April 16: Encyclopedia - April 16

April 16

April 16 is the 106th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (107th in leap years). There are 259 days remaining.

April 16 - Events

• 1178 BC - A solar eclipse may mark the return of Odysseus, legendary King of Ithaca, to his kingdom after the Trojan War.
• 1071 - Bari falls to Robert Guiscard, ending Byzantine rule in Italy.
• 1521 - Martin Luther's first appearance before the Diet of Worms to be examined by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and the rest of the estates of the empire.
• 1746 - Second Jacobite Rebellion: The Battle of Culloden, the last battle of the Jacobite Uprising is fought, ultimately leading to the destruction of the Highland clans.
• 1780 - The University of Münster in Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany is founded
• 1799 - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Mount Tabor – Napoleon drives Ottoman Turks across the River Jordan near Acre.
• 1853 - The first passenger rail opens in India, from Bori Bunder, Bombay to Thane.
• 1863 - American Civil War: Siege of Vicksburg – 12 ships led by Union Admiral David Dixon Porter move through heavy Confederate artillery fire on approach to Vicksburg, Mississippi. Only one ship is lost.
• 1881 - In Dodge City, Kansas, Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle.
• 1912 - Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel.
• 1917 - Vladimir Lenin returns to Petrograd (present-day Saint Petersburg) from exile in Finland.
• 1919 - Mohandas Gandhi organizes a day of "prayer and fasting" in response to the British slaughter of Indian protestors in the Amritsar Massacre.
• 1922 - The Treaty of Rapallo, in which Germany and the Soviet Union re-establish diplomatic relations between Berlin and Moscow, is signed.
• 1926 - Lolly Willows by Sylvia Townsend Warner is distributed as the first Book-of-the-Month Club selection.
• 1935 - Radio program Fibber McGee and Molly debuts.
• 1943 - Dr. Albert Hofmann discovers the psychedelic effects of LSD.
• 1945 - WWII: The Red Army begins the final assault on German forces around Berlin.
• 1945 - The United States Army liberates Nazi Sonderlager (high security) Prisoner of War camp Oflag IVc (Colditz Castle).
• 1945 - German ship Goya sinks, killing more than 7,000 people.
• 1947 - Texas City Disaster: An explosion on board a freighter in port causes the city of Texas City, Texas, to catch fire, killing almost 600.
• 1947 - Bernard Baruch coins the term "Cold War" to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union.
• 1949 - Dave Garroway moves from radio to television to host the musical-variety show Garroway at Large.
• 1963 - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. pens his famous Letter From a Birmingham Jail while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting against segregation.
• 1972 - Apollo program: Apollo 16 launches toward the Moon from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
• 1972 - Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue Offensive – Prompted by the North Vietnamese offensive, the United States resumes bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong.
• 1992 - The Katina P. runs aground off of Maputo, Mozambique. 60,000 tons of crude oil spill into the ocean.
• 1989 - The Dilbert comic strip is syndicated for the first time.
• 1996 - France Télécom introduces its Wanadoo Internet service.
• 1998 - One of the most serious urban tornadoes in history does significant damage to downtown Nashville, Tennessee (see Nashville Tornado of 1998).
• 2000 - Protests against the World Bank and IMF in Washington, DC.
• 2001 - First 3G voice call on Vodafone UK's 3G network.
• 2003 - Makobo Modjadji is crowned the new Rain Queen of Balobedu.
• 2003 - The Accession Treaty is signed in Athens admitting 10 new member states to the European Union.
• 2005 - The BBC announces David Tennant's casting as the Tenth Doctor in the long-running science-fiction television series, Doctor Who.

April 16 - Births

• 778 - King Louis the Pious (d. 840)
• 1319 - King John II of France (d. 1364)
• 1495 - Petrus Apianus, German mathematician (d. 1557)
• 1646 - Jules Hardouin Mansart, French architect (d. 1708)
• 1660 - Hans Sloane, British collector and physician (d. 1753)
• 1661 - Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, English poet and statesman (d. 1715)
• 1682 - John Hadley, inventor (d. 1744)
• 1728 - Joseph Black, Scottish chemist (d. 1799)
• 1730 - Henry Clinton, British general (d. 1795)
• 1755 - Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun, French painter (d. 1842)
• 1800 - George Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan, British soldier (d. 1888)
• 1823 - Ferdinand Eisenstein, German mathematician (d. 1852)
• 1844 - Anatole France, French writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1924)
• 1865 - Henry George Chauvel, Australian general (d. 1945)
• 1867 - Wilbur Wright, American aviation pioneer (d. 1912)
• 1871 - John Millington Synge, Irish writer (d. 1909)
• 1878 - Tip Foster, English cricketer (d. 1914)
• 1886 - Ernst Thälmann, German politician (d. 1944)
• 1889 - Charles Chaplin, English actor, writer, and film producer (d. 1977)
• 1904 - Fifi D'Orsay, Canadian actress (d. 1983)
• 1905 - Frits Philips, Dutch businessman (d. 2005)
• 1912 - Garth Williams, American illustrator (d. 1996)
• 1915 - Gerard McLarnon, Irish playwright and actor (d. 1997)
• 1918 - Spike Milligan, British comedian (d. 2002)
• 1919 - Merce Cunningham, American dancer and choreographer
• 1921 - Peter Ustinov, English writer, actor, and film director (d. 2004)
• 1922 - Kingsley Amis, English author (d. 1995)
• 1924 - Henry Mancini, American composer (d. 1994)
• 1927 - Edie Adams, American actress
• 1927 - Pope Benedict XVI
• 1927 - Peter Mark Richman, American actor
• 1928 - Dick "Night Train" Lane, American football player (d. 2002)
• 1930 - Herbie Mann, American jazz flute player (d. 2003)
• 1933 - Joan Bakewell, British broadcaster
• 1935 - Sarah Kirsch, German poet
• 1935 - Bobby Vinton, American singer
• 1937 - Joseph Whipp, American actor
• 1939 - Dusty Springfield, English singer (d. 1999)
• 1940 - Queen Margaret II of Denmark
• 1946 - Margot Adler, American journalist
• 1947 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, American basketball player
• 1947 - Gerry Rafferty, British musician and songwriter
• 1951 - Pierre Toutain-Dorbec, French photographer, painter, sculptor
• 1951 - Ioan Mihai Cochinescu, Romanian writer, musicologist, photographer, essayst
• 1952 - Bill Belichick, American football coach
• 1952 - Billy West, American voice actor
• 1953 - J. Neil Schulman, American writer and activist
• 1954 - Ellen Barkin, American actress
• 1955 - Bruce Bochy, baseball player and manager
• 1956 - Lise-Marie Morerod, Swiss skier
• 1959 - Alison Ramsay, Scottish field hockey player
• 1960 - Rafael Benitez, Spanish football manager
• 1962 - Ian MacKaye, American musician (fugazi and Minor Threat)
• 1965 - Jon Cryer, American actor
• 1965 - Martin Lawrence, American actor, comedian, and producer
• 1971 - Selena, American singer (d. 1995)
• 1975 - Sean Maher, American actor
• 1976 - Lukas Haas, American actor
• 1977 - Fredrik Ljungberg, Swedish footballer
• 1978 - Matthew Lloyd, Australian football player

April 16 - Deaths

• 69 - Otho, Roman Emperor (b. 32)
• 744 - al-Walid II, Umayyad caliph
• 924 - Berengar of Friuli, King of Italy
• 1113 - Sviatopolk II of Kiev, Russian prince (b. 1050)
• 1118 - Adelaide del Vasto, queen of Roger II of Sicily
• 1198 - Duke Frederick I of Austria
• 1645 - Tobias Hume, English composer
• 1687 - George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, English statesman (b. 1628)
• 1689 - Aphra Behn, English dramatist
• 1783 - Christian Mayer, Czech astronomer (b. 1719)
• 1788 - Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, French naturalist (b. 1707)
• 1828 - Francisco de Goya, Spanish painter (b. 1746)
• 1846 - Domenico Dragonetti, Italian composer (b. 1763)
• 1859 - Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian (b. 1805)
• 1888 - Zygmunt Florenty Wróblewski, Polish physicist (b. 1845)
• 1904 - Samuel Smiles, Scottish writer and reformer (b. 1812)
• 1914 - George William Hill, American astronomer (b. 1838)
• 1915 - Nelson W. Aldrich, U.S. Senator from Rhode Island (b. 1841)
• 1938 - Steve Bloomer, English footballer (b. 1874)
• 1946 - Arthur Chevrolet, Swiss-born race car driver and automobile designer (b. 1884)
• 1958 - Rosalind Franklin, British chemist (b. 1920)
• 1968 - Edna Ferber, American author (b. 1885)
• 1972 - Kawabata Yasunari, Japanese writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
• 1978 - Lucius Clay, American general (b. 1897)
• 1985 - Scott Brady, American actor (b. 1924)
• 1991 - David Lean, British film director (b. 1908)
• 1992 - Neville Brand, American actor (b. 1920)
• 1994 - Ralph Ellison, American writer (b. 1914)
• 1997 - Doris Angleton, American socialite (b. 1951)
• 1997 - Roland Topor, French illustrator (b. 1938)
• 1998 - Fred Davis, English snooker player (b. 1913)
• 2001 - Michael Ritchie, American film director (b. 1920)
• 2002 - Ruth Fertel, American restaurateur (b. 1927)
• 2002 - Robert Urich, American actor (b. 1946)
• 2003 - Graham Stuart Thomas, English author and garden designer (b. 1909)
• 2005 - Kay Walsh, British actress (b. 1911)

April 16 - Holidays and observances

• The Easter holiday is celebrated on this day in 2006. It celebrates the Christian belief that Jesus of Nazareth was resurrected from the dead in c. 30 AD, two days after being crucified on (Good Friday). Like other Christian holidays, this holiday also has secular aspects. The Easter Bunny visits children on the night of Holy Saturday, and brings forth gifts and chocolates. An Easter egg hunt is also a common aspect of a secular Easter celebration. Though many non-Christians celebrate the Christian holiday of Christmas, Easter's secular aspect is less overwhelming and thus less non-Christians celebrate this holiday.
• Feast days:
  • Benedict Joseph Labre in the Roman Catholic Church
  • Saint Bernadette
  • Saint Paternus
  • Saint Cecilia
  • Saint Fructuosus
  • Saint Turibius
  • Saints Martial, Urban, Eventius, Caecilian, Julia, and their companions martyrs of 304
  • Saint Drogo
• Birthday of the Queen celebrated in Greenland

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "April 16", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki