Vintage News · Odd history for November 16
What Happened On November 16
51 events and 210 births, refreshed daily. OddlyTrue's own archive for 16 November →
10 odd things that happened on November 16
2002 First everThe first case of SARS, a zoonotic respiratory coronavirus disease, was recorded in Guangdong, China.
Read more →Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1776 First everAmerican Revolutionary War: A Dutch fort on Sint Eustatius fired The First Salute to an American brig (pictured), marking the first international recognition of the American flag.
Read more →Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
- 1860 First ever
Fisgard Lighthouse, built in the Colony of Vancouver Island, shines its first light, becoming the first permanent lighthouse in present-day British Columbia
Read more →Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1855 First everDavid Livingstone becomes the first European to see the Victoria Falls in what is now Zambia-Zimbabwe.
Read more →Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1793 Oddly trueFrench Revolution: Ninety dissident Roman Catholic priests are executed by drowning at Nantes.
Read more →Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1938 First everSwiss chemist Albert Hofmann first synthesized the psychedelic drug LSD in Basel, Switzerland.
Read more →Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
2022 First everArtemis 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.
Read more →Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
2002 First everThe first cases of the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak are traced to Foshan, Guangdong Province, China.
Read more →Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1988 First everIn the first open election in more than a decade, voters in Pakistan elect populist candidate Benazir Bhutto to be Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Read more →Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1979 First everThe first line of Bucharest Metro (Line M1) is opened from Timpuri Noi to Semănătoarea in Bucharest, Romania.
Read more →Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
Observed today
- Christian feast day: Africus
- Christian feast day: Agnes of Assisi
- Christian feast day: Edmund of Abingdon
- Christian feast day: Elfric of Abingdon
- Christian feast day: Eucherius of Lyon
- Christian feast day: Gertrude the Great (Roman Catholic Church)
- Christian feast day: Giuseppe Moscati
- Christian feast day: Gobrain
- Christian feast day: Hugh of Lincoln
- Christian feast day: Margaret of Scotland
- Christian feast day: Matthew the Evangelist (Eastern Christianity)
- Christian feast day: Othmar
- Christian feast day: Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn
- Christian feast day: Roch Gonzalez, Juan de Castillo, and Alonso Rodriguez, SJ
- Christian feast day: November 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Day of Declaration of Sovereignty (Estonia)
- Earliest day on which Day of Repentance and Prayer can fall, while November 22 is the latest; celebrated 11 days before Advent Sunday (Lutheran, Reformed (Calvinist) and United Protestant churches, Saxony, Bavaria), and its related observance: Volkstrauertag (Germany)
- Icelandic Language Day or Dagur íslenskrar tungu (Iceland)
- International Day for Tolerance (United Nations)
- Statia Day in Sint Eustatius (Caribbean Netherlands)
- Intergenerational Fairness Day (International day of action for rights of younger and future generations)
- 2022Artemis 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. Wikipedia →
- 2009Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-129 to the International Space Station. Wikipedia →
- 2005Following a 31-year wait, Australia defeats Uruguay in a penalty shootout to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Wikipedia →
- 2004Half-Life 2 is released, a game winning 39 Game of the Year awards and being cited as one of the best games ever made. Wikipedia →
- 2002The first cases of the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak are traced to Foshan, Guangdong Province, China. Wikipedia →
- 1997After nearly 18 years of incarceration, China releases Wei Jingsheng, a pro-democracy dissident, from jail for medical reasons. Wikipedia →
- 1992The Hoxne Hoard is discovered by metal detectorist Eric Lawes in Hoxne, Suffolk. Wikipedia →
- 1990Pop 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. Wikipedia →
- 1989El Salvadoran army troops kill six Jesuit priests and two others at Jose Simeon Canas University. Wikipedia →
- 1988The Supreme Soviet of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic declares that Estonia is "sovereign" but stops short of declaring independence. Wikipedia →
- 1988In the first open election in more than a decade, voters in Pakistan elect populist candidate Benazir Bhutto to be Prime Minister of Pakistan. Wikipedia →
- 1981Aeroflot Flight 3603 crashes during landing at Norilsk Airport, killing 99. Wikipedia →
- 1979The first line of Bucharest Metro (Line M1) is opened from Timpuri Noi to Semănătoarea in Bucharest, Romania. Wikipedia →
- 1974The Arecibo message is broadcast from Puerto Rico. Wikipedia →
- 1973Skylab program: NASA launches Skylab 4 with a crew of three astronauts from Cape Canaveral, Florida for an 84-day mission. Wikipedia →
- 1973U.S. president Richard Nixon signs the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act into law, authorizing the construction of the Alaska Pipeline. Wikipedia →
- 1967Aeroflot Flight 2230 crashes near Koltsovo Airport, killing 107. Wikipedia →
- 1966The Temptations release their Greatest Hits album, which goes on to be the Billboard Year-End R&B album of 1967. Wikipedia →
- 1965Venera 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. Wikipedia →
- 1959National Airlines Flight 967 explodes in mid-air over the Gulf of Mexico, killing all 42 aboard. Wikipedia →
- 1959Aeroflot Flight 315 crashes on approach to Lviv Airport, killing all 40 people on board. Wikipedia →
- 1945UNESCO is founded. Wikipedia →
- 1944World War II: In support of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, the town of Düren is destroyed by Allied aircraft. Wikipedia →
- 1944The Jussi Awards, the Finnish film award ceremony, is held for the first time at Restaurant Adlon in Helsinki. Wikipedia →
- 1940World War II: In response to the leveling of Coventry by the German Luftwaffe two days before, the Royal Air Force bombs Hamburg. Wikipedia →
- 1940The Holocaust: In occupied Poland, the Nazis close off the Warsaw Ghetto from the outside world. Wikipedia →
- 1940New York City's "Mad Bomber" George Metesky places his first bomb at a Manhattan office building used by Consolidated Edison. Wikipedia →
- 1938LSD is first synthesized by Albert Hofmann from ergotamine at the Sandoz Laboratories in Basel. Wikipedia →
- 1933The United States and the Soviet Union establish formal diplomatic relations. Wikipedia →
- 1920Qantas, Australia's national airline, is founded as Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited. Wikipedia →
- 1914The Federal Reserve Bank of the United States officially opens. Wikipedia →
- 1907Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory join to form Oklahoma, which is admitted as the 46th U.S. state. Wikipedia →
- 1904English engineer John Ambrose Fleming receives a patent for the thermionic valve (vacuum tube). Wikipedia →
- 1885Canadian rebel leader of the Métis and "Father of Manitoba" Louis Riel is executed for treason. Wikipedia →
- 1871The National Rifle Association of America receives its charter from New York State. Wikipedia →
- 1863American Civil War: In the Battle of Campbell's Station, Confederate troops unsuccessfully attack Union forces which allows General Ambrose Burnside to secure Knoxville, Tennessee. Wikipedia →
- 1860Fisgard Lighthouse, built in the Colony of Vancouver Island, shines its first light, becoming the first permanent lighthouse in present-day British Columbia Wikipedia →
- 1857Second relief of Lucknow: Twenty-four Victoria Crosses are awarded, the most in a single day. Wikipedia →
- 1855David Livingstone becomes the first European to see the Victoria Falls in what is now Zambia-Zimbabwe. Wikipedia →
- 1849A 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. Wikipedia →
- 1828Greek War of Independence: The London Protocol entails the creation of an autonomous Greek state under Ottoman suzerainty, encompassing the Morea and the Cyclades. Wikipedia →
- 1822American Old West: Missouri trader William Becknell arrives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, over a route that became known as the Santa Fe Trail. Wikipedia →
- 1805Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Schöngrabern: Russian forces under Pyotr Bagration delay the pursuit by French troops under Joachim Murat. Wikipedia →
- 1797The Prussian heir apparent, Frederick William, becomes King of Prussia as Frederick William III. Wikipedia →
- 1793French Revolution: Ninety dissident Roman Catholic priests are executed by drowning at Nantes. Wikipedia →
- 1776American Revolutionary War: British and Hessian units capture Fort Washington from the Patriots. Wikipedia →
- 1632King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden was killed at the Battle of Lützen during the Thirty Years' War. Wikipedia →
- 1532Francisco Pizarro and his men capture Inca Emperor Atahualpa at the Battle of Cajamarca. Wikipedia →
- 1491An 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. Wikipedia →
- 1272While 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. Wikipedia →
- 951Emperor 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. Wikipedia →
From The Guardian Archives — On This Day
2017The GuardianSame-sex marriage bill does not hinder religious freedom, says TurnbullThe prime minister signals that Dean Smith’s bill does not need amending, putting him at odds with Peter Dutton and M…
Read on The Guardian →
2014The GuardianDo They Know It’s Christmas review – in tune with non-musical timesIn the age of an Ebola epidemic, the art of the latest rendition of the Band Aid classic lies in avoiding a Twitterstorm
Read on The Guardian →
Headlines via The Guardian Open Platform
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.
