What happened today in history
April
What happened on April 16
On April 16 history recorded 55 notable events. 160 people who left a mark were born on this day, and 120 died. Here is the full almanac.
- 55events
- 160births
- 120deaths
- 18observances
Highlights
Highlights
69After defeat by Vitellius' troops at Bedriacum, Roman emperor Otho killed himself.
AD 69 (LXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the consulship of Galba and Vinius. The denomination AD 69 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Dom
556Emperor Justinian I approved and consecrated Pope Pelagius I.
Justinian I, also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized renovatio imperii. This ambition was expressed by the partial recovery of the territories of the defunct Western R
1520A revolt of citizens in Toledo, Castile, opposed to the rule of the foreign-born Charles I began when the royal government attempted to unseat radical city councilors.
The Revolt of the Comuneros was an uprising by citizens of Castile against the rule of Charles I and his administration between 1520 and 1521. At its height, the rebels controlled the heart of Castile, ruling the cities of Valladolid, Tordesillas, and Toledo.
April 16
On this day
XV century BC
- 1457 BC
1457 BCBattle of Megiddo: The first battle to have been recorded in what is accepted as relatively reliable detail.
I century
VI century
VII century
XIV century
XVI century
XVIII century
- 1746
1746The Battle of Culloden is fought between the French-supported Jacobites and the British Hanoverian forces commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, in Scotland. - 1780
1780Franz Friedrich Wilhelm von Fürstenberg founds the University of Münster. - 1797
1797The Spithead mutiny begins, immobilising the Channel fleet. - 1799
1799French Revolutionary Wars: The Battle of Mount Tabor: Napoleon drives Ottoman Turks across the River Jordan near Acre.
XIX century
- 1818
1818The United States Senate ratifies the Rush–Bagot Treaty, limiting naval armaments on the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain. - 1838
1838The French Army captures Veracruz in the Pastry War. - 1847
1847Shooting of a Māori by an English sailor results in the opening of the Wanganui Campaign of the New Zealand Wars. - 1853
1853The Great Indian Peninsula Railway opens the first passenger rail in India, from Bori Bunder to Thane. - 1858
1858The Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is dissolved. - 1862
1862American Civil War: Battle at Lee's Mills in Virginia. - 1862
1862American Civil War: The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia, becomes law. - 1863
1863American Civil War: During the Vicksburg Campaign, gunboats commanded by acting Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter run downriver past Confederate artillery batteries at Vicksburg. - 1878
1878The Senate of the Grand Duchy of Finland issues a declaration establishing a city of Kotka on the southern part islands from the old Kymi parish. - 1881
1881In Dodge City, Kansas, Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle.
XX century
- 1908
1908Natural Bridges National Monument is established in Utah. - 1910
1910The oldest indoor ice hockey arena used for the sport in the 21st century, Boston Arena, opens for the first time. - 1912
1912Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel. - 1917
1917Russian Revolution: Vladimir Lenin returns to Petrograd, Russia, from exile in Switzerland. - 1919
1919Mohandas Gandhi organizes a day of "prayer and fasting" in response to the killing of Indian protesters in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre by the British colonial troops three days earlier. - 1919
1919Polish–Lithuanian War: The Polish Army launches the Vilna offensive to capture Vilnius in modern Lithuania. - 1922
1922The Treaty of Rapallo, pursuant to which Germany and the Soviet Union re-establish diplomatic relations, is signed. - 1925
1925During the Communist St Nedelya Church assault in Sofia, Bulgaria, 150 are killed and 500 are wounded. - 1941
1941World War II: The Italian-German Tarigo convoy is attacked and destroyed by British ships. - 1941
1941World War II: The Nazi-affiliated Ustaše is put in charge of the Independent State of Croatia by the Axis powers after Operation 25 is effected. - 1943
1943Albert Hofmann accidentally discovers the hallucinogenic effects of the research drug LSD. He intentionally takes the drug three days later on April 19. - 1944
1944World War II: Allied forces start bombing Belgrade, killing about 1,100 people. This bombing fell on the Orthodox Christian Easter. - 1945
1945World War II: The Red Army begins the final assault on German forces around Berlin, with nearly one million troops fighting in the Battle of the Seelow Heights. - 1945
1945World War II: The United States Army liberates Nazi Sonderlager (high security) prisoner-of-war camp Oflag IV-C (better known as Colditz). - 1945
1945World War II: More than 7,000 die when the German transport ship Goya is sunk by a Soviet submarine. - 1947
1947An explosion on board a freighter in port causes Texas City in the state of Texas, United States, to catch fire, killing almost 600 people. - 1947
1947Bernard Baruch first applies the term "Cold War" to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union. - 1948
1948The Organization of European Economic Co-operation is formed. - 1961
1961In a nationally broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declares that he is a Marxist–Leninist and that Cuba is going to adopt Communism. - 1963
1963U.S. civil rights campaigner Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. writes his open letter from Birmingham Jail, sometimes known as "The Negro Is Your Brother", while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama, for protesting against segregation. - 1972
1972Apollo program: The launch of Apollo 16 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
XXI century
- 2001
2001India and Bangladesh begin a five-day border conflict, but are unable to resolve the disputes about their border. - 2003
2003The Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens admitting ten new member states to the European Union. - 2007
2007Virginia Tech shooting: Seung-Hui Cho murders 32 people and injures 17 before committing suicide. - 2008
2008The U.S. Supreme Court rules in the Baze v. Rees decision that execution by lethal injection does not violate the Eighth Amendment ban against cruel and unusual punishment. - 2012
2012The trial for Anders Behring Breivik, the perpetrator of the 2011 Norway attacks, begins in Oslo, Norway. - 2012
2012The Pulitzer Prize winners are announced. It was the first time since 1977 that no book won the Fiction Prize. - 2013
2013A 7.8-magnitude earthquake strikes Sistan and Balochistan province, Iran, killing at least 35 people and injuring 117 others. - 2013
2013The 2013 Baga massacre is started when Boko Haram militants engage government soldiers in Baga. - 2014
2014The South Korean ferry MV Sewol capsizes and sinks near Jindo Island, killing 304 passengers and crew and leading to widespread criticism of the South Korean government, media, and shipping authorities. - 2016
2016Ecuador's worst earthquake in nearly 40 years kills 676 and injures more than 230,000. - 2018
2018The New York Times and The New Yorker win the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for breaking news of the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse scandal. - 2024
2024The historic Børsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, is severely damaged by a fire.
Best known
Born on April 16
Best known
Died on April 16
69AD 69
Calendar year
665Fructuosus of Braga
Bishop of Dumio and Archbishop of Braga
1113Sviatopolk II of Kiev
Grand Prince of Kiev from 1093 to 1113
1118Adelaide del Vasto
Countess of Sicily (1089–1101) and Queen of Jerusalem
1198Frederick I of Austria (Babenberg)
Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198
1234Richard Marshal, 3rd Earl of Pembroke
English nobleman
Holidays and observances
- Christian feast day: Benedict Joseph Labre
- Christian feast day: Bernadette Soubirous
- Christian feast day: Drogo
- Christian feast day: Engratia
- Christian feast day: Fructuosus of Braga
- Christian feast day: Isabella Gilmore (Church of England)
- Christian feast day: Martyrs of Zaragoza
- Christian feast day: Molly Brant (Konwatsijayenni) (Anglican Church of Canada, Episcopal Church)
- Christian feast day: Turibius of Astorga
- Christian feast day: April 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Birthday of José de Diego (Puerto Rico, United States)
- Birthday of Queen Margrethe II (Denmark)
- Flag Day (Jordan)
- Emancipation Day (Washington, D.C., United States)
Frequently asked questions
What happened on April 16?
55 documented historical events happened on April 16, from antiquity to the present day. The best known is this: After defeat by Vitellius' troops at Bedriacum, Roman emperor Otho killed himself. On the same day, in another year: Emperor Justinian I approved and consecrated Pope Pelagius I. On Almanaccolo every event is listed in chronological order, grouped by century, and links to the Wikipedia article it comes from, so you can always read further or check the source. Alongside the events you find who was born and who died on this date, and which observances are celebrated around the world.
Who was born on April 16?
160 people with a Wikipedia article were born on April 16, including Charlie Chaplin, Fred Root, Gertrude Chandler Warner. The list spans every era and every field — art, science, politics, sport, entertainment — ordered by year of birth, from the earliest to the most recent. The six featured people are those most has been written about: the ordering uses the length of their Wikipedia article as an indicator of prominence. For each one you find their occupation, year of birth and a link to the full biography.
Who died on April 16?
120 people with a Wikipedia article died on April 16, including AD 69, Fructuosus of Braga, Sviatopolk II of Kiev. The list is in chronological order by year of death and spans all of documented history, from antiquity to the present day. For each person you find their occupation, the year and a link to the Wikipedia biography, where the full story and its sources can be read.
What is celebrated on April 16?
18 observances are celebrated on April 16 around the world: Christian feast day: Benedict Joseph Labre, Christian feast day: Bernadette Soubirous, Christian feast day: Drogo, Christian feast day: Engratia, Christian feast day: Fructuosus of Braga, Christian feast day: Isabella Gilmore (Church of England). The list gathers national holidays, international days and religious or civil observances falling on this date in different countries, as recorded on Wikipedia. Some are fixed and recur on the same day every year; others depend on the local calendar. Each links to the article explaining its origin and meaning.
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Source: Wikipedia · Calendar