January 16
January 16 is the 16th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 349 days remaining (350 in leap years).
Events:
- 1547 - Ivan The Terrible becomes Czar of Russia.
- 1556 - Philip II becomes King of Spain
- 1572 - The Duke of Norfolk is tried for treason for his part in the Ridolfi plot to restore Catholicism in England.
- 1581 - English Parliament outlaws Roman Catholicism
- 1761 - British capture Pondicherry, India from the French
- 1777 - Vermont declares its independence from New York
- 1780 - Battle of Cape St. Vincent
- 1795 - French occupy Utrecht, Netherlands
- 1809 - Peninsular War: The British defeat the French at the Battle of Corunna.
- 1847 - John C. Fremont is appointed Governor of the new California Territory
- 1883 - The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, establishing the United States Civil service, is passed
- 1900 - The United States Senate accepts the Anglo-German treaty of 1899 in which the United Kingdom renounced its claims to the Samoan islands
- 1909 - Ernest Shackleton finds magnetic South Pole
- 1913 - Home Rule is established for Ireland
- 1919 - The 18th Amendment, authorizing Prohibition, goes into effect in the United States
- 1936 - Screen Actors Guild incorporates
- 1944 - World War II: General Dwight D. Eisenhower takes command of Allied invasion forces.
- 1945 - Adolf Hitler moves into his underground bunker
- 1956 - President Gamal Abdal Nasser of Egypt vows to reconquer Palestine
- 1957 - The Cavern Club opens in Liverpool
- 1961 - Mickey Mantle becomes the highest paid baseball player by signing a $75,000 contract
- 1963 - Whiskey-A-Go-Go opens in Los Angeles, California
- 1964 - Hello Dolly! opens in New York City's St. James Theatre.
- 1966 - Metropolitan Opera House opens in Lincoln Center, New York City
- 1970 - Moammar Al Qadhafi becomes the ruler of Libya.
- 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 relocate to Egypt.
- 1988 - Sports commentator Jimmy 'the Greek' Snyder is fired by CBS a day after publicly stating that African Americans were been bred to produce stronger offspring during slavery.
- 1991 - Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm begins.
- 1992 - El Salvador officials and rebel leaders sign a pact in Mexico City that ends a 12 year civil war that claimed at least 75,000.
- 1997 - Ennis Cosby, the only son of actor Bill Cosby, is killed by a gunman while changing a flat tire in Los Angeles, California
- 1998 - NASA announces that John Glenn will return to space when Space Shuttle Discovery blasts off in October 1998.
- 2000 - In Sacramento, California a commercial truck carrying evaporated milk is driven into the state capitol building killing the driver.
- 2002 - A student shoots 6 people at the Appalachian School of Law. Three of those shot die.
- 2002 - John Ashcroft announces that American Taliban John Walker Lindh would be tried in the United States.
- 2002 - The UN Security Council unanimously establishes an arms embargo and the freezing of assets of Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaida, and the remaining Taliban.
Births:
- 1838 - Franz Brentano, German philosopher and phsycologist (+ 1917)
- 1874 - Robert W. Service, poet (+ 1958)
- 1881 - Sir Arthur Percy Morris Fleming, radio pioneer
- 1898 - Margaret Booth, film editor (+ 2002)
- 1909 - Ethel Merman, singer, actress (+ 1984)
- 1910 - Dizzy Dean, Baseball Hall of Famer (+ 1974)
- 1918 - Stirling Silliphant, writer, producer (+ 1996)
- 1912 - Franz Tumler, Austrian narrator (+ 1998)
- 1924 - Katy Jurado, actress (+ 2002)
- 1928 - William Kennedy, author
- 1931 - Johannes Rau, President of Germany
- 1932 - Dian Fossey, zoologist (+ 1985)
- 1933 - Susan Sontag, author
- 1935 - Udo Lattek, football coach
- 1935 - A.J. Foyt, automobile racer
- 1944 - Jim Stafford, singer
- 1946 - Kabir Bedi, actor
- 1946 - Ronnie Milsap, singer
- 1946 - Katia Ricciarelli, opera singer
- 1947 - Dr. Laura Schlessinger, psychiatrist, radio talk show host
- 1948 - John Carpenter, director
- 1950 - Debbie Allen, actress, dancer, choreographer
- 1959 - Sade, singer
- 1969 - Roy Jones Jr., boxer
- 1974 - Kate Moss, supermodel
- 1979 - Aaliyah, singer (+ 2001)
Deaths:
- 1806 - William Pitt the Elder, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- 1876 - Edmund H. Sears, composer
- 1917 - George Dewey, Admiral
- 1936 - Albert Fish, serial killer (electrocuted)
- 1942 - Carole Lombard, actress
- 1957 - Arturo Toscanini, conductor
Holidays and observances:
See Also: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
January 15 - January 17 - December 16 - February 16 - Historical anniversaries