April 16

is the 106th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (107th in leap years). There are 259 days remaining.

Events

1178 BC - A solar eclipse may have marked the return of Odysseus, legendary King of Ithaca, to his kingdom after the Trojan War.
73 - Masada, a Jewish fortress, falls to the Romans after several months of siege, ending the Jewish Revolt.
1071 - Bari falls to Robert Guiscard, ending Byzantine rule in Italy.
1521 - Martin Luther's first appearance before the Diet of Worms to be examined by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and the rest of the estates of the empire.
1582 - Spanish conquistador Hernando de Lerma founds the settlement of Salta, Argentina.
1746 - Second Jacobite Rebellion: The Battle of Culloden, the last battle of the Jacobite Uprising is fought, ultimately leading to the destruction of the Highland clans.
1780 - The University of Münster in Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany is founded.
1799 - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Mount Tabor – Napoleon drives Ottoman Turks across the River Jordan near Acre.
1853 - The first passenger rail opens in India, from Bori Bunder, Bombay to Thane.
1862 - American Civil War: Battle at Lee's Mills in Virginia.
1862 - American Civil War: A bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia became law.
1863 - American Civil War: Siege of Vicksburg – 12 ships led by Union Admiral David Dixon Porter move through heavy Confederate artillery fire on approach to Vicksburg, Mississippi. Only one ship is lost.
1881 - In Dodge City, Kansas, Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle.
1912 - Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel.
1917 - Vladimir Lenin returns to Petrograd (present-day Saint Petersburg) from exile in Finland.
1919 - Mohandas Gandhi organizes a day of "prayer and fasting" in response to the British slaughter of Indian protestors in the Amritsar Massacre.
1922 - The Treaty of Rapallo, in which Germany and the Soviet Union re-establish diplomatic relations between Berlin and Moscow, is signed.
1925 - the Communist St Nedelya Church assault in Sofia claims the lives of 150 and injures another 500.
1926 - Lolly Willows by Sylvia Townsend Warner is distributed as the first Book-of-the-Month Club selection.
1935 - Radio program Fibber McGee and Molly debuts.
1943 - Dr. Albert Hofmann discovers the psychedelic effects of LSD.
1945 - WWII: The Red Army begins the final assault on German forces around Berlin.
1945 - The United States Army liberates Nazi Sonderlager (high security) Prisoner of War camp Oflag IVc (Colditz Castle).
1945 - German ship Goya, overfilled with refugees, sinks after being torpedoed by a Soviet submarine, killing more than 7,000 people.
1947 - Texas City Disaster: An explosion on board a freighter in port causes the city of Texas City, Texas, to catch fire, killing almost 600.
1947 - Bernard Baruch coins the term "Cold War" to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union.
1949 - Dave Garroway moves from radio to television to host the musical-variety show Garroway at Large.
1953 - Queen Elizabeth II launches the Royal Yacht Britannia.
1963 - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. pens his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting against segregation.
1964 - Sentences totalling 307 years were passed on 12 men who stole £2.6m in used bank notes after holding up the night mail train travelling from Glasgow to London in August of 1963 - a heist that became known as the Great Train Robbery.
1972 - Apollo program: Apollo 16 launches toward the Moon from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
1972 - Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue Offensive – Prompted by the North Vietnamese offensive, the United States resumes bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong.
1987 - British Conservative MP Harvey Proctor appears at Bow Street Magistrates' Court in central London charged with gross indecency.
1988 - In Forlì (Italy), Red Brigades kill Italian senator Roberto Ruffilli, an advisor of Prime Minister Ciriaco de Mita.
1992 - The Katina P. runs aground off of Maputo, Mozambique. 60,000 tons of crude oil spill into the ocean.
1996 - France Télécom introduces its Wanadoo Internet service.
1998 - The Nashville Tornado of 1998, one of the most serious urban tornadoes in history, kills one and significantly damages downtown Nashville, Tennessee.
2000 - Protests against the World Bank and IMF in Washington, DC.
2003 - The Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens admitting 10 new member states to the European Union.

Births

778 - King Louis the Pious (d. 840)
1319 - King John II of France (d. 1364)
1495 - Petrus Apianus, German mathematician (d. 1557)
1646 - Jules Hardouin Mansart, French architect (d. 1708)
1660 - Hans Sloane, British collector and physician (d. 1753)
1661 - Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, British poet and statesman (d. 1715)
1682 - John Hadley, British inventor (d. 1744)
1728 - Joseph Black, Scottish chemist (d. 1799)
1730 - Henry Clinton, British general (d. 1795)
1755 - Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun, French painter (d. 1842)
1800 - George Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan, British soldier (d. 1888)
1823 - Ferdinand Eisenstein, German mathematician (d. 1852)
1844 - Anatole France, French writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1924)
1865 - Henry George Chauvel, Australian general (d. 1945)
1867 - Wilbur Wright, American aviation pioneer (d. 1912)
1871 - John Millington Synge, Irish writer (d. 1909)
1878 - Tip Foster, English cricketer (d. 1914)

1886 - Ernst Thälmann, German politician (d. 1944)
1889 - Charles Chaplin, English actor, writer, and film producer (d. 1977)
1904 - Fifi D'Orsay, Canadian actress (d. 1983)
1905 - Frits Philips, Dutch businessman (d. 2005)
1907 - August Eigruber, Austrian war criminal (d. 1947)
1912 - Garth Williams, American illustrator (d. 1996)
1912 - Catherine Scorsese, Italian-American actress (d. 1997)
1915 - Gerard McLarnon, Irish playwright and actor (d. 1997)
1918 - Spike Milligan, British comedian (d. 2002)
1919 - Merce Cunningham, American dancer and choreographer
1921 - Peter Ustinov, English writer, actor, and film director (d. 2004)
1922 - Kingsley Amis, English author (d. 1995)
1924 - Henry Mancini, American composer (d. 1994)
1927 - Edie Adams, American actress
1927 - Pope Benedict XVI
1927 - Peter Mark Richman, American actor
1928 - Dick "Night Train" Lane, American football player (d. 2002)
1930 - Herbie Mann, American jazz flute player (d. 2003)
1933 - Joan Bakewell, British broadcaster
1935 - Sarah Kirsch, German poet
1935 - Bobby Vinton, American singer
1937 - Joseph Whipp, American actor
1939 - Dusty Springfield, English singer (d. 1999)
1940 - Margrethe II of Denmark, queen regnant
1942 - Frank Williams Formula 1 constructor
1943 - Ruth Madoc, British actress
1944 - Omar Chkhaidze, Russian painter
1946 - Margot Adler, American journalist
1947 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, American basketball player
1947 - Gerry Rafferty, British musician and songwriter
1951 - Pierre Toutain-Dorbec, French photographer, painter, sculptor
1951 - Ioan Mihai Cochinescu, Romanian writer and photographer
1951 - Björgvin Halldórsson, Icelandic singer
1952 - Bill Belichick, American football coach
1952 - Billy West, American voice actor
1953 - Peter Garrett, Australian musician (Midnight Oil), and politician
1953 - J. Neil Schulman, American writer and activist
1954 - Ellen Barkin, American actress
1955 - Bruce Bochy, baseball player and manager
1956 - Lise-Marie Morerod, Swiss skier
1959 - Alison Ramsay, Scottish field hockey player
1960 - Rafael Benítez, Spanish football manager
1961 - Doris Dragović, Croatian singer
1962 - Ian MacKaye, American musician, (Fugazi and Minor Threat)
1963 - Jimmy Osmond, American pop singer (The Osmonds)
1964 - Dave Pirner, American rock singer (Soul Asylum)
1965 - Jon Cryer, American actor
1965 - Martin Lawrence, American actor, comedian, and producer
1971 - Selena, American singer (d. 1995)
1975 - Sean Maher, American actor
1976 - Lukas Haas, American actor
1977 - Fredrik Ljungberg, Swedish footballer
1978 - Matthew Lloyd, Australian football player
1979 - Howlin' Pelle Almqvist, Swedish musician (The Hives)
1979 - Christijan Albers, Formula 1 driver
1982 - Boris Diaw, French basketball player
1983 - Cat Osterman, University of Texas softball pitcher
1985 - Tawanda Mupariwa, Zimbabwean cricketer
1985 - Jim Singer, Canadian screen and voice actor
1987 - Aaron Lennon, British footballer
1994 - Liliana Mumy, American child actress

Deaths

69 - Otho, Roman Emperor (b. 32)
744 - al-Walid II, Umayyad caliph
924 - Berengar of Friuli, King of Italy
1113 - Sviatopolk II of Kiev, Russian prince (b. 1050)
1118 - Adelaide del Vasto, wife of Roger II of Sicily
1198 - Duke Frederick I of Austria
1645 - Tobias Hume, English composer
1687 - George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, English statesman (b. 1628)
1689 - Aphra Behn, English dramatist
1783 - Christian Mayer, Czech astronomer (b. 1719)
1788 - Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, French naturalist (b. 1707)
1828 - Francisco de Goya, Spanish painter (b. 1746)
1846 - Domenico Dragonetti, Italian composer (b. 1763)
1859 - Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian (b. 1805)
1888 - Zygmunt Florenty Wróblewski, Polish physicist (b. 1845)
1904 - Samuel Smiles, Scottish writer and reformer (b. 1812)
1914 - George William Hill, American astronomer (b. 1838)
1915 - Nelson W. Aldrich, U.S. Senator from Rhode Island (b. 1841)
1938 - Steve Bloomer, English footballer (b. 1874)
1946 - Arthur Chevrolet, Swiss-born race car driver and automobile designer (b. 1884)
1947 - Rudolf Hoess, commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp (b. 1900)
1958 - Rosalind Franklin, British chemist (b. 1920)
1968 - Edna Ferber, American author (b. 1885)
1972 - Kawabata Yasunari, Japanese writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
1978 - Lucius Clay, American general (b. 1897)
1985 - Scott Brady, American actor (b. 1924)
1991 - David Lean, British film director (b. 1908)
1992 - Neville Brand, American actor (b. 1920)
1994 - Ralph Ellison, American writer (b. 1914)
1997 - Doris Angleton, American socialite (b. 1951)
1997 - Roland Topor, French illustrator (b. 1938)
1998 - Fred Davis, English snooker player (b. 1913)
2001 - Michael Ritchie, American film director (b. 1920)
2001 - Alec Stock, English football manager (b. 1917)
2002 - Ruth Fertel, American restaurateur (b. 1927)
2002 - Robert Urich, American actor (b. 1946)
2003 - Graham Stuart Thomas, English author and garden designer (b. 1909)
2005 - Kay Walsh, British actress (b. 1911)
2005 - Marla Ruzicka, American humanitarian worker and peace activist (b. 1976)

Holidays and observances

Birthday of the Danish sovereign, Queen Margrethe, celebrated in Greenland.
Mawlid in Shi'a Islam (2006).

Liturgical Feast days

in the Roman Catholic Church:

Saint Benedict Joseph Labre
Saint Drogo.
Saint Fructuosus
Saint Paternus
Saint Turibius
Saints Martial, Urban, Eventius, Caecilian, Julia, and their companions, martyrs of 304
Blessed Hervé of Tours
Saint Bernadette

External links

BBC: On This Day

April 15 - April 17 - March 16 - May 16 – listing of all days

Gourt Home::Gourt :: April 16

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

Liturgical Feast days

External links