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On This Day
May
16 May

On This Day: 16 May

Henry III lays the foundation stone for a new Lady Chapel at Westminster Abbey – the first stage in rebuilding the 11th century church in gothic style Click to show or hide the answer
Florence re–establishes itself as a republic, after the Florentines drive out the Medici for a second time Click to show or hide the answer
Thomas More resigns as chancellor Click to show or hide the answer
Mary Queen of Scots flees to England after her defeat at Langside, Glasgow Click to show or hide the answer
Voltaire imprisoned in the Bastille Click to show or hide the answer
Doctor Samuel Johnson and James Boswell meet for the first time Click to show or hide the answer
The Dauphin Louis–Auguste, aged 15 (later Louis XVI) marries Marie Antoinette Click to show or hide the answer
The Batavian Republic is established in Holland Click to show or hide the answer
The Lombardic Republic is established Click to show or hide the answer
The French Senate and Tribune proclaim Napoleon as Emperor Click to show or hide the answer
The Allies (Spain, Portugal and the United Kingdom) under General Beresford defeat the French under Marshal Soult at Albuera, near Badajoz Click to show or hide the answer
The US warship President attacks a British sloop Click to show or hide the answer
Imperial Russia signs the Treaty of Bucharest, ending the Russo–Turkish War; the Ottoman Empire cedes Bessarabia to Russia Click to show or hide the answer
Edgar Allan Poe marries his 13–year–old cousin Click to show or hide the answer
US President Andrew Johnson survives impeachment proceedings in the Senate by one vote Click to show or hide the answer
The world's first electric tram enters public service at Lichterfelde, nr. Berlin Click to show or hide the answer
Emile Berliner demonstrates the first gramophone record at the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia Click to show or hide the answer
Nikola Tesla delivers a lecture describing the equipment that will allow efficient generation and use of alternating currents to transmit electric power over long distances Click to show or hide the answer
Remains of Neanderthal Man are found in Jersey Click to show or hide the answer
The Zeppelin Deutschland crashes and is wrecked at Dusseldorf Click to show or hide the answer
The UK and France sign the secret Sykes–Picot Agreement, partitioning former Ottoman territories such as Iraq and Syria Click to show or hide the answer
A Curtiss NC–4 seaplane, commanded by Albert Cushing Read, leaves Trepassey, Newfoundland, for Lisbon and the UK, via the Azores, on the first transatlantic flight (there were six stops along the way, and more than one aircraft was used) Click to show or hide the answer
Joan of Arc is canonised by Pope Benedict XV Click to show or hide the answer
The golden age of bullfighting comes to an end as Joselito is gored at Talavera de la Reina Click to show or hide the answer
The White Star Line's Majestic – the largest ship built to date – reaches New York, 5½ days out from Southampton Click to show or hide the answer
The first Academy Awards ceremony takes place (renamed the Oscars in 1931, allegedly after Margaret Herrick said the statuette looked like her Uncle Oscar) Click to show or hide the answer
Daphne Kearley becomes Britain's first air hostess, in an Avro 642 from Croydon to Le Bourquet, France Click to show or hide the answer
The Warsaw Ghetto uprising is crushed by the SS, police and Wehrmacht, after 27 days Click to show or hide the answer
El Al Israel Airlines begins the first regularly scheduled transatlantic flights, between Idlewild (now John F. Kennedy International) in New York and Heathrow Click to show or hide the answer
Theodore Maiman operates the first optical laser (a ruby laser), at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California Click to show or hide the answer
The Communist Party of China issues the 'May 16 Notice', marking the beginning of the Cultural Revolution Click to show or hide the answer
Earthquake in Northern Japan kills 47 and injures 217 Click to show or hide the answer
Three people lose their lives when one entire corner of Ronan Point, a new block of flats in Newham, in London's East End, collapses Click to show or hide the answer
Pete Townshend spends a night in jail in New York for kicking a policeman off stage Click to show or hide the answer
Israeli planes bomb seven Palestinian refugee camps and villages in southern Lebanon, killing at least 27 people and leaving 138 injured Click to show or hide the answer
Josip Broz Tito is elected president for life of Yugoslavia Click to show or hide the answer
Michael Abdul Malik, Black Power leader, hanged for murder in Trinidad Click to show or hide the answer
Junko Tabei of Japan becomes the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest Click to show or hide the answer
Dr. George Nickopoulos indicted in Memphis for over–prescribing drugs to 11 patients, including Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley Click to show or hide the answer
Wheel clamps first used in London Click to show or hide the answer
Two South Wales miners are jailed for life for the murder of taxi driver David Wilkie, by throwing a block of concrete on his car from a bridge as he drove a miner to work six months earlier (during the miners' strike) Click to show or hide the answer
C. Everett Koop, US Surgeon General, reports that the addictive properties of nicotine are similar to those of heroin and cocaine Click to show or hide the answer
Eileen Molyneaux, 66, at Brook Hospital, Greenwich, London, becomes the first adult to undergo a successful hole–in–the–heart operation Click to show or hide the answer
Christie's, New York, sells Van Gogh's Portrait of Dr. Gachet to a Japanese businessman for $82.5 Click to show or hide the answer
Minister of Agriculture John Gummer invites newspapers and camera crews to photograph him trying to feed a beefburger to his four–year–old daughter Cordelia, at an event in his Suffolk constituency, as the government tries desperately to convince the public that British beef is safe Click to show or hide the answer
Elizabeth II becomes the first British sovereign to address the US Congress Click to show or hide the answer
Mobutu Sese Seko, President of Zaire, flees the country Click to show or hide the answer
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott is attacked and wrestled to the ground after punching farm worker Craig Evans, who threw an egg at him as he campaigned in Rhyl, Clwyd, for the general election Click to show or hide the answer

© Haydn Thompson 2019