May 16 is the 136th day of the year (137th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 229 days remaining until the end of the year.
Events
- 218 – Julia Maesa, aunt of the assassinated Caracalla, is banished to her home in Syria by the self-proclaimed emperor Macrinus and declares her 14-year old grandson Elagabalus, emperor of Rome.
- 1204 – Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders is crowned as the first Emperor of the Latin Empire.
- 1527 – The Florentines drive out the Medici for a second time and Florence re-establishes itself as a republic.
- 1532 – Sir Thomas More resigns as Lord Chancellor of England.
- 1568 – Mary, Queen of Scots, flees to England.
- 1584 – Santiago de Vera becomes sixth Governor-General of the Spanish colony of the Philippines.
- 1770 – 14-year old Marie Antoinette marries 15-year-old Louis-Auguste who later becomes king of France.
- 1771 – The Battle of Alamance, a pre-American Revolutionary War battle between local militia and a group of rebels called The "Regulators", occurs in present-day Alamance County, North Carolina.
- 1811 – Peninsular War: The allies Spain, Portugal and United Kingdom, defeat the French at the Battle of Albuera.
- 1812 – Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov signs the Treaty of Bucharest, ending the Russo-Turkish War, 1806-1812. Bessarabia is illegitimately annexed by Imperial Russia.
- 1822 – Greek War of Independence: The Turks capture the Greek town of Souli.
- 1843 – The first major wagon train heading for the Pacific Northwest sets out on the Oregon Trail with one thousand pioneers from Elm Grove, Missouri.
- 1866 – The U.S. Congress eliminates the half dime coin and replaces it with the five cent piece, or nickel.
- 1868 – President Andrew Johnson is acquitted in his impeachment trial by one vote in the United States Senate.
- 1874 – A flood on the Mill River in Massachusetts destroys much of four villages and kills 139 people.
- 1877 – 16 May 1877 political crisis in France.
- 1891 – The International Electro-Technical Exhibition opens in Frankfurt, Germany, and will feature the world's first long distance transmission of high-power, three-phase electrical current (the most common form today).
- 1914 – The first ever Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup final is played. Brooklyn Field Club defeats Brooklyn Celtic 2-1.
- 1918 – The Sedition Act of 1918 is passed by the U.S. Congress, making criticism of the government during wartime an imprisonable offense. It will be repealed less than two years later.
- 1919 – A naval Curtiss aircraft NC-4 commanded by Albert Cushing Read leaves Trepassey, Newfoundland, for Lisbon via the Azores on the first transatlantic flight.
- 1920 – In Rome, Pope Benedict XV canonizes Joan of Arc.
- 1929 – In Hollywood, California, the first Academy Awards are handed out.
- 1943 – Holocaust: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising ends.
- 1948 – Chaim Weizmann is elected the first President of Israel.
- 1951 – The first regularly scheduled transatlantic flights begin between Idlewild Airport (now John F Kennedy International Airport) in New York City and Heathrow Airport in London, operated by El Al Israel Airlines.
- 1953 – American journalist William N. Oatis is released after serving 22 months of a ten-year prison sentence for espionage in Czechslovakia.
- 1960 – Theodore Maiman operates the first optical laser, at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California.
- 1961 – Park Chung-hee leads a coup d'état to overthrow the Second Republic of South Korea.
- 1966 – The Communist Party of China issues the "May 16 Notice", marking the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.
- 1969 – Venera program: Venera 5, a Soviet spaceprobe, lands on Venus.
- 1974 – Josip Broz Tito is re-elected president of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. This time he is elected for life.
- 1975 – India annexes Sikkim after the mountain state holds a referendum in which the popular vote is in favor of merging with India.
- 1975 – Junko Tabei becomes the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
- 1983 – Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement rebels against the Sudanese government.
- 1986 – The Seville Statement on Violence is adopted by an international meeting of scientists, convened by the Spanish National Commission for UNESCO, in Seville, Spain.
- 1988 – A report by United States' Surgeon General C. Everett Koop states that the addictive properties of nicotine are similar to those of heroin and cocaine.
- 1991 – Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom addresses a joint session of the United States Congress. She is the first British monarch to address the U.S. Congress.
- 2003 – In Casablanca, Morocco, 33 civilians are killed and more than 100 people are injured in the Casablanca terrorist attacks.
- 2005 – Kuwait permits women's suffrage in a 35-23 National Assembly vote.
- 2007 – Nicolas Sarkozy takes office as President of France.
- 2011 – STS-134 (ISS assembly flight ULF6), launched from the Kennedy Space Center on the 25th and final flight for Space Shuttle Endeavour.
Births
- 1578 – Everard Digby, English conspirator, member of the failed Gunpowder Plot (d. 1606)
- 1611 – Pope Innocent XI (d. 1689)
- 1710 – William Talbot, 1st Earl Talbot, English politician (d. 1782)
- 1718 – Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Italian mathematician (d. 1799)
- 1763 – Louis Nicolas Vauquelin, French pharmacist (d. 1829)
- 1788 – Friedrich Rückert, German Poet, translator, and orientalist (d. 1866)
- 1801 – William H. Seward, American politician and diplomat (d. 1872)
- 1821 – Pafnuty Chebyshev, Russian mathematician (d. 1894)
- 1824 – Levi P. Morton, American politician, 22nd United States Vice President (d. 1920)
- 1827 – Pierre Cuypers, Dutch architect, designed the Rijksmuseum (d. 1921)
- 1831 – David E. Hughes, English scientist and musician, co-inventor of the microphone (d. 1900)
- 1845 – Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov, Russian microbiologist, Nobel laureate (d. 1916)
- 1861 – H. H. Holmes, American serial killer (d. 1896)
- 1888 – Royal Rife, American inventor (d. 1971)
- 1891 – Richard Tauber, Austrian tenor, conductor, and composer (d. 1948)
- 1897 – Zvi Sliternik, Israeli entomologist (d. 1994)
- 1898 – Tamara de Lempicka, Polish painter (d. 1980)
- 1898 – Kenji Mizoguchi, Japanese director (d. 1956)
- 1905 – Henry Fonda, American actor (d. 1982)
- 1906 – Alfred Pellan, Canadian painter (d. 1988)
- 1906 – Arturo Uslar Pietri, Venezuelan writer (d. 2001)
- 1906 – Margret Rey, German author and illustrator (d. 1996)
- 1909 – Margaret Sullavan, American actress (d. 1960)
- 1910 – Olga Berggolts, Russian poet (d. 1975)
- 1910 – Aleksandr Ivanovich Laktionov, Russian painter (d. 1972)
- 1912 – Studs Terkel, American writer (d. 2008)
- 1913 – Woody Herman, American singer, musician, and bandleader (d. 1987)
- 1914 – Edward T. Hall, American anthropologist and author (d. 2009)
- 1916 – Adriana Caselotti, American actress (d. 1997)
- 1916 – Ephraim Katzir, Israeli politician (d. 2009)
- 1917 – Juan Rulfo, Mexican novelist (d. 1986)
- 1917 – James C. Murray, American politician (d. 1999)
- 1917 – George Gaynes, American actor
- 1918 – Wilf Mannion, English footballer (d. 2000)
- 1919 – Liberace, American singer, pianist, and actor (d. 1987)
- 1919 – Ramon Margalef, Spanish scientist (d. 2004)
- 1920 – Martine Carol, French actress (d. 1967)
- 1921 – Harry Carey, Jr., American actor
- 1921 – S. Neil Fujita, American graphic designer (d. 2010)
- 1923 – Merton Miller, American economist, Nobel laureate (d. 2000)
- 1923 – Victoria Fromkin, American linguist (d. 2000)
- 1923 – Peter Underwood, English author, broadcaster, and paranormalist
- 1925 – Bobbejaan Schoepen, Belgian singer-songwriter, musician, and actor (d. 2010)
- 1925 – Nancy Roman, American astronomer
- 1926 – Ronald Podrow, English activist (d. 2004)
- 1927 – Nílton Santos, Brazilian footballer
- 1928 – Billy Martin, American baseball player and coach (d. 1989)
- 1929 – John Conyers, American politician
- 1929 – Claude Morin, Canadian politician
- 1929 – Adrienne Rich, American writer (d. 2012)
- 1930 – Betty Carter, American singer (d. 1998)
- 1930 – Friedrich Gulda, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 2000)
- 1931 – Jack Dodson, American actor (d. 1994)
- 1931 – Denise Filiatrault, Canadian actress and director
- 1931 – Natwar Singh, Indian politician
- 1931 – Lowell P. Weicker, Jr., American politician
- 1931 – Hana Brady, Polish Holocaust victim (d. 1944)
- 1935 – Floyd Smith, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1936 – Roy Hudd, English actor
- 1936 – Karl Lehmann, German cardinal
- 1937 – Yvonne Craig, American actress
- 1943 – Dan Coats, American politician
- 1943 – Marko Kravos, Slovenian poet
- 1944 – Billy Cobham, American drummer, composer, and bandleader (Mahavishnu Orchestra, New York Jazz Quartet, Jazz Is Dead, and Bobby and the Midnites)
- 1944 – Danny Trejo, American actor
- 1945 – Nicky Chinn, English songwriter and producer
- 1945 – Alan Flusser, American fashion designer and author
- 1945 – Marta Beatriz Roque, Cuban dissident and economist
- 1946 – Robert Fripp, English musician, songwriter, and producer (King Crimson, Fripp & Eno, and The League of Gentlemen)
- 1946 – Roger Earl, English drummer (Savoy Brown and Foghat)
- 1947 – Barbara Lee, American singer (The Chiffons) (d. 1992)
- 1947 – Bill Smitrovich, American actor
- 1947 – Darrel Sweet, English drummer (Nazareth) (d. 1999)
- 1947 – Roch Thériault, Canadian murder (d. 2011)
- 1948 – Katia Dandoulaki, Greek actress
- 1948 – Judy Finnegan, English broadcaster and columnist
- 1948 – Adrian Legg, English guitarist, songwriter, and educator
- 1948 – Jesper Christensen, Danish actor
- 1949 – Rick Reuschel, American baseball player
- 1950 – J. Georg Bednorz, German physicist, Nobel laureate
- 1950 – Ray Condo, Canadian singer-songwriter and musician (d. 2004)
- 1951 – Christian Lacroix, French fashion designer
- 1951 – Jonathan Richman, American singer-songwriter and musician (The Modern Lovers)
- 1952 – James Herndon, American psychologist
- 1953 – Pierce Brosnan, Irish actor
- 1953 – Kitanoumi Toshimitsu, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 55th Yokozuna
- 1954 – Dafydd Williams, Canadian physician and astronaut
- 1955 – Olga Korbut, Belarussian gymnast
- 1955 – Jack Morris, American baseball player
- 1955 – Hazel O'Connor, English singer-songwriter and actress
- 1957 – Yuri Shevchuk, Russian singer-songwriter and guitarist (DDT)
- 1955 – Debra Winger, American actress
- 1958 – Glenn Gregory, English singer and musician (Heaven 17, Honeyroot, and ABC)
- 1958 – Gitane Demone, American singer and musician (Christian Death and Pompeii 99)
- 1959 – Mitch Webster, American baseball player
- 1959 – Mare Winningham, American actress
- 1960 – Landon Deireragea, Nauruan politician
- 1961 – Kevin McDonald, Canadian comedian and actor
- 1961 – Charles Wright, American wrestler
- 1963 – Jon Coffelt, American artist
- 1963 – Mercedes Echerer, Austrian actress and politician
- 1963 – Serge Teyssot-Gay, French guitarist (Noir Désir)
- 1964 – John Salley, American basketball player
- 1964 – Boyd Tinsley, American singer, musician, and composer (Dave Matthews Band)
- 1964 – Edit Berces, Hungarian runner
- 1965 – Krist Novoselic, American musician, songwriter, author, and activist (Nirvana, Flipper, Sweet 75, The No WTO Combo, and Eyes Adrift)
- 1966 – Janet Jackson, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
- 1966 – Scott Reeves, American singer-songwriter and actor (Blue County)
- 1966 – Thurman Thomas, American football player
- 1967 – Doug Brocail, American baseball player
- 1968 – Ralph Tresvant, American singer, actor, and producer (New Edition and Heads of State)
- 1968 – Chingmy Yau, Hong Kong actress
- 1969 – David Boreanaz, American actor
- 1969 – Tucker Carlson, American journalist
- 1969 – Tracey Gold, American actress
- 1969 – Steve Lewis, American athlete
- 1970 – Gabriela Sabatini, Argentine tennis player
- 1970 – Danielle Spencer, Australian singer-songwriter and actress
- 1971 – Rachel Goswell, English singer-songwriter and musician (Slowdive and Mojave 3)
- 1972 – Derek Mears, American actor
- 1972 – Khary Payton, American actor
- 1972 – Christian Califano, French rugby player
- 1973 – Jason Acuña, American television host and actor
- 1973 – Special Ed, American rapper and actor (Crooklyn Dodgers)
- 1973 – Tori Spelling, American actress and author
- 1974 – Laura Pausini, Italian singer-songwriter and producer
- 1974 – Sonny Sandoval, American singer-songwriter and rapper (P.O.D.)
- 1974 – Adam Richman, American actor and television host
- 1975 – Tony Kakko, Finnish singer-songwriter and musician (Sonata Arctica and Northern Kings)
- 1975 – Khalid al-Mihdhar, Saudi hijacker of American Airlines Flight 77 (d. 2001)
- 1975 – B.Slade, American singer-songwriter, musician, producer, dancer, and actor
- 1976 – Brian Langtry, American lacrosse player
- 1976 – Dirk Nannes, Dutch-Australian cricketer
- 1977 – Dolcenera, Italian singer-songwriter, musician, and actress
- 1977 – Jean-Sébastien Giguère, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1977 – Melanie Lynskey, New Zealand actress
- 1977 – Emiliana Torrini Icelandic singer-songwriter (GusGus)
- 1978 – David Ford, English singer-songwriter (Easyworld)
- 1978 – Lionel Scaloni, Argentine footballer
- 1979 – McKenzie Lee, English porn actress
- 1980 – Mikel Alonso, Spanish footballer
- 1980 – Melanie Lofton, American journalist
- 1980 – Michael Ryan, American ice hockey player
- 1981 – Taavi Rähn, Estonian footballer
- 1981 – Jim Sturgess, English actor
- 1981 – Ricardo Costa, Portuguese footballer
- 1981 – Joseph Morgan, English actor
- 1982 – Billy Crawford, Filipino-American singer-songwriter, actor, and philanthropist
- 1982 – Joo Ji Hoon, Korean actor and model
- 1982 – Łukasz Kubot, Polish tennis player
- 1982 – Hanna Mariën, Belgian athlete
- 1983 – Nancy Ajram, Lebanese singer
- 1983 – Daniel Kerr, Australian footballer
- 1983 – Kyle Wellwood, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1984 – Dario Cvitanich, Argentinian footballer
- 1984 – Tomas Fleischmann, Czech ice hockey player
- 1984 – Jensen Lewis, American baseball player
- 1984 – Mickie Knuckles, American wrestler
- 1984 – Rick Rypien, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2011)
- 1985 – Rodrigo Peters Marques, Brazilian footballer
- 1985 – Stanislav Ianevski, Bulgarian actor
- 1985 – Anja Mittag, German footballer
- 1985 – Corey Perry, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1985 – Tadayoshi Okura, Japanese singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor (Kanjani Eight)
- 1986 – Megan Fox, American actress
- 1986 – Andy Keogh, Irish footballer
- 1987 – Tom Onslow-Cole, English race car driver
- 1990 – Thomas Sangster, English actor
- 1990 – Darko Sarovic, Serbian sprinter
- 1991 – Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgarian tennis player
- 1992 – Jeff Skinner, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1993 – IU, South Korean singer and actress
- 1994 – Miles Heizer, American actor
- 1998 – Ariel Waller, Canadian actress
Deaths
- 583 – Brendan, Irish navigator and saint (b. 484)
- 1265 – Simon Stock, English saint (b. 1165)
- 1569 – Dirk Willems, Dutch Anabaptist
- 1620 – William Adams, English sailor (b. 1564)
- 1657 – Andrew Bobola, Polish missionary (b. 1591)
- 1667 – Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton, English statesman (b. 1607)
- 1669 – Pietro da Cortona, Italian painter and architect (b. 1596)
- 1691 – Jacob Leisler, American colonist (b. 1640)
- 1703 – Charles Perrault, French author (b. 1628)
- 1778 – Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness, English diplomat (b. 1718)
- 1782 – Daniel Solander, Swedish botanist (b. 1736)
- 1790 – Philip Yorke, 2nd Earl of Hardwicke, English politician (b. 1720)
- 1830 – Joseph Fourier, French scientist (b. 1768)
- 1882 – Reuben Chapman, American lawyer and politician (b. 1799)
- 1891 – Ion Brătianu, Romanian statesman (b. 1821)
- 1913 – Louis Perrier, Swiss politician, member of the Swiss Federal Council (b. 1849)
- 1920 – Levi P. Morton, American politician, 22nd United States Vice President (b. 1824)
- 1926 – Mehmed VI, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1861)
- 1940 – Jacques Goudstikker, Jewish Dutch art dealer (b. 1897)
- 1943 – Alfred Hoche, German psychiatrist (b. 1865)
- 1944 – George Ade, American author (b. 1866)
- 1947 – Frederick Hopkins, English biochemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1861)
- 1953 – Django Reinhardt, Belgian guitarist and composer (Quintette du Hot Club de France) (b. 1910)
- 1954 – Clemens Krauss, Austrian conductor (b. 1893)
- 1955 – James Agee, American writer (b. 1909)
- 1956 – H. B. Reese, American candy-maker and businessman, created Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (b. 1876)
- 1957 – Eliot Ness, American federal agent (b. 1903)
- 1959 – Elisha Scott, Irish footballer (b. 1894)
- 1961 – George A. Malcolm, American jurist and educator (b. 1881)
- 1969 – Robert Rayford, American AIDS victim (b. 1954)
- 1975 – Al Helfer, American sportscaster (b. 1911)
- 1977 – Modibo Keita, Malian politician, 1st President of Mali (b. 1915)
- 1979 – A. Philip Randolph, American civil rights activist and labor union leader (b. 1889)
- 1981 – Ernie Freeman, American pianist and arranger (b. 1922)
- 1981 – Willy Hartner, German scientist (b. 1905)
- 1984 – Andy Kaufman, American comedian and actor (b. 1949)
- 1984 – Irwin Shaw, American author (b. 1913)
- 1985 – Margaret Hamilton, American actress (b. 1902)
- 1988 – Charles Keeping, English illustrator (b. 1924)
- 1988 – George Pyrounakis, Greek priest (b. 1910)
- 1990 – Sammy Davis, Jr., American singer, dancer, and actor (b. 1925)
- 1990 – Jim Henson, American puppeteer, director, and producer, created The Muppets (b. 1936)
- 1992 – Chalino Sánchez, Mexican singer-songwriter (b. 1960)
- 1993 – Marv Johnson, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1938)
- 1994 – Alain Cuny, French actor (b. 1908)
- 1996 – Jeremy Michael Boorda, American admiral (b. 1939)
- 1997 – Elbridge Durbrow, American diplomat (b. 1903)
- 2000 – Bodacious, American rodeo bull (b. 1988)
- 2001 – Brian Pendleton, English musician (The Pretty Things) (b. 1944)
- 2002 – Alec Campbell, Australian soldier (b. 1899)
- 2002 – Alex Rizzo, American wrestler (b. 1968)
- 2003 – Mark McCormack, American lawyer, sports agent, and writer, founder of IMG (b. 1930)
- 2005 – Andrew Goodpaster, American army general (b. 1915)
- 2008 – David Mitton, English director (b. 1939)
- 2008 – Robert Mondavi, American winemaker, co-founded Opus One Winery (b. 1913)
- 2010 – Ronnie James Dio, American singer, musician, and producer (Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio, Heaven & Hell, and Elf) (b. 1942)
- 2010 – Hank Jones, American pianist, bandleader, and composer (b. 1918)
- 2011 – Bob Davis, Australian footballer (b. 1928)
- 2011 – Bill Skiles, American comedian (b. 1931)
- 2011 – Edward Hardwicke, English actor (b. 1932)
- 2012 – James Abdnor, American politician (b. 1923)
- 2012 – Maria Bieșu, Moldovan opera singer (b. 1935)
- 2012 – Chuck Brown, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1936)
- 2012 – Kevin Hickey, American baseball player (b. 1956)
Holidays and observances
External links
Months and days of the year
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