16 August
Notable Births
Jannik Sinner
b. 2001
Italian tennis player (born 2001)
Karen Chen
b. 1999
American figure skater (born 1999)
Greyson Chance
b. 1997
American singer-songwriter and musician
Sophie Cunningham
b. 1996
American basketball player and analyst (born 1996)
Caeleb Dressel
b. 1996
American swimmer (born 1996)
Cameron Monaghan
b. 1993
American actor and model (born 1993)
Diego Schwartzman
b. 1992
Argentine tennis player (born 1992)
Evanna Lynch
b. 1991
Irish actress and activist (born 1991)
Young Thug
b. 1991
American rapper (born 1991)
Godfrey Oboabona
b. 1990
Nigerian footballer
Cedric Alexander
b. 1989
American professional wrestler (born 1989)
Wang Hao (race walker)
b. 1989
Chinese racewalker
Moussa Sissoko
b. 1989
French footballer (born 1989)
Ismaïl Aissati
b. 1988
Moroccan footballer (born 1988)
Ryan Kerrigan
b. 1988
American football player and coach (born 1988)
Rumer Willis
b. 1988
American actress (born 1988)
Carey Price
b. 1987
Canadian ice hockey player (born 1987)
Eri Kitamura
b. 1987
Japanese voice actress and singer (born 1987)
Yu Darvish
b. 1986
Japanese baseball pitcher (born 1986)
Martín Maldonado
b. 1986
Puerto Rican baseball player (born 1986)
Notable Deaths
Howard S. Becker
d. 2023
American sociologist (1928–2023)
Sean Lock
d. 2021
English comedian and actor (1963–2021)
Peter Fonda
d. 2019
American actor and filmmaker (1940–2019)
Richard Williams (animator)
d. 2019
Canadian and British animator (1933–2019)
Aretha Franklin
d. 2018
American singer (1942–2018)
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
d. 2018
Prime Minister of India (1996; 1998–99, 1999–2004)
João Havelange
d. 2016
Brazilian businessman, athlete and football administrator (1916–2016)
John McLaughlin (host)
d. 2016
American journalist and political commentator (1927–2016)
Jacob Bekenstein
d. 2015
Mexican-Israeli physicist (1947–2015)
Anna Kashfi
d. 2015
British actress (1934–2015)
Shuja Khanzada
d. 2015
Pakistani officer and politician (1943–2015)
Mile Mrkšić
d. 2015
Croatian Serb war criminal (1947–2015)
Peter Scholl-Latour
d. 2014
German journalist and author
David Rees (mathematician)
d. 2013
Martine Franck
d. 2012
Belgian photographer (1938–2012)
Abune Paulos
d. 2012
Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church from 1992 to 2012
William Windom (actor)
d. 2012
American actor (1923–2012)
Mihri Belli
d. 2011
Turkish socialist revolutionary
Dimitrios Ioannidis
d. 2010
Greek military dictator (1923–2010)
Joan Eardley
d. 1963
British artist (1921–1963)
On This Day in History
All 65 ›
2020
The August Complex fire in California burns more than one million acres of land.
August Complex fire
2015
More than 96 people are killed and hundreds injured following a series of air-raids by the Syrian Arab Air Force on the rebel-held market town of Douma.
Douma massacre (2015)
2015
Trigana Air Flight 267, an ATR 42, crashes in Oksibil, Bintang Mountains Regency, killing all 54 people on board.
Trigana Air Flight 267
2013
The ferry St. Thomas Aquinas collides with a cargo ship and sinks at Cebu, Philippines, killing 61 people with 59 others missing.
MV St. Thomas Aquinas
2012
South African police fatally shoot 34 miners and wound 78 more during an industrial dispute at Marikana near Rustenburg.
South African Police Service
2010
AIRES Flight 8250 crashes at Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport in San Andrés, San Andrés y Providencia, Colombia, killing two people.
AIRES Flight 8250
2008
The Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago is topped off at 1,389 feet (423 m), at the time becoming the world's highest residence above ground-level.
Trump International Hotel and Tower (Chicago)
2005
West Caribbean Airways Flight 708, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, crashes in Machiques, Venezuela, killing all 160 people on board.
West Caribbean Airways Flight 708
1991
Indian Airlines Flight 257, a Boeing 737-200, crashes during approach to Imphal Airport, killing all 69 people on board.
Indian Airlines Flight 257
1989
A solar particle event affects computers at the Toronto Stock Exchange, forcing a halt to trading.
Solar particle event
1987
Northwest Airlines Flight 255, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, crashes after takeoff in Detroit, Michigan, killing 154 of the 155 on board, plus two people on the ground.
Northwest Airlines Flight 255
1986
A Sudan Airways Fokker F27 Friendship is shot down near Malakal in present day South Sudan, killing 60.
Sudan Airways
1975
Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam symbolically hands over land to the Gurindji people after the eight-year Wave Hill walk-off, a landmark event in the history of Indigenous land rights in Australia, commemorated in a 1991 song by Paul Kelly and an annual celebration.
Gough Whitlam
1972
In an unsuccessful coup d'état attempt, the Royal Moroccan Air Force fires upon Hassan II of Morocco's plane while he is traveling back to Rabat.
Coup d'état
1966
Vietnam War: The House Un-American Activities Committee begins investigations of Americans who have aided the Viet Cong. The committee intends to introduce legislation making these activities illegal. Anti-war demonstrators disrupt the meeting and 50 people are arrested.
House Un-American Activities Committee
1964
Vietnam War: A coup d'état replaces Dương Văn Minh with General Nguyễn Khánh as President of South Vietnam. A new constitution is established with aid from the U.S. Embassy.
Vietnam War
1960
Cyprus gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
Cyprus
1960
Joseph Kittinger parachutes from a balloon over New Mexico, United States, at 102,800 feet (31,300 m), setting three records that held until 2012: High-altitude jump, free fall, and highest speed by a human without an aircraft.
Joseph Kittinger
1954
The first issue of Sports Illustrated is published.
Sports Illustrated
1946
Mass riots in Kolkata begin; more than 4,000 people would be killed in 72 hours.
Direct Action Day