April 16 encyclopedia topics

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.
1346 - The Serbian Empire is proclaimed in Skopje by Dusan Silni, occupying much of the Balkans.
1395 - Azzo X d'Este is defeated at the Battle of Portomaggiore by Venetian-Ferrarese troops.
1521 - Martin Luther's first appearance before the Diet of Worms to be examined by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and the other estates of the empire.
1582 - Spanish conquistador Hernando de Lerma founds the settlement of Salta, Argentina.
1746 - The Battle of Culloden takes place.
1780 - The University of Münster in Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany is founded.
1799 - Napoleonic Wars: The 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.
1858 - The Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is wound up.
1862 - American Civil War: The Battle at Lee's Mills in Virginia.
1862 - American Civil War: A bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia becomes law.
1863 - American Civil War: The Siege of Vicksburg – ships led by Union Admiral David Dixon Porter move through heavy Confederate artillery fire on approach to Vicksburg, Mississippi.
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 from exile in Finland.
1919 - Mohandas Gandhi organizes a day of "prayer and fasting" in response to the British slaughter of Indian protesters 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 - During the Communist St Nedelya Church assault in Sofia, 150 are killed and 500 are wounded.
1941 - World War II: The Italian convoy Duisburg, directed to Tunisia, is attacked and destroyed by British ships.
1941 - Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians throws the only Opening Day no-hitter in the history of Major League Baseball, beating the Chicago White Sox 1-0.
1943 - Dr. Albert Hofmann discovers the psychedelic effects of LSD.
1945 - 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 IV-C (better known as Colditz Castle).
1945 - More than 7,000 die when the German refugee ship Goya is sunk by a Soviet submarine torpedo.
1946 - Syria gains independence.
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.
1953 - Queen Elizabeth II launches the Royal Yacht Britannia.
1955 - The Burma-Japanese peace treaty signed in Rangoon on November 5, 1954 comes into force, formally ending the state of war.
1963 - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. pens his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting against segregation.
1964 - Great Train Robbery - 12 men are sentenced to a total of 307 years.
1972 - Apollo program: The launch of Apollo 16 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
1972 - Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue Offensive – prompted by the North Vietnamese offensive, the United States resumes the bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong.
1987 - British Conservative MP Harvey Proctor appears at Bow Street Magistrates' Court in London charged with gross indecency.
1988 - In Forlì, Italy, Red Brigades kill Italian Senator Roberto Ruffilli, an advisor to Prime Minister Ciriaco de Mita.
1990 - The "Doctor of Death", Jack Kevorkian, goes through with his first assisted suicide.
1992 - The Katina P. runs aground off of Maputo, Mozambique. 60,000 tons of crude oil spill into the ocean.
2003 - The Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens admitting 10 new member states to the European Union.
2004 - The super liner Queen Mary 2 embarks on her first Trans-Atlantic crossing, linking the golden age of ocean travel to the modern age of ocean travel.
2007 - Virginia Tech massacre: The deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. The gunman, Seung-Hui Cho, shoots 32 people to death and injures 23 others before committing suicide.
2008 - Start of Papal Journey of Pope Benedict XVI to the United States

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)
1693 - Anne Sophie Reventlow, queen of Denmark and Norway (d. 1743)
1728 - Joseph Black, Scottish chemist (d. 1799)
1738 - Henry Clinton, British general (d. 1795)
1755 - Élisabeth-Louise Vigée Le Brun, French painter (d. 1842)
1800 - George Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan, British soldier (d. 1888)
1821 - Ford Madox Brown, English painter (d. 1893)
1823 - Ferdinand Eisenstein, German mathematician (d. 1852)
1827 - Octave Crémazie, French Canadian poet (d. 1879)
1844 - Anatole France, French writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1924)
1847 - Hans Auer, Swiss architect, (d. 1906)
1848 - Kandukuri Veeresalingam, Social Reformer of Andhra Pradesh, India (d. 1919)
1859 - Winifred Cochrane, Countess of Dundonald, philanthropist (d. 1924)
1865 - Henry George Chauvel, Australian general (d. 1945)
1866 - José de Diego, Puerto Rico statesman and journalist (d. 1918)
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 - Charlie Chaplin, English actor, writer, and film producer (d. 1977)
1895 - Robert Dean Frisbie, American writer (d. 1948)
1896 - Tristan Tzara, Romanian poet and essayist (d. 1963)
1899 - Osman Achmatowicz, Polish chemist (d. 1988)
1904 - Fifi D'Orsay, Canadian actress (d. 1983)
1905 - Frits Philips, Dutch businessman (d. 2005)
1907 - August Eigruber, Austrian war criminal (d. 1947)
1907 - Joseph-Armand Bombardier, French-Canadian inventor and businessman (Bombardier) (d. 1964)
1912 - Garth Williams, American illustrator (d. 1996)
1912 - Catherine Scorsese, Italian-American actress (d. 1997)
1915 - Gerard McLarnon, Irish playwright (d. 1997)
1917 - Barry Nelson, American actor (d. 2007)
1918 - Spike Milligan, Irish comedian (d. 2002)
1918 - Joan Alexander, American actress
1918 - Dick Gibson, British racing driver
1919 - Merce Cunningham, American dancer and choreographer
1919 - Tom Willmore, English geometer (d. 2005)
1921 - Peter Ustinov, English actor (d. 2004)
1922 - Kingsley Amis, English author (d. 1995)
1924 - John Harvey-Jones, Industrialist (d. 2008)
1924 - Henry Mancini, American composer (d. 1994)
1924 - Rudy Pompilli, American musician (Bill Haley & His Comets) (d. 1976)
1927 - Edie Adams, American actress
1927 - Pope Benedict XVI
1927 - Peter Mark Richman, American actor
1928 - "Night Train" Lane, American football player (d. 2002)
1929 - Roy Hamilton, American singer (d. 1969)
1929 - Ed Townsend, American singer and songwriter (d. 2003)
1930 - Herbie Mann, American jazz flute player (d. 2003)
1933 - Joan Bakewell, British broadcaster
1935 - Sarah Kirsch, German poet
1935 - Bobby Vinton, American singer
1938 - Gordon Wilson, Scottish politician
1938 - Rich Rollins, American baseballer
1939 - Dusty Springfield, English singer (d. 1999)
1939 - Boris Dvornik, Croatian actor (d. 2008.)
1940 - Margrethe II of Denmark, queen regnant
1940 - Benoît Bouchard, French-Canadian politician
1942 - Sir Frank Williams, English F1 constructor and team principal (WilliamsF1)
1942 - Jim Lonborg, American baseball player
1943 - Ruth Madoc, British actress
1943 - Dave Peverett, English musician (Foghat, Savoy Brown) (d. 2000)
1944 - Richard Bradshaw British opera conductor
1945 - Tom Allen, American politician
1946 - Margot Adler, American journalist
1947 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, American basketball player
1947 - Gerry Rafferty, British musician and songwriter
1948 - Lynne Franks, British public relations consultant
1949 - Melody Patterson, American actress
1950 - David Graf, American actor (d. 2001)
1951 - Ioan Mihai Cochinescu, Romanian writer and photographer
1951 - Björgvin Halldórsson, Icelandic singer
1951 - Mordechai Ben David, Jewish singer
1952 - Bill Belichick, American football coach
1952 - Michel Blanc, French actor
1952 - Billy West, American voice actor
1953 - Peter Garrett, Australian musician (Midnight Oil)
1953 - J. Neil Schulman, American writer
1954 - Ellen Barkin, American actress
1954 - John Bowe, Australian racing driver
1955 - Bruce Bochy, American baseball player and manager
1955 - Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
1956 - David McDowell Brown, American astronaut (d. 2003)
1956 - Lise-Marie Morerod, Swiss skier
1959 - Scott McKinsey, American television director
1959 - Alison Ramsay, Scottish field hockey player
1960 - Rafael Benítez, Spanish football manager
1960 - Pierre Littbarski, German footballer
1960 - Wahab Akbar, Filipino politician (d. 2007)
1961 - Doris Dragović, Croatian singer
1962 - Ian MacKaye, American musician, (Fugazi and Minor Threat)
1963 - Jimmy Osmond, American pop singer (The Osmonds)
1963 - Salim Malik, Pakistani cricket player
1964 - Dave Pirner, American rock singer (Soul Asylum)
1964 - David Kohan, American television producer
1965 - Jon Cryer, American actor
1965 - Martin Lawrence, American actor
1965 - Michael Wong Man Tak, Hong Kong actor and director
1968 - Vickie Guerrero, WWE professional wrestling personality
1969 - Fernando Viña, American Baseball Player
1970 - Walt Williams, American basketball player
1971 - Peter Billingsley, American actor
1971 - Selena Quintanilla,Mexican American singer (d. 1995)
1971 - Moses Chan, Hong Kong actor
1971 - Seigo Yamamoto, Japanese racing driver
1972 - Conchita Martinez, Spanish tennis player
1973 - Bonnie Pink, Japanese singer
1974 - Mat Devine, American singer (Kill Hannah)
1974 - Xu Jinglei, Chinese actress, singer and director
1974 - Valarie Rae Miller, American actress
1975 - Sean Maher, American actor
1975 - Nick Pickard, British actor
1976 - Lukas Haas, American actor
1976 - Dan Kellner, American fencer
1976 - Shu Qi, Taiwanese actress
1977 - Alek Wek, Sudanese supermodel
1977 - Fredrik Ljungberg, Swedish footballer
1978 - Matthew Lloyd, Australian rules footballer
1978 - Lara Dutta, Indian actress
1979 - Christijan Albers, Dutch Formula One driver
1979 - Sixto Peralta, Argentine footballer
1980 - Paul London, American professional wrestler
1982 - Boris Diaw, French basketball player
1982 - Barry Jones, Scottish magician
1982 - Jonathan Vilma, American football player
1982 - Gina Carano, American Mixed Martial Arts fighter.
1983 - Cat Osterman, American softball pitcher
1983 - George Patis, Greek badminton player
1983 - Marié Digby, American Singer
1984 - Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, American author
1984 - Noah Fleiss, American actor
1984 - Tucker Fredricks, American speed skater
1985 - Mark Baker, Welsh author and historian
1985 - Luol Deng, British-Sudanese basketball player
1985 - Benjamín Rojas, Argentine actor and singer
1986 - Paul di Resta, British racing driver
1986 - Neil Haskell, Finalist of SYTYCD Season 3
1987 - Aaron Lennon, English footballer
1990 - Lorraine Nicholson, American actress
1990 - Heather Fulton, American marine biologist
1992 - Prince Sébastien of Luxembourg, Prince of Luxembourg
1993 - Mirai Nagasu, American Figure Skater
1994 - Liliana Mumy, American actress
2008 - Princess Eléonore of Belgium, Belgian princess

Deaths

69 - Otho, Roman Emperor (b. 32)
665 - Fructuosus of Braga
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 (b. 1640)
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)
1850 - Marie Tussaud, founder of the Madame Tussauds wax museum (b. 1761)
1859 - Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian (b. 1805)
1879 - Bernadette Soubirous, French shepherd girl (b. 1844)
1888 - Zygmunt Florenty Wróblewski, Polish physicist (b. 1845)
1899 - Emilio Jacinto, Filipino poet and revolutionary (b 1875)
1904 - Maximilian Kronberger, German poet (b. 1888)
1904 - Samuel Smiles, Scottish writer and reformer (b. 1812)
1914 - George William Hill, American astronomer (b. 1838)
1915 - Nelson W. Aldrich, American politician (b. 1841)
1928 - Henry Birks, Canadian businessman, founder of Henri Birks and Sons (b. 1840)
1930 - José Carlos Mariátegui, Peruvian journalist, political philosopher and activist (b. 1894)
1938 - Steve Bloomer, English footballer (b. 1874)
1946 - Arthur Chevrolet, Swiss-born race car driver and automobile designer (b. 1884)
1947 - Rudolf Höß, commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp (b. 1900)
1958 - Rosalind Franklin, British chemist (b. 1920)
1968 - Edna Ferber, American author (b. 1885)
1970 - Richard Neutra, American architect (b. 1892)
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)
1992 - Andy Russell, American singer (b. 1919)
1994 - Ralph Ellison, American writer (b. 1913)
1995 - Arthur English, English actor and comedian (b. 1919)
1995 - Iqbal Masih, Pakistani child slave labourer, activist (b. 1982)
1996 - Stavros Niarchos, Greek shipping tycoon (b. 1909)
1997 - Doris Angleton, American socialite (b. 1951)
1997 - Roland Topor, French illustrator (b. 1938)
1998 - Fred Davis, English snooker player (b. 1913)
1998 - Alberto Calderón, Argentine mathematician (b. 1920)
1999 - Skip Spence, Canadian-born guitarist, singer and songwriter (Jefferson Airplane) (b. 1946)
2001 - Alec Stock, English football manager (b. 1917)
2002 - Ruth Fertel, American restaurateur (b. 1927)
2002 - Robert Urich, American actor (b. 1946)
2003 - Graham Jarvis, Canadian actor (b. 1930)
2003 - Graham Stuart Thomas, English author and garden designer (b. 1909)
2005 - Kay Walsh, British actress (b. 1911)
2005 - Kim Mu-saeng, South Korean actor (b. 1943)
2005 - Marla Ruzicka, American humanitarian worker and peace activist (b. 1976)
2006 - Francisco Adam, Portuguese actor and model (b. 1983)
2007 - Gaetan Duchesne, Canadian hockey player (b. 1962)
2007 - Maria Lenk, Brazilian swimmer and first Brazilian woman to compete in the Olympic Games (b. 1915)
2007 - Seung-Hui Cho, Korean American murderer (b. 1984), see List of victims of the Virginia Tech massacre
2007 - Jocelyne Couture-Nowak, American instructor of French (b. 1958)
2007 - Kevin Granata, American professor of Engineering (b. 1961)
2007 - Liviu Librescu, American Jewish-Romanian professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics (b. 1930)
2007 - G. V. Loganathan, Indian American professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering (b. 1954)
2007 - Frank Bateson, New Zealand astronomer (b. 1909)
2008 - Edward Lorenz, American mathematician and meteorologist (b. 1917)
2008 - Joseph Solman, American painter