April 16 in History

Historical Events on April 16

1457 BC

Likely date of the Battle of Megiddo between Thutmose III and a large Canaanite coalition under the King of Kadesh, the first battle to have been recorded in what is accepted as relatively reliable detail.
AD 73

Masada, a Jewish fortress, falls to the Romans after several months of siege, ending the Great Jewish Revolt.
1346

Dušan the Mighty is proclaimed Emperor, with the Serbian Empire occupying much of the Balkans.
1520

The Revolt of the Comuneros begins in Spain against the rule of Charles V.
1582

Spanish conquistador Hernando de Lerma founds the settlement of Salta, Argentina.
1746

The Battle of Culloden is fought between the French-supported Jacobites and the British Hanoverian forces commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, in Scotland. After the battle many highland traditions were banned and the Highlands of Scotland were cleared of inhabitants.
1780

The University of Münster in Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany is founded.
1799

Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Mount Tabor: Napoleon drives Ottoman Turks across the River Jordan near Acre.
1818

The United States Senate ratifies the Rush-Bagot Treaty, establishing the border with Canada.
1847

The accidental shooting of a Māori by an English sailor results in the opening of the Wanganui Campaign of the New Zealand land wars.
1853

The first passenger rail opens in India, from Bori Bunder, Bombay to Thane.
1858

The Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is wound up.
1862

American Civil War: Battle at Lee's Mills in Virginia.
1862

American Civil War: The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia, becomes law.
1863

American Civil War: During the Siege of Vicksburg, gunboats commanded by Acting Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter run downriver past Confederate artillery batteries at Vicksburg.
1881

In Dodge City, Kansas, Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle.
1908

Natural Bridges National Monument is established in Utah.
1910

The oldest existing indoor ice hockey arena still used for the sport in the 21st century, Boston Arena, opens for the first time.
1912

Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel.
1917

Vladimir Lenin returns to Petrograd, Russia from exile in Switzerland.
1919

Mohandas Gandhi organizes a day of "prayer and fasting" in response to the killing of Indian protesters in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre by the British colonial troops three days earlier.
1919

Polish-Soviet War: The Polish army launches the Vilna offensive to capture Vilnius in modern Lithuania.
1922

The Treaty of Rapallo, pursuant to which Germany and the Soviet Union re-establish diplomatic relations, is signed.
1925

During the Communist St Nedelya Church assault in Sofia, Bulgaria, 150 are killed and 500 are wounded.
1941

World War II: The Italian-German Tarigo convoy is attacked and destroyed by British ships.
1941

World War II: The Nazi-affiliated Ustaše is put in charge of the Independent State of Croatia by the Axis powers after Operation 25 is effected.
1943

Albert Hofmann accidentally discovers the hallucinogenic effects of the research drug LSD. He intentionally takes the drug three days later on April 19.
1944

World War II: Allied forces start bombing Belgrade, killing about 1,100 people. This bombing fell on the Orthodox Christian Easter.
1945

World War II: The Red Army begins the final assault on German forces around Berlin, with nearly one million troops fighting in the Battle of the Seelow Heights.
1945

The United States Army liberates Nazi Sonderlager (high security) prisoner-of-war camp Oflag IV-C (better known as Colditz).
1945

More than 7,000 die when the German refugee ship Goya is sunk by a Soviet submarine.
1947

Texas City disaster: An explosion on board a freighter in port causes the city of Texas City, Texas, to catch fire, killing almost 600.
1947

Bernard Baruch first applies the term "Cold War" to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union.
1961

In a nationally broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declares that he is a Marxist-Leninist and that Cuba is going to adopt Communism.
1963

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. pens his Letter from Birmingham Jail while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting against segregation.
1972

Apollo program: The launch of Apollo 16 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
1990

"Doctor Death", Jack Kevorkian, participates in his first assisted suicide.
1992

The Katina P runs aground off of Maputo, Mozambique and 60,000 tons of crude oil spill into the ocean.
2001

India and Bangladesh begin a five-day border conflict, but are unable to resolve the disputes about their border.
2003

The Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens admitting ten new member states to the European Union.
2007

Virginia Tech shooting: Seung-Hui Cho guns down 32 people and injures 17 before committing suicide.
2012

The trial for Anders Behring Breivik, the perpetrator of the 2011 Norway attacks, begins in Oslo, Norway.
2012

The Pulitzer Prize winners were announced, it was the first time since 1977 that no book won the Fiction Prize.
2013

A 7.8-magnitude earthquake strikes Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran, killing at least 35 people and injuring 117 others.
2013

The 2013 Baga massacre is started when Boko Haram militants engage government soldiers in Baga.
2014

The South Korean ferry MV Sewol capsizes and sinks near Jindo Island, killing 304 passengers and crew and leading to widespread criticism of the South Korean government, media, and shipping authorities.

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