July 16 is the 197th day of the year (198th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 168 days remaining until the end of the year. [edit] Events - 622 – The beginning of the Islamic calendar.
- 1212 – Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa: After Pope Innocent III called European knights to a crusade, forces of Kings Alfonso VIII of Castile, Sancho VII of Navarre, Pedro II of Aragon and Afonso II of Portugal defeated those of the Berber Muslim leader Almohad, thus marking a significant turning point in the Reconquista and medieval history of Spain.
- 1054 – Three Roman legates fracture relations between Western and Eastern Christian Churches through the act of placing an invalidly-issued Papal Bull of Excommunication on the altar of Hagia Sophia during Saturday afternoon divine liturgy. Historians frequently describe the event as starting the East-West Schism.
- 1377 – Coronation of Richard II of England.
- 1661 – The first banknotes in Europe are issued by the Swedish bank Stockholms Banco.
- 1683 – Manchu Qing Dynasty naval forces under traitorous commander Shi Lang defeat the Kingdom of Tungning in the Battle of Penghu near the Pescadores Islands.
- 1769 – Father Junipero Serra founds California's first mission, Mission San Diego de Alcalá. Over the following decades, it evolves into the city of San Diego.
- 1779 – American Revolutionary War: Light infantry of the Continental Army seize a fortified British Army position in a midnight bayonet attack at the Battle of Stony Point.
- 1782 – First performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera The Abduction from the Seraglio.
- 1790 – The District of Columbia is established as the capital of the United States after the signing of the Residence Act.
- 1809 – The city of La Paz, in what is today Bolivia, declares its independence from the Spanish Crown and forms the Junta Tuitiva, the first independent government in Spanish America, led by Pedro Domingo Murillo.
- 1862 – American Civil War: David Farragut is promoted to rear admiral, becoming the first officer in United States Navy to hold an admiral rank.
- 1880 – Emily Stowe becomes the first female physician licensed to practice medicine in Canada.
- 1931 – Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia signs the first constitution of Ethiopia.
- 1935 – The world's first parking meter is installed in the Oklahoma capital, Oklahoma City.
- 1942 – Holocaust: Rafle du Vel'd'Hiv: the Vichy France government orders police to round up Jews (numbers range from 13,000 to 20,000) and imprison them in the Winter Velodrome.
- 1945 – Manhattan Project: The Atomic Age begins when the United States successfully detonates a plutonium-based test nuclear weapon at the Trinity site near Alamogordo, New Mexico.
- 1948 – Following token resistance, the city of Nazareth, revered by Christians as the hometown of Jesus, capitulates to Israeli troops during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War's Operation Dekel.
- 1951 – King Léopold III of Belgium abdicates in favor of his son, Baudouin I of Belgium.
- 1957 – United States Marine major John Glenn flies a F8U Crusader supersonic jet from California to New York in 3 hours, 23 minutes and 8 seconds, setting a new transcontinental speed record.
- 1965 – The Mont Blanc Tunnel linking France and Italy opens.
- 1969 – Apollo program: Apollo 11, the first manned space mission to land on the Moon is launched from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
- 1973 – Watergate Scandal: Former White House aide Alexander P. Butterfield informs the United States Senate that President Richard Nixon had secretly recorded potentially incriminating conversations.
- 1979 – Iraqi President Hasan al-Bakr resigns and is replaced by Saddam Hussein.
- 1981 – Mahathir bin Mohamad becomes Malaysia's 4th Prime Minister; his 22 years in office, ending with retirement on 31 October 2003, made him Asia's longest-serving political leader.
- 1983 – Sikorsky S-61 disaster: A helicopter crashes off the Isles of Scilly, causing 20 fatalities.
- 1994 – Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 collides with Jupiter. Impacts continue until July 22.
- 1999 – John F. Kennedy, Jr., piloting a Piper Saratoga aircraft, dies in a plane mishap over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, along with his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette.
- 2004 – Millennium Park, considered Chicago's first and most ambitious early 21st century architectural project, is opened to the public by Mayor Richard M. Daley.
- 2007 – 2007 Chūetsu offshore earthquake: an earthquake 6.8 in magnitude and aftershock of 6.6 occurs off Japan's Niigata coast, killing 8 people, with at least 800 injured, and damaging a nuclear power plant.
[edit] Births - 1194 – Saint Clare of Assisi, Italian follower of Francis of Assisi (d. 1253)
- 1486 – Andrea del Sarto, Italian painter (d. 1530)
- 1611 – Archduchess Cecilia Renata of Austria, consort to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth's King Władysław IV Vasa (d. 1644)
- 1714 – Marc René, marquis de Montalembert, French military engineer (d. 1800)
- 1722 – Joseph Wilton, English sculptor (d. 1803)
- 1723 – Joshua Reynolds, English painter (d. 1792)
- 1731 – Samuel Huntington, signer of the Declaration of Independence and president of Continental Congress (d. 1796)
- 1749 – Cyrus Griffin, tenth and final president of Continental Congress (d. 1810)
- 1796 – Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, French painter (d. 1875)
- 1821 – Mary Baker Eddy, American religious leader (d. 1910)
- 1858 – Eugène Ysaÿe, Belgian violinist (d. 1931)
- 1862 – Ida B. Wells, American civil rights activist (d. 1931)
- 1870 – Lambert McKenna, Irish scholar (d. 1956)
- 1872 – Roald Amundsen, Norwegian polar explorer (d. 1928)
- 1883 – Charles Sheeler, American photographer and artist (d. 1965)
- 1884 – Anna Vyrubova, Russian memoirist (d. 1964)
- 1888 – Percy Kilbride, American actor whose most famous film role was that of Pa Kettle (d. 1964)
- 1888 – Frits Zernike, Dutch physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1966)
- 1888 – "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, American baseball player whose on-field achievements were overshadowed by the 1919 Black Sox Scandal (d. 1951)
- 1889 – Larry Semon, American film comedy actor whose career lasted from 1915 to 1928 (d. 1928)
- 1896 – Trygve Lie, Norwegian public official, first United Nations Secretary General (d. 1968)
- 1896 – Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer, Hitler-era German physician who became a well-known proponent of the racial theory of eugenics (d. 1969)
- 1896 – Evelyn Preer, American actress (d. 1932)
- 1902 – Alexander Luria, Russian psychologist (d. 1977)
- 1903 – Carmen Lombardo, Canadian musician (d. 1971)
- 1903 – Mary Philbin, American stage and film actress who, in 1925, portrayed the girl who unmasks The Phantom of the Opera (d. 1993)
- 1903 – Fritz Bauer, German judge (d. 1968)
- 1904 – Goffredo Petrassi, Italian composer (d. 2003)
- 1906 – Vincent Sherman, American film director (d. 2006)
- 1907 – Frances Horwich, American educator and television personality (d. 2001)
- 1907 – Orville Redenbacher, American farmer and businessman (d. 1995)
- 1907 – Barbara Stanwyck, American actress (d. 1990)
- 1910 – Stan McCabe, Australian cricketer (d. 1968)
- 1911 – Ginger Rogers, American actress and dancer (d. 1995)
- 1911 – Sonny Tufts, American actor (d. 1970)
- 1912 – Milt Bocek, American baseball player (d. 2007)
- 1915 – Barnard Hughes, American actor (d. 2006)
- 1918 – Bayani Casimiro, Filipino dancer and actor (d. 1989)
- 1919 – Choi Kyuha, President of South Korea (d. 2006)
- 1919 – Hermine Braunsteiner, German concentration and extermination camp guard during World War II; extradited from the United States and convicted as a war criminal (d. 1999)
- 1920 – Anwar Hussain, Pakistani cricketer (d. 2002)
- 1923 – Chris Argyris, American educator
- 1924 – Bess Myerson, American beauty queen
- 1925 – Cal Tjader, American musician (d. 1982)
- 1926 – Irwin Rose, American biologist, Nobel laureate
- 1927 – John Warr, English cricketer
- 1928 – Anita Brookner, English novelist
- 1928 – Robert Sheckley, American author (d. 2005)
- 1928 – Dave Treen, American political figure; first Republican governor of Louisiana since Reconstruction (d. 2009)
- 1928 – Ticho Parly, Danish tenor (d. 1993)
- 1930 – Michael Bilirakis, American politician
- 1930 – Guy Béart, Egyptian-born French singer and songwriter
- 1932 – Max McGee, American football player (d. 2007)
- 1932 – Dick Thornburgh, American politician
- 1934 – Don Payne, American politician
- 1936 – Buddy Merrill, American musician (The Lawrence Welk Show)
- 1936 – Venkatraman Subramanya, Indian cricketer
- 1936 – Yasuo Fukuda, Japanese politician
- 1937 – Richard Bryan, American politician
- 1938 – Tony Jackson, English bass player (The Searchers) (d. 2003)
- 1939 – Corin Redgrave, English actor
- 1939 – Mariele Ventre, Italian choir director (d. 1995)
- 1941 – Desmond Dekker, Jamaican musician (d. 2006)
- 1941 – Mišo Kovač, Croatian musician
- 1942 – Margaret Court, Australian tennis player
- 1943 – Reinaldo Arenas, Cuban poet (d. 1990)
- 1943 – Jimmy Johnson, American football coach
- 1946 – Barbara Lee, American politician
- 1946 – Richard LeParmentier, American actor
- 1946 – Ron Yary, American football player
- 1947 – Alexis Herman, 23rd U.S. Secretary of Labor
- 1947 – Assata Shakur, American activist
- 1948 – Rubén Blades, Panamanian singer and actor
- 1948 – Pinchas Zukerman, Israeli violinist
- 1948 – Kevin McKenzie, South African cricketer
- 1950 – Pierre Paradis, Quebec politician
- 1950 – Dennis Priestley, English darts player
- 1950 – Tom Terrell, musicologist, deejay
- 1951 – Jean-Luc Mongrain, French-Canadian journalist
- 1952 – Stewart Copeland, American drummer (The Police)
- 1952 – Robert David Steele, American spy
- 1952 – Ken McEwan, South African cricketer
- 1953 – Douglas J. Feith, American Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
- 1954 – Jeanette Mott Oxford, American politician
- 1956 – Jerry Doyle, American actor
- 1956 – Tony Kushner, American playwright
- 1957 – Alexandra Marinina, Russian writer
- 1958 – Michael Flatley, American dancer
- 1958 – Pierre Roland Renoir, Canadian artist
- 1958 – Mike D. Rogers, American politician
- 1959 – Gary Anderson, American football player
- 1959 – Doug Herzog, American television executive
- 1959 – Zoran Jolevski, Macedonian Ambassador to the US
- 1960 – Terry Pendleton, American baseball player
- 1963 – Phoebe Cates, American actress
- 1963 – Srečko Katanec, Slovenian footballer and coach
- 1964 – Phil Hellmuth, American poker player
- 1964 – Miguel Indurain, Spanish cyclist
- 1965 – Claude Lemieux, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1965 – Tina Tyler, Canadian porn star
- 1966 – Johnny Vaughan, English writer and broadcaster
- 1967 – Will Ferrell, American comedian
- 1967 – Christopher Rocancourt, French con artist
- 1968 – Dhanraj Pillay, Indian field hockey player
- 1968 – Barry Sanders, American football player
- 1968 – Larry Sanger, American co-founder of Wikipedia
- 1969 – Kathryn Harby-Williams, Australian netballer
- 1969 – Daryl Mitchell, American actor
- 1969 – Rain Pryor, American actress
- 1970 – Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thai film director
- 1971 – Ed Kowalczyk, American singer (Live)
- 1971 – Corey Feldman, American actor
- 1973 – Stefano Garzelli, Italian cyclist
- 1973 – Shaun Pollock, South African cricketer
- 1973 – Tim Ryan, American politician
- 1973 – Graham Robertson, American filmmaker and author
- 1974 – Jeremy Enigk, American singer/songwriter and guitarist (Sunny Day Real Estate, The Fire Theft)
- 1974 – Chris Pontius, American actor and Jackass cast member
- 1974 – Wendell Sailor, Australian rugby league and union footballer
- 1975 – Bas Leinders, Belgian racing car driver
- 1975 – Ana Paula Arósio, Brazilian actress
- 1975 – Jamie Oliver, Welsh keyboardist
- 1976 – Bobby Lashley, American Professional Wrestler
- 1976 – Carlos Humberto Paredes, Paraguyan footballer
- 1976 – Anna Smashnova, Israeli tennis player
- 1976 – Tomasz Kuchar, Polish Rally driver
- 1977 – Bryan Budd, British soldier (VC recipient) (d. 2006)
- 1978 – Taj Anwar, model and activist
- 1979 – Jayma Mays, American actress
- 1979 – Chris Mihm, American basketball player
- 1980 – Jesse Jane, American pornographic actress and erotic model
- 1980 – Justine Joli, American pornographic actress, adult model and former ballerina
- 1980 – Adam Scott, Australian golfer
- 1981 – Zach Randolph, American basketball player
- 1982 – Michael Umaña, Costa Rican footballer
- 1984 – Katrina Kaif, Indian actress
- 1984 – Hayanari Shimoda, Japanese racing driver
- 1986 – Calum Gittins, New Zealand actor
- 1987 – AnnaLynne McCord, American actress
- 1987 – Andrew James Allen, American actor
- 1989 – Gareth Bale, Welsh footballer
- 1991 – Randall Bentley, American actor
- 1994 – Mark Indelicato, American singer and actor
[edit] Deaths - 1216 – Pope Innocent III (b. 1160 or 1161)
- 1324 – Emperor Go-Uda of Japan (b. 1267)
- 1342 – King Charles I of Hungary (b. 1288)
- 1546 – Anne Askew, English Protestant who was burned at the stake (b. 1521)
- 1557 – Anne of Cleves, fourth wife of Henry VIII of England (b. 1515)
- 1594 – Thomas Kyd, English playwright; author of The Spanish Tragedy (b. 1558)
- 1647 – Masaniello, Neapolitan rebel (b. 1622)
- 1664 – Andreas Gryphius, German writer (b. 1616)
- 1686 – John Pearson, English theologian (b. 1612)
- 1691 – François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois, French war minister (b. 1641)
- 1729 – Johann David Heinichen, German composer (b. 1683)
- 1747 – Giuseppe Maria Crespi, Italian painter (b. 1665)
- 1770 – Francis Cotes, English painter (b. 1726)
- 1796 – George Howard, British field marshal (b. 1718)
- 1831 – Louis Alexandre Andrault de Langeron, Russian general (b. 1763)
- 1850 – Julia Glover, Irish-born actress (b. ca. 1779)
- 1868 – Dimitri Pisarev, Russian writer and social critic (b. 1840)
- 1879 – Edward Deas Thomson, Australian politician (b. 1800)
- 1882 – Mary Todd Lincoln, First Lady of the United States (b. 1818)
- 1886 – Ned Buntline, American pulp novelist (b. 1823)
- 1896 – Edmond Goncourt, French writer and critic (b. 1822)
- 1915 – Ellen White, American co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (b. 1827)
- 1916 – Ilya Mechnikov, Russian microbiologist, Nobel laureate (b. 1845)
- 1917 – Philipp Scharwenka, Polish-German composer (b. 1847)
- 1947 – Raoul Wallenberg, Swedish humanitarian (exact date of death uncertain) (b. 1912)
- 1949 – Vyacheslav Ivanov, Russian poet (b. 1866)
- 1953 – Hilaire Belloc, English writer (b. 1870)
- 1960 – Albert Kesselring, German field marshal (b. 1881)
- 1960 – John P. Marquand, American novelist (b. 1893)
- 1976 – Carmelo Soria, Spanish diplomat assassinated in 1976 by the Chilean DINA
- 1979 – Alfred Deller, English countertenor (b. 1912)
- 1981 – Harry Chapin, American musician (b. 1942)
- 1982 – Patrick Dewaere, French actor (b. 1947)
- 1982 – C.R. Swart, South African politician (b. 1894)
- 1985 – Heinrich Böll, German writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1917)
- 1985 – Wayne King, American musician, songwriter and bandleader (b. 1901)
- 1989 – Herbert von Karajan, Austrian conductor (b. 1908)
- 1990 – Robert Blackburn, Irish educationist (b. 1927)
- 1990 – Sidney Torch, English composer, conductor and organist (b. 1908)
- 1991 – Robert Motherwell, American painter (b. 1915)
- 1991 – Frank Rizzo, American politician (b. 1920)
- 1992 – Buck Buchanan, American football player (b. 1940)
- 1994 – Julian Schwinger, American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1918)
- 1994 – Marcel-Marie Desmarais, French Canadian priest, writer, preacher and broadcaster (b. 1908)
- 1995 – May Sarton, Belgian-born American poet (b. 1912)
- 1995 – Stephen Spender, English poet (b. 1909)
- 1996 – John Panozzo, American musician (Styx) (b. 1948)
- 1996 – Adolf von Thadden, German politician, (b. 1921)
- 1998 – John Henrik Clarke, American historian and scholar (b. 1915)
- 1999 – Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, wife of John F. Kennedy, Jr. (b. 1966)
- 1999 – John F. Kennedy, Jr., American publisher (b. 1960)
- 1999 – Hiromi Yanagihara, Japanese singer (b. 1979)
- 2001 – Maurice De Bevere, Belgian cartoonist (b. 1923)
- 2001 – Terry Gordy, American professional wrestler (b. 1961)
- 2002 – John Cocke, American computer scientist (b. 1925)
- 2003 – Celia Cruz, Cuban musician (b. 1924)
- 2003 – Carol Shields, Canadian author (b. 1935)
- 2004 – George Busbee, Governor of Georgia (b. 1927)
- 2005 – Pietro Consagra, Italian sculptor (b. 1920)
- 2005 – Prince Gu of Korea (b. 1931)
- 2005 – Camillo Felgen, Luxembourgish singer, lyricist, and entertainer (b. 1920)
- 2006 – Bob Orton, Sr., American professional wrestler (b. 1929)
- 2006 – Winthrop Paul Rockefeller, Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas (b. 1948)
- 2008 – Jo Stafford, American singer of traditional pop music (b. 1917)
[edit] Holidays and observances [edit] External links
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