On This Day — 16 September

2022

During the Let Yet Kone massacre, the Burmese military kills 13 villagers, including eight children, after attacking a school in Sagaing Region, Myanmar.

Let Yet Kone massacre

2022

The death of Mahsa Amini occurred in Tehran, Iran, sparking worldwide protests.

Death of Mahsa Amini

2021

A 6.0 Mw  earthquake strikes Lu County, Sichuan, China, killing three and injuring more than 88.

2021 Luxian earthquake

2021

Inspiration4, the first private orbital crewed spaceflight, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center.

Inspiration4

2015

A 8.3 Mw  earthquake strikes the Chilean city of Illapel, killing 15 people, injuring at least 34, leaving at least six missing, and causing extensive damage. One person also dies in Argentina.

2015 Illapel earthquake

2014

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant launches its Kobani offensive against Syrian–Kurdish forces.

Siege of Kobanî

2013

A gunman kills twelve people at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C.

Washington Navy Yard shooting

2007

One-Two-Go Airlines Flight 269 carrying 130 crew and passengers crashes in Thailand, killing 90 people.

One-Two-Go Airlines Flight 269

2007

Security guards working for Blackwater Worldwide shoot and kill 17 Iraqis in Nisour Square, Baghdad.

Nisour Square massacre

2005

The Camorra organized crime boss Paolo Di Lauro is arrested in Naples, Italy.

Camorra

2004

Hurricane Ivan makes landfall in Gulf Shores, Alabama as a Category 3 hurricane.

Hurricane Ivan

1996

Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on STS-79 to dock with the Russian space station Mir.

Space Shuttle Atlantis

1994

The British government lifts the broadcasting ban imposed against members of Sinn Féin and Irish paramilitary groups in 1988.

1988–1994 British broadcasting voice restrictions

1992

The trial of the deposed Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega ends in the United States with a 40-year sentence for drug trafficking and money laundering.

Manuel Noriega

1992

Black Wednesday: The British pound is forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism by currency speculators and is forced to devalue against the German mark.

Black Wednesday

1990

The railroad between the People's Republic of China and Kazakhstan is completed at Dostyk, adding a sizable link to the concept of the Eurasian Land Bridge.

Dostyk

1987

The Montreal Protocol is signed to protect the ozone layer from depletion.

Montreal Protocol

1982

Lebanon War: The Sabra and Shatila massacre in Lebanon takes place.

1982 Lebanon War

1979

Eight people escape from East Germany to the west in a homemade hot air balloon.

East Germany balloon escape

1978

The 7.4 Mw  Tabas earthquake affects the city of Tabas, Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). At least 15,000 people are killed.

1978 Tabas earthquake

1976

Armenian champion swimmer Shavarsh Karapetyan saves 20 people from a trolleybus that had fallen into a Yerevan reservoir.

Shavarsh Karapetyan

1976

Night of the Pencils: In the city of La Plata, Argentina, a group of high-school students were kidnapped and later tortured, raped and murdered during the Argentinian military dictatorship

Night of the Pencils

1975

Papua New Guinea gains independence from Australia.

Papua New Guinea

1975

Cape Verde, Mozambique, and São Tomé and Príncipe join the United Nations.

Cape Verde

1975

The first prototype of the Mikoyan MiG-31 interceptor makes its maiden flight.

Mikoyan MiG-31

1970

King Hussein of Jordan declares war against the Palestine Liberation Organization, the conflict came to be known as Black September.

Hussein of Jordan

1966

The Metropolitan Opera House opens at Lincoln Center in New York City with the world premiere of Samuel Barber's opera Antony and Cleopatra.

Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center)

1963

Malaysia is formed from the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak. However, Singapore is soon expelled from this new country.

Malaysia

1961

The United States National Hurricane Research Project drops eight cylinders of silver iodide into the eyewall of Hurricane Esther. Wind speed reduces by 10%, giving rise to Project Stormfury.

Hurricane Esther

1961

Typhoon Nancy, with possibly the strongest winds ever measured in a tropical cyclone, makes landfall in Osaka, Japan, killing 173 people.

Typhoon Nancy (1961)

1961

Pakistan establishes its Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission with Abdus Salam as its head.

SUPARCO

1959

The first successful photocopier, the Xerox 914, is introduced in a demonstration on live television from New York City.

Xerox 914

1956

TCN-9 Sydney is the first Australian television station to commence regular broadcasts.

TCN

1955

The military coup to unseat President Juan Perón of Argentina is launched at midnight.

Revolución Libertadora

1955

A Soviet Zulu-class submarine becomes the first to launch a ballistic missile.

Zulu-class submarine

1953

American Airlines Flight 723 crashes in Colonie, New York, killing 28 people.

American Airlines Flight 723

1945

World War II: The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong comes to an end.

Japanese occupation of Hong Kong

1943

World War II: The German Tenth Army reports that it can no longer contain the Allied bridgehead around Salerno.

10th Army (Wehrmacht)

1940

World War II: Italian troops conquer Sidi Barrani.

World War II

1920

The Wall Street bombing: A bomb in a horse wagon explodes in front of the J. P. Morgan building in New York City killing 38 and injuring 400.

Wall Street bombing

1914

World War I: The Siege of Przemyśl (present-day Poland) begins.

World War I

1908

The General Motors Corporation is founded.

General Motors

1893

Settlers make a land run for prime land in the Cherokee Strip in Oklahoma.

Land Run of 1893

1880

The Cornell Daily Sun prints its first issue in Ithaca, New York.

The Cornell Daily Sun

1863

Robert College, in Istanbul, the first American educational institution outside the United States, is founded by Christopher Robert, an American philanthropist.

Robert College

1822

French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel, in a "note" read to the Academy of Sciences, reports a direct refraction experiment verifying David Brewster's hypothesis that photoelasticity (as it is now known) is stress-induced birefringence.

Augustin-Jean Fresnel

1810

With the Grito de Dolores, Father Miguel Hidalgo begins Mexico's fight for independence from Spain.

Grito de Dolores

1779

American Revolutionary War: The Franco-American Siege of Savannah begins.

Siege of Savannah (1779)

1776

American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Harlem Heights is fought.

American Revolutionary War

1732

In Campo Maior, Portugal, a storm hits the Armory and a violent explosion ensues, killing two-thirds of its inhabitants.

Campo Maior, Portugal

1701

James Francis Edward Stuart, sometimes called the "Old Pretender", becomes the Jacobite claimant to the thrones of England and Scotland on the death of his father, James II.

James Francis Edward Stuart

1620

Pilgrims set sail for Virginia from Plymouth, England in the Mayflower.

Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony)

1400

Owain Glyndŵr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers.

Owain Glyndŵr

681

Pope Honorius I is posthumously excommunicated by the Sixth Ecumenical Council.

Pope Honorius I