January 16

January 16 is the 16th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 349 days remaining until the end of the year (350 in leap years).

Events

• 27 BC – The title Augustus is bestowed upon Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian by the Roman Senate.
• 550 – Gothic War (535–552): The Ostrogoths, under King Totila, conquer Rome after a long siege, by bribing the Isaurian garrison.
• 1120 – The Council of Nablus is held, establishing the earliest surviving written laws of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.
• 1362 – A storm tide in the North Sea destroys the German city of Rungholt on the island of Strand.
• 1412 – The Medici family is appointed official banker of the Papacy.
• 1492 – The first grammar of the Spanish language is presented to Queen Isabella I.
• 1547 – Ivan IV of Russia aka Ivan the Terrible becomes Tsar of Russia.
• 1556 – Philip II becomes King of Spain.
• 1572 – Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk is tried for treason for his part in the Ridolfi plot to restore Catholicism in England.
• 1581 – The English Parliament outlaws Roman Catholicism.
• 1605 – The first edition of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (Book One of Don Quixote) by Miguel de Cervantes is published in Madrid.
• 1707 – The Scottish Parliament ratifies the Act of Union, paving the way for the creation of Great Britain.
• 1761 – The British capture Pondicherry, India from the French.
• 1777 – Vermont declares its independence from New York.
• 1780 – American Revolution: Battle of Cape St. Vincent.
• 1809 – Peninsular War: The British defeat the French at the Battle of La Coruña.
• 1847 – John C. Fremont is appointed Governor of the new California Territory.
• 1878 – Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) – Battle of Philippopolis: Captain Burago with a squadron of Russian Imperial army dragoons liberates Plovdiv from Ottoman rule.
• 1883 – The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, establishing the United States Civil Service, is passed.
• 1896 – Defeat of Cymru Fydd at South Wales Liberal Federation AGM, Newport, Monmouthshire.
• 1900 – The United States Senate accepts the Anglo-German treaty of 1899 in which the United Kingdom renounces its claims to the Samoan islands.
• 1909 – Ernest Shackleton's expedition finds the magnetic South Pole.
• 1919 – Temperance movement: The United States ratifies the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, authorizing Prohibition in the United States one year after ratification.
• 1942 – Crash of TWA Flight 3, killing all 22 aboard, including film star Carole Lombard.
• 1945 – Adolf Hitler moves into his underground bunker, the so-called Führerbunker.
• 1956 – President Gamal Abdal Nasser of Egypt vows to reconquer Palestine.
• 1968 – The Youth International Party is founded.
• 1969 – Czech student Jan Palach commits suicide by self-immolation in Prague, in protest against the Soviets' crushing of the Prague Spring the year before.
• 1970 – Buckminster Fuller receives the Gold Medal award from the American Institute of Architects.
• 1979 – The Shah of Iran flees Iran with his family and relocates to Egypt.
• 1986 – First meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force.
• 1991 – The United States goes to war with Iraq, beginning the Gulf War (U.S. Time).
• 1992 – El Salvador officials and rebel leaders sign the Chapultepec Peace Accords in Mexico City ending the 12-year Salvadoran civil war that claimed at least 75,000.
• 2001 – The First surviving wikipedia edit is made: UuU
• 2001 – Congolese President Laurent-Désiré Kabila is assassinated by one of his own bodyguards.
• 2001 – US President Bill Clinton awards former President Theodore Roosevelt a posthumous Medal of Honor for his service in the Spanish-American War.
• 2002 – The UN Security Council unanimously establishes an arms embargo and the freezing of assets of Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaida, and the remaining members of the Taliban.
• 2003 – The Space Shuttle Columbia takes off for mission STS-107 which would be its final one. Columbia disintegrated 16 days later on re-entry.
• 2006 – Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is sworn in as Liberia's new president. She becomes Africa's first female elected head of state.

Births

• 1245 – Edmund Crouchback, son of Henry III of England (d. 1296)
• 1409 – René I of Naples (d. 1480)
• 1477 – Johannes Schöner, German astronomer and cartographer (d. 1547)
• 1501 – Anthony Denny, confidant of King Henry VIII of England (d. 1559)
• 1616 – François de Vendôme, duc de Beaufort, French soldier (d. 1669)
• 1626 – Lucas Achtschellinck, Flemish painter (d. 1699)
• 1634 – Dorthe Engelbrechtsdatter, Norwegian poet (d. 1716)
• 1675 – Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon, French writer (d. 1755)
• 1728 – Niccolò Piccinni, Italian composer (d. 1800)
• 1807 – Charles Henry Davis, American Civil War Admiral (d. 1877)
• 1815 – Henry W. Halleck, American Civil War general (d. 1872)
• 1821 – John C. Breckinridge, U.S. Vice-President and Confederate general (d. 1875)
• 1834 – Robert R. Hitt, American politician (d. 1906)
• 1836 – King Francis II of the Two Sicilies (d. 1894)
• 1838 – Franz Brentano, German philosopher and psychologist (d. 1917)
• 1844 – Ismail Qemali, Albanian nationalist (d. 1919)
• 1853 – Andre Michelin, French industrialist (d. 1931)
• 1853 – Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson, English actor and theatre manager (d. 1937)
• 1853 – Gen Sir Ian Hamilton, British military commander (d. 1947)
• 1853 – Vladimir Sergeyevich Solovyov, Russian philosopher (d. 1900)
• 1872 – Edward Gordon Craig, English actor, producer, director and scenic designer (d. 1966)
• 1872 – Henri Busser, French composer (d. 1973)
• 1874 – Robert W. Service, Canadian poet (d. 1958)
• 1875 – Leonor Michaelis, German enzyme kinetic theorist (d. 1947)
• 1878 – Harry Carey, American silent film actor (d. 1947)
• 1885 – Zhou Zuoren, Chinese writer (d. 1967)
• 1886 – John Hamilton, American actor (d. 1958)
• 1888 – Osip Brik, Russian writer (d. 1945)
• 1893 – Daisy Kennedy, Australian violinist (d. 1981)
• 1894 – Irving Mills, American jazz music publisher (d. 1985)
• 1895 – Nat Schachner, American author (d. 1955)
• 1896 – Ruth Rose, American screenwriter (d. 1978)
• 1897 – Carlos Pellicer, Mexican poet (d. 1977)
• 1898 – Margaret Booth, American film editor (d. 2002)
• 1898 – Irving Rapper, UK-US film director (d. 1999)
• 1901 – Fulgencio Batista, Cuban leader (d. 1973)
• 1901 – Frank Zamboni, American inventor (d. 1988)
• 1902 – Eric Liddell, Scottish runner (d. 1945)
• 1903 – William Grover-Williams, English-French racing driver and WWII resistance fighter (d. 1945)
• 1905 – Ernesto Halffter, Spanish composer and conductor (d. 1989)
• 1906 – Diana Wynyard, British actress (d. 1964)
• 1907 – Alexander Knox, Canadian actor (d. 1995)
• 1907 – Paul Nitze, American government official (d. 2004)
• 1908 – Ethel Merman, American actress and singer (d. 1984)
• 1908 – Günther Prien, German World War II submarine captain (d. 1941)
• 1910 – Dizzy Dean, American baseball player (d. 1974)
• 1911 – Roger Lapébie, French cyclist (d. 1996)
• 1911 – Eduardo Frei Montalva, Chilean politician (d. 1982)
• 1914 – Roger Wagner, American choral musician (d. 1992)
• 1915 – Leslie H. Martinson, American television and film director.
• 1916 – Philip Lucock, Australian politician and Presbyterian minister (d. 1996)
• 1917 – Carl Karcher, founded the Carl's Jr. hamburger chain (d. 2008)
• 1918 – Nel Benschop, Dutch poet (d. 2005)
• 1918 – Clem Jones, Australian Lord Mayor of Brisbane (d. 2007)
• 1918 – Stirling Silliphant, American writer (d. 1996)
• 1918 – Allan Ekelund, Swedish film producer (d. 2009)
• 1920 – Alberto Crespo, Argentine racing driver (d. 1991)
• 1920 – Elliott Reid, American actor
• 1921 – Francesco Scavullo, American photographer (d. 2004)
• 1922 – Ernesto Bonino, Italian singer (d. 2008)
• 1923 – Gene Feist, American stage actor and producer
• 1923 – Anthony Hecht, American poet (d. 2004)
• 1924 – Katy Jurado, Mexican actress (d. 2002)
• 1928 – Pilar Lorengar, Spanish soprano (d. 1996)
• 1928 – William Kennedy, American author
• 1930 – Clarence Ray Allen, American murderer (d. 2006)
• 1930 – Norman Podhoretz, US writer, foreign policy adviser
• 1931 – Johannes Rau, German politician (d. 2006)
• 1932 – Dian Fossey, American zoologist (d. 1985)
• 1933 – Susan Sontag, American writer (d. 2004)
• 1934 – Marilyn Horne, American opera singer
• 1935 – A.J. Foyt, American race car driver and team owner
• 1937 – Lorraine Bayly, Australian actress
• 1937 – Luiz Bueno, Brazilian racing driver
• 1938 – Jô Soares, Brazilian author, musician and TV personality
• 1942 – René Angélil, Canadian music executive
• 1942 – Barbara Lynn, American singer
• 1943 – Gavin Bryars, English composer and double bassist
• 1943 – Brian Ferneyhough, British composer
• 1944 – Jim Stafford, American singer and songwriter
• 1946 – Kabir Bedi, Indian actor
• 1946 – Ronnie Milsap, American singer and songwriter
• 1946 – Katia Ricciarelli, Italian soprano
• 1947 – Magdalen Nabb, British author (d. 2007)
• 1947 – Sarah Jane Olson, American political activist
• 1947 – Harvey Proctor, British politician
• 1947 – Dr. Laura Schlessinger, American radio talk show host
• 1948 – John Carpenter, American film director
• 1948 – Dalvanius Prime, New Zealand entertainer (d. 2002)
• 1948 – Ruth Reichl, American magazine editor
• 1948 – Cliff Thorburn, Canadian snooker player
• 1949 – Andrew Refshauge, Australian politician, Deputy Premier of New South Wales
• 1949 – Caroline Munro, British actress
• 1950 – Debbie Allen, American dancer and choreographer
• 1950 – Brian Castro, Australian author
• 1950 – Damo Suzuki, Japanese singer (Can)
• 1950 – Robert Schimmel, American Comedian
• 1951 – Glenn Ordway, American radio talk show host
• 1952 – King Fuad II of Egypt
• 1952 – L. Blaine Hammond, NASA astronaut
• 1953 – Robert Jay Mathews, American neo-Nazi (d. 1984)
• 1955 – Jerry M. Linenger, NASA astronaut
• 1956 – Jennifer Dale, Canadian actress
• 1956 – Martin Jol, Dutch football manager
• 1956 – Ivan Safronov, Russian journalist (d. 2007)
• 1957 – Jurijs Andrejevs, Latvian footballer
• 1957 – Ricardo Darin, Argentine actor
• 1958 – Anatoli Boukreev, Russian climber (d. 1997)
• 1958 – Lena Ek, Swedish politician
• 1959 – Juanita Bynum, American televangelist
• 1959 – Sade, Nigerian-born singer
• 1961 – Paul Raven, English musician (Killing Joke) (d. 2007)
• 1962 – Joel Fitzgibbon, Australian politician
• 1962 – Paul Webb, British musician (Talk Talk, .O.rang)
• 1962 – Tracey Moore, voice actress
• 1963 – James May, English television presenter
• 1965 – Maxine Jones, American singer (En Vogue)
• 1965 – Jill Sobule, American singer-songwriter
• 1968 – David Chokachi, American actor
• 1969 – Dead, Swedish black metal vocalist (Mayhem) (d. 1991)
• 1969 – Roy Jones Jr., American boxer
• 1969 – Neil Back, England rugby player
• 1970 – Garth Ennis, Irish comic book author
• 1970 – Brendan O'Hare, Scottish drummer (Teenage Fanclub, Telstar Ponies)
• 1970 – Ron Villone, American baseball player
• 1971 – Sergi Bruguera, Spanish tennis player
• 1972 – Ruben Bagger, Danish footballer
• 1972 – Ang Christou, Australian rules footballer
• 1972 – Dameon Clarke, Canadian actor
• 1972 – Yuri Drozdov, Russian footballer
• 1972 – Ezra Hendrickson, Vincentian footballer
• 1972 – Salah Hissou, Moroccan long-distance runner
• 1972 – Joe Horn, American football player
• 1972 – Richard T. Jones, American actor
• 1972 – Greg Page, Australian musician and actor
• 1972 – Alen Peternac, Croatian footballer
• 1973 – Josie Davis, American actress
• 1974 – Marlon Anderson, American baseball player
• 1974 – Kate Moss, English model
• 1975 – Greg Strause, American visual effects creator
• 1975 – Gillian Iliana Waters, American actress
• 1976 – Viktor Maslov, Russian racing driver
• 1976 – Martina Moravcová, Slovak female swimmer
• 1977 – Ariel Zeevi, Israeli judoka
• 1977 – Jeff Foster, American basketball player
• 1978 – Alfredo Amézaga, Mexican baseball player
• 1979 – Aaliyah, American R&B singer/actress (d. 2001)
• 1979 – Brenden Morrow, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1979 – Jason Ward, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1980 – Seydou Keita, Malian footballer
• 1980 – Lin Manuel Miranda, American actor, composer, lyricist (In The Heights)
• 1980 – Albert Pujols, Dominican-born baseball player
• 1980 – Michelle Wild, Hungarian model
• 1981 – Nick Valensi, American guitarist (The Strokes)
• 1981 – Bobby Zamora, English footballer
• 1982 – Samuel Preston, British singer (The Ordinary Boys)
• 1982 – Tuncay Şanlı, Turkish footballer
• 1983 – Emanuel Pogatetz, Austrian footballer
• 1984 – Stephan Lichtsteiner, Swiss footballer
• 1984 – Jared Slingerland, Canadian musician
• 1985 – Jonathan Richter, Danish footballer
• 1985 – Joe Flacco, American football player
• 1986 – Paula Pareto, Argentine judoka
• 1986 – Mason Gamble, American actor
• 1987 – Lauren McAvoy, British fashion model
• 1988 – Nicklas Bendtner, Danish footballer
• 1989 – Yvonne Zima, American actress
• 1991 – Matt Duchene, Canadian hockey player

Deaths

• 960 – Polyeuctus, Patriarch of Constantinople
• 1387 – Elizabeth of Bosnia, Hungarian queen and regent (b. 1340)
• 1400 – John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter, English politician (b. 1352)
• 1545 – George Spalatin, German reformer (b. 1484)
• 1547 – Johannes Schöner, German astronomer and cartographer (b. 1477)
• 1554 – Christiern Pedersen, Danish humanist (b. 1480)
• 1585 – Edward Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln, English admiral (b. 1512)
• 1659 – Charles Annibal Fabrot, French lawyer (b. 1580)
• 1710 – Emperor Higashiyama of Japan (b. 1675)
• 1711 – Joseph Vaz, Apostle of Ceylon (b. 1651)
• 1747 – Barthold Heinrich Brockes, German poet (b. 1680)
• 1748 – Arnold Drakenborch, Dutch classical scholar (b. 1684)
• 1750 – Ivan Trubetskoy, Russian field marshall (b. 1667)
• 1752 – Francis Blomefield, English topographer (b. 1705)
• 1794 – Edward Gibbon, English historian (b. 1737)
• 1809 – John Moore, British general (b. 1761)
• 1817 – Alexander J. Dallas, American statesman (b. 1759)
• 1826 – Lindley Murray, grammarian (b. 1745)
• 1834 – Jean Nicolas Pierre Hachette, French mathematician (b. 1769)
• 1856 – Thaddeus William Harris, American naturalist (b. 1795)
• 1864 – Anton Schindler, Austrian biographer of Beethoven (b. 1795)
• 1865 – Edmond François Valentin About, French writer (b. 1828)
• 1879 – Octave Crémazie, French Canadian poet (b. 1827)
• 1886 – Amilcare Ponchielli, Italian opera composer (b. 1834)
• 1891 – Léo Delibes, French composer (b. 1836)
• 1898 – Charles Pelham Villiers, British Member of Parliament (b. 1802)
• 1901 – Jules Barbier, French opera librettist (b. 1825)
• 1901 – Arnold Böcklin, Swiss painter (b. 1827)
• 1901 – Hiram Revels, first African-American to serve in the U. S. Senate (b. 1822)
• 1906 – Marshall Field, American entrepreneur (b. 1834)
• 1917 – George Dewey, American admiral (b. 1837)
• 1919 – Francisco de Paula Rodrigues Alves, President of Brazil (b. 1848)
• 1920 – Reginald De Koven, American music critic and operetta composer (b. 1859)
• 1924 – Winifred Cochrane, Countess of Dundonald, Scottish philanthropist (b. 1859)
• 1935 – Ma Barker, American criminal (b. 1871)
• 1936 – Albert Fish, American serial killer (b. 1870)
• 1942 – Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, son of Queen Victoria (b. 1850)
• 1942 – Carole Lombard, American actress (b. 1908)
• 1957 – 1st Earl of Athlone, British royal, brother of Queen Mary (b. 1874)
• 1957 – Arturo Toscanini, Italian conductor (b. 1867)
• 1962 – Ivan Meštrović, Croatian sculptor (b. 1883)
• 1962 – Frank Hurley, Australian photographer (b. 1885)
• 1963 – Ike Quebec, American tenor-saxophone player (b. 1918)
• 1967 – Robert J. Van de Graaff, American nuclear physicist (b. 1901)
• 1968 – Bob Jones, Sr, American evangelist (b. 1883)
• 1969 – Vernon Duke, American composer and songwriter (b. 1903)
• 1969 – Jan Palach, Czech political protester (b. 1948)
• 1971 – Philippe Thys, Belgian cyclist (b. 1890)
• 1972 – Teller Ammons, American politician (b. 1895)
• 1972 – Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. (David Seville), American actor (b. 1919)
• 1979 – Ted Cassidy, American actor (b. 1932)
• 1979 – August Heissmeyer, German SS officer (b. 1897)
• 1981 – Bernard Lee, English actor (b. 1908)
• 1982 – Red Smith, American sports columnist (b. 1905)
• 1985 – Robert Fitzgerald, American poet and translator (b. 1910)
• 1986 – Herbert W. Armstrong, American evangelist, author, and publisher (b. 1892)
• 1987 – Bertram Wainer, Australian pro-abortion campaigner (b. 1928)
• 1988 – Andrija Artuković, Croatian war criminal (b. 1899)
• 1988 – Ballard Berkeley, English actor (b. 1904)
• 1989 – Prem Nazir, Malayalam actor (b. 1926)
• 1993 – Jón Páll Sigmarsson, Icelandic strength athlete (b. 1960)
• 1993 – Glenn Corbett, American actor (b. 1930)
• 1995 – Eric Mottram, English poet, teacher, critic, and editor (b. 1924)
• 1996 – Marcia Davenport, American author and music critic (b. 1903)
• 1997 – Ennis Cosby, son of entertainer Bill Cosby (b. 1969)
• 1997 – Markus Hoffmann, German actor (b. 1971)
• 1998 – Dimitris Horn, Greek actor (b. 1921)
• 1999 – Jim McClelland, Australian solicitor and politician (b. 1915)
• 2000 – Will "Dub" Jones, American singer (The Coasters) (b. 1928)
• 2000 – John Morris Rankin, Canadian musical entertainer (b. 1959)
• 2001 – Laurent-Désiré Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (b. 1939)
• 2001 – Auberon Waugh, British author and journalist (b. 1939)
• 2002 – Michael Bilandic, Mayor of Chicago (b. 1923)
• 2002 – Robert Hanbury Brown, British astronomer and physicist (b. 1916)
• 2002 – Bobo Olson, American boxer (b. 1928)
• 2002 – Eddie Meduza, Swedish composer (b. 1948)
• 2002 – Ron Taylor, American actor (b. 1952)
• 2003 – Richard Wainwright, English politician (b. 1918)
• 2004 – Kalevi Sorsa, Prime Minister of Finland (b. 1930)
• 2005 – Marjorie Williams, American journalist (b. 1958)
• 2006 – Stanley Biber, American surgeon (b. 1923)
• 2007 – Ron Carey, American actor (b. 1935)
• 2007 – Benny Parsons, American racecar driver and commentator (b. 1941)
• 2009 – Joe Erskine, American boxer and long distance runner (b. 1930)
• 2009 – John Mortimer, British barrister, screenwriter and author. (b. 1923)
• 2009 – Andrew Wyeth, American realist painter (b. 1917)
• 2010 – Glen Bell, WW2 Veteran and the founder of Taco Bell. (b. 1923)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day
  • Berard of Carbio
  • Fursey
  • Honoratus of Arles
  • January 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• National Religious Freedom Day (United States)
• Teacher's Day (Thailand)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On this day in Canada