December 16

is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 15 days remaining.

Events

1392 - Historku-cho - Emperor Go-Kameyama abdicates in favor of rival claimant Go-Komatsu.
1598 - Seven Year War: Battle of Noryang Point - The final battle of the Seven Year War is fought between the Korean and Japanese navies, resulting in a decisive Korean victory.
1653 - English Interregnum: The Protectorate - Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.
1689 - Convention Parliament: The Declaration of Right is embodied in the Bill of Rights.
1761 - Seven Years' War: After four-month siege, the Russians under Pyotr Rumyantsev take the Prussian fortress of Kolobrzeg.
1773 - American Revolution: Boston Tea Party - Members of the Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawks dump crates of tea into Boston harbor as a protest against the Tea Act.
1811 - The first two in a series of severe earthquakes occurs, in the vicinity of New Madrid, Missouri.
1838 - Battle of Blood River: Voortrekkers led by Andries Pretorius combat Zulu impis, led by Dambuza (Nzobo) and Ndlela kaSompisi in what is today KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
1850 - History of New Zealand: The Charlotte-Jane and the Randolph bring the first of the Canterbury Pilgrims to Lyttelton.
1864 - American Civil War: Franklin-Nashville Campaign - Battle of Nashville - Major General George H. Thomas's Union forces defeat Lieutenant General John Bell Hood's Confederate Army of Tennessee.
1893 - Antonin Dvorák's Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, "From The New World" was given its world premiere at Carnagie Hall.
1899 - Brooklyn Children's Museum opens.
1910 - During a ground test of his Coandă-1910 plane, Henri Coandă, caught unaware by the power of the engine, finds himself briefly airborne and loses control of the machine which crashes to the ground.
1922 - President of Poland Gabriel Narutowicz is assassinated by Eligiusz Niewiadomski at the Zachęta Gallery in Warsaw.
1925 - A regular broadcasting service was instituted in Ceylon.
1941 - World War II: Japanese occupy Miri,Sarawak
1942 - Holocaust: Porajmos - Heinrich Himmler orders that Roma candidates for extermination should be deported to Auschwitz.
1944 - World War II: Battle of the Bulge - General Dwight D. Eisenhower's allied forces and Field Marshall Gerd von Rundstedt's German army engage in the Belgian Ardennes.
1946 - Léon Blum becomes Prime Minister of France.
1957 - Sir Feroz Khan Noon replaces Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar as Prime Minister of Pakistan.
1960 - 1960 New York air disaster: While approaching New York's Idlewild Airport, a United Airlines Douglas DC-8 collides with a TWA Lockheed Super Constellation in a blinding snowstorm over Staten Island, killing 134.
1971 - Liberation War of Bangladesh & Indo-Pakistani War of 1971: The surrender of the Pakistan army simultaneously brings an end to both conflicts.
1985 - Mafia: In New York City, Paul Castellano and Thomas Bilotti are shot dead on the orders of John Gotti, who assumes leadership of the Gambino family.
1989 - Protest breaks out in Timişoara in response to an attempt by the government to evict dissident Hungarian pastor, László Tőkés.
1991 - United Nations General Assembly: UN General Assembly Resolution 4686 revokes UN General Assembly Resolution 3379 after Israel makes revocation of resolution 3379 a condition of its participation in the Madrid Peace Conference of 1991.
1997 - Typhoon Paka makes landfall on the island of Guam with 150 mph winds.
1997 - The Pokémon episode Electric Soldier Porygon triggers attacks of photosensitive epilepsy in hundreds of Japanese children.
1998 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Operation Desert Fox - The United States and United Kingdom bomb targets in Iraq.
2005 - The last scheduled edition of US radio program The Howard Stern Show is broadcast on terrestrial radio.
2005 - Appalachian State University wins NCAA Division I-AA National Football Championship over University of Northern Iowa.

Births

1485 - Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England (d. 1536)
1584 - John Selden, English jurist and oriental scholar (d. 1654)
1614 - Eberhard III, Duke of Württemberg (d. 1674)
1714 - George Whitefield, British-born Methodist leader (d. 1770)
1716 - Louis-Jules Mancini-Mazarini, Duc de Nivernais, French diplomat and writer (d. 1798)
1717 - Elizabeth Carter, British writer (d. 1806)
1742 - Gebhard Fürst Blücher von Wahlstatt, German Field Marshal (d. 1819)
1770 - Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer (d. 1827)
1775 - Jane Austen, British writer (d. 1817)
1775 - François-Adrien Boieldieu, French composer (d. 1834)
1776 - Johann Wilhelm Ritter, German physicist (d. 1810)
1790 - King Léopold I of Belgium (d. 1865)
1834 - Léon Walras, French economist (d. 1910)
1861 - Antonio de La Gandara, French painter (d. 1917)
1863 - George Santayana, Spanish philosopher and writer (d. 1952)
1865 - Olavo Bilac, Brazilian poet (d. 1918)
1866 (N.S.) - Wassily Kandinsky, Russian-born French abstract painter (d. 1944)
1867 - Amy Carmichael - a missionary in Dohnavur, India
1869 - Hristo Tatarchev - Bulgarian revolutionary (d. 1952)
1872 - Anton Ivanovich Denikin, Russian general (d. 1947)
1882 - Zoltán Kodály, Hungarian composer (d. 1967)
1882 - Walther Meissner, German physicist (d. 1974)
1882 - Sir Jack Hobbs, English test cricketer (d. 1963)
1888 - King Alexander I of Yugoslavia (d. 1934)
1899 - Sir Noel Coward, British playwright, actor and composer (d. 1973)
1901 - Margaret Mead, American anthropologist (d. 1978)
1905 - Piet Hein, Danish mathematician and inventor (d. 1996)
1917 - Sir Arthur C. Clarke, British writer
1926 - James McCracken, American tenor (d. 1988)
1927 - Randall Garrett, American writer
1928 - Philip K. Dick, American writer (d. 1982)
1929 - Nicholas Courtney, British actor
1932 - Rodion Shchedrin, Soviet-born Russian composer
1934 - Elgin Baylor, American basketball player
1938 - Liv Ullmann, Norwegian actress
1941 - Lesley Stahl, American journalist
1943 - Steven Bochco, American television producer and writer
1945 - Yukio Hattori, Japanese Iron Chef commentator
1946 - Benny Andersson, Swedish musician, singer and songwriter (ABBA)
1946 - Trevor Pinnock, British conductor and harpsichordist
1947 - Vincent Matthews, American sprinter and Olympic gold medalist
1949 - Billy Gibbons, American guitarist (ZZ Top)
1951 - Robben Ford, American guitarist
1952 - Joel Garner, West Indian test cricketer
1955 - Xander Berkeley, American actor
1961 - Bill Hicks, American comedian (d. 1994)
1962 - William Perry, American football player
1963 - Benjamin Bratt, American actor
1964 - Heike Drechsler, East German-born German sprinter
1964 - Billy Ripken, former American baseball player.
1966 - Denis Wise, British soccer player
1967 - Donovan Bailey, Jamaican-born Canadian sprinter
1970 - Nancy Valen, American actress
1972 - Željko Kalac, Australian footballer
1973 - Scott Storch- American hip-hop producer
1975 - Benjamin Kowalewicz, Canadian singer (Billy Talent)
1977 - Sylvain Distin, French footballer
1978 - Gunter Van Handenhoven, Belgian footballer
1979 - Mihai Trăistariu, Romanian singer
1981 - Anna Sedokova, Ukrainian singer
1981 - Gareth Williams, Scottish footballer
1983 - Kelenna Azubuike, Basketball player
1985 - Keita Tachibana, Japanese singer
1987 - Hallee Hirsh, American actress
1988 - Anna Popplewell, British actress
1989 - Chen Yaoye, professional Go player

Deaths

705 - Empress Wu of Zhou (China; b. 625)
714 - Pippin of Herstal, Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia
999 - Saint Adelaide of Italy (b. 931)
1325 - Charles of Valois, son of Philip III of France (b. 1270)
1379 - John Fitzalan, Marshal of England (drowned)
1470 - John II, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1425)
1515 - Afonso de Albuquerque Portuguese naval general (b. 1453)
1598 - Yi Sun-sin, Korean admiral (b. 1545)
1669 - Nathaniel Fiennes, English politician
1687 - William Petty, English scientist and philosopher (b. 1623)
1751 - Leopold II of Anhalt-Dessau, Prussian general (b. 1700)
1774 - François Quesnay, French economist (b. 1694)
1783 - Johann A. Hasse, German composer (b. 1699)
1783 - Sir William James British naval commander (b. 1720)
1809 - Antoine François, comte de Fourcroy, French chemist (b. 1755)
1859 - Wilhelm Grimm, German writer and folklorist (b. 1786)
1898 - Pavel Tretyakov, Russian businessman and art collector (b. 1832)
1914 - Ivan Zajc, Austro-Hungarian composer (b. 1832)
1916 - Grigori Rasputin, Russian monk (b. 1869)
1921 - Camille Saint-Saëns, French composer (b. 1835)
1922 - Gabriel Narutowicz, first President of Poland (b. 1865)
1928 - Elinor Wylie, American poet and writer (b. 1885)
1945 - Giovanni Agnelli, Italian automobile manufacturer (b. 1866)
1945 - Fumimaro Konoye, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1891)
1949 - Sidney Olcott, Canadian film director (b. 1873)
1956 - Nina Hamnett, British artist (b. 1890)
1965 - W. Somerset Maugham, British writer (b. 1874)
1977 - Risto Jarva, Finnish filmmaker (b. 1934)
1980 - Colonel Harland Sanders, American fast food entrepreneur (b. 1890)
1980 - Hellmuth Walter, German engineer and inventor (b. 1900)
1982 - Colin Chapman, British engineer and automobile manufacturer, founder of Lotus Cars (b. 1928)
1985 - Paul Castellano, American mafioso (b. 1915)
1985 - Thomas Bilotti, American mafioso (b. 1940)
1989 - Lee Van Cleef, American actor (b. 1925)
1989 - Aileen Pringle, American actress (b. 1895)
1990 - Douglas Campbell, American pilot (b. 1896)
1993 - Moses Gunn, American actor (b. 1929)
1993 - Tanaka Kakuei, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1918)
1995 - Mariele Ventre, Italian choir director (b. 1939)
1996 - Quentin Bell, British art historian (b. 1910)
2001 - Stuart Adamson, British musician (suicide) (b. 1958)
2003 - Robert Stanfield, Premier of Nova Scotia (b. 1914)
2003 - Gary Stewart, American musician, singer and songwriter (suicide) (b. 1945)
2004 - Ted Abernathy, American baseball player (b. 1933)
2005 - Kenneth Bulmer, British author (b.1921)
2005 - John Spencer, American actor (b. 1946)

Holidays and observances

R.C. Saints - O Sapientia ; Adelaide of Italy
Bahrain - National Day
Bangladesh - Victory Day
Kazakhstan - Independence Day
Nepal - Constitution Day (To be confirmed)
South Africa - Day of Reconciliation

External links

BBC: On This Day

December 15 - December 17 - November 16 - January 16 -- listing of all days

Gourt Home::Gourt :: December 16

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

External links