February 16

Events

• 1742 - Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington, becomes Prime Minister of Great Britain.
• 1804 - First Barbary War: Stephen Decatur leads a raid to burn the pirate-held frigate Philadelphia.
• 1852 - Studebaker Brothers wagon company, precursor of the automobile manufacturer, is established.
• 1857 - The National Deaf Mute College (later renamed Gallaudet University) is established. in Washington, DC becoming the first school for the advanced education of the deaf.
• 1862 - American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Donelson, Tennessee.
• 1868 - In New York City the Jolly Gorks organization is renamed the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE).
• 1883 - Ladies Home Journal is published for the first time.
• 1918 - Lithuania declares its independence from both Russia and Germany.
• 1923 - Howard Carter unseals the burial chamber of Pharaoh Tutankhamun.
• 1937 - Wallace H. Carothers receives a patent for nylon.
• 1943 - World War II: Russia reconquers Kharkov.
• 1945 - World War II: American forces land on Corregidor island in the Philippines.
• 1945 - American forces recapture the Bataan Peninsula.
• 1959 - Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba after President Fulgencio Batista was overthrown on January 1.
• 1961 - Explorer 9 launched. (See Explorer program)
• 1968 - In Haleyville, Alabama the first 9-1-1 emergency telephone system goes into service.
• 1970 - Joe Frazier starts a heavyweight world boxing champion winning streak with the knock out of Jimmy Ellis in five rounds.
• 1972 - NBA basketball player Wilt Chamberlain scores 30,000th point.
• 1978 - The first computer bulletin board system is created (CBBS in Chicago, Illinois).
• 1983 - The Ash Wednesday bushfires in Victoria and South Australia claim the lives of 71 people in Australia's worst ever fires.
• 1987 - The trial of John Demjanjuk, who was accused of being a Nazi guard dubbed "Ivan the Terrible" in Treblinka extermination camp, starts in Jerusalem. He was eventually convicted, but this ruling was overturned by the Israeli Supreme Court.
• 1989 - Pan Am flight 103: Investigators announce that the cause of the crash was a bomb hidden inside a radio-cassette player.
• 1991 - Gulf War: U.S. and U.K. war planes bomb the suburbs of Baghdad, injuring at least 11 civilians and killing three others.
• 1998 - A China Airlines Airbus A300-622R crashes on approach to airport, Taipei, Taiwan killing 203 including 6 on the ground
• 1999 - In Uzbekistan a bomb explodes and gunfire is heard at the government headquarters in an apparent assassination attempt against President Islam Karimov.
• 1999 - Across Europe, Kurdish rebels take over embassies and hold hostages after Turkey arrested one of their rebel leaders, Abdullah Öcalan.
• 1999 - In Jasper, Texas, testimony begins in the trial of John William King who is accused of dragging African American James Byrd Jr. to death in an apparent hate crime. King was later convicted and sentenced to the death penalty.

Births

• 1222 - Nichiren, monk, founder of Nichiren Buddhism
• 1497 - Philipp Melanchthon, humanist and reformer, (d. 1560)
• 1620 - Friedrich Wilhelm, called "Great Elector" of Brandenburg-Ducal Prussia, (d. 1688)
• 1822 - Sir Francis Galton, explorer, biologist, (d. 1911)
• 1826 - Joseph Victor von Scheffel, poet, (d. 1886)
• 1826 - Julia Grant, First Lady, wife of President Ulysses S. Grant, (d. 1902)
• 1834 - Ernst Haeckel, zoologist and philosopher, (d. 1919)
• 1838 - Henry Adams, historian and novelist, (d. 1918)
• 1876 - George Macaulay Trevelyan, historian (d. 1962)
• 1901 - Wayne King, band leader ("The Waltz King")
• 1903 - Edgar Bergen, ventriloquist, (d. 1978)
• 1926 - John Schlesinger, film director, (d. 2003)
• 1935 - Sonny Bono, singer, music producer, television producer, Congressman, (d. 1998)
• 1942 - Kim Jong Il, North Korean leader
• 1944 - Richard Ford, Pulitzer Prize winning novelist
• 1948 - Pete Postlethwaite, actor
• 1950 - Peter Hain, British politician
• 1954 - Iain Banks, author
• 1957 - LeVar Burton, actor
• 1957 - James Ingram, singer
• 1958 - Ice-T, singer, songwriter, actor
• 1959 - John McEnroe, tennis player
• 1973 - Cathy Freeman, Australian athlete
• 1977 - Ian Clarke, creator of Freenet

Deaths

• 1279 - King Afonso III of Portugal, (b. 1210)
• 1912 - St. Nikolai of Japan, monk priest of Eastern Orthodoxy, (b. 1836)
• 1928 - Eddie Foy, vaudevillian, singer, dancer
• 1975 - Morgan Taylor, American athlete
• 1978 - E. Roland Harriman, financier, (b. 1895)
• 1982 - Thelonious Monk, jazz musician, (b. 1917)
• 1992 - Angela Carter, writer (b. 1940)
• 1996 - Edmund G. Brown, Governor of California, (b. 1905)
• 1996 - Brownie McGhee, blues singer, (b. 1915)
• 2002 - Walter Winterbottom, the first England football manager, (b. 1913)
• 2003 - Alexander Tišma, author

Holidays and observances

• Lithuania - National Day

February 15 - February 17 - January 16 - March 16 -- listing of all days

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Referenced By