On this day: 16 February
Events, births and deaths on 16 February. Every date is checked against Wikidata.
Years ago today
1 year ago2025
- Deaths · Kim Sae-ron
10 years ago2016
- Deaths · Boutros Boutros-Ghali
100 years ago1926
- Births · John Schlesinger
- Births · Margot Frank
1000 years ago1026
Within 100 years of that
- 1032 · Births · Emperor Yingzong of Song
Events · 19
- 1270Battle of Karuse — 1270 Medieval battle
- 1646Battle of Torrington — battle in the English civil war (1646)
- 1918Lithuania — country in northeastern Europe
- 1918Act of Independence of Lithuania — Lithuanian 16 February 1918 declaration of independence
- 19361936 Spanish general election — legislative elections, held in Spain on 16 February 1936
- 1940Altmark Incident — 1940 WW II naval incident between British and German ships
- 1942Greek People's Liberation Army — Armed wing of the Greek resistance movement National Liberation Front
- 1942Attack on Aruba — 1942 conflict
- 1945Battle of Corregidor — 1945 WWII battle in the Pacific Theater
- 1961DuSable Museum of African American History — Chicago museum of African American history, culture, and art
- 1962North Sea flood of 1962 — natural disaster
- 1968911 — emergency telephone number for the North American Numbering Plan (NANP)
- 1968Civil Air Transport Flight 10 — 1968 aviation accident
- 1978CBBS — computer program
- 1983Ash Wednesday bushfires — 1983 bushfires in Australia
- 1986China Airlines Flight 2265 — 1986 aviation accident
- 1998China Airlines Flight 676 — aviation accident
- 2000Emery Worldwide Flight 17 — 2000 aviation accident
- 2005Kyoto Protocol — international treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Births · 60
- 1032(Julian date)Emperor Yingzong of Song — 5th Emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty
- 1222(Julian date)Nichiren — Founder of Nichiren Buddhism in Japan
- 1331(Julian date)Coluccio Salutati — Italian humanist
- 1497(Julian date)Philipp Melanchthon — German reformer (1497-1560)
- 1514(Julian date)Georg Joachim Rheticus — Austrian physician, astronomer and mathematician (1514-1574)
- 1519(Julian date)Gaspard II de Coligny — French nobleman and admiral and Huguenot leader (1519–1572)
- 1620Frederick William of Brandenburg — Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia
- 1698Pierre Bouguer — French astronomer and mathematician (1698-1758)
- 1727Nicolás Joseph Jacquin — chemist, physician and botanist from the Netherlands (1727-1817)
- 1812Henry Wilson — vice president of the United States from 1873 to 1875
- 1821Heinrich Barth — German explorer (1821-1865)
- 1822Francis Galton — British eugenist, polymath, and behavioural geneticist (1822–1911)
- 1831Nikolai Leskov — Russian writer (1831–1895)
- 1834Ernst Haeckel — German zoologist (1834-1919)
- 1838Henry Adams — American journalist, historian, academic, novelist (1838-1918)
- 1841Armand Guillaumin — French painter (1841-1927)
- 1848Octave Mirbeau — French writer, art critic and journalist (1848–1917)
- 1848Hugo de Vries — Dutch botanist (1848-1935)
- 1884Robert J. Flaherty — American documentary filmmaker (1884-1951)
- 1893Mikhail Tukhachevsky — Marshal of the Soviet Union (1893—1937)
- 1904George F. Kennan — American advisor, diplomat, political scientist and historian (1904-2005)
- 1906(Julian date)Vera Menchik — Czech chess player (1906–1944)
- 1916Duong Van Minh — South Vietnamese commander (1916-2001)
- 1921Hua Guofeng — 2nd Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, 2nd Premier of the People's Republic of China (1921–2008)
- 1926John Schlesinger — English film and stage director (1926–2003)
Deaths · 60
- 1247(Julian date)Henry Raspe, Landgrave of Thuringia — Landgrave of Thuringia and anti-king of Germany
- 1279Afonso III of Portugal — King of Portugal
- 1281Gertrude of Hohenberg — German queen
- 1390Rupert I, Elector Palatine — Elector Palatine
- 1391(Julian date)John V Palaiologos — Byzantine emperor
- 1531(Julian date)Johannes Stöffler — German astronomer
- 1560(Julian date)Jean du Bellay — Catholic cardinal
- 1579(Julian date)Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada — founder of Bogotá
- 1665
- 1710Esprit Fléchier — French Catholic bishop, preacher and writer
- 1754Richard Mead — British physician (1673-1754)
- 1820Georg Carl von Döbeln — Swedish general and noble
- 1899Félix Faure — 7th President of the French Republic (1841–1899)
- 1904Claude Bowes-Lyon, 13th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne — British earl (1824-1904); great-grandfather of Elizabeth II
- 1907Giosuè Carducci — Italian poet and literary critic (1835-1907)
- 1917Octave Mirbeau — French writer, art critic and journalist (1848–1917)
- 1919Vera Kholodnaya — Ukrainian-born actress of Imperial Russian silent cinema (1893–1919)
- 1932Ferdinand Buisson — French academic and politician (1841-1932)
- 1944Dadasaheb Phalke — Indian film producer, director and screenwriter (1870–1944)
- 1956Meghnad Saha — Bengali astrophysicist (1893–1956)
- 1957Józef Kazimierz Hofmann — Polish musician (1876-1957)
- 1967Smiley Burnette — American country music performer and comedic actor (1911–1967)
- 1970Francis Peyton Rous — American scientist (1879-1970)
- 1970Armijn Pane — Indonesian writer (1908-1970)
- 1974John Garand — Canadian firearm designer (1888–1974)
Dates verified against Wikidata (CC0). Titles and descriptions come from Wikidata.