IU, South Korean singer
- 1994 – Aaron Moores, British Paralympic swimmer
- 1998 – Ariel Waller, Canadian actress
- 2002 – Ryan Gravenberch, Dutch footballer

### Up to 1950

- 583 – Saint Brendan, Irish navigator (b. 484)
- 1265 – Simon Stock, English–French saint (b. 1165)
- 1620 – William Adams, English navigator and Japanese samurai (born 1564)
- 1669 – Pietro da Cortona, Italian painter and architect (born 1596)
- 1703 – Charles Perrault, French writer (born 1628)
- 1782 – Daniel Solander, Swedish botanist (born 1736)
- 1830 – Joseph Fourier, French scientist (born 1768)
- 1882 – Reuben Chapman, 13th Governor of Alabama (born 1799)
- 1891 – Ion C. Bratianu, Romanian statesman (born 1821)
- 1913 – Louis Perrier, Swiss Federal Councillor (born 1849)
- 1920 – Levi P. Morton, 22nd Vice President of the United States and 31st Governor of New York (born 1824)
- 1920 – Joselito, Spanish bullfighter (born 1895)
- 1926 – Mehmed VI, last Ottoman Sultan (born 1861)
- 1931 – Emiliano Figueroa, President of Chile (born 1866)
- 1942 – Bronislaw Malinowski, Polish anthropologist (born 1884)
- 1944 – George Ade, writer (born 1866)
- 1947 – Frederick Gowland Hopkins, English chemist, won the 1929 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (born 1861)
- 1947 – Zhang Lingfu, Chinese general (born 1903)

### 1951 – 2000

- 1953 – Django Reinhardt, Belgian jazz musician (born 1910)
- 1954 – Clemens Krauss, Austrian conductor (born 1893)
- 1955 – James Agee, American writer (born 1909)
- 1957 – Eliot Ness, American federal agent (born 1903)
- 1963 – Oleg Penkovsky, Soviet–Russian agent (born 1919)
- 1971 – Gregoire-Pierre Agagianian, Armenian cardinal (born 1895)
- 1977 – Modibo Keita, 1st President of Mali (born 1915)
- 1981 – Ernie Freeman, American pianist, composer and bandleader (born 1922)
- 1984 – Andy Kaufman, American comedian (born 1949)
- 1984 – Irwin Shaw, American writer (born 1913)
- 1985 – Margaret Hamilton, American actress (born 1902)
- 1988 – Charles Keeping, illustrator (born 1924)
- 1989 – Leila Kasra, Iranian poet and lyricist (born 1939)
- 1990 – Jim Henson, American puppeteer, creator of the Muppets (born 1936)
- 1990 – Sammy Davis, Jr., American singer, actor and comedian (born 1925)
- 1993 – Marv Johnson, American singer-songwriter and pianist (born 1938)
- 1994 – Alain Cuny, French actor (born 1908)

### From 2001

- 2002 – Big Dick Dudley, American professional wrestler (born 1968)
- 2003 – Mark McCormack, American sports business pioneer, founder of IMG (born 1930)
- 2008 – Robert Mondavi, pioneer California winemaker (born 1913)
- 2008 – David Mitton, English model–maker (born 1938)
- 2010 – Oswaldo López Arellano, President of Honduras (born 1921)
- 2010 – Hank Jones, American jazz pianist (born 1918)
- 2010 – Ronnie James Dio, American musician (born 1942)
- 2011 – Edward Hardwicke, British actor (born 1932)
- 2013 – Heinrich Rohrer, Swiss physicist (born 1933)
- 2013 – Paul Shane, British actor (born 1940)
- 2013 – Dick Trickle, racing driver (born 1941)
- 2014 – Viktor Sukhodrev, Russian interpreter (born 1932)
- 2015 – Yeung Kwong, Hong Kong Communist activist (born 1926)
- 2015 – Moshe Levinger, Israeli rabbi (born 1935)
- 2015 – Flora MacNeil, Scottish singer (born 1928)
- 2015 – Dean Potter, American rock climber and BASE jumper (born 1972)
- 2015 – John Templeton Jr., American physician (born 1940)
- 2015 – Moshe Levinger, Israeli rabbi (born 1935)
- 2015 – Elias Gleizer, Brazilian actor (born 1934)
- 2016 – Bobby Freeman, American politician (born 1934)
- 2016 – Romaldo Giurgola, Italian–born American–Australian architect (born 1920)
- 2016 – Emilio Navaria, American country and Tejano singer (born 1962)
- 2016 – Gavyn Farr Arthur, British judge (born 1951)
- 2016 – Giovanni Coppa, Italian cardinal (born 1925)
- 2016 – Lino Toffolo, Italian actor (born 1934)
- 2016 – Aar de Goede, Dutch politician (born 1928)
- 2016 – Jim McMillian, American basketball player (born 1948)
- 2016 – David Rendel, British politician (born 1949)
- 2016 – François Maistre, French actor (born 1925)
- 2016 – Huguette Dreyfus, French harpsichordist (born 1928)
- 2017 – Bernard Bosson, French politician (born 1948)
- 2017 – Outi Ojala, Finnish politician (born 1946)
- 2017 – Doug Somers, American professional wrestler (born 1951)
- 2017 – Gunnar Möller, German actor (born 1928)
- 2018 – François Bréda, Romanian writer and literary critic (born 1956)
- 2018 – Joseph Campanella, American actor (born 1924)
- 2018 – Diana E. Murphy, American judge (born 1934)
- 2018 – Michael Slive, American college sports executive (born 1940)
- 2018 – Gérard Jouannest, French pianist (born 1933)
- 2018 – Eloísa Mafalda, Brazilian actress (born 1924)
- 2018 – Lucian Pintilie, Romanian film director (born 1933)
- 2019 – David Cervinski, Australian footballer (born 1970)
- 2019 – Bob Hawke, 23rd Prime Minister of Australia (born 1929)
- 2019 – Ashley Massaro, American professional wrestler and television personality (born 1979)
- 2019 – I. M. Pei, Chinese–American architect (born 1917)
- 2019 – Sol Yaged, American jazz clarinetist (born 1922)
- 2021 – Bruno Covas, Brazilian lawyer and politician (born 1980)
- 2021 – Rildo da Costa Menezes, Brazilian footballer (born 1942)
- 2021 – M. S. Narasimhan, Indian mathematician (born 1932)

## Holidays and observances

- In the Irish Calendar – Feast of Saint Brendan the Navigator
- The feast day of the following saints in the Roman Catholic Church:
    - Ubaldus
    - Saint Honoré
    - John of Ponuk or John Nepomucene (1330 – 1393)
    - Andrew Bobola
    - Simon Stock
- National Day of South Sudan
- Teachers' Day (Malaysia)