November 16 in History

Historical Events on November 16

951

Emperor Li Jing sends a Southern Tang expeditionary force of 10,000 men under Bian Hao to conquer Chu. Li Jing removes the ruling family to his own capital in Nanjing. Ending the Chu Kingdom.
1272

While travelling during the Ninth Crusade, Prince Edward becomes King of England upon Henry III of England's death, but he will not return to England for nearly two years to assume the throne.
1491

An auto-da-fé, held in the Brasero de la Dehesa outside of Ávila, concludes the case of the Holy Child of La Guardia with the public execution of several Jewish and converso suspects.
1532

Francisco Pizarro and his men capture Inca Emperor Atahualpa at the Battle of Cajamarca.
1632

Thirty Years' War: Battle of Lützen is fought, the Swedes are victorious but King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden dies in the battle.
1776

American Revolutionary War: British and Hessian units capture Fort Washington from the Patriots.
1776

American Revolution: The United Provinces (Low Countries) recognize the independence of the United States.
1793

French Revolution: 90 dissident Roman Catholic priests are executed by drowning at Nantes.
1797

The Prussian heir apparent, Frederick William, becomes King of Prussia as Frederick William III.
1805

Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Schöngrabern: Russian forces under Pyotr Bagration delay the pursuit by French troops under Joachim Murat.
1822

American Old West: Missouri trader William Becknell arrives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, over a route that became known as the Santa Fe Trail.
1828

Greek War of Independence: The London Protocol entails the creation of an autonomous Greek state under Ottoman suzerainty, encompassing the Morea and the Cyclades.
1849

A Russian court sentences writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky to death for anti-government activities linked to a radical intellectual group; his sentence is later commuted to hard labor.
1852

The English astronomer John Russell Hind discovers the asteroid 22 Kalliope.
1855

David Livingstone becomes the first European to see the Victoria Falls in what is now Zambia-Zimbabwe.
1857

Second relief of Lucknow: Twenty-four Victoria Crosses are awarded, the most in a single day.
1863

American Civil War: Battle of Campbell's Station near Knoxville, Tennessee: Confederate troops unsuccessfully attack Union forces.
1885

Canadian rebel leader of the Métis and "Father of Manitoba" Louis Riel is executed for treason.
1904

English engineer John Ambrose Fleming receives a patent for the thermionic valve (vacuum tube).
1907

Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory join to form Oklahoma, which is admitted as the 46th U.S. state.
1907

Cunard Line's RMS Mauretania, sister ship of RMS Lusitania, sets sail on her maiden voyage from Liverpool, England, to New York City.
1914

The Federal Reserve Bank of the United States officially opens.
1920

Qantas, Australia's national airline, is founded as Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited.
1938

LSD is first synthesized by Albert Hofmann from ergotamine at the Sandoz Laboratories in Basel.[1]
1940

World War II: In response to the leveling of Coventry by the German Luftwaffe two days before, the Royal Air Force bombs Hamburg.
1940

Holocaust: In occupied Poland, the Nazis close off the Warsaw Ghetto from the outside world.
1940

New York City's "Mad Bomber" George Metesky places his first bomb at a Manhattan office building used by Consolidated Edison.
1943

World War II: American bombers strike a hydro-electric power facility and heavy water factory in German-controlled Vemork, Norway.
1944

World War II: Operation Queen, the costly Allied thrust to the Rur, is launched.
1944

World War II: Düren, Germany, is destroyed by Allied bombers.
1945

UNESCO is founded.
1965

Venera program: The Soviet Union launches the Venera 3 space probe toward Venus, which will be the first spacecraft to reach the surface of another planet.
1973

Skylab program: NASA launches Skylab 4 with a crew of three astronauts from Cape Canaveral, Florida for an 84-day mission.
1973

U.S. President Richard Nixon signs the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act into law, authorizing the construction of the Alaska Pipeline.
1974

The Arecibo message is broadcast from the Arecibo Radio Telescope in Puerto Rico. It was aimed at the current location of the globular star cluster Messier 13 some 25,000 light years away. The message will reach empty space by the time it finally arrives since the cluster will have changed position.
1979

The first line of Bucharest Metro (Line M1) is opened from Timpuri Noi to Semănătoarea in Bucharest, Romania.
1988

The Supreme Soviet of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic declares that Estonia is "sovereign" but stops short of declaring independence.
1988

In the first open election in more than a decade, voters in Pakistan elect populist candidate Benazir Bhutto to be Prime Minister of Pakistan.
1989

El Salvadoran army troops kills six Jesuit priests and two others at Jose Simeon Canas University.
1990

Pop group Milli Vanilli are stripped of their Grammy Award because the duo did not sing at all on the Girl You Know It's True album. Session musicians had provided all the vocals.
1992

The Hoxne Hoard is discovered by metal detectorist Eric Lawes in Hoxne, Suffolk.
1997

After nearly 18 years of incarceration, the People's Republic of China releases Wei Jingsheng, a pro-democracy dissident, from jail for medical reasons.

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