world-beating

March 16

Events

597 BC - Babylonians capture Jerusalem, replace Jehoiachin with Zedekiah as king.
1190 - Crusaders start to massacre the Jews of York; many Jews commit suicide rather than submit to baptism.
1249 - The Servite Order is officially approved by Cardinal Raniero Capocci, papal legate in Tuscany.
1322 - The Battle of Boroughbridge takes place in the First War of Scottish Independence.
1521 - Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Philippines.
1621 - Samoset, a Mohegan, visits the settlers of Plymouth Colony and greets them, "Welcome, Englishmen! My name is Samoset."
1660 - The Long Parliament disbands.
1689 - The 23rd Regiment of Foot or Royal Welch Fusiliers is founded.
1792 - King Gustav III of Sweden is shot; he dies on March 29.
1802 - The United States Military Academy at West Point is established.
1812 - Battle of Badajoz (March 16 - April 6) - British and Portuguese forces besiege and defeat French garrison during Peninsular War.
1815 - Prince Willem of the House of Orange-Nassau proclaims himself King of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the first constitutional monarch in The Netherlands.
1818 - Second Battle of Cancha Rayada - Spanish forces defeat Chileans under José de San Martín.
1861 - Edward Clark became Governor of Texas, replacing Sam Houston, who was evicted from the office for refusing to take an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy.
1865 - American Civil War: The Battle of Averasborough begins as Confederate forces suffer irreplaceable casualties in the final months of the war.
1867 - First publication of an article by Joseph Lister outlining the discovery of antiseptic surgery, in The Lancet.
1872 - The Wanderers F.C. won the first FA Cup, the oldest football competition in the world, beating Royal Engineers A.F.C. 1-0 at The Oval in Kennington, London.
1900 - Sir Arthur Evans purchases the land around the ruins of Knossos, the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete.
1912 - Lawrence Oates, ill member of Scott's South Pole expedition leaves the tent saying, "I am just going outside and may be some time."
1916 - The 7th and 10th US cavalry regiments under John J. Pershing cross the US-Mexico border to join the hunt for Pancho Villa.
1924 - The free port of Fiume is formally annexed by Mussolini's fascist regime.
1926 - History of Rocketry: Robert Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket, at Auburn, Massachusetts.
1935 - Adolf Hitler orders Germany to rearm herself in violation of the Versailles Treaty. Conscription was reintroduced to form the Wehrmacht.
1939 - From Prague Castle, Hitler proclaims Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate.
1939 - Marriage of Princess Fawzia of Egypt to Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran.
1942 - History of Rocketry: The first V-2 rocket test launch (exploded at liftoff).
1943 - The Royal Navy Isles Class Trawler HMS Campobello Sinks in the Atlantic.
1945 - World War II: The Battle of Iwo Jima ends but small pockets of Japanese resistance persist.
1945 - Würzburg, Germany is 90% destroyed, with 5,000 dead, in only 20 minutes by British bombers.
1950 - Communist Czechoslovakia's ministry of foreign affairs asked nuncios of Vatican to leave the country.
1952 - In Cilaos, Réunion, 1,870mm (73 inches) of rain falls in one day, setting a new world record.
1958 - The Ford Motor Company produces its 50 millionth automobile, the Thunderbird, averaging almost a million cars a year since the company's founding.
1962 - A Flying Tiger Line Super Constellation disappears in the western Pacific Ocean, with 107 people missing.
1963 - Mount Agung erupts on Bali, as 11,000 die.
1966 - Launch of Gemini 8, the 12th manned American space flight and first space docking with the Agena Target Vehicle.
1968 - Vietnam War: In the My Lai massacre, between 350 and 500 Vietnamese villagers: men, women, and children are killed by American troops.
1968 - General Motors produces its 100 millionth automobile, the Oldsmobile Toronado.
1971 - Government of Trygve Bratteli in Norway.
1976 - British Prime Minister Harold Wilson resigns, citing personal reasons.
1978 - Former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro is kidnapped by left-wing terrorists and is later killed by his captors.
1978 - Supertanker Amoco Cadiz splits in two after running aground on the Portsall Rocks, three miles off the coast of Brittany, resulting in the 5th-largest oil spill in history.
1979 - Edmer Asama
1983 - Demolition of the radio tower Ismaning, the last radio tower in Germany built of wood.
1984 - William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Beirut, Lebanon, is kidnapped by Islamic fundamentalists and later dies in captivity.
1985 - Associated Press newsman Terry Anderson is taken hostage in Beirut. He is released on December 4, 1991.
1988 - Iran-Contra Affair: Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North and Vice Admiral John Poindexter are indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States.
1988 - Halabja poison gas attack: The Kurdish town of Halabjah in Iraq was attacked with a mix of poison gas and nerve agents, killing 5000 people and injured about 10000 people.
1995 - Mississippi formally ratifies the Thirteenth Amendment, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment was officially ratified in 1865.
1997 - Sandline affair: On Bougainville Island, soldiers of commander Jerry Singirok arrest Tim Spicer and his mercenaries of the Sandline International.
1998 - Pope John Paul II asks God for forgiveness for the inactivity and silence of some Roman Catholics during the Holocaust.
2003 - The largest coordinated worldwide vigil takes place, as part of the global protests against Iraq war.
2005 - Israel officially hands over Jericho to Palestinian control.
2006 - The United Nations General Assembly votes overwhelmingly to establish the UN Human Rights Council.

Births

1338 - Thomas de Beauchamp, 12th Earl of Warwick (d. 1401)
1445 - Johann Geiler von Kaisersberg, Swiss-born preacher (d. 1510)
1473 - Henry IV the Pious, Duke of Saxony (d. 1541)
1581 - Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, Dutch historian and writer (d. 1647)
1585 - Gerbrand Adriaensz Bredero, Dutch writer (d. 1618)
1631 - René Le Bossu, French critic (d. 1680)
1654 - Andreas Acoluthus, German orientalist (d. 1704)
1687 - Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, queen consort in Prussia (d. 1757)
1750 - Caroline Herschel, German-born English astronomer (d. 1848)
1751 - James Madison, 4th President of the United States (d. 1836)
1773 - Juan Ramón Balcarce, Argentine military leader and politician (d. 1836)
1774 - Captain Matthew Flinders, English explorer of the coasts of Australia (d. 1814)
1789 - Georg Simon Ohm, German physicist (d. 1854)
1794 - Ami Boué, Austrian geologist (d. 1881)
1800 - Emperor Ninko of Japan (d. 1846)
1805 - Peter Ernst von Lasaulx, German philosopher and writer (d. 1861)
1822 - Rosa Bonheur, French realist painter and sculptor (d. 1899)
1834 - James Hector, Scottish geologist (d. 1907)
1839 - René François Armand Sully-Prudhomme, French writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1907)
1839 - John Butler Yeats, Northern Irish artist (d. 1922)
1840 - Shibusawa Eiichi, Japanese industrialist (d. 1931)
1846 - Gösta Mittag-Leffler, Swedish mathematician (d. 1927)
1851 - Martinus Beijerinck, Dutch microbiologist and botanist (d. 1931)
1856 - Napoléon Eugène Louis John Joseph, called Napoleon IV, the only child of Emperor Napoleon III of France (d. 1879)
1857 - Charles Harding Firth, British historian (d. 1936)
1859 - Alexander Stepanovich Popov, Russian physicist (d. 1906)
1865 - Patsy Donovan, Irish-American baseball player (d. 1953)
1869 - F. A. Forbes, Scottish author (d. 1936)
1877 - Reza Shah Pahlavi, Shah of Iran (d. 1941)
1878 - Clemens August Graf von Galen, German archbishop and cardinal (d. 1946)
1889 - Reggie Walker, South African athlete (d. 1951)
1890 - Solomon Mikhoels, Soviet actor and chairman of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee (d. 1948)
1892 - César Vallejo, Peruvian poet (d. 1938)
1892 - James Petrillo, leader of the U.S. musicians union (d. 1984)
1897 - Conrad Nagel, American actor (d. 1970)
1883 - Ethel Anderson, Australian poet (d. 1958)
1901 - Edward Pawley, American actor (d. 1988)
1902 - Leon Roppolo, American jazz clarinetist (d. 1943)
1903 - Mike Mansfield, American politician, and diplomat (d. 2001)
1905 - Elisabeth Flickenschildt, German actress (d. 1977)
1905 - Marlin Perkins, American naturalist (d. 1986)
1906 - Henny Youngman, American comedian (d. 1998)
1906 - Francisco Ayala, Spanish writer
1908 - René Daumal, French Surrealist writer (d. 1944)
1908 - Robert Rossen, American film director, screenwriter and producer (d. 1966)
1911 - Dr. Josef Mengele, German, accused Nazi war criminal (d. 1979)
1911 - Pierre Harmel, Belgian politician
1912 - Pat Nixon, First Lady of the United States (d. 1993)
1916 - Mercedes McCambridge, American actress (d. 2004)
1917 - Samael Aun Weor, Colombian writer (d. 1977)
1918 - Frederick Reines, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
1920 - Leo McKern, Australian actor (d. 2002)
1920 - Traudl Junge, Hitler's secretary (d. 2002)
1920 - John Addison, British composer (d. 1998)
1920 - Dorothea Binz, Nazi war criminal (d. 1947)
1920 - Sid Fleischman, American author
1922 - Harding Lemay, American television scriptwriter and playwright
1925 - Luis E. Miramontes, Mexican chemist, co-inventor of the combined oral contraceptive pill (d. 2004)
1926 - Charles Goodell, American politician (d. 1987)
1926 - Jerry Lewis, American comedian
1927 - Vladimir Komarov, Soviet cosmonaut (d. 1967)
1927 - Daniel Patrick Moynihan, U.S. Senator from New York (d. 2003)
1927 - Olga San Juan, American comedian
1928 - Christa Ludwig, German mezzo-soprano
1928 - Karlheinz Böhm, Austrian actor
1929 - Nadja Tiller, Austrian actress
1930 - Tommy Flanagan, American jazz pianist (d. 2001)
1931 - Betty Johnson, American singer
1932 - Don Blasingame, American baseball player and manager (d. 2005)
1932 - Walter Cunningham, American astronaut
1933 - Sandy Weill, American financier and philanthropist
1934 - Ray Hnatyshyn, Governor-General of Canada (d. 2002)
1935 - Teresa Berganza, Spanish soprano
1936 - Fred Neil, American singer-songwriter (d. 2001)
1937 - Amos Tversky, Israeli psychologist (d. 1996)
1939 - Carlos Bilardo, Argetinian football coach
1940 - Bernardo Bertolucci, Italian film director
1940 - Jan Pronk, Dutch politician
1940 - Keith Rowe, English guitarist (AMM) and painter
1941 - Robert Guéï, ruler of Côte d'Ivoire (d. 2002)
1941 - Chuck Woolery, American game show host
1942 - James Soong, Taiwanese politician
1942 - Jerry Jeff Walker, American musician
1942 - Roger Crozier, Canadian ice hockey goaltender (d. 1996)
1943 - Ursula Goodenough, Evolutionary Scholar, Cell Biologist
1943 - Kim Mu-saeng, South Korean actor (d. 2005)
1946 - Michael Basman, English chess master
1946 - Hubert Soudant, Dutch conductor
1947 - Ramzan Paskayev, Chechen accordionist
1948 - Michael Bruce, American musician. Guitarist and keyboard player for Alice Cooper
1948 - Margaret Weis, American author
1948 - Richard Desjardins, Quebec singer, songwriter and film director
1949 - Erik Estrada, Puerto Rican actor
1949 - Elliott Murphy, American Singer-Songwriter
1949 - Victor Garber, Canadian actor
1950 - Kate Nelligan, Canadian actress
1951 - Joe DeLamielleure, American football player
1952 - Philippe Kahn, French-American entrepreneur
1953 - Isabelle Huppert, French actress
1953 - Richard Stallman, American free software activist
1954 - Jimmy Nail, British actor and singer
1954 - Nancy Wilson, American guitarist, singer, and actress (Heart)
1955 - Jiro Watanabe, Japanese boxer
1955 - Bruno Barreto, Brazilian film director
1958 - Jorge Ramos, Mexican TV anchor
1958 - Kate Worley, American comic book writer (d. 2004)
1959 - Flavor Flav, American rapper, and reality tv star
1959 - Jens Stoltenberg, Prime Minister of Norway
1960 - Duane Sutter, Canadian ice hockey player
1961 - Todd McFarlane, Canadian cartoonist, comic book writer, artist, and media entrepreneur
1961 - Brett Kenny, Australian rugby league footballer
1963 - Jimmy Degrasso, American musician, drummer
1963 - Kevin Smith, New Zealand actor (d. 2002)
1964 - Patty Griffin, American singer and songwriter
1964 - Gore Verbinski, American movie director
1964 - Pascal Richard, Swiss cyclist
1965 - Richard Daniel Roman, English songwriter and record producer
1965 - Belén Rueda, Spanish actress
1967 - Lauren Graham, American actress
1968 - Ananya Khare, Indian actress and teacher
1970 - Paul Oscar (Páll Óskar Hjálmtýsson), Icelandic pop singer, songwriter and disc jockey
1971 - Alan Tudyk, American actor
1973 - Brant Bjork, American musician (Kyuss)
1974 - Georgios Anatolakis, Greek footballer
1974 - Fotini Vavatsi, Greek archer
1975 - Sienna Guillory, English actress
1976 - Abraham Núñez, Dominican baseball player
1976 - Paul Schneider, American actor
1976 - Nick Spano, American actor
1977 - Donal Óg Cusack, Irish hurler
1978 - Brooke Burns, American actress
1979 - Edison Méndez, Ecuadorian footballer
1979 - Rashad Moore, National Football League player
1979 - Leena Peisa, Finnish musician (Lordi)
1980 - Felipe Reyes, Spanish basketball player
1980 - Todd Heap, American football player
1981 - Andrew Bree, Irish swimmer
1981 - Curtis Granderson, American baseball player
1981 - Yoav Ziv, Israeli footballer
1983 - Brandon League, American baseball player
1984 - Levi Brown, American football player
1985 - Nicole Trunfio, Australian supermodel
1986 - Ken Doane, American professional wrestler
1986 - T. J. Jordan, American basketball player
1986 - Joe Denly, English Cricketer
1987 - Tiiu Kuik, Estonian model
1989 - Peaches Geldof, English Dosser
1989 - Theo Walcott, English footballer
1989 - Blake Griffin, American basketball player
1991 - Wolfgang Van Halen, American musician
1994 - Sierra McClain, American actress and singer