On This Day: 16 July

The start of the Muslim calendar – which commemorates the arrival of Muhammad and his followers in Medina, having migrated from Mecca – has been "retro–calculated" to this day in ...		622
Three Roman legates break relations between Western and Eastern Christian Churches through the act of placing an invalidly–issued Papal bull of Excommunication on the altar of Hagia Sophia during Saturday afternoon divine liturgy. Historians frequently describe this as the start of the East–West Schism (the break of communion between the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Churches)		1054
After Pope Innocent III calls European knights to a crusade, forces of Kings Alfonso VIII of Castile, Sancho VII of Navarre, Peter II of Aragon and Afonso II of Portugal defeat those of the Berber Muslim leader Almohad at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, marking a significant turning point in the Reconquista (the campaigns by Christian states to recapture territory from the Moors or Muslims)		1212
The Spanish town of Arjona declares independence and names its native Muhammad ibn Yusuf as ruler. This marks the Muhammad's first rise to prominence; he would later establish the Nasrid Emirate of Granada, the last independent Muslim state in Spain		1232
Although modern historians are sceptical, the Carmelite Order believes that Saint Simon Stock had a vision of the Virgin Mary on this day in ...		1251
Richard II is crowned as King of England		1377
Captain John Gilbert patents the first dredger		1618
The Bank of Stockholm issues Europe's first banknotes		1661
Father JunÃpero Serra founds California's first mission, Mission San Diego de Alcalá – which would evolve over the following decades into the city of San Diego		1769
During the American War of Independence, light infantry of the Continental Army seize a fortified British Army position in a midnight bayonet attack at the Battle of Stony Point		1779
Mozart's opera Il Seraglio is performed for the first time, in Vienna		1782
Following the signature of the Residence Act, the District of Columbia is established as the capital of the United States		1790
Louis XVI of France is suspended from office until he agrees to ratify the French constitution		1791
The city of La Paz (now the capital of Bolivia) declares its independence from the Spanish Crown and forms the Junta Tuitiva – the first independent government in Spanish America, led by Pedro Domingo Murillo		1809
Sir Henry Havelock arrives at the Battle of Cawnpore		1857
At the order of President Abraham Lincoln, Union troops begin a 25–mile march into Virginia for what will become the First Battle of Bull Run, the first major land battle of the American Civil War		1861
David Farragut is promoted to rear admiral, becoming the first officer in United States Navy to hold an admiral rank		1862
Joseph Monier, a commercial gardener working in Paris, patents reinforced concrete		1867
Louis Pasteur successfully treats Joseph Meister, aged 9, for rabies		1885
Henry James (born in New York in 1843) becomes a British citizen, to highlight his commitment to Britain during the first World War. He would die in London less than a year later		1915
Nicaraguan revolutionary Augusto César Sandino leads a raid on US Marines and Nicaraguan Guardia Nacional that had been sent to apprehend him in the village of Ocotal, but is repulsed by one of the first dive–bombing attacks in history		1927
Emperor Haile Selassie signs the first constitution of Ethiopia		1931
The world's first parking meters come into operation in Oklahoma City		1935
Joe DiMaggio hits safely for the 56th consecutive game – a streak that still stands as an MLB record		1941
The government of Vichy France orders what would come to be known as the Rafle du Vel' d'Hiv (Vel' d'Hiv Roundup – the mass arrest of 13,152 Jews who are held at the Vélodrome d'Hiver in Paris before deportation to Auschwitz		1942
The US carries out first test of an atomic bomb – 100 feet over the desert, 230 miles south of Los Alamos, New Mexico; meanwhile, the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis leaves San Francisco, bound for Tinian Island (in the Philippine Sea) with parts for the atomic bomb that would be dropped on Hiroshima 21 days later		1945
In Operation Dekel, during the first Arab–Israeli War, the city of Nazareth – revered by Christians as the home town of Jesus – capitulates to Israeli troops following token resistance		1948
The storming of the cockpit of the Miss Macao – a seaplane operated by a subsidiary of Cathay Pacific Airways (by Chinese robbers intent on taking the wealthy passengers hostage) – marks the first hijacking of a commercial aircraft		1948
199,854 – a world record – watch a football match between Brazil and Uruguay at the Maracana Stadium, Rio de Janeiro		1950
Thirty unarmed, critically wounded American soldiers, and an army chaplain, are murdered by Korean troops during the Battle of Taejon. The incident would come to be known as the Chaplain–Medic massacre, as the soldiers were also being treated by the regimental medical officer at the time of the attack; he however was able to escape		1950
King Leopold III of the Belgians abdicates in favour of his son Baudouin		1951
An F86 Sabre fighter sets a world air speed record of 716mph		1953
Stirling Moss becomes the first British driver to win the British Grand Prix, at Aintree. In his victory speech, he praises the sportsmanship of his Mercedes–Benz team mate, Argentinian world champion Juan Manuel Fangio, who (he says) could have taken the race if he had wished to, but had allowed Moss to achieve his long–held ambition		1953
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus closes its last "Big Tent" show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; due to changing economics all subsequent circus shows will be held in arenas		1956
The Mont Blanc Tunnel (linking France to Italy) is opened		1965
Nigerian troops enter Biafra, beginning the civil war		1967
Apollo 11 is launched from Cape Kennedy, on its way to becoming the first mission to land astronauts on the Moon		1969
UK Home Secretary Reginald Maudling declares a state of emergency in response to the national docks strike		1970
Iraqi President Ahmed Hassan al–Bakr resigns and is replaced by Saddam Hussein		1979
In what would be Britain's worst civilian helicopter accident until 1986, only six of the 26 people on board survive when a British Airways commercial Sikorsky S–61 crashes while en route from Penzance to St Mary's, Isles of Scilly in poor visibility; pilot error is blamed		1983
A Bill to abolish the Greater London Council receives Royal Assent		1985
British Airways and British Caledonian announce a £237m merger, creating an airline that, it is hoped, will be able to compete with the American giants		1987
An estimated 1,621 lives are lost when the island of Luzon in the Philippines is struck by an earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.7		1990
The newly–elected Parliament of the Ukrainian SSR declares "state sovereignty" over the territory of the Ukrainian SSR, by a majority of 355 to four		1990
Stella Rimington (aged 56), who last year became the first female Director General of the UK's internal security service, MI5, becomes the first to pose openly for cameras, at the launch of a brochure outlining the organisation's activities – revealing, among other things, that almost half of the agency's work concerns domestic terrorism, particularly that of the IRA		1993
Princess Diana resigns as patron or chair of over 100 charities – leaving only six		1996
John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife and her sister die when their plane crashes into the sea off Martha's Vineyard		1999
Australian police mount a hunt for the killer of British tourist Peter Falconio, 28, believed to have been shot in the Northern Territory		2001
Just weeks after being returned to power in a landslide general election victory, Tony Blair's UK government suffers its first defeat in the House of Commons since coming to power in 1997 as over 100 Labour MPs vote against the sacking of Gwyneth Dunwoody and Donald Andersen as chairs of select committees on transport and foreign affairs respectively. Within an hour of the vote, the Chief Whip's office announces that both would be reinstated		2001
Shevaun (sic) Pennington, 12, returns to her home in Wigan "safe and well", after Toby Studabaker, the 31–year–old US Marine on the run in France whom she ran away from home to meet four days earlier, having met in an Internet chat room (and who claimed she told him she was 19) is arrested by German police		2003
At least ten people lose their lives, and many remain trapped, after a four–storey building (said to be "up to 100 years old") collapses in the Indian city of Mumbai		2019

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On This Day: 16 July