Historical Events on July 16

  • 622: On this date in 622, the Islamic Calendar begins.
  • 1779: A fortified British Army position is captured by Continental Army light infantry at the Battle of Stony Point during the American Revolutionary War.
  • 1790: The District of Columbia becomes the U.S capital after the Residence Act is signed into law.
  • 1861: Union forces begin their march into Virginia on orders from President Abraham Lincoln. This will become the first battle of Bull Run.
  • 1862: David Farragut becomes the first officer to achieve an admiral rank in the U.S Navy when he is promoted to the position of Rear Admiral.
  • 1915: During World War I, Henry James becomes a British citizen to show his commitment to Great Britain during the war.
  • 1942: Vichy France orders over thirteen thousand Jews to be arrested during Rafle du Vel’ d’Hiv. They will be temporarily housed at the Winter Velodrome in Paris, France, before they are deported to Auschwitz Concentration Camp.
  • 1945: The cruiser the USS Indianapolis leaves San Francisco port on it way to Tinian Island. It contains parts for “Little Boy,” American’s atomic bomb.
  • 1945: A plutonium-based nuclear weapon is successfully exploded near Alamogordo, New Mexico by the U.S.
  • 1969: Apollo program: Apollo 11, the first mission to land astronauts on the Moon, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Kennedy, Florida.
  • 1979: Iraqi President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr resigns and is replaced by Saddam Hussein.
  • 1983: A Sikorsky S-61 helicopter crashes off of the Isle of Scilly. Twenty people are killed.
  • 1990: John F. Kennedy, Jr., dies when his Piper Saratoga plane crashes off of the coast of Martha’s Vineyard. Also killed in the crash is his wife and his sister-in-law.
  • 2007: A 6.8 earthquake hits off of the Niigata Coast of Japan. Over 800 people are injured, 8 people are killed and a nuclear power plant is damaged.

Famous Birthdays on July 16

  • American actress Barbara Stanwyck is born in 1907.
  • American singer, dancer and actress, Ginger Rogers is born in 1911.
  • American actor Sonny Tufts is born in 1911.
  • American biologist and Nobel Prize laureate, Irwin Rose is born in 1926.
  • American poet Susan Wheeler is born in 1955.
  • American actress Faye Grant is born in 1957.
  • American comedian and actor, Will Ferrell is born in 1967.