August 16

### 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.

### 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

### 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)