On This Day — 16 November
2000s
2022
Artemis Program: NASA launches Artemis 1 on the first flight of the Space Launch System, the start of the program's future missions to the moon.
Artemis program
2020
A Vega rocket carrying SEOSat-Ingenio and TARANIS fails after liftoff.
Vega (rocket)
2009
Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-129 to the International Space Station.
Space Shuttle program
2005
Following a 31-year wait, Australia defeats Uruguay in a penalty shootout to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
Australia men's national soccer team
2004
Half-Life 2 is released, a game winning 39 Game of the Year awards and being cited as one of the best games ever made.
Half-Life 2
2002
The first cases of the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak are traced to Foshan, Guangdong Province, China.
2002–2004 SARS outbreak
1900s
1997
After nearly 18 years of incarceration, China releases Wei Jingsheng, a pro-democracy dissident, from jail for medical reasons.
China
1992
The Hoxne Hoard is discovered by metal detectorist Eric Lawes in Hoxne, Suffolk.
Hoxne Hoard
1990
Pop group Milli Vanilli are stripped of their Grammy Award because the duo did not sing at all on the Girl You Know It's True album. Session musicians had provided all the vocals.
Pop music
1989
El Salvadoran army troops kill six Jesuit priests and two others at Jose Simeon Canas University.
1989 murders of Jesuits in El Salvador
1988
The Supreme Soviet of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic declares that Estonia is "sovereign" but stops short of declaring independence.
Supreme Soviet
1988
In the first open election in more than a decade, voters in Pakistan elect populist candidate Benazir Bhutto to be Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Pakistan
1981
Aeroflot Flight 3603 crashes during landing at Norilsk Airport, killing 99.
Aeroflot Flight 3603
1979
The first line of Bucharest Metro (Line M1) is opened from Timpuri Noi to Semănătoarea in Bucharest, Romania.
Bucharest Metro
1974
The Arecibo message is broadcast from Puerto Rico.
Arecibo message
1973
Skylab program: NASA launches Skylab 4 with a crew of three astronauts from Cape Canaveral, Florida for an 84-day mission.
Skylab
1973
U.S. president Richard Nixon signs the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act into law, authorizing the construction of the Alaska Pipeline.
Richard Nixon
1967
Aeroflot Flight 2230 crashes near Koltsovo Airport, killing 107.
Aeroflot Flight 2230
1966
The Temptations release their Greatest Hits album, which goes on to be the Billboard Year-End R&B album of 1967.
The Temptations
1965
Venera program: The Soviet Union launches the Venera 3 space probe toward Venus, which will be the first spacecraft to reach the surface of another planet.
Venera program
1959
National Airlines Flight 967 explodes in mid-air over the Gulf of Mexico, killing all 42 aboard.
National Airlines Flight 967
1959
Aeroflot Flight 315 crashes on approach to Lviv Airport, killing all 40 people on board.
Aeroflot Flight 315 (1959)
1945
UNESCO is founded.
UNESCO
1944
World War II: In support of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, the town of Düren is destroyed by Allied aircraft.
Battle of Hürtgen Forest
1944
The Jussi Awards, the Finnish film award ceremony, is held for the first time at Restaurant Adlon in Helsinki.
Jussi Awards
1940
World War II: In response to the leveling of Coventry by the German Luftwaffe two days before, the Royal Air Force bombs Hamburg.
World War II
1940
The Holocaust: In occupied Poland, the Nazis close off the Warsaw Ghetto from the outside world.
The Holocaust
1940
New York City's "Mad Bomber" George Metesky places his first bomb at a Manhattan office building used by Consolidated Edison.
George Metesky
1938
LSD is first synthesized by Albert Hofmann from ergotamine at the Sandoz Laboratories in Basel.
LSD
1933
The United States and the Soviet Union establish formal diplomatic relations.
Soviet Union
1920
Qantas, Australia's national airline, is founded as Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited.
Qantas
1914
The Federal Reserve Bank of the United States officially opens.
Federal Reserve Bank
1907
Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory join to form Oklahoma, which is admitted as the 46th U.S. state.
Indian Territory
1904
English engineer John Ambrose Fleming receives a patent for the thermionic valve (vacuum tube).
John Ambrose Fleming
1800s
1885
Canadian rebel leader of the Métis and "Father of Manitoba" Louis Riel is executed for treason.
Métis
1871
The National Rifle Association of America receives its charter from New York State.
National Rifle Association
1863
American Civil War: In the Battle of Campbell's Station, Confederate troops unsuccessfully attack Union forces which allows General Ambrose Burnside to secure Knoxville, Tennessee.
American Civil War
1860
Fisgard Lighthouse, built in the Colony of Vancouver Island, shines its first light, becoming the first permanent lighthouse in present-day British Columbia
Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Site
1857
Second relief of Lucknow: Twenty-four Victoria Crosses are awarded, the most in a single day.
Siege of Lucknow
1855
David Livingstone becomes the first European to see the Victoria Falls in what is now Zambia-Zimbabwe.
David Livingstone
1849
A Russian court sentences writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky to death for anti-government activities linked to a radical intellectual group; his sentence is later commuted to hard labor.
Fyodor Dostoevsky
1828
Greek War of Independence: The London Protocol entails the creation of an autonomous Greek state under Ottoman suzerainty, encompassing the Morea and the Cyclades.
Greek War of Independence
1822
American Old West: Missouri trader William Becknell arrives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, over a route that became known as the Santa Fe Trail.
American frontier
1805
Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Schöngrabern: Russian forces under Pyotr Bagration delay the pursuit by French troops under Joachim Murat.
Napoleonic Wars
Before 1800
1797
The Prussian heir apparent, Frederick William, becomes King of Prussia as Frederick William III.
Frederick William III of Prussia
1793
French Revolution: Ninety dissident Roman Catholic priests are executed by drowning at Nantes.
French Revolution
1776
American Revolutionary War: British and Hessian units capture Fort Washington from the Patriots.
American Revolutionary War
1632
King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden was killed at the Battle of Lützen during the Thirty Years' War.
Gustavus Adolphus
1532
Francisco Pizarro and his men capture Inca Emperor Atahualpa at the Battle of Cajamarca.
Francisco Pizarro
1491
An auto-da-fé, held in the Brasero de la Dehesa outside of Ávila, concludes the case of the Holy Child of La Guardia with the public execution of several Jewish and converso suspects.
Auto-da-fé
1272
While travelling during the Ninth Crusade, Prince Edward becomes King of England upon Henry III of England's death, but he will not return to England for nearly two years to assume the throne.
Lord Edward's crusade
951
Emperor Li Jing sends a Southern Tang expeditionary force of 10,000 men under Bian Hao to conquer Chu. Li Jing removes the ruling family to his own capital in Nanjing, ending the Chu Kingdom.
Li Jing (Southern Tang)