May 16

Events
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.
Births
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 Ruckert, 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 - Jonina Leosdottir, 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 Acuna "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 - Tonex, American singer
From 1976
1976 - Christian Califano, French rugby player
1977 - Dolcenera, Italian singer
1977 - Emiliana Torrini, Icelandic singer
1977 - Jean-Sebastien Giguere, 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 - Lukasz 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
Deaths
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 Lopez 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 - Francois 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 Moller, German actor (born 1928)
2018 - Francois Breda, 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 - Gerard Jouannest, French pianist (born 1933)
2018 - Eloisa 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 Honore
John of Ponuk or John Nepomucene (1330 - 1393)
Andrew Bobola
Simon Stock
National Day of South Sudan
Teachers' Day (Malaysia)
Days of the year