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What happened in history on this day: October 16?
On October 16 in ...
- 1311 - Council of Vienne (15th ecumenical council) opens.
- 1688 - Death of Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle, in Jamaica.
- 1708 - Birth of Albrecht von Haller in Bern, Switzerland; biologist, professor of medicine, anatomy, and surgery at the University of Göttingen, first to understand the system of respiration, demonstrated the function of nerves, writer (Elementa Physiologiae Corporis Humani, 8 volumes).
- 1758 - Birth of Noah Webster; lexicographer (Webster's Dictionary) (dies 1843).
- 1759 - New lighthouse on Eddystone Rock off Devon, England first shines light, powered by 24 candles, designed by John Smeaton. The lighthouse cost 40,000 pounds sterling to build, using 988 tons of granite.
- 1775 - Portland, Maine burned by British.
- 1781 - General George Washington takes Yorktown.
- 1786 - Continental Congress authorizes coinage system of gold piece valued at $10, silver piece at $1, tenth dollar in silver, and copper penny.
- 1792 - Birth of Francisco Morazán; president of Central America (1830-40).
- 1793 - Marie Antoinette, queen of France, is beheaded.
- 1799 - Four British frigates capture two Spanish ships off Vigo Bay loaded with 2.8 million silver pesos and luxury trade goods, the largest capture in the history of the Royal Navy.
- 1813 - At Leipzig, over four days, allied forces converge on Napoleon's position, defeating him. Total forces number 320,000 Allies vs. 160,000 French. About 94,000 are killed or wounded.
- 1829 - Tremont Hotel, first US modern hotel opens (Boston, Massachusetts).
- 1846 - At Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, Dr. William Thomas Green Morton performs world's first anaesthetization of a patient, then surgeons perform removal of a cyst.
- 1848 - First US homeopathic medical college opens in Pennsylvania.
- 1849 - British seize Tigre Island in Gulf of Fonseca from Honduras.
- 1851 - Birth of James Ten Eyck; champion rower/coach (Ten Eyck Trophy namesake).
- 1854 - Birth of Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde in Dublin, Ireland; (The Picture of Dorian Gray) (dies 1900).
- 1861 - Confederate States of America starts selling postage stamps.
- 1863 - Birth of Austen Chamberlain; British Foreign Secretary (Nobel Prize 1925).
- 1867 - Alaska adopts the Gregorian calendar, crosses international date line.
- 1869 - The Cardiff Giant is discovered (a hoax).
- 1869 - Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts becomes first in the US to have indoor plumbing.
- 1875 - Brigham Young University is founded in Provo, Utah.
- 1876 - Race riot at Cainhoy, South Carolina, USA (5 whites and one black killed).
- 1886 - Birth of David Ben-Gurion in Plonsk, Poland; first Prime Minister of Israel (1948-53, 1955).
- 1888 - Birth of Eugene O'Neill in New York City, New York, USA; dramatist (Desire Under the Elms - Nobel Prize 1936) (dies 1953).
- 1890 - Birth of Paul Strand in New York City, New York, USA; photographer (Native Land - 1942).
- 1898 - Birth of Arthur H Dean; lawyer/advisor to Franklin Roosevelt.
- 1898 - Birth of William O Douglas in Maine, USA; US supreme court justice (1939-75).
- 1900 - Birth of Leon (Goose) Goslin; baseball hall of famer (American League bat champion 1928).
- 1900 - Birth of Lloyd Corrigan in San Francisco, California, USA; actor (Papa Dodger - Willy, Prof McKillup - Hank).
- 1905 - Birth of Rex Bell in Chicago, Illinois, USA; cowboy (Cowboys and Injuns).
- 1906 - Birth of George Martin Lott Junior; tennis champion (1931 US Open runner-up).
- 1908 - Birth of Enver Hoxha; post-war leader of Albania (1944-85).
- 1909 - The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, held in Seattle, Washington, closes. 3.75 million visitors attended.
- 1909 - Pittsburgh Pirates beat Detroit Tigers 4 games to 3 in 6th World Series.
- 1912 - Boston Red Sox beats New York Giants, 4 games to 3 with a tie in 9th World Series.
- 1913 - Birth of Alice Pearce in New York City, New York, USA; comedienne/actress (Gladys Kravitz - Bewitched).
- 1916 - Margaret Sanger opens first birth control clinic in US (Brooklyn, New York).
- 1921 - Birth of Linda Darnell in Dallas, Texas, USA; actress (Unfaithfully Yours, Second Chance).
- 1921 - Birth of Michael Conrad in Washington Heights, New York, USA; actor (Delvecchio, Hill Street Blues).
- 1921 - Jim Conzelman takes over as coach of Rock Island Independents from Frank Coughlin-only mid-game coaching change in APFA/NFL history.
- 1922 - Birth of Max Bygraves in London, England; actor (Tom Brown's School Days).
- 1923 - John Harwood patents the self-winding watch.
- 1923 - Walt and Roy Disney, as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, sign a contract with M.J. Winkler Productions, a New York film distributor, to produce six Alice Comedy short films, for US$1500 each, with an option for six more.
- 1925 - In Locarno, Switzerland, the Pact of Locarno is signed by Germany, Belgium, Great Britain, France, Italy, Poland, and Czechslovakia. The nations agree to a mutual guarantee of existing borders, and to make peaceful settlements of disputes.
- 1925 - In Locarno, the Treaty of Mutual Guarantee is signed by Great Britain, Belgium, France, Germany, and Italy. Germany and Belgium, and Germany and France agree to not attack or invade each other.
- 1925 - France and Poland sign a Treaty of Mutual Guarantee, to immediately aid the other if attacked by Germany.
- 1925 - Birth of Angela Brigid Lansbury in London, England; actor (Gaslight film (1944), Aunt Adelaide - Nanny McPhee film (2005), Blithe Spirit play (2009), The Vest Man play (2012), Sibyl Vane - The Picture of Dorian Gray film (1945), The Manchurian Candidate film (1962), Bedknobs and Broomsticks film (1971), Mrs. Lovett - Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street film (1979), Jessica Fletcher - Murder, She Wrote TV show, Mame film (1966)), voice actor (Mrs. Pots - Beauty and the Beast film (1991)), knighted (2014), Oscar award winner (2013), Tony award winner.
- 1925 - Texas School Board prohibits teaching of evolution.
- 1926 - Troop ship sinks in Yangtze River, killing 1,200.
- 1927 - Birth of Günter Grass in Germany; novelist/poet (The Tin Drum).
- 1927 - Birth of Lee Montague in London, England; actor (Uncle Sasha - Holocaust).
- 1931 - Birth of Charles W Colson; American presidential adviser, Watergate figure.
- 1931 - Trunk murderess Winnie Ruth Judd chops first victim.
- 1932 - Birth of Henry Lewis in Los Angeles, California, USA; conductor/bass (Los Angeles Philharmonic 1955-59).
- 1936 - New York Yankees' first baseman Lou Gehrig is voted American League Most Valuable Player.
- 1937 - Birth of Tony Anthony in Clarksburg, West Virginia, USA; actor (Treasure of Four Crowns).
- 1939 - Five warships from England arrive in Halifax, Canada, carrying about 10 million Pounds Sterling in gold from Britain and other Allied nations, for safekeeping during the war.
- 1939 - German troops cross the extreme western end of the German frontier to France, losing twenty tanks in the battle.
- 1940 - Birth of Dave DeBusschere in Detroit, Michigan, USA; NBA forward (New York Knicks)/last ABA commissioner.
- 1940 - Warsaw Ghetto established.
- 1941 - Gordo comic strip (by Gus Arriola) first appears in newspapers.
- 1941 - Birth of Tim McCarver; baseball catcher (New York Mets)/sportscaster (ABC, CBS).
- 1941 - Germany advances within 60 miles (96 km) of Moscow, Russia.
- 1941 - In Japan, Prince Fumimaro Konoye resigns his cabinet. War minister General Hideki Tojo becomes new prime minister.
- 1942 - Cyclone in Bay of Bengal kills some 40,000 south of Calcutta, India.
- 1942 - National Boxing Association freezes titles of those serving in armed services.
- 1943 - Chicago Mayor Ed Kelly opens city's new subway system.
- 1944 - Birth of Johnny Washbrook in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; actor (Ken - My Friend Flicka).
- 1945 - United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization comes into existence.
- 1946 - (0000 to 0230 hours) Ten German leaders convicted at the Nuremberg Tribunal are hanged at Nuremberg. The bodies are cremated.
- 1946 - Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Austrian chancellor (1930s), dies at age 54.
- 1946 - Birth of Suzanne Mahoney in San Bruno, California; actor (Chrissy Snow - Three's Company TV show (1977-1981), She's the Sheriff TV show, Step by Step TV show (1991-1998)).
- 1947 - Birth of Bob Weir; guitarist (Grateful Dead - "Uncle Joe's Band").
- 1950 - CBS premieres The Garry Moore Show 30/45/60-minute variety TV show.
- 1951 - Birth of Daniel Gerroll in London, England; actor (Big Business).
- 1951 - Liaquat Ali Khan, Prime Minister of Pakistan, assassinated by Said Akbar.
- 1952 - NBC premieres the Victory at Sea 30-minute documentary TV show.
- 1953 - Birth of Susan Pedersen; American 4 X 100m medley swimmer (Olympic-gold-1968).
- 1955 - Birth of Ellen Dolan in Iowa, USA; actress (Guiding Light, Margo Hughes - ATWT).
- 1956 - "Love Me Tender" song with Elvis Presley premieres.
- 1956 - William J Brennan Junior becomes a US Supreme Court Justice.
- 1958 - Birth of Tim Robbins; actor (Bull Durham, Cadillac Man).
- 1959 - Birth of Gary Kemp; rocker (Spandau Ballet - "True").
- 1962 - Birth of Manute Bol; NBA center (Golden State Warriors).
- 1962 - US President John Kennedy becomes aware of missiles in Cuba.
- 1962 - New York Yankees (20th championship) beat San Francisco Giants 4 games to 3 in 59th World Series (New York Yankees appear in 12 and win 9 of last 14 World Series).
- 1964 - China becomes world's 5th nuclear power.
- 1968 - During Olympics, Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos give black power salute.
- 1968 - Jim Dorey sets Toronto Maple Leafs penalty records (48 minutess on nine penalties in a game, and 44 minutes on seven penalties in a period).
- 1968 - Milwaukee Bucks play their first game losing 89-84 to Chicago Bulls.
- 1969 - New York Mets beat Baltimore Orioles 5-3 and win 66th Major League Baseball World Series in 5 games.
- 1969 - Birth of Wendy Wilson; singer (Wilson-Philips - "Hold On").
- 1969 - Soyuz 6 returns to Earth.
- 1969 - Death of Leonard Chess at age 52 of a heart attack; founder of the Chess record label (John Lee Hooker, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Jimmy Reed).
- 1970 - Anwar Sadat elected president of Egypt, succeeding Gamal Abdel Nasser.
- 1971 - Amphitheater in McLaren Park is dedicated in San Francisco, California.
- 1972 - Death of Leo G. Carroll at age 85; actor (Topper, The Man From UNCLE).
- 1973 - US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho jointly awarded Nobel Peace Prize.
- 1973 - Saudi Arabia and four other Arab states announce a 70 percent increase in the price of oil. Iran joins them.
- 1976 - Soyuz 23 returns to Earth.
- 1976 - Toronto Maple Leafs' Lanny McDonald scores a hat trick in 2 minutes 54 seconds.
- 1976 - CBS airs the 100th episode of The Bob Newhart Show.
- 1978 - Death of Dan Dailey at age 64 of anemia; actor/singer/dancer (Faraday and Company TV show, Governor Drinkwater - The Governor and JJ).
- 1978 - Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtyla elected supreme pontiff, Pope John Paul II, succeeding Pope John Paul I as the 264th pope. He is the first Polish pope in history.
- 1978 - Birth of Abel Talamantez in Texas, USA; singer (Menudo - "Cannonball").
- 1979 - A tsunami in Nice, France kills 23 people.
- 1981 - Gas explosions occur in coal mine at Hokutan Yubari, Hokkaido, Japan, killing 93.
- 1981 - Off the coast of Central Chile, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake occurs.
- 1981 - Moshe Dayan, Israeli general, dies at age 66 (born 1915).
- 1982 - New Jersey Devils first road victory 6-5 over Pittsburgh Penguins.
- 1982 - Mount Palomar Observatory first to detect Halley's comet on 13th return.
- 1982 - George Shultz warns US will withdraw from United Nations if they vote to exclude Israel.
- 1983 - The Baltimore Orioles defeat the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 5 of the World Series, 5-0, to win the series 4 games to 1 for their 3rd World Championship.
- 1983 - Death of George Liberace of leukemia at age 72; conductor and violinist, conducted orchestra for brother pianist Wladziu Liberace.
- 1984 - Birth of Shayne Ward; British singer (The X Factor TV show winner).
- 1984 - Desmond Tutu, black Anglican Bishop, wins the Nobel Peace Prize.
- 1984 - Ken Carpenter, TV announcer (Lux Video Theater), dies at age 84.
- 1985 - Saint Louis Cardinals win the National League Championship Series in Game 6.
- 1985 - Claude Stroud, actor (Hobart - Ted Knight Show, Duke), dies at age 78.
- 1985 - Intel introduces the 16 MHz 80386 processor. With a 32-bit data bus, it can directly address four gigabytes of memory. Processor speed is three to four million instructions per second. Intel spent $100 million developing the processor.
- 1986 - Armand Hammer returns to US with Jewish refusenik David Goldfarb.
- 1986 - US government closes down due to budget problems.
- 1987 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average for the first time falls more than 100 points (108.35).
- 1987 - Iran fires Silkworm missile at Kuwaiti Sea Isle City oil tanker in Kuwaiti waters. 18 crew are injured.
- 1987 - 175-kph winds cause blackout in London and much of southern England.
- 1987 - Dana Suesse, songwriter ("You Ought to be in Pictures"), dies at age 75.
- 1987 - Jessica McClure is rescued 58 hours after falling 22 feet into a well shaft.
- 1987 - The last episode airs of the TV sci-fi adventure Max Headroom.
- 1988 - Orel Hirsheiser, first to pitch shutout in playoff and World Series (#85).
- 1989 - A drawing is held by American music video station VH-1, giving away 36 Corvettes, one from each model year. Dennis Amodeo is the winner. He later sells the cars for US$1.5 million.
- 1989 - Death of Scott O'Dell, children's writer and winner of 5 Newbery Awards (born 1898).
- 1990 - Art Blakey, jazz drummer (Jazz Messengers), dies of cancer at age 71.
- 1990 - US forces reach 200,000 in the Persian Gulf.
- 1991 - George Jo Hennard, age 35, kills 23 and himself and wounds 20 in Killeen, Texas.
- 1994 - The Federal Republic of Germany holds parliamentary elections. The CDU/CSU gets 41.4 percent of the vote, the SPD 36.4 percent, the FDP 6.9 percent, the Green Party 7.3 percent. The CDU/CSU-FDP coalition continues. Helmut Kohl (CDU) continues as chancellor.
- 1995 - The Million Man March is held in Washington, D.C. The event was conceived by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
- 1996 - Death of Eric Malpass, English novelist (born 1910).
- 1998 - British police place General Augusto Pinochet under house arrest during his medical treatment in the United Kingdom.
- 1998 - Death of Jon Postel, American Internet pioneer (born 1943).
- 1999 - In Southern California, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake occurs. Few injuries, light damage.
- 2000 - Death of Rick Jason at age 74 of self-inflicted gunshot; actor (Case of the Dangerous Robin TV show, Combat! TV show, Matt Houston TV show, Police Woman TV show, Murder She Wrote TV show, Wonder Woman TV show, Fantasy Island TV show, Airwolf TV show, Dallas TV show, The Young and the Restless TV show).
- 2001 - The WB network debuts TV series Smallville.
- 2002 - US President George W. Bush signs the Iraq War Resolution.
- 2003 - The New York Yankees defeat the Boston Red Sox in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, the 39th American League pennant for the Yankees.
- 2003 - Death of László Papp, Hungarian boxer (born 1926).
- 2003 - Death of Stu Hart, wrestling promoter (born 1915).
- 2004 - The New York Yankees defeat the Boston Red Sox 19-8 in Game three of Major League Baseball's American League Championship Series. The game, which pushed the Yankees to a 3 games to 0 series lead, sets a record for longest 9 inning baseball game.
- 2004 - Arsenal loses for the first time in 49 league games, a national record, going down 2-0 to Manchester United at Old Trafford.
- 2004 - Death of Pierre Salinger, John F. Kennedy's White House Press Secretary (born 1925).
- 2005 - U.S. helicopters and warplanes bomb two villages near Ramadi in western Iraq, killing about 70 people.
- 2006 - The last MASH (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is decommissioned.
- 2006 - Death of Valentín Paniagua, President of Peru (born 1936).
- 2007 - Stack's of New York conducts the 23rd and final auction of the John J. Ford Junior Collection. After 23 auctions of coins, tokens, currency, and numismatic books, the total price realized is $58 million, a record for a single collection.
- 2007 - Death of Barbara West, second-to-last living survivor of the RMS Titanic sinking (born 1911).
- 2008 - American second largest bank Citigroup posts its fourth straight quarterly loss of $13 billion due to write-downs and credit losses. The bank has recorded US$71 billion in losses over five quarters.
- 2008 - Crude oil drops as low as US$69.15 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, less than half its July record high.
- 2014 - Death of John Spencer-Churchill, 11th Duke of Marlborough, British peer and educator (born 1926).
- 2018 - Canada legalises the sale and use of cannabis, becoming the second country in the world to do so, after Uruguay in 2013.
- 2021 - The Lucy spacecraft is launched by NASA, the first mission to explore the Trojan asteroids.
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