Web Guide: Encyclopedia

December 16

December 16 is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 15 days remaining.

Events:

• 1653 - Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland.
• 1689 - The English Parliament adopts the Bill of Rights.
• 1773 - Boston Tea Party
• 1811 - Largest recorded earthquake in the United States, at New Madrid, Missouri
• 1838 - Boers defeat Zulu troops led by Dambuza[?] and Nhlela[?], celebrated as the day of the vow[?].
• 1850 - The first four ships arrive at Lyttleton to settle Christchurch, New Zealand.
• 1864 - Union troops led by general George Thomas defeat Confederate troops in the Battle of Nashville[?].
• 1893 - World premiere of Anton Dvorak[?]'s "New World Symphony".
• 1910 - Henri Coanda makes first short flight in aircraft with jet engine
• 1915 - Albert Einstein publishes the general theory of relativity.
• 1922 - Poland's President Gabriel Narutowicz[?] assassinated.
• 1944 - Battle of the Bulge begins
• 1969 - The British House of Commons votes to abolish the death penalty.
• 1971 - Bangladesh declares independence from Pakistan.
• 1990 - Jean-Bertrand Aristide elected president of Haiti
• 1991 - United Nations reverses ruling that Zionism is racism by 111-25, with 13 abstentions
• 1998 - American and British troops bomb Iraqi targets after Iraq obstructs UN weapons inspectors.
• 1999 - Mud streams kill thousands in Venezuela.
• 2000 - NASA announces that there is an ocean beneath Jupiter's moon Ganymede's icy surface.

Births:

• 1485 - Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England
• 1742 - Gebhard Fürst Blücher von Wahlstatt, general field marshal (+ 1819)
• 1770 - Ludwig van Beethoven, composer (+ 1827)
• 1775 - Jane Austen, writer
• 1776 - Johann Wilhelm Ritter[?], physicist (+ 1810)
• 1790 - King Leopold I of Belgium (+ 1865)
• 1861 - Antonio de La Gandara, painter (+ 1917)
• 1863 - George Santayana, philosopher, poet
• 1882 - Zoltán Kodály, composer (+ 1967)
• 1882 - Walther Meissner[?], physicist
• 1888 - King Alexander of Yugoslavia[?] (+ 1934)
• 1899 - Noel Coward, playwright (+ 1973)
• 1901 - Margaret Mead, anthropologist (+ 1978)
• 1906 - Leonid Brezhnev, president of the Soviet Union
• 1917 - Sir Arthur C. Clarke, science fiction writer
• 1928 - Philip K. Dick, science fiction writer (+ 1982)
• 1938 - Frank DeFord[?], sports journalist
• 1938 or 1939 - Liv Ullman[?], actress
• 1941 - Lesley Stahl[?], journalist
• 1943 - Steven Bochco, producer, writer
• 1946 - Benny Andersson, musician (ABBA)
• 1964 - Heike Drechsler[?], track and field athlete
• 1967 - Donovan Bailey, athlete

Deaths:

• 716 - Pippin of Herstal, Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia
• 999 - Saint Adelaide of Italy
• 1783 - Johann A. Hasse[?], composer
• 1859 - Wilhelm Grimm, folklorist
• 1916 - Grigori Rasputin, Russian monk
• 1921 - Camille Saint-Saens, composer
• 1922 - Gabriel Narutowicz[?], first President of Poland[?]
• 1945 - Fumimaro Konoye, prince and prime minister of Japan
• 1949 - Sidney Olcott, pioneer motion picture director
• 1956 - Nina Hamnett, artist
• 1965 - W. Somerset Maugham, writer
• 1980 - Colonel Harland Sanders, fast food entrepreneur (Kentucky Fried Chicken)
• 1985 - Paul Castellano, mafia boss
• 1989 - Lee Van Cleef, actor

Holidays and Observances:

• Bangladesh - Victory Day
• Kazakhstan - Independence Day
• Nepal - Constitution Day
• South Africa - Day of reconciliation

Elsewhere

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