Historical Events on March 16

  • 1782: During the American Revolutionary War, The British controlled island of Roatan is captured by Spanish forces.
  • 1792: King Gustav III is shot.
  • 1797: During the French Revolutionary Wars, the French defeat an Austrian column at the Battle of Valvasone.
  • 1802: The Army Corps of Engineers is established to found the U.S Military Academy at West Point.
  • 1865: The Battle of Averasborough begins during the American Civil War as Confederate losses begin to mount as the war approaches an end.
  • 1926: At Auburn, Massachusetts, the first liquid-fueled rocket is launched by Robert Goddard.
  • 1935: In violation of the Treaty of Versailles, Adolf Hitler orders Germany to begin producing arms again.
  • 1939: Adolf Hitler proclaims that Moravia and Bohemia are owned and protected by Germany.
  • 1945: Small groups of Japanese resistance continues even as the Battle of Iwo Jima ends on this day during World War II.
  • 1945: British air forces destroy 9/10th of the city of Wurzburg, Germany in approximately 20 minutes. 5,000 Germans are also killed.
  • 1958: The 50 millionth car is manufactured by the Ford Motor Company.
  • 1966: Gemini 8, the twelfth manned American space flight, is launched on this day.
  • 1989: A four thousand year old mummy is discovered near the Cheops Pyramid in Egypt.
  • 1995: The state of Mississippi becomes the last U.S State to approve the abolition of slavery when it ratified the 13th That’s 130 years after the 13th Amendment was passed.

Famous Birthdays on March 16

  • American academic and 4th President of the U.S., James Madison is born in 1751.
  • English poet and journalist, Alaric Alexander Watts is born in 1797.
  • German philologist Peter Ernst von Lasaulx is born in 1805.
  • American comedian and actor, Jerry Lewis is born in 1926.
  • American singer Betty Johnson is born in 1929.
  • American actor Erik Estrada is born in 1949.
  • Canadian actor Victor Garber is born in 1949.
  • Canadian actress Kate Nelligan is born in 1950.
  • French actress Isabelle Huppert is born in 1953.