Vintage News · Odd history for April 16

What Happened On April 16

Q: What happened on April 16?

1457 BC: Battle of Megiddo: The first battle to have been recorded in what is accepted as relatively reliable detail. 1881: In Dodge City, Kansas, Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle. 1853: The Great Indian Peninsula Railway opens the first passenger rail in India, from Bori Bunder to Thane. 73: Masada, a Jewish fortress, falls to the Romans after several months of siege, ending the First Jewish–Roman War. 2008: The U.S. Supreme Court rules in the Baze v. Rees decision that execution by lethal injection does not violate the Eighth Amendment ban against cruel and unusual punishment. 1947: American financier and presidential adviser Bernard Baruch first described the post–World War II tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States as a "cold war". 1912: American pilot Harriet Quimby (pictured) became the first woman to fly across the English Channel. 2018: The New York Times and The New Yorker win the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for breaking news of the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse scandal. 2012: The Pulitzer Prize winners are announced. It was the first time since 1977 that no book won the Fiction Prize. 1947: An explosion on board a freighter in port causes Texas City in the state of Texas, United States, to catch fire, killing almost 600 people.

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10 odd things that happened on April 16

1457 BC First ever
Battle of Megiddo: The first battle to have been recorded in what is accepted as relatively reliable detail.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1881 Oddly true
In Dodge City, Kansas, Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1853 First ever
The Great Indian Peninsula Railway opens the first passenger rail in India, from Bori Bunder to Thane.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
73 First ever
Masada, a Jewish fortress, falls to the Romans after several months of siege, ending the First Jewish–Roman War.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
2008 Weird
The U.S. Supreme Court rules in the Baze v. Rees decision that execution by lethal injection does not violate the Eighth Amendment ban against cruel and unusual punishment.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1947 First ever
American financier and presidential adviser Bernard Baruch first described the post–World War II tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States as a "cold war".
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1912 First ever
American pilot Harriet Quimby (pictured) became the first woman to fly across the English Channel.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
2018 Oddly true
The New York Times and The New Yorker win the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for breaking news of the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse scandal.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
2012 First ever
The Pulitzer Prize winners are announced. It was the first time since 1977 that no book won the Fiction Prize.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1947 Oddly true
An explosion on board a freighter in port causes Texas City in the state of Texas, United States, to catch fire, killing almost 600 people.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Observed today

2024The historic Børsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, is severely damaged by a fire. Wikipedia →
2018The New York Times and The New Yorker win the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for breaking news of the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse scandal. Wikipedia →
2016Ecuador's worst earthquake in nearly 40 years kills 676 and injures more than 230,000. Wikipedia →
2014The South Korean ferry MV Sewol capsizes and sinks near Jindo Island, killing 304 passengers and crew and leading to widespread criticism of the South Korean government, media, and shipping authorities. Wikipedia →
2013A 7.8-magnitude earthquake strikes Sistan and Balochistan province, Iran, killing at least 35 people and injuring 117 others. Wikipedia →
2013The 2013 Baga massacre is started when Boko Haram militants engage government soldiers in Baga. Wikipedia →
2012The trial for Anders Behring Breivik, the perpetrator of the 2011 Norway attacks, begins in Oslo, Norway. Wikipedia →
2012The Pulitzer Prize winners are announced. It was the first time since 1977 that no book won the Fiction Prize. Wikipedia →
2008The U.S. Supreme Court rules in the Baze v. Rees decision that execution by lethal injection does not violate the Eighth Amendment ban against cruel and unusual punishment. Wikipedia →
2007Virginia Tech shooting: Seung-Hui Cho murders 32 people and injures 17 before committing suicide. Wikipedia →
2003The Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens admitting ten new member states to the European Union. Wikipedia →
2001India and Bangladesh begin a five-day border conflict, but are unable to resolve the disputes about their border. Wikipedia →
1972Apollo program: The launch of Apollo 16 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Wikipedia →
1963U.S. civil rights campaigner Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. writes his open letter from Birmingham Jail, sometimes known as "The Negro Is Your Brother", while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama, for protesting against segregation. Wikipedia →
1961In a nationally broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declares that he is a Marxist–Leninist and that Cuba is going to adopt Communism. Wikipedia →
1948The Organization of European Economic Co-operation is formed. Wikipedia →
1947An explosion on board a freighter in port causes Texas City in the state of Texas, United States, to catch fire, killing almost 600 people. Wikipedia →
1947Bernard Baruch first applies the term "Cold War" to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union. Wikipedia →
1945World War II: The Red Army begins the final assault on German forces around Berlin, with nearly one million troops fighting in the Battle of the Seelow Heights. Wikipedia →
1945World War II: The United States Army liberates Nazi Sonderlager (high security) prisoner-of-war camp Oflag IV-C (better known as Colditz). Wikipedia →
1945World War II: More than 7,000 die when the German transport ship Goya is sunk by a Soviet submarine. Wikipedia →
1944World War II: Allied forces start bombing Belgrade, killing about 1,100 people. This bombing fell on the Orthodox Christian Easter. Wikipedia →
1943Albert Hofmann accidentally discovers the hallucinogenic effects of the research drug LSD. He intentionally takes the drug three days later on April 19. Wikipedia →
1941World War II: The Italian-German Tarigo convoy is attacked and destroyed by British ships. Wikipedia →
1941World War II: The Nazi-affiliated Ustaše is put in charge of the Independent State of Croatia by the Axis powers after Operation 25 is effected. Wikipedia →
1925During the Communist St Nedelya Church assault in Sofia, Bulgaria, 150 are killed and 500 are wounded. Wikipedia →
1922The Treaty of Rapallo, pursuant to which Germany and the Soviet Union re-establish diplomatic relations, is signed. Wikipedia →
1919Mohandas Gandhi organizes a day of "prayer and fasting" in response to the killing of Indian protesters in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre by the British colonial troops three days earlier. Wikipedia →
1919Polish–Lithuanian War: The Polish Army launches the Vilna offensive to capture Vilnius in modern Lithuania. Wikipedia →
1917Russian Revolution: Vladimir Lenin returns to Petrograd, Russia, from exile in Switzerland. Wikipedia →
1912Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel. Wikipedia →
1910The oldest indoor ice hockey arena used for the sport in the 21st century, Boston Arena, opens for the first time. Wikipedia →
1908Natural Bridges National Monument is established in Utah. Wikipedia →
1881In Dodge City, Kansas, Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle. Wikipedia →
1878The Senate of the Grand Duchy of Finland issues a declaration establishing a city of Kotka on the southern part islands from the old Kymi parish. Wikipedia →
1863American Civil War: During the Vicksburg Campaign, gunboats commanded by acting Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter run downriver past Confederate artillery batteries at Vicksburg. Wikipedia →
1862American Civil War: Battle at Lee's Mills in Virginia. Wikipedia →
1862American Civil War: The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia, becomes law. Wikipedia →
1858The Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is dissolved. Wikipedia →
1853The Great Indian Peninsula Railway opens the first passenger rail in India, from Bori Bunder to Thane. Wikipedia →
1847Shooting of a Māori by an English sailor results in the opening of the Wanganui Campaign of the New Zealand Wars. Wikipedia →
1838The French Army captures Veracruz in the Pastry War. Wikipedia →
1818The United States Senate ratifies the Rush–Bagot Treaty, limiting naval armaments on the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain. Wikipedia →
1799French Revolutionary Wars: The Battle of Mount Tabor: Napoleon drives Ottoman Turks across the River Jordan near Acre. Wikipedia →
1797The Spithead mutiny begins, immobilising the Channel fleet. Wikipedia →
1780Franz Friedrich Wilhelm von Fürstenberg founds the University of Münster. Wikipedia →
1746The Battle of Culloden is fought between the French-supported Jacobites and the British Hanoverian forces commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, in Scotland. Wikipedia →
1582Spanish conquistador Hernando de Lerma founds the settlement of Salta, Argentina. Wikipedia →
1520The Revolt of the Comuneros begins in Spain against the rule of Charles V. Wikipedia →
1346Stefan Dušan, "the Mighty", is crowned Emperor of the Serbs at Skopje, his empire occupying much of the Balkans. Wikipedia →
682Pope Leo II is elected head of the Catholic Church, although he will not be consecrated until 17 August. Wikipedia →
556Pope Pelagius I is consecrated following Imperial approval by Emperor Justinian I. Wikipedia →
73Masada, a Jewish fortress, falls to the Romans after several months of siege, ending the First Jewish–Roman War. Wikipedia →
69Defeated by Vitellius' troops at Bedriacum, Roman emperor Otho commits suicide. Wikipedia →
1457 BCBattle of Megiddo: The first battle to have been recorded in what is accepted as relatively reliable detail. Wikipedia →

Facts from Wikipedia On This Day API (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia. Thumbnails CC BY-SA. Headlines via The Guardian Open Platform. Historic pages via Library of Congress Chronicling America. Curated by OddlyTrue.