Events on August 16 in history

Northwest Airlines Flight 255 (August 16, 1987)

Northwest Airlines Flight 255 a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 crashes after take off in Detroit, Michigan, killing 154 of the 155 on board, plus two people on the ground.

Northwest Airlines Flight 255, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, crashed shortly after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport on August 16, 1987, about 8:46 pm EDT (00:46 UTC August 17), resulting in the deaths of all six crew members and 148 of its 149 passengers, along with two people on the ground. The sole survivor was a 4-year-old girl who sustained serious injuries. It was the second-deadliest aviation accident at the time in the United States. It is also the deadliest aviation accident to have a sole survivor.

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Events on 1987

27 Apr

Kurt Waldheim
The U.S. Department of Justice bars Austrian President Kurt Waldheim (and his wife, Elisabeth, who had also been a Nazi) from entering the USA, charging that he had aided in the deportations and executions of thousands of Jews and others as a German Army officer during World War II.
1 May

Auschwitz concentration camp
Pope John Paul II beatifies Edith Stein, a Jewish-born Carmelite nun who was gassed in the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz.
5 Jul

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Sri Lankan Civil War: The LTTE uses suicide attacks on the Sri Lankan Army for the first time. The Black Tigers are born and, in the following years, will continue to kill with the tactic.
27 Jul

RMS Titanic
RMS Titanic Inc. begins the first expedited salvage of wreckage of the RMS Titanic.
7 Nov

Habib Bourguiba
In Tunisia, president Habib Bourguiba is overthrown and replaced by Prime Minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Events on August 16 in history

Northwest Airlines Flight 255 (August 16, 1987)

References

Choose Another Date

Events on 1987

Kurt Waldheim

Auschwitz concentration camp

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

RMS Titanic

Habib Bourguiba