February 16

From Free net encyclopedia

(Redirected from 16 February)

February 16 is the 47th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 318 days remaining (319 in leap years).

1 Events
2 Births
3 Deaths
4 Holidays and observances
- 4.1 Liturgical feasts
5 External links

[edit]

Events

600 - Pope Gregory I decreed that "God bless you" was the correct response to a sneeze.
1249 - Andrew of Longjumeau was dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khan of the Mongols.
1279 - Afonso III of Portugal dies. His son Denis succeeds the Portuguese throne.
1568 - The entire population of the Netherlands - three million people - was sentenced to death by the Roman Catholic Church for heresy; see Eighty Years' War.
1742 - Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington, becomes British Prime Minister.
1804 - First Barbary War: Stephen Decatur leads a raid to burn the pirate-held frigate USS Philadelphia.
1838 - Weenen Massacre: Hundreds of Voortrekkers along the Blaukraans River, Natal were killed by Zulus.
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.
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 - American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Donelson, Tennessee.
1866 - Spencer Compton Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington becomes the British Secretary of State for War
1868 - In New York City the Jolly Corks organization is renamed the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE).
1883 - Ladies Home Journal is published for the first time.
1899 - President Félix Faure of France dies in office.
1918 - Lithuania declares its independence from both Russia and Germany.
1923 - Howard Carter unseals the burial chamber of Pharaoh Tutankhamun.
1934 - Austrian Civil War ends with the defeat of the Social Democrats and the Republican Schutzbund
1934 - Commission of Government 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 patent for nylon.
1940 - Altmark Incident: The German tanker Altmark, with 299 British prisoners, is boarded in neutral Norwegian waters by sailors from the British destroyer HMS Cossack and the prisoners set free, a breach of Norwegian neutrality at the beginning of World War II.
1943 - World War II: USSR 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.
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.
1986 - The Soviet liner 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 - Gulf War: U.S. and U.K. war planes bomb the suburbs of Baghdad, injuring at least 11 civilians and killing three others.
1998 - China Airlines Flight 676 crashed into a residential area near by Chiang Kai-shek International Airport, killing 202 people, included all 196 on board and six 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.
2005 - The Kyoto Protocol comes into force, following its ratification by Russia.
2005 - The National Hockey League cancels the entire 2004-2005 regular season and playoffs, becoming the first major sports league in North America to do so over a labour dispute.