June 16 in History

Historical Events on June 16

363

Emperor Julian marches back up the Tigris and burns his fleet of supply ships. During the withdrawal Roman forces suffered several attacks from the Persians.
632

Yazdegerd III ascends to the throne as king (shah) of the Persian Empire. He becomes the last ruler of the Sasanian dynasty (modern Iran).
1407

Ming-Hồ War: Retired King Hồ Quý Ly and his son King Hồ Hán Thương of Hồ dynasty are captured by the Ming armies.
1487

Battle of Stoke Field, the final engagement of the Wars of the Roses.
1586

Mary, Queen of Scots, recognizes Philip II of Spain as her heir and successor.
1745

War of the Austrian Succession: New England colonial troops under the command of William Pepperrell capture the Fortress of Louisbourg in Louisbourg, New France (Old Style date).
1746

War of the Austrian Succession: Austria and Sardinia defeat a Franco-Spanish army at the Battle of Piacenza.
1755

French and Indian War: The French surrender Fort Beauséjour to the British, leading to the expulsion of the Acadians.
1774

Foundation of Harrodsburg, Kentucky.
1779

Spain declares war on the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Great Siege of Gibraltar begins.
1795

Cornwallis's Retreat, also known as the First Battle of Groix.
1815

Battle of Ligny and Battle of Quatre Bras, two days before the Battle of Waterloo.
1836

The formation of the London Working Men's Association gives rise to the Chartist Movement.
1846

The Papal conclave of 1846 elects Pope Pius IX, beginning the longest reign in the history of the papacy.
1858

Abraham Lincoln delivers his House Divided speech in Springfield, Illinois.
1858

The Battle of Morar takes place during the Indian Mutiny.
1871

The University Tests Act allows students to enter the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Durham without religious tests (except for those intending to study theology).
1883

The Victoria Hall theatre panic in Sunderland, England kills 183 children.
1884

The first purpose-built roller coaster, LaMarcus Adna Thompson's "Switchback Railway", opens in New York's Coney Island amusement park.
1897

A treaty annexing the Republic of Hawaii to the United States is signed; the Republic would not be dissolved until a year later.
1903

The Ford Motor Company is incorporated.
1903

Roald Amundsen commences the first east-west navigation of the Northwest Passage, leaving Oslo, Norway.
1904

Eugen Schauman assassinates Nikolay Bobrikov, Governor-General of Finland.
1904

Irish author James Joyce begins a relationship with Nora Barnacle and subsequently uses the date to set the actions for his novel Ulysses; this date is now traditionally called "Bloomsday".
1911

IBM founded as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company in Endicott, New York.
1922

General election in the Irish Free State: The pro-Treaty Sinn Féin win a large majority.
1925

The most famous Young Pioneer camp of the Soviet Union, Artek, is established.
1930

Sovnarkom establishes decree time in the USSR.
1933

The National Industrial Recovery Act is passed. It would later be declared unconstitutional.
1940

World War II: Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain becomes Chief of State of Vichy France (Chef de l'État Français).
1940

A Communist government is installed in Lithuania.
1944

At age 14, George Junius Stinney, Jr. becomes the youngest person executed in the United States in the 20th century.
1948

Members of the Malayan Communist Party kill three British plantation managers in Sungai Siput; in response, British Malaya declares a state of emergency.
1955

In a futile effort to topple Argentine President Juan Perón, rogue aircraft pilots of the Argentine Navy drop several bombs upon an unarmed crowd demonstrating in favor of Perón in Buenos Aires, killing 364 and injuring at least 800. At the same time on the ground, some soldiers attempt to stage a coup but are suppressed by loyal forces.
1958

Imre Nagy, Pál Maléter and other leaders of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising are executed.
1961

Rudolf Nureyev defects from the Soviet Union.
1963

Soviet Space Program: Vostok 6 Mission: Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space.
1972

The largest single-site hydroelectric power project in Canada is inaugurated at Churchill Falls Generating Station.
1976

Soweto uprising: A non-violent march by 15,000 students in Soweto, South Africa turns into days of rioting when police open fire on the crowd.
1977

Oracle Corporation is incorporated in Redwood Shores, California, as Software Development Laboratories (SDL) by Larry Ellison, Bob Miner and Ed Oates.
1981

U.S. President Ronald Reagan awards the Congressional Gold Medal to Ken Taylor, Canada's former ambassador to Iran, for helping six Americans escape from Iran during the hostage crisis of 1979-81; he is the first foreign citizen bestowed the honor.
1989

Revolutions of 1989: Imre Nagy, the former Hungarian Prime Minister, is reburied in Budapest following the collapse of Communism in Hungary.
1997

Daïat Labguer (M'sila) massacre in Algeria: Fifty people die.
2000

Israel complies with United Nations Security Council Resolution 425 22 years after its issuance, which calls on Israel to completely withdraw from Lebanon. Israel does so, except the disputed Shebaa farms.
2010

Bhutan becomes the first country to institute a total ban on tobacco.
2012

China successfully launches its Shenzhou 9 spacecraft, carrying three astronauts, including the first female Chinese astronaut Liu Yang, to the Tiangong-1 orbital module.
2012

The United States Air Force's robotic Boeing X-37B spaceplane returns to Earth after a classified 469-day orbital mission.
2013

A multi-day cloudburst centered on the North Indian state of Uttarakhand caused devastating floods and landslides becoming the country's worst natural disaster since the 2004 tsunami.

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