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What happened in history on this day: May 16?
On May 16 in ...
- 1791 - In Near Moodus, Connecticut, an earthquake occurs, the largest historical earthquake in Connecticut. Reported felt at Boston, Massachusetts, and New York City, New York.
- 1817 - Mississippi River steamboat service begins.
- 1863 - Lloyd Tilghman, Confederate Brigadier-General, dies in battle at age 47.
- 1863 - Battle of Champion's Hill, Mississippi - bloodiest action of Vicksburg Campaign.
- 1864 - Atlanta Campaign - battle of Resaca, ends.
- 1864 - Battle of Bermuda Hundred, Virginia.
- 1864 - Last battles at Drewry's Bluff, Virginia (6,666 casualties).
- 1866 - Charles Elmer Hires invents root beer.
- 1866 - US Congress authorizes copper-nickel 5-cent piece (to replace silver half-dime).
- 1868 - US President Andrew Johnson acquitted during Senate impeachment, by one vote.
- 1874 - First recorded dam disaster in US (Williamsburg, Massachusetts).
- 1894 - Fire in Boston, Massachusetts, USA destroys baseball stadium and spreads to 170 other buildings.
- 1903 - First transcontinental motorcycle trip begins at San Francisco (George Wymann).
- 1910 - US Bureau of Mines forms.
- 1914 - American Horseshoe Pitchers Association organizes in Kansas City.
- 1916 - American forces occupy the capital of the Dominican Republic.
- 1918 - White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire and Maine is established as a national forest.
- 1919 - The US Navy aircraft NC-4 commanded by Albert Cushing Read leaves Trepassey, Newfoundland, for Lisbon via the Azores on the first trans-Atlantic flight.
- 1927 - US Supreme Court rules bootleggers must pay income tax.
- 1938 - First animal breeding society forms (New Jersey).
- 1938 - 38 die in Terminal Hotel fire (Atlanta, Georgia, USA).
- 1939 - Food stamps are first issued.
- 1946 - Musical Annie Get Your Gun starring Ethel Merman premieres in New York City.
- 1951 - El Al Israel Airlines begins the first regularly scheduled transatlantic flights between New York and London.
- 1957 - Major Irwin, US Air Force flies a Lockheed Starfighter to a record 1,404.18 MPH.
- 1957 - US launches its third atomic submarine, USS Skate, at Groton, Connecticut.
- 1960 - Big four summit in Paris, France collapses as USSR levels spy charges against USA.
- 1960 - Theodore Maiman operates the first optical laser in Malibu, California, USA.
- 1963 - Gordon Cooper completes 22 orbits in Faith 7, ends US Project Mercury.
- 1965 - Bomb destroys US Air Force base Bien Hoa, South Vietnam.
- 1965 - Campbell Soup Company introduces Spaghetti-Os under its Franco-American brand.
- 1966 - American National Welfare Rights Organization begins.
- 1967 - Philadelphia voters approve a US$13 million bond issue to build a new stadium.
- 1969 - US submarine Guitarro sinks at the pier at San Francisco Bay Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California.
- 1971 - US first class domestic letter postage now costs 8 cents per ounce (was 6 cents).
- 1977 - Five die as New York Airway helicopter topples on the Pan Am Building in New York City.
- 1984 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.
- 1987 - The Old San Francisco Mint museum opens to the public.
- 1987 - Bobro 400, a barge carrying 3,200 tons of garbage, sets sail from New York, beginning an unsuccesful eight-week search for a dumping site.
- 1988 - US Surgeon General C Everett Koop reports nicotine as addictive as heroin.
- 1988 - US Supreme Court rules trash may be searched without a warrant.
- 1991 - Queen Elizabeth II becomes first British monarch to address US congress.
- 1992 - US polls show presidential candidates Ross Perot, George Bush, and Bill Clinton could be in a deadlock.
- 1992 - US space shuttle STS-49 lands (maiden voyage of Endeavour).
- 1997 - Brook Mehealani Lee, 26, of US crowned 46th Miss Universe.
- 1997 - Brandi Sherwood, (Idaho) replaces Brook Lee (Miss Universe) as Miss USA.
- 1997 - U.S. President Bill Clinton issues a formal apology to the surviving victims of the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male and their families, 25 years after the 40-year "study" was exposed by reporter Jean Heller.
- 1998 - First Global Street Party, with events in Czech Republic, Netherlands, Finland, Germany, USA, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, England. Total of 30 Reclaim The Streets events are held in 20 countries, on sections of public roads, by hundreds or thousands of people.
- 2005 - George Galloway appears before a U.S. Senate committee, to answer allegations of making money from the Iraqi Oil-for-Food Programme.
- 2009 - In Baltimore, Maryland, USA, the 134th running of the Preakness Stakes is held. The philly Rachel Alexandra wins, ridden by Calvin Borel, the first win for a philly since 1924.
Births on May 16
- 1801 - Birth of William Henry Seward in Florida, New York, USA; American lawyer, governor of New York (1838-42), US Senator (1849-61), Secretary of State (1861-69), negotiated purchase of Alaska.
- 1878 - Birth of Taylor Holmes in Newark, New Jersey, USA; actor (Tobor the Great, Beware My Lovely).
- 1880 - Birth of Julius Tannen in New York, USA; comedian (Great Moment, House of Frankenstein).
- 1905 - Birth of Henry Fonda in Grand Island, Nebraska, USA; actor (Mr Roberts, On Golden Pond) (dies 1982).
- 1911 - Birth of Margaret Sullavan in Norfolk, Virginia, USA; actress (Back Street).
- 1912 - Birth of Studs Terkel in New York City, New York, USA; author/host (Stud's Place, Working).
- 1913 - Birth of Woody Herman in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; band leader (Isham Jones' band (1934), Woody Herman Herd (1936) - "Woodchopper's Ball" (1939)).
- 1919 - Birth of Wladziu Valentino Liberace AKA Liberace AKA Walter Busterkeys AKA Walter Liberace AKA Lee Liberace AKA Liberace Chefroach in West Allis, Wisconsin, USA; pianist (Liberace Show), actor (Evil Chandell - Batman) (dies 1987).
- 1921 - Birth of Harry Carey Junior in Saugus, California, USA; actor (She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Adventures of Spin and Marty, Have Gun Will Travel).
- 1924 - Birth of Frank F Mankiewicz in New York City, New York, USA; columnist (Perfectly Clear).
- 1929 - Birth of Adrienne Cecile Rich in Baltimore, Maryland, USA; feminist writer (Diamond Cutters).
- 1930 - Birth of Betty Carter AKA Lillie Mae Jones in Flint, Michigan, USA; jazz singer (album "Look What I Got!" (1988 Grammy award)).
- 1931 - Birth of Donald James Martino in Plainfield, New Jersey, USA; composer (Noturnno - Pulitzer 1974).
- 1931 - Birth of Jack Dodson in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; actor (Howard Sprage - Andy Griffith Show).
- 1937 - Birth of Yvonne Craig in Taylorville, Illinois, USA; actress (Batgirl - Batman TV show, Kissin Cousin).
- 1945 - Birth of Brewster H Shaw Junior in Cass City, Michigan, USA; Colonel US Air Force/astronaut (STS-9, STS 61B, STS-28).
- 1953 - Birth of Richard Page in Los Angeles, California, USA; rocker (Mr Mister).
- 1955 - Birth of Debra Winger in Columbus, Ohio, USA; actress (An Officer and a Gentleman, Sometimes in April, Dawn Anna, Saturday Night Live).
- 1955 - Birth of Jack Morris in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; pitcher (Detroit Tigers).
- 1957 - Birth of Joan Benoit Samuelson in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, USA; marathon runner (Olympics-gold-1984).
- 1959 - Birth of Bob Patterson in Jacksonville, Florida, USA; pitcher (Chicago Cubs).
- 1959 - Birth of Mare Winningham in Phoenix, Arizona, USA; actress (Saint Elmo's Fire, Turner and Hooch, Grey's Anatomy, Clubhouse).
- 1961 - Birth of Nina Arvesen in White Plains, New York, USA; actress (Cassandra - The Young and the Restless).
- 1965 - Birth of Brent Jasmer in Portland, Oregon, USA; actor (Sly - The Bold and the Beautiful).
- 1966 - Birth of Janet Jackson in Gary, Indiana, USA; singer, Michael Jackson's sister (Control).
- 1966 - Birth of Scott Reeves in Santa Monica, California, USA; actor (Ryan - The Young and the Restless), country singer (Blue County).
- 1968 - Birth of Ralph Tresvant in Boston, Massachusetts, USA; singer (New Editon).
- 1969 - Birth of Steven Earl Lewis in Los Angeles, California, USA; 4X100/400 metre runner (Olympics-gold-1988).
- 1969 - Birth of Tracey Gold in New York City, New York, USA; actress (Carol - Growing Pains, Incredible Sunday, Final Approach).
- 1973 - Birth of Victoria Davey Spelling in Los Angeles, California, USA; actress (Donna - Beverly Hills 90210, The Help).
- 1974 - Birth of Conal Groom in Northford, Connecticut, USA; rower (Olympics-1996).
- 1978 - Birth of Vincent Larusso in Livingston, New Jersey; actor (Adam - Mighty Ducks, D2, D3).
- 1981 - Birth of Jessica Ponzo; Miss New Jersey Teen USA (1996).
Deaths on May 16
- 1777 - Death of Button Gwinnet from wounds; US revolutionary leader.
- 1863 - Lloyd Tilghman, Confederate Brigadier-General, dies in battle at age 47.
- 1944 - George Ade, US novelist/playwright (Counsel Widow), dies at age 78.
- 1948 - CBS news correspondent George Polk's body is found in Greece.
- 1955 - James Agee, US critic/writer (Death in Family), dies in New York.
- 1978 - Death of William Steinberg in New York; conductor of Pittsburg Symphony from 1952 to 1976, Prague Opera and the Frankfurt Opera.
- 1979 - Asa Philip Randolph, American labor leader and civil rights pioneer, dies at age 90 (born 1889).
- 1984 - Death of Andy Kaufman at age 35 of lung cancer; comedian (Latka Gravas - Taxi TV show, 15-time guest on Saturday Night Live TV show).
- 1984 - Irwin Shaw, American writer (Rich Man, Poor Man), dies at age 71 (born 1913).
- 1988 - Louise Wood, director of Girl Scouts of USA (1961-72), dies at age 78.
- 1990 - Death of Jim Henson at age 53 of pneumonia; American puppeteer and filmmaker (Sesame Street TV show, The Muppet Show TV show).
- 1990 - Death of Sammy Davis Junior at age 64 of throat cancer in Los Angeles, California, USA; dancer, actor (Mr. Wonderful Broadway play (1956), Golden Boy Broadway play (1966), Sportin' Life - Porgy and Bess movie (1959)), singer ("I've Gotta Be Me" (1969), "The Candy Man" (1972), "What Kind of Fool Am I", "Hey There", "Something's Gotta Give", "That Old Black Magic", "Mr. Wonderful", "Too Close for Comfort").
- 1993 - Death of Marv Johnson at age 54 of a stroke at a concert in Columbia, South Carolina, USA; singer ("Come to Me" (1959), "You Got What it Takes").
- 1996 - Mike Jeremy Boorda, Chief of Naval Operations (US Navy), commits suicide at age 57.
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