What happened on December 16? There are more than 305 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
Interesting Facts & Myths About December 16
December 16 is the 351st day of the year 2024. There are 15 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Monday. This day falls under the 51st week of the year 2024.
On this day in Rowe, Virginia 24646 sunrise will occur at 07:33 AM and sunset will occur at 05:13 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Sagittarius. The modern birthstone for this month is Turquoise while the mystical birthstone is Onyx.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 44 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).
Is your birthday coming up in two days? Are you not curious to find out who is sharing your special day? Discover all the April 27 famous birthdays. There are fun facts about that day that you must know. (Sponsored link)
Historical Events For December 16
- 755An Lushan revolts against Chancellor Yang Guozhong at Fanyang, initiating the An Shi Rebellion during the Tang Dynasty of China.
- 1431Henry VI of England is crowned King of France at Notre Dame in Paris.
- 1497Vasco da Gama rounds the Cape of Good Hope, the point where Bartolomeu Dias had previously turned back to Portugal.
- 1575The 1575 Valdivia earthquake takes place.
- 1598Seven Year War: Battle of Noryang Point – The final battle of the Seven Year War is fought between the China and the Korean Allied Forces and Japanese navies, resulting in a decisive Allied Forces victory.
- 1653English Interregnum: The Protectorate – Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.
- 1689Convention Parliament: The Declaration of Right is embodied in the Bill of Rights.
- 1707Last recorded eruption of Mount Fuji in Japan.
- 1761Seven Years’ War: After a four-month siege, the Russians under Pyotr Rumyantsev take the Prussian fortress of Kolobrzeg.
- 1773American Revolution: Boston Tea Party – Members of the Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawks dump crates of tea into Boston harbor as a protest against the Tea Act.
- 1811The first two in a series of four severe earthquakes occur in the vicinity of New Madrid, Missouri. These four so-called mega-quakes are believed to be an ongoing cataclysmic danger that could reprise the 1811-12 series of 2,000 quakes that affected the lands of what would be eight of today’s heartland states of the United States.
- 1826Benjamin W. Edwards rides into Mexican controlled Nacogdoches, Texas and declares himself ruler of the Republic of Fredonia.
- 1838Battle of Blood River: Voortrekkers led by Andries Pretorius and Sarel Cilliers defeat Zulu impis, led by Dambuza (Nzobo) and Ndlela kaSompisi in what is today KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
- 1850History of New Zealand: The Charlotte-Jane and the Randolph bring the first of the Canterbury Pilgrims to Lyttelton, New Zealand.
- 1863American Civil War: Joseph E. Johnston replaces Braxton Bragg as commander of the Army of Tennessee.
- 1864American Civil War: Franklin-Nashville Campaign – Battle of Nashville – Major General George H. Thomas’s Union forces defeat Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s Confederate Army of Tennessee.
- 1907The Great White Fleet begins its circumnavigation of the world
- 1914World War I: German battleships under Franz von Hipper bombard the English ports of Hartlepool and Scarborough.
- 1918Vincas Mickevičius-Kapsukas declares the formation of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic.
- 1920The Haiyuan earthquake, magnitude 8.5, rocks the Gansu province in China, killing an estimated 200,000.
- 1922President of Poland Gabriel Narutowicz is assassinated by Eligiusz Niewiadomski at the Zachęta Gallery in Warsaw.
- 1930Bank robber Herman Lamm and members of his crew are killed by a posse of 200, following a botched bank robbery in Clinton, Indiana.
- 1937Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe attempt to escape from the American federal prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay; neither is ever seen again.
- 1938Adolf Hitler institutes the Cross of Honor of the German Mother
- 1941World War II: Japanese forces occupy Miri, Sarawak
- 1942Holocaust: Porajmos – Heinrich Himmler orders that Roma candidates for extermination be deported to Auschwitz.
- 1944World War II: The Battle of the Bulge begins with the surprise offensive of three German armies through the Ardennes forest.
- 1946Thailand joins the United Nations.
- 1947William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain build the first practical point-contact transistor.
- 1950U.S. President Harry S. Truman declares a state of emergency, after Chinese troops enter the fight with communist North Korea in the Korean War.
- 1957Sir Feroz Khan Noon replaces Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar as Prime Minister of Pakistan.
- 19601960 New York air disaster: While approaching New York’s Idlewild Airport, a United Airlines Douglas DC-8 collides with a TWA Lockheed Super Constellation in a blinding snowstorm over Staten Island, killing 134.
- 1965Vietnam War: General William Westmoreland sends U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara a request for 243,000 more men by the end of 1966.
- 1971“National Day” of the Kingdom of Bahrain is celebrated. Not to be confused with Bahrain Independence Day which took place on August 15, 1971.
- 1971Bangladesh Liberation War and Indo-Pakistani War of 1971: The surrender of the Pakistan army brings an end to both conflicts.
- 1972Vietnam War: Henry Kissinger announces that North Vietnam has left private peace negotiations, in Paris.
- 1972Vijay Diwas: (Victory Day) is commemorated every 16 December in India as it marks its military victory over Pakistan in 1971 during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
- 1978Cleveland, Ohio becomes the first post-Depression era city to default on its loans, owing $14,000,000 to local banks.
- 1979Libya joins four other OPEC nations in raising crude oil prices, having an immediate dramatic effect on the United States.
- 1985Mafia: In New York City, Paul Castellano and Thomas Bilotti are shot dead on the orders of John Gotti, who assumes leadership of the Gambino family.
- 1986Revolt in Kazakhstan against Communist Party of Kazakhstan, known as Zheltoksan, which becomes the first sign of ethnic strife during Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev’s tenure
- 1989Protests break out in Timişoara in response to an attempt by the government to evict dissident Hungarian pastor László Tőkés.
- 1989Walter LeRoy Moody begins his terrorist bombing streak when he sends Judge Robert Smith Vance a bomb in the mail, instantly killing him near his house in Birmingham, Alabama.
- 1991Independence of The Republic of Kazakhstan.
- 1997An episode of Pokémon, “Dennō Senshi Porygon”, aired in Japan induces seizures in 685 Japanese children.
- 1998Iraq disarmament crisis: Operation Desert Fox – The United States and United Kingdom bomb targets in Iraq.
- 2003President George W. Bush signs the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 into law. The law establishes the United States’ first national standards for the sending of commercial e-mail and requires the Federal Trade Commission to enforce its provisions.
Who Were Born On December 16?
- 1584John Selden, English jurist and oriental scholar (d. 1654)
- 1614Eberhard III, Duke of Württemberg (d. 1674)
- 1714George Whitefield, English-born Methodist leader (d. 1770)
- 1716Louis-Jules Mancini-Mazarini, Duc de Nivernais, French diplomat and writer (d. 1798)
- 1717Elizabeth Carter, English writer (d. 1806)
- 1742Gebhard Fürst Blücher von Wahlstatt, German Field Marshal (d. 1819)
- 1770Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer and pianist (d. 1827)
- 1775François-Adrien Boïeldieu, French composer (d. 1834)
- 1775Jane Austen, English writer (d. 1817)
- 1776Johann Wilhelm Ritter, German physicist (d. 1810)
- 1778John Ordronaux, privateer of the War of 1812 (d. 1841)
- 1787Mary Russell Mitford, English writer (d. 1855)
- 1790King Leopold I of Belgium (d. 1865)
- 1804Viktor Bunyakovsky, Russian mathematician (d. 1889)
- 1834Léon Walras, French economist (d. 1910)
- 1861Antonio de La Gandara, French painter (d. 1917)
- 1863George Santayana, Spanish philosopher and writer (d. 1952)
- 1865Olavo Bilac, Brazilian poet (d. 1918)
- 1866Wassily Kandinsky, Russian-born French abstract painter (d. 1944)
- 1867Amy Carmichael, missionary in Dohnavur, India (d. 1951)
- 1869Hristo Tatarchev, Bulgarian revolutionary (d. 1952)
- 1872Anton Ivanovich Denikin, Russian general (d. 1947)
- 1882Sir Jack Hobbs, English cricketer (d. 1963)
- 1882Walther Meissner, German physicist (d. 1974)
- 1882Zoltán Kodály, Hungarian composer (d. 1967)
- 1883Károly Kós, Hungarian architect, writer and politician from Transylvania (d. 1977)
- 1883Max Linder, French pioneer of silent film (d. 1925)
- 1888Alphonse Juin, marshal of France (d. 1967)
- 1888King Alexander I of Yugoslavia (d. 1934)
- 1889Kim Jwa-jin, played an important role in the Korean Anarchist Movement (d. 1930)
- 1899Sir Noel Coward, English playwright, actor and composer (d. 1973)
- 1900V. S. Pritchett, English author and critic (d. 1997)
- 1901Margaret Mead, American anthropologist (d. 1978)
- 1902Rafael Alberti, Spanish poet (d. 1999)
- 1903Hardie Albright, American actor (d. 1975)
- 1905Piet Hein, Danish mathematician and inventor (d. 1996)
- 1907Barbara Kent, Canadian actress (d. 2011)
- 1913George Ignatieff, Russian-born Canadian diplomat (d. 1989)
- 1915Turk Murphy, American trombonist (d. 1987)
- 1916Birgitta Valberg, Swedish actress
- 1917Nabi Bux Khan Baloch, Sindhi scholar (d. 2011)
- 1917Ruth Johnson Colvin, Founder of Literacy Volunteers of America
- 1917Sir Arthur C. Clarke, English writer (d. 2008)
- 1918Pierre Delanoë, French songwriter and lyricist (d. 2006)
- 1920Frederick Rotimi Williams, Nigerian politician and jurist (d. 2005)
- 1922Cy Leslie, American music and video executive (d. 2008)
- 1923Menahem Pressler, German-Israeli pianist.
- 1926James McCracken, American tenor (d. 1988)
- 1927Randall Garrett, American writer (d. 1987)
- 1928Philip K. Dick, American writer (d. 1982)
- 1928Terry Carter, American actor
- 1929Nicholas Courtney, English actor (d. 2011)
- 1932Rodion Shchedrin, Soviet/Russian composer
- 1936Morris Dees, founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center
- 1937Joyce Bulifant, American actress
- 1938Frank Deford, American sportswriter
- 1938Liv Ullmann, Norwegian actress
- 1939Philip Langridge, English opera singer (d. 2010)
- 1941Lesley Stahl, American journalist
- 1941Robert Kerman, American actor
- 1942Donald Carcieri, American politician, governor of Rhode Island
- 1942Eugene Robert Glazer, American actor
- 1943Steven Bochco, American television producer and writer
- 1943Tony Hicks, English guitarist (The Hollies)
- 1944Don Meyer, Basketball coach Northern State University, David Lipscomb University, and Hamline University
- 1944Jeff Kanew, American film director, writer and editor
- 1944N!xau, Namibian actor and bush farmer (d. 2003)
- 1945Bobby George, English professional darts player
- 1945Patti Deutsch, American actress and Match Game panelist
- 1945Yukio Hattori, Japanese television commentator
- 1946Benny Andersson, Swedish musician, singer and songwriter (ABBA)
- 1946Charles Dennis, Canadian actor
- 1946Christopher Ellison, English actor
- 1946Terence Knox, American actor
- 1946Tom Stern, American cinematographer
- 1946Trevor Pinnock, English conductor and harpsichordist
- 1947Ben Cross, English actor
- 1947Vincent Matthews, American sprinter
- 1948Christopher Biggins, English actor
- 1949Billy Gibbons, American guitarist (ZZ Top)
- 1950Claudia Cohen, American gossip columnist and socialite (d. 2007)
- 1950Roy Schuiten, Dutch cyclist (d. 2006)
- 1951Mike Flanagan, American baseball pitcher (d. 2011)
- 1951Robben Ford, American guitarist
- 1952Francesco Graziani, Italian footballer
- 1952Joel Garner, Barbadian cricketer
- 1953Rebecca Forstadt, American voice actor
- 1955Carol Browner, American environmentalist and government official
- 1955Prince Lorenz of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este
- 1955Xander Berkeley, American actor
- 1957Antonio Vega, Spanish pop singer/songwriter (d. 2009)
- 1958Bart Oates, American football player
- 1958Katie Leigh, American voice actress
- 1959Alison LaPlaca, American actress
- 1959Larry Poindexter, American actor and singer
- 1960Canuto Kallan, Danish visual artist
- 1960Pat Van Den Hauwe, Belgian footballer
- 1961Andre Andersen, Russian/Danish multi-instrumentalist and composer
- 1961Bill Hicks, American comedian (d. 1994)
- 1961Gretchen Palmer, American actress
- 1961Jon Tenney, American actor
- 1961LaChanze, American singer
- 1961Sam Robards, American actor
- 1961Shane Black, American actor, writer and director
- 1962Maruschka Detmers, Dutch actress
- 1962Melanie Smith, American actress
- 1962William Perry, American football player
- 1963Benjamin Bratt, American actor
- 1963James Mangold, American film director and screenwriter
- 1963Jeff Carson, American singer
- 1964Billy Ripken, American baseball player
- 1964Gail Harris, English actress
- 1964Georgie Parker, Australian actress
- 1964Heike Drechsler, East German sprinter
- 1964Paul Vogt, American actor and comedian
- 1965Chris Jones, American baseball player
- 1965Melanie Sloan, American attorney
- 1965Nancy Valen, American actress
- 1966Clifford Robinson, American basketball player
- 1966Dennis Wise, English footballer
- 1967Donovan Bailey, Jamaican/Canadian sprinter,
- 1967Mark Palmer, American ambassador
- 1967Miranda Otto, Australian actress
- 1968Lalah Hathaway, American singer
- 1968Mark Dean Schwab, American rapist and murderer (d. 2008)
- 1968Peter Dante, American actor
- 1969Florencia Lozano, American actress
- 1969Shane, American adult film actress
- 1970Daniel Cosgrove, American actor
- 1970Valerie Chow, Hong Kong actress
- 1971Michael McCary, American singer (Boyz II Men)
- 1971Paul van Dyk, German DJ
- 1971Seyhan Kurt, French/Turkish poet,writer
- 1972Željko Kalac, Australian footballer
- 1972Angela Bloomfield, New Zealand actress
- 1972Charles Gipson, American baseball player
- 1972Paul Leyden, Australian actor
- 1973Luisa Ranieri, Italian actress
- 1973Sarah Kozer, American model and actress
- 1973Scott Storch, Canadian/American hip-hop producer
- 1973Themba Mnguni, South African footballer
- 1974Earl C. Poitier, American actor
- 1974Frida Hallgren, Swedish actress
- 1975Benjamin Kowalewicz, Canadian musician (Billy Talent)
- 1975Jonathan Scarfe, Canadian actor
- 1975Nawo Kawakita, Japanese drummer (Maximum the Hormone)
- 1975Valentin Bădoi, Romanian footballer
- 1977Éric Bélanger, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1977Sylvain Distin, French footballer
- 1978Gunter Van Handenhoven, Belgian footballer
- 1978Joe Absolom, English actor
- 1978John Morris, Canadian Curler
- 1978Kaine, American rapper (Ying Yang Twins)
- 1979Jessie Ward, American professional wrestler
- 1979Mihai Trăistariu, Romanian singer
- 1979Trevor Immelman, South African golfer
- 1981Anna Sedokova, Ukrainian singer
- 1981Gareth Williams, Scottish footballer
- 1981Krysten Ritter, American actress
- 1982Antrel Rolle, American football player
- 1982Garnon Davies, Welsh actor
- 1982Justin Mentell, American artist and actor (d. 2010)
- 1982Stanislav Šesták, Slovakian footballer
- 1983Danielle Lloyd, English model
- 1983Frankie Ballard, American singer
- 1983Kelenna Azubuike, American basketball player
- 1984Theo James, American actor
- 1985Amanda Setton, American actor
- 1985Keita Tachibana, Japanese singer (w-inds.)
- 1986Alcides Escobar, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1986Candice Crawford, American beauty queen and sports reporter
- 1987Beau Dowler, Australian rules footballer
- 1987Hallee Hirsh, American actress
- 1987Mame Biram Diouf, Senegalese footballer
- 1988Anna Popplewell, English actress
- 1990Julito McCullum, American actor
- 1993Lola Créton, French actress
- 1999Bryce Robinson, American actor
Who Died On December 16?
- 705Empress Wu of Zhou (b. 625)
- 714Pippin of Herstal, Frankish noble
- 867Eberhard of Friuli
- 999Saint Adelaide of Italy (b. 931)
- 1325Charles of Valois, son of Philip III of France (b. 1270)
- 1378Otto III of Montferrat
- 1379John FitzAlan, 1st Baron Arundel, British noble and naval commander
- 1470John II, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1425)
- 1515Afonso de Albuquerque Portuguese naval commander (b. 1453)
- 1598Yi Sun-sin, Korean admiral (b. 1545)
- 1669Nathaniel Fiennes, English politician (b. c. 1608)
- 1687William Petty, English scientist and philosopher (b. 1623)
- 1751Leopold II of Anhalt-Dessau, Prussian general (b. 1700)
- 1765Peter Frederick Haldimand, Swiss military officer and surveyor (b. 1741/42)
- 1774François Quesnay, French economist (b. 1694)
- 1783Johann A. Hasse, German composer (b. 1699)
- 1783Sir William James, British naval commander (b. 1720)
- 1809Antoine François, comte de Fourcroy, French chemist (b. 1755)
- 1859Wilhelm Grimm, German writer and folklorist (b. 1786)
- 1892Henry Yesler, American entrepreneur and politician (b. 1810)
- 1897Alphonse Daudet, French novelist and short story writer (b. 1840)
- 1898Pavel Tretyakov, Russian businessman and art collector (b. 1832)
- 1914Ivan Zajc, Croatian composer (b. 1832)
- 1916Ognjeslav Kostović Stepanović, Serbian inventor (b. 1851)
- 1921Camille Saint-Saëns, French composer (b. 1835)
- 1922Gabriel Narutowicz, Polish politician (b. 1865)
- 1928Elinor Wylie, American poet and writer (b. 1885)
- 1930Herman Lamm, German-born American bank robber (b. 1890)
- 1935Thelma Todd, American actress (b. 1905)
- 1940Billy Hamilton, American baseball player (b. 1866)
- 1944Betsie ten Boom, sister of Corrie ten Boom and Holocaust victim (b. 1885)
- 1945Fumimaro Konoye, Japanese politician (b. 1891)
- 1945Giovanni Agnelli, Italian automobile manufacturer (b. 1866)
- 1948Denham Fouts, American gigolo and socialite (b. 1914)
- 1949Sidney Olcott, Canadian film director (b. 1873)
- 1956Nina Hamnett, Welsh artist (b. 1890)
- 1965W. Somerset Maugham, English writer (b. 1874)
- 1968Futabayama Sadaji, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 35th Yokozuna (b. 1912)
- 1968General Muhammad Suheimat, Jordanian military commander and statesman (b.1916)
- 1976Réal Caouette, French-Canadian politician (b. 1917)
- 1977Risto Jarva, Finnish filmmaker (b. 1934)
- 1980Colonel Sanders, American fast food entrepreneur (b. 1890)
- 1980Hellmuth Walter, German engineer and inventor (b. 1900)
- 1982Colin Chapman, English engineer and automobile manufacturer (b. 1928)
- 1983Debs Garms, American baseball player (b. 1907)
- 1985Paul Castellano, American organized crime figure (b. 1915)
- 1985Thomas Bilotti, American organized crime figure (b. 1940)
- 1988Sylvester James, American singer (b. 1948)
- 1989Óscar Alfredo Gálvez, Argentine racing driver (b. 1913)
- 1989Aileen Pringle, American actress (b. 1895)
- 1989Lee Van Cleef, American actor (b. 1925)
- 1989Silvana Mangano, Italian actress (b. 1930)
- 1990Douglas Campbell, American aviator (b. 1896)
- 1991Tamási Eszter, Hungarian TV announcer and actress (b. 1938)
- 1993Charizma, American Hip-Hop MC (b. 1973)
- 1993Moses Gunn, American actor (b. 1929)
- 1993Tanaka Kakuei, Japanese politician (b. 1918)
- 1995Johnny Moss, American poker player (b. 1907)
- 1995Mariele Ventre, Italian choir director (b. 1939)
- 1996Quentin Bell, English art historian (b. 1910)
- 1997Lillian Disney, widow of Walt Disney (b. 1899)
- 1997Nicolette Larson, American singer (b. 1952)
- 1998William Gaddis, American writer (b. 1922)
- 2001Stefan Heym, German author (b. 1913)
- 2001Stuart Adamson, English-born Scottish musician (The Skids, Big Country) (b. 1958)
- 2003Gary Stewart, American musician and songwriter (b. 1945)
- 2003Robert Stanfield, Canadian politician (b. 1914)
- 2004Ted Abernathy, American baseball player (b. 1933)
- 2005Ed Hansen, American film director and editor (b. 1937)
- 2005John Spencer, American actor (b. 1946)
- 2005Kenneth Bulmer, English author (b. 1921)
- 2006Don Jardine, Canadian professional wrestler (b. 1940)
- 2006Pnina Salzman, Israeli pianist (b. 1922)
- 2006Taliep Petersen, South African singer and composer (b. 1950)
- 2007Dan Fogelberg, American singer/songwriter (b. 1951)
- 2009Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, South African physician and politician (b. 1940)
- 2009Roy E. Disney, American film industry executive (b. 1930)
- 2009Yegor Gaidar, Russian politician (b. 1956)
- 2010Melvin E. Biddle, American soldier and Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1923)
- 2011Dan Frazer, American actor (b. 1921)
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