Historical Events on Tuesday, 16th September
54 significant events took place on Tuesday, 16th September — stretching from 681 to 2022. Explore the moments that shaped history on this day.
On Tuesday, 16th September 2025, historical reflections reveal significant moments that have shaped contemporary events and geopolitical consciousness. Two decades ago, the death of Mahsa Amini in Tehran sparked worldwide protests that reverberated across continents, highlighting global concerns about human rights and freedom. Similarly, in 2022, the Let Yet Kone massacre in Myanmar’s Sagaing Region brought international attention to military violence against civilians, including children. These events underscore how modern communications networks amplify awareness of distant crises and mobilise international responses in unprecedented ways.
The progression of significant dates on this calendar demonstrates humanity’s capacity for both tragedy and innovation. Historical records show that technological breakthroughs, political transformations, and social upheavals have intersected throughout the centuries, often marking turning points in how societies organise themselves and interact globally. From wartime sieges to space exploration milestones, the calendar records the complexity of human endeavour across different eras and continents.
DayAtlas provides comprehensive information about any chosen date and location, presenting historical events, weather patterns, and notable births and deaths in an organised format. Users can explore the specific details of past occurrences and understand the contextual circumstances surrounding significant moments in history. The platform serves as a reference tool for anyone interested in historical research, educational pursuits, or simple curiosity about what transpired on particular days throughout recorded history.
Explore all events today 20th April.
16/09/2022
During the Let Yet Kone massacre, the Burmese military kills 13 villagers, including eight children, after attacking a school in Sagaing Region, Myanmar.
The Let Yet Kone massacre was a mass killing of civilians on 16 September 2022, at a monastic school in the village of Let Yet Kone, near Tabayin in Sagaing Region, in north-western Myanmar. During the massacre, Myanmar Army and Myanmar Air Force troops killed at least 13 civilians, including 8 children. The event became one of Myanmar's deadliest civilian massacres involving children in 2022, during which 165 children were killed by military forces.
The death of Mahsa Amini occurred in Tehran, Iran, sparking worldwide protests.
On 16 September 2022, 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, also known as Jina Amini, died in a hospital in Tehran, Iran, under suspicious circumstances. The Guidance Patrol, the religious morality police of Iran's government, had arrested Amini for allegedly not wearing the hijab in accordance with government standards. The Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran stated that she had a heart attack at a police station, collapsed, and fell into a coma before being transferred to a hospital. However, eyewitnesses, including women who were detained with Amini, reported that she was severely beaten and that she died as a result of police brutality, which was denied by the Iranian authorities. The assertions of police brutality, in addition to leaked medical scans, led some observers to believe Amini had a cerebral hemorrhage or stroke due to head injuries received after her arrest.
16/09/2021
A 6.0 Mw earthquake strikes Lu County, Sichuan, China, killing three and injuring more than 88.
The 2021 Luxian earthquake was a damaging seismic event occurring in the early hours of September 16 at 04:33 China Standard Time. The surface-wave magnitude (Ms ) 6.0 or moment magnitude (Mw ) 5.4 earthquake struck at a shallow depth of 7.5 km and severe shaking in an area of 4,000 square kilometers was assigned a maximum intensity of VIII on the China seismic intensity scale. Three people were killed and 146 injured when the earthquake struck Lu County, Luzhou, Sichuan Province. At least 36,800 buildings were affected, 7,800 of them seriously damaged or completely destroyed, causing about a quarter of a billion dollars' worth of damage.
Inspiration4, the first private orbital crewed spaceflight, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center.
Inspiration4 was a 2021 human spaceflight operated by SpaceX on behalf of Shift4 Payments CEO Jared Isaacman. The mission launched the Crew Dragon Resilience on September 16, 2021, at 00:02:56 UTC from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A atop a Falcon 9 launch vehicle. It placed the Dragon capsule into a low Earth orbit. The mission ended on September 18, 2021, at 23:06:49 UTC, when Resilience splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean.
16/09/2015
A 8.3 Mw earthquake strikes the Chilean city of Illapel, killing 15 people, injuring at least 34, leaving at least six missing, and causing extensive damage. One person also dies in Argentina.
The 2015 Illapel earthquake occurred 46 km (29 mi) offshore from Illapel on September 16 at 19:54:32 Chile Standard Time (22:54:32 UTC), with a moment magnitude of 8.3–8.4. The initial quake lasted between three and five minutes; it was followed by several aftershocks greater than magnitude six and two that exceeded magnitude seven. The Chilean government reported 15 deaths, 6 missing and thousands of people affected. In Buenos Aires, Argentina, a man died from a stroke while he was evacuating a building.
16/09/2014
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant launches its Kobani offensive against Syrian–Kurdish forces.
The siege of Kobanî was launched by the Islamic State (IS) on 13 September 2014, in order to capture the Kobanî Canton and its main city of Kobanî in northern Syria, in the de facto autonomous region of Rojava.
16/09/2013
A gunman kills twelve people at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C.
The Washington Navy Yard shooting occurred on September 16, 2013, when 34-year-old Aaron Alexis fatally shot 12 people and injured three others in a mass shooting at the headquarters of the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), inside the Washington Navy Yard, in southeast Washington, D.C. The attack took place in the Navy Yard's Building 197; it began around 8:16 a.m. EDT and ended when police killed Alexis around 9:25 a.m. It is the deadliest mass shooting in Washington, D.C. history, as well as the second deadliest mass murder on a U.S. military base, behind the 2009 Fort Hood shooting.
16/09/2007
One-Two-Go Airlines Flight 269 carrying 130 crew and passengers crashes in Thailand, killing 90 people.
One-Two-Go Airlines Flight 269 (OG269) was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Bangkok to Phuket, Thailand. On 16 September 2007, about 15:41 ICT, the McDonnell Douglas MD-82 operating the flight crashed into an embankment beside runway 27 at Phuket International Airport (HKT) bursting into flames upon impact during an attempted go-around after an aborted landing, killing 90 of the 130 people on board. It is the third deadliest aviation incident to occur in Thailand.
Security guards working for Blackwater Worldwide shoot and kill 17 Iraqis in Nisour Square, Baghdad.
The Nisour Square massacre occurred on September 16, 2007, when employees of Blackwater Security Consulting, which is a private military company contracted by the United States government to provide security services in Iraq, shot at Iraqi civilians, killing 17 and injuring 20 in Nisour Square, Baghdad, while escorting a U.S. embassy convoy. The killings outraged Iraqis and strained relations between Iraq and the United States. In 2014, four Blackwater employees were tried and convicted in U.S. federal court; one of murder, and the other three of manslaughter and firearms charges. In 2020, all four convicted were pardoned by President Donald Trump. United Nations experts said the pardons "violate U.S. obligations under international law and more broadly undermine humanitarian law and human rights at a global level".
16/09/2005
The Camorra organized crime boss Paolo Di Lauro is arrested in Naples, Italy.
The Camorra is an Italian Mafia-type criminal organization and criminal society originating in the region of Campania. It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy, dating to the 18th century. The Camorra's organizational structure is divided into individual groups called "clans". Every capo or "boss" is the head of a clan, in which there may be tens or hundreds of affiliates, depending on the clan's power and structure. The Camorra's main businesses are drug trafficking, racketeering, counterfeiting, and money laundering. It is also not unusual for Camorra clans to infiltrate the politics of their respective areas.
16/09/2004
Hurricane Ivan makes landfall in Gulf Shores, Alabama as a Category 3 hurricane.
Hurricane Ivan was a large, long-lived, and devastating tropical cyclone that caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and United States. The ninth named storm, the sixth hurricane, and the fourth major hurricane of the active 2004 Atlantic hurricane season, Ivan formed in early September and reached Category 5 strength on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale (SSHS). Ivan caused catastrophic damage in Grenada as a strong Category 3 storm, heavy damage in Jamaica as a strong Category 4 storm, and then severe damage in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, and the western tip of Cuba as a Category 5 hurricane. After peaking in strength, the hurricane moved north-northwest across the Gulf of Mexico to strike Pensacola/Milton, Florida and Alabama as a strong Category 3 storm, causing significant damage. Ivan dropped heavy rain on the Southeastern United States as it progressed northeastward and eastward through the Eastern United States, becoming an extratropical cyclone on September 18. The remnant low of the storm moved into the western subtropical Atlantic and regenerated into a tropical cyclone on September 22, which then moved across Florida and the Gulf of Mexico, and then into Louisiana and Texas, causing minimal damage. Ivan degenerated into a remnant low on September 24, before dissipating on the next day.
16/09/1996
Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on STS-79 to dock with the Russian space station Mir.
Space Shuttle Atlantis is a retired Space Shuttle orbiter vehicle which belongs to NASA, the spaceflight and space exploration agency of the United States. Atlantis was manufactured by the Rockwell International company in Southern California and was delivered to the Kennedy Space Center in Eastern Florida in April 1985. Atlantis is the fourth operational and the second-to-last Space Shuttle built. Its maiden flight was STS-51-J made from October 3 to 7, 1985.
16/09/1994
The British government lifts the broadcasting ban imposed against members of Sinn Féin and Irish paramilitary groups in 1988.
From October 1988 to September 1994 the British government banned broadcasts of the voices of representatives from Sinn Féin and ten other Irish republican and loyalist groups on television and radio in the United Kingdom. The restrictions, announced by the Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd, on 19 October 1988, followed a heightened period of violence in the course of the Troubles, and reflected the UK government's belief in a need to prevent these groups from using the media for political advantage.
16/09/1992
The trial of the deposed Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega ends in the United States with a 40-year sentence for drug trafficking and money laundering.
Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno was a Panamanian military officer and politician who was the de facto ruler of Panama from 1983 to 1989. He never officially served as president of Panama, instead ruling as an unelected military dictator through puppet presidents. Amassing a personal fortune through drug trafficking operations by the Panamanian military, Noriega had longstanding ties with American intelligence agencies before the United States invasion of Panama removed him from power.
Black Wednesday: The British pound is forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism by currency speculators and is forced to devalue against the German mark.
Black Wednesday, or the 1992 sterling crisis, was a financial crisis that occurred on 16 September 1992 when the UK Government was forced to withdraw sterling from the (first) European Exchange Rate Mechanism , following a failed attempt to keep its exchange rate above the lower limit required for ERM participation. At that time, the United Kingdom held the presidency of the Council of the European Union.
16/09/1990
The railroad between the People's Republic of China and Kazakhstan is completed at Dostyk, adding a sizable link to the concept of the Eurasian Land Bridge.
Dostyk or Druzhba is a small town in Kazakhstan's Jetisu Region, on the border with Xinjiang, China. It is a port of entry from China. The rail portion serves as an important link in the Eurasian Land Bridge. It is situated in the Dzungarian Gate, a historically significant mountain pass.
16/09/1987
The Montreal Protocol is signed to protect the ozone layer from depletion.
The Montreal Protocol, officially the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer, is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances that are responsible for ozone depletion. It was agreed on 16 September 1987, and entered into force on 1 January 1989. Since then it has undergone several amendments and adjustments, with revisions agreed to in 1990 (London), 1992 (Copenhagen), 1995 (Vienna), 1997 (Montreal), 1999 (Beijing), 2007 (Montreal), 2016 (Kigali) and 2018 (Quito).
16/09/1982
Lebanon War: The Sabra and Shatila massacre in Lebanon takes place.
The 1982 Lebanon War, also called the Second Israeli invasion of Lebanon, began on 6 June 1982, when Israel invaded southern Lebanon. The invasion followed a series of attacks and counter-attacks between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) operating in southern Lebanon and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which had caused civilian casualties on both sides of the border. The Israeli military operation, codenamed Operation Peace for Galilee, was launched after gunmen from the Abu Nidal Organization attempted to assassinate Shlomo Argov, Israel's ambassador to the United Kingdom. Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin blamed the PLO, using the incident as a casus belli. It was the second invasion of Lebanon by Israel, following the 1978 South Lebanon conflict.
16/09/1979
Eight people escape from East Germany to the west in a homemade hot air balloon.
On 16 September 1979, eight people from two families escaped from East Germany by crossing the border into West Germany at night in a homemade hot air balloon. The unique feat was the result of over a year and a half of preparations involving three different balloons, various modifications, and a first, unsuccessful attempt. The failed attempt alerted the East German authorities to the plot, but the police were unable to identify the escapees before their second, successful flight two months later.
16/09/1978
The 7.4 Mw Tabas earthquake affects the city of Tabas, Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). At least 15,000 people are killed.
The 1978 Tabas earthquake occurred on September 16 at 19:05:55 local time in central Iran. The shock measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale and had a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX+ (Violent). The death toll was in the range of 15,000–25,000, with severe damage occurring in the town of Tabas.
16/09/1976
Armenian champion swimmer Shavarsh Karapetyan saves 20 people from a trolleybus that had fallen into a Yerevan reservoir.
Shavarsh Vladimiri (Vladimirovich) Karapetyan is a Soviet-Armenian former finswimmer. He was best known for saving the lives of 20 people in a 1976 incident in Yerevan.
Night of the Pencils: In the city of La Plata, Argentina, a group of high-school students were kidnapped and later tortured, raped and murdered during the Argentinian military dictatorship
The Night of the Pencils, was a series of kidnappings and forced disappearances, followed by the torture, rape, and murder of 10 high-school students that began on the evening of 16 September 1976 and continued into the next day, during Argentina's last civil-military dictatorship. The event is one of the most infamous acts of repression committed by the last Argentine military dictatorship, as most of the victims were under 18 years of age. Four of the victims survived; the remains of the others have never been found.
16/09/1975
Papua New Guinea gains independence from Australia.
Papua New Guinea (PNG), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean north of Australia. It has a land border with Indonesia to the west and maritime borders with Australia to the south and the Solomon Islands to the east. Its capital is Port Moresby. The country's 462,840 km2 (178,700 mi2) includes a large mainland and hundreds of islands.
Cape Verde, Mozambique, and São Tomé and Príncipe join the United Nations.
Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state in the central Atlantic Ocean off the coast of West Africa. It consists of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about 4,033 square kilometres (1,557 sq mi). These islands lie between 600 and 850 kilometres west of Cap-Vert, the westernmost point of continental Africa, after which it is named. Cape Verde forms part of the Macaronesia ecoregion, along with the Azores, the Canary Islands, Madeira and the Savage Isles.
The first prototype of the Mikoyan MiG-31 interceptor makes its maiden flight.
The Mikoyan MiG-31 is a supersonic interceptor aircraft developed for the Soviet Air Forces by the Mikoyan design bureau as a replacement for the MiG-25 "Foxbat", on which it is based and shares design elements.
16/09/1970
King Hussein of Jordan declares war against the Palestine Liberation Organization, the conflict came to be known as Black September.
Hussein bin Talal al-Hashimi was King of Jordan from 1952 until his death in 1999. A member of the House of Hashim, he is regarded as a 40th-generation direct descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
16/09/1966
The Metropolitan Opera House opens at Lincoln Center in New York City with the world premiere of Samuel Barber's opera Antony and Cleopatra.
The Metropolitan Opera House is an opera house located on Broadway at Lincoln Square on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Part of Lincoln Center, the theater was designed by Wallace K. Harrison. It opened in 1966, replacing the original 1883 Metropolitan Opera House at Broadway and 39th Street. With a total capacity of 3,975, the house is the largest repertory opera house in the world. Home to the Metropolitan Opera Company, the facility also hosts the American Ballet Theatre in the summer months.
16/09/1963
Malaysia is formed from the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak. However, Singapore is soon expelled from this new country.
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. A federal constitutional monarchy, it consists of 13 states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia on the Indochinese Peninsula and East Malaysia on the island of Borneo. Peninsular Malaysia shares land and maritime borders with Thailand, as well as maritime borders with Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia; East Malaysia shares land borders with Brunei and Indonesia, and maritime borders with the Philippines and Vietnam. Kuala Lumpur is the country's national capital, largest city, and the seat of the legislative branch of the federal government, while Putrajaya is the federal administrative capital, representing the seat of both the executive branch and the judicial branch of the federal government. With a population of over 34 million, it is the world's 42nd-most populous country.
16/09/1961
The United States National Hurricane Research Project drops eight cylinders of silver iodide into the eyewall of Hurricane Esther. Wind speed reduces by 10%, giving rise to Project Stormfury.
Hurricane Esther was the first large tropical cyclone to be discovered by satellite imagery. The fifth tropical cyclone, named storm, and hurricane of the 1961 Atlantic hurricane season, Esther developed from an area of disturbed weather hundreds of miles west-southwest of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands on September 10. Moving northwestward, the depression strengthened into Tropical Storm Esther on September 11, before reaching hurricane intensity on the following day. Early on September 13, Esther curved westward and deepened into a major hurricane. The storm remained a Category 3 hurricane for about four days and gradually moved in a west-northwestward direction. Late on September 17, Esther strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane with sustained winds of 160 mph (260 km/h) on September 18. The storm curved north-northeastward on September 19, while offshore of North Carolina. Esther began to weaken while approaching New England and fell to Category 3 intensity on September 21. The storm turned eastward early on the following day, and rapidly weakened to a tropical storm.
Typhoon Nancy, with possibly the strongest winds ever measured in a tropical cyclone, makes landfall in Osaka, Japan, killing 173 people.
Super Typhoon Nancy, also known as the 2nd Muroto Typhoon , was an extremely powerful tropical cyclone of the 1961 Pacific typhoon season and one of the most intense tropical cyclones on record. The system possibly had the strongest winds ever measured in a tropical cyclone, with 345 km/h (215 mph) winds, tied with Hurricane Patricia of 2015. Nancy caused extensive damage, as well as at least 202 deaths and nearly 5,000 injuries in Japan and elsewhere, in September 1961.
Pakistan establishes its Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission with Abdus Salam as its head.
The Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission, commonly referred to as SUPARCO, is the national space agency of Pakistan.
16/09/1959
The first successful photocopier, the Xerox 914, is introduced in a demonstration on live television from New York City.
The Xerox 914 was the first successful commercial plain paper copier. Introduced in 1959 by the Haloid/Xerox company, it revolutionized the document-copying industry. The culmination of inventor Chester Carlson's work on the xerographic process, the 914 was fast and economical. The copier was introduced to the public on September 16, 1959, in a demonstration at the Sherry-Netherland Hotel in New York, shown on live television.
16/09/1956
TCN-9 Sydney is the first Australian television station to commence regular broadcasts.
TCN is the flagship television station of the Nine Network in Australia. The station is currently located at 1 Denison Street, North Sydney. The licence, issued to a company named Television Corporation Ltd headed by Frank Packer, was one of the first four licences to be issued for commercial television stations in Australia. TCN-9 is the home of the NRL coverage and national-level Nine News bulletins.
16/09/1955
The military coup to unseat President Juan Perón of Argentina is launched at midnight.
The Revolución Libertadora as it named itself, was the civic-military dictatorship that ruled the Argentine Republic after overthrowing President Juan Domingo Perón, shutting down the National Congress, removing members of the Supreme Court, as well as provincial, municipal, and university authorities, and placing the entire Judiciary under commission. This occurred through a coup d'état on 16 September 1955.
A Soviet Zulu-class submarine becomes the first to launch a ballistic missile.
The Soviet Navy's Project 611 were one of the first Soviet post-Second-World-War attack submarines. They were similarly capable to the American GUPPY fleet-boat conversions. They were a contemporary of the Whiskey-class submarines and shared a similar sonar arrangement. Like most conventional submarines designed 1946–1960, their design was influenced by the German World War II Type XXI submarine.
16/09/1953
American Airlines Flight 723 crashes in Colonie, New York, killing 28 people.
American Airlines Flight 723 was a scheduled American Airlines flight from Boston Airport in Massachusetts, to Chicago Midway Airport in Illinois. On September 16, 1953, a Convair 240 propliner flying this route crashed while attempting to land at Albany Airport in upstate New York, killing all 28 people on board.
16/09/1945
World War II: The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong comes to an end.
The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began when the governor of Hong Kong, Mark Aitchison Young, surrendered the British Crown colony of Hong Kong to the Empire of Japan on 25 December 1941. His surrender occurred after 18 days of fierce fighting against the Japanese forces that invaded the territory. The occupation lasted for three years and eight months until Japan surrendered at the end of the Second World War. The length of the period later became a metonym of the occupation.
16/09/1943
World War II: The German Tenth Army reports that it can no longer contain the Allied bridgehead around Salerno.
The 10th Army was a World War II field army of the Wehrmacht (Germany).
16/09/1940
World War II: Italian troops conquer Sidi Barrani.
World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides, including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.
16/09/1920
The Wall Street bombing: A bomb in a horse wagon explodes in front of the J. P. Morgan building in New York City killing 38 and injuring 400.
The Wall Street bombing was an act of terrorism on Wall Street at 12:01 pm on Thursday, September 16, 1920. The blast killed 30 people immediately, and another eight later died of wounds that they sustained in the blast. There were 143 seriously injured, and the total number of injured was in the hundreds.
16/09/1914
World War I: The Siege of Przemyśl (present-day Poland) begins.
World War I, or the First World War, also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Central Powers. Major areas of conflict included Europe and the Middle East, as well as parts of Africa and the Asia-Pacific. The war saw important developments in weaponry including tanks, aircraft, artillery, machine guns, and chemical weapons. One of the deadliest conflicts in history, it resulted in an estimated 15 to 22 million military and civilian casualties and genocide. The movement of large numbers of people was a major factor in the deadly Spanish flu pandemic.
16/09/1908
The General Motors Corporation is founded.
General Motors Company (GM) is an American multinational automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing four automobile brands: Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac, each a separate division of GM. By total sales, it has continuously been the largest automaker in the United States, and was the largest in the world for 77 years before losing the title to Toyota in 2008.
16/09/1893
Settlers make a land run for prime land in the Cherokee Strip in Oklahoma.
In U.S. history, the Land Run of 1893, also known as the Cherokee Outlet Opening or the Cherokee Strip Land Run, marked the opening to settlement of the Cherokee Outlet in the Oklahoma Territory's fourth and largest land run. It was part of what would later become the U.S. state of Oklahoma in 1907.
16/09/1880
The Cornell Daily Sun prints its first issue in Ithaca, New York.
The Cornell Daily Sun is an independent newspaper at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. It is published twice weekly by Cornell University students and hired employees. Founded in 1880, The Sun is the oldest continuously independent college daily in the United States.
16/09/1863
Robert College, in Istanbul, the first American educational institution outside the United States, is founded by Christopher Robert, an American philanthropist.
American Robert College of Istanbul is a highly selective, independent, co-educational, private high school in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded in 1863, Robert College is the oldest continuously operating American school outside the United States. The school has a long list of notable alumni, including scientists, actors, entrepreneurs, politicians, journalists, artists, two Turkish prime ministers, four Bulgarian prime ministers, multiple members of the Turkish cabinet, Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk and philanthropist Osman Kavala. Robert College is a member of the G30 Schools group, and is accredited by the New York State Association of Independent Schools.
16/09/1822
French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel, in a "note" read to the Academy of Sciences, reports a direct refraction experiment verifying David Brewster's hypothesis that photoelasticity (as it is now known) is stress-induced birefringence.
Augustin-Jean Fresnel was a French civil engineer and physicist whose research in optics led to the almost unanimous acceptance of the wave theory of light, fully supplanting Newton's corpuscular theory, from the late 1830s until the end of the 19th century. He is perhaps better known for inventing the catadioptric (reflective/refractive) Fresnel lens and for pioneering the use of "stepped" lenses to extend the visibility of lighthouses, saving countless lives at sea. The simpler dioptric stepped lens, first proposed by Count Buffon and independently reinvented by Fresnel, is used in screen magnifiers and in condenser lenses for overhead projectors.
16/09/1810
With the Grito de Dolores, Father Miguel Hidalgo begins Mexico's fight for independence from Spain.
The Cry of Dolores occurred in Dolores, Mexico, on 16 September 1810, when Roman Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rang his church bell and gave the call to arms that triggered the Mexican War of Independence. The Cry of Dolores is most commonly known by the locals as El Grito de Independencia.
16/09/1779
American Revolutionary War: The Franco-American Siege of Savannah begins.
The siege of Savannah or the second battle of Savannah was an encounter of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) in 1779. The year before, the city of Savannah, Georgia, had been captured by a British expeditionary corps under Lieutenant-Colonel Archibald Campbell. The siege itself consisted of a joint Franco-American attempt to retake Savannah, from September 16 to October 18, 1779. On October 9 a major assault against the British siege works failed. During the attack, Polish nobleman Count Casimir Pulaski, leading the combined cavalry forces on the American side, was mortally wounded. With the failure of the joint attack, the siege was abandoned, and the British remained in control of Savannah until July 1782, near the end of the war.
16/09/1776
American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Harlem Heights is fought.
The American Revolutionary War, also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which American Patriot forces organized as the Continental Army and commanded by George Washington defeated the British Army. The conflict was fought in North America, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic Ocean. The war's outcome seemed uncertain for most of the war, but Washington and the Continental Army's decisive victory in the Siege of Yorktown in 1781 led King George III and the Kingdom of Great Britain to negotiate an end to the war. In 1783, in the Treaty of Paris, the British monarchy acknowledged the independence of the Thirteen Colonies, leading to the establishment of the United States as an independent and sovereign nation.
16/09/1732
In Campo Maior, Portugal, a storm hits the Armory and a violent explosion ensues, killing two-thirds of its inhabitants.
Campo Maior, officially the Loyal and Valorous Town of Campo Maior, is a municipality in the Portalegre District, Alentejo Region, Portugal. The population in 2011 was 8,456, in an area of 247.20 square kilometres (95.44 sq mi). It is bordered by Spain on the North and East, by Elvas Municipality on the Southeast, and by Arronches Municipality on the West.
16/09/1701
James Francis Edward Stuart, sometimes called the "Old Pretender", becomes the Jacobite claimant to the thrones of England and Scotland on the death of his father, James II.
James Francis Edward Stuart, also known as the Old Pretender, was the senior House of Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland from 1701 until his death in 1766. The only surviving son of James II of England and his second wife, Mary of Modena, he was Prince of Wales and heir-apparent until his Roman Catholic father was deposed and exiled in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. His Protestant half-sister Mary II and her husband William III and II became co-monarchs. As a Roman Catholic, he was subsequently excluded from the succession by the Bill of Rights 1689.
16/09/1620
Pilgrims set sail for Virginia from Plymouth, England in the Mayflower.
The Pilgrims, also known as the Pilgrim Fathers, were the English settlers who travelled to North America on the ship Mayflower and established the Plymouth Colony at what now is Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. John Smith named this territory New Plymouth in 1614, sharing the name of the Pilgrims' final departure port of Plymouth, Devon, England. The Pilgrims' leadership came from religious congregations of Brownists or Separatists who had fled religious persecution in England for the tolerance of 17th-century Holland in the Netherlands.
16/09/1400
Owain Glyndŵr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers.
Owain ap Gruffudd Fychan or Owain Glyndŵr was a Welsh leader, soldier and military commander in the late Middle Ages, who led a 15-year-long Welsh revolt with the aim of ending English rule in Wales. He was an educated lawyer, forming the first Welsh parliament under his rule, and was the last native-born Welshman to claim the title Prince of Wales.
16/09/0681
Pope Honorius I is posthumously excommunicated by the Sixth Ecumenical Council.
Pope Honorius I was the bishop of Rome from his consecration on 27 October 625 until his death. He actively supported the Christianisation of the Anglo-Saxons, notably by sending Saint Birinus to convert the West Saxons and bestowing the pallium on the archbishops of York and Canterbury, and worked to persuade the Irish and British churches to adopt the Roman Easter computus. He is most noted for his correspondence concerning Patriarch Sergius I of Constantinople, in which he engaged with the Monoenergism controversy and the associated Monothelite doctrines. Honorius was posthumously anathematized by the Third Council of Constantinople (681) for following the Monothelites and confirming their doctrines. This condemnation was confirmed by Pope Leo II, who charged him with failing to extinguish the heresy. The anathema against Honorius I became a primary argument cited by opponents of the definition of papal infallibility during the First Vatican Council (1870).