December 16 in History

Historical Events on December 16

1773 American Revolution: Boston Tea Party: Members of the Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawk Indians dump hundreds of crates of tea into Boston harbor as a protest against the Tea Act.

1811 The first two in a series of four severe earthquakes occur in the vicinity of New Madrid, Missouri.

1863 American Civil War: Joseph E. Johnston replaces Braxton Bragg as commander of the Confederate Army of Tennessee.

1864 American Civil War: Battle of Nashville: Major General George Thomas's Union forces defeat Lieutenant General John Bell Hood's Confederate Army of Tennessee.

1941 World War II: Japanese forces occupy Miri, Sarawak.

1944 World War II: The Battle of the Bulge begins with the surprise offensive of three German armies through the Ardennes forest.

1968 Second Vatican Council: Official revocation of the Edict of Expulsion of Jews from Spain.

1979 Libya joins four other OPEC nations in raising crude oil prices, which has an immediate, dramatic effect on the United States.

2013 A bus falls from an elevated highway in the Philippines capital Manila killing at least 18 people with 20 injured.

All Events

Famous Birthdays on December 16

1882 Jack Hobbs

1917 Arthur C. Clarke

1928 Philip K. Dick

1979 Luke Harper

All Births

Famous Deaths on December 16

705 Wu Zetian

1515 Afonso de Albuquerque

1921 Camille Saint-Saëns

1980 Colonel Sanders

All Deaths

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