- February 16 is the 47th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar.
- There are 318 days remaining until the end of the year (319 in leap years).
- The preceding day is February 15
- Next day is February 17.
February 16th Deaths (Here)
February 16 Events:
1249 – Andrew of Longjumeau is sent by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with Mongol Khagan (the Mongol Empire).
1646 – Battle of Great Torrington, Devon – the last major battle of the first English Civil War.
1742 – Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington, becomes British Prime Minister.
1804 – Stephen Decatur leads a raid to burn the pirate-held frigate USS Philadelphia (First Barbary War).
1838 – Weenen Massacre - 100s of Voortrekkers along the Blaukraans River, Natal are killed by Zulus.
1852 – Studebaker Brothers wagon company (precursor of the automobile manufacturer) is established this year.
1859 – The French Government passes a law to set the A-note above middle C to a frequency of 435 Hz, in an attempt to standardize the pitch.
1862 – General Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Donelson, Tennessee (American Civil War).
1866 – Spencer Compton Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington, becomes British Secretary of State for War.
1868 – Jolly Corks organization (In New York City) is renamed the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks.
1899 – Félix Faure (President of France) dies in office.
1899 – Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur Iceland's first football club is founded.
1918 – The Council of Lithuania unanimously adopts the Act of Independence, declaring Lithuania an independent state.
1923 – The burial chamber of Pharaoh Tutankhamun is unsealed by Howard Carter.
1934 – The Austrian Civil War ends with the defeat of the Social Democrats & the Republican Schutzbund.
1934 – Commission of Government is sworn in as form of direct rule for the Dominion of Newfoundland.
1936 – Elections bring the Popular Front to power in Spain.
1937 – Wallace H. Carothers receives a United States patent for nylon.
1940 – Altmark Incident - The German tanker Altmark is boarded by sailors from the British destroyer HMS Cossack (World War II).
1943 – Soviet troops re-enter Kharkov (World War II).
1945 – American forces land on Corregidor island in the Philippines (World War II).
1947 – Canadians are granted Canadian citizenship after 80 years of being British subjects - Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King becomes the 1st Canadian citizen.
1957 – "Toddlers' Truce", the television close down between 6.00pm & 7.00pm, is abolished in the United Kingdom.
1959 – Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba after dictator Fulgencio Batista was overthrown on January 1.
1961 – Explorer program: Explorer 9 (S-56a) is launched.
1968 – The first 9-1-1 emergency telephone system goes into service in Haleyville, Alabama.
1978 – The first computer bulletin board system is created (CBBS in Chicago, Illinois).
1983 – The Ash Wednesday bushfires in Victoria & South Australia kill 75.
1985 – Hezbollah is founded.
1986 – The Soviet liner MS Mikhail Lermontov runs aground in the Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand.
1987 – The trial of John Demjanjuk, accused of being a Nazi guard dubbed "Ivan the Terrible" in Treblinka extermination camp, starts in Jerusalem.
1991 – Nicaraguan Contras leader Enrique Bermúdez is assassinated in Managua.
1993 – Western Australia's & Australia's first female Premier, Carmen Lawrence, is voted out of office.
1996 – Shaquille O'Neal, at the time playing for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association, makes his only career 3-point shot against the Milwaukee Bucks.
1999 – Apparent assassination attempt against President Islom Karimov in Uzbekistan. A bomb explodes & gunfire is heard at the government headquarters.
1999 – Across Europe, Kurdish rebels take over embassies & hold hostages after Turkey arrests one of their rebel leaders, Abdullah Öcalan.
2005 – The Kyoto Protocol comes into force, following ratification by Russia.
2005 – The National Hockey League cancels the entire 2004-2005 regular season & playoffs, becoming the first major sports league in North America to do so over a labor dispute.
2006 – Last Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) is decommissioned by the United States Army.
Posted by ALCHEssMIST.
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