From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

November 16 is the 320th day of the year (321st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 45 days remaining until the end of the year.

• 534 - A second and final revision of the Codex Justinianus is published.
• 1384 - Jadwiga is crowned King of Poland, although she is a woman.
• 1491 - An auto de fe, held in the Brasero de la Dehesa outside of Ávila, concludes the case of the Holy Child of La Guardia with the public execution of several Jewish and converso suspects.
• 1532 - Francisco Pizarro and his men capture Inca Emperor Atahualpa.
• 1632 - The Battle of Lützen, where king Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden is killed.
• 1776 - American Revolutionary War: Hessian mercenaries capture Fort Washington from the Patriots.
• 1776 - American Revolution: The United Provinces (Low Countries) recognize the independence of the United States.
• 1805 - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Schöngrabern - Russian forces under Bagration delay the pursuit by French troops under Murat.
• 1821 - American Old West: Missouri trader William Becknell arrives in Santa Fe, New Mexico over a route that became known as the Santa Fe Trail.
• 1849 - A Russian court sentences Fyodor Dostoevsky to death for anti-government activities linked to a radical intellectual group; his sentence is later commuted to hard labor.
• 1857 - Second relief of Lucknow. The most Victoria Crosses won in a single day with 24.
• 1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Campbell's Station near Knoxville, Tennessee. Confederate troops unsuccessfully attack Union forces.
• 1885 - Canadian rebel leader of the Métis and "Father of Manitoba", Louis Riel is executed for treason.
• 1896 - First transmission of electricity between a power plant and a city is sent from the Niagara Falls hydroelectric plant to industries in Buffalo, New York.
• 1904 - John Ambrose Fleming invents the vacuum tube.
• 1906 - Opera star Enrico Caruso is charged with an indecent act after allegedly pinching a woman's bottom in the monkey house of New York City's Central Park Zoo.
• 1907 - Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory become Oklahoma and are admitted as the 46th U.S. state.
• 1907 - Cunard Line's RMS Mauretania sister ship of RMS Lusitania, sets sail on her maiden voyage from Liverpool, England to New York City.
• 1914 - The Federal Reserve Bank of the United States officially opens.
• 1920 - Qantas, the national airline of Australia is registered as an aerial carrier under the name of “Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited”. Only KLM (now part of Air France-KLM) and Avianca are older.
• 1932 - New York City's Palace Theatre is fully converted to a movie theater, which is considered to be the death of vaudeville as a popular form of entertainment in the United States.
• 1933 - The United States and the Soviet Union establish formal diplomatic relations.
• 1934 - James J. Braddock wins one of the most important fights of his career against then future light heavyweight champion John Henry Lewis.
• 1940 - World War II: In response to Germany's leveling of Coventry, England two days before, the Royal Air Force bombs Hamburg.
• 1940 - Holocaust: In occupied Poland, German Nazis close off the Warsaw Ghetto from the outside world.
• 1943 - World War II: American bombers strike a hydro-electric power facility and heavy water factory in German-controlled Vemork, Norway.
• 1944 - Dueren, Germany is completely destroyed by Allied bombers.
• 1945 - Cold War: The United States Army secretly admits 88 German scientists and engineers to help in the development of rocket technology.
• 1957 - Serial killer Edward Gein murders his last victim, Bernice Worden.
• 1959 - The Broadway musical, The Sound of Music, starring Mary Martin and Theodore Bikel opens at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater.
• 1965 - Venera program: The Soviet Union launches the Venera 3 space probe toward Venus, the first spacecraft to reach the surface of another planet.
• 1973 - Skylab program: NASA launches Skylab 4 with a crew of three astronauts from Cape Canaveral, Florida for an 84-day mission.
• 1973 - U.S. President Richard Nixon signs the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act into law, authorizing the construction of the Alaska Pipeline.
• 1979 - The first line of Bucharest Metro (Line M1) is opened from Timpuri Noi to Semanatoarea in Bucharest, Romania.
• 1981 - Luke and Laura marry on the U.S. soap opera General Hospital. It is the highest-rated hour in daytime television history.
• 1984 - Queen Elizabeth II visits Uppingham School, Rutland, United Kingdom on the occasion of its quatercentenary.
• 1988 - The Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR declares that Estonia was "sovereign" but stopped short of declaring independence.
• 1988 - In the first open election in more than a decade, voters in Pakistan elect populist candidate Benazir Bhutto to be Prime Minister of Pakistan.
• 1989 - A death squad composed of El Salvadoran army troops kills six Jesuit priests and two others at Jose Simeon Canas University.
• 1989 - A devastating tornado strikes Huntsville, Alabama.
• 1989 - UNESCO adopts the Seville Statement on Violence at the twenty-fifth session of its General Conference.
• 1996 - Mother Teresa receives honorary U.S. citizenship.
• 1997 - After nearly 18 years of incarceration, the People's Republic of China releases Wei Jingsheng, a pro-democracy dissident, from jail for medical reasons.
• 2000 - Bill Clinton becomes the first U.S. President to visit Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam War.
• 2004 - The Boeing X-43 scramjet becomes the fastest air-breathing jet flying at nearly approx. 11,200 km/h or 3.11 km/s.

• 42 BC - Tiberius, Roman emperor (d. 37)
• 1436 - Leonardo Loredan, Doge of the Republic of Venice (d. 1521)
• 1603 - Augustyn Kordecki, Polish prior (d. 1673)
• 1643 - Jean Chardin, French explorer (d. 1703)
• 1717 - Jean le Rond d'Alembert, French mathematician (d. 1793)
• 1720 - Carlo Antonio Campioni, Italian composer (d. 1788)
• 1758 - Peter Andreas Heiberg, Danish author and philologist (d. 1841)
• 1766 - Rodolphe Kreutzer, French violinist (d. 1831)
• 1836 - David Kalakaua of Hawaii, Hawaiian king (d. 1891)
• 1839 - Louis-Honoré Fréchette, French Canadian poet (d. 1908)
• 1841 - Jules Violle, French physicist (d. 1923)
• 1847 - Edmund James Flynn, Canadian politician (d. 1927)
• 1862 - Charles Turner, Australian cricketer (d. 1944)
• 1880 - Alexander Blok, Russian poet (d. 1921)
• 1885 - Michael Gonzi, Maltese archbishop (d. 1984)
• 1873 - W. C. Handy, American composer (d. 1958)
• 1889 - George S. Kaufman, American playwright (d. 1961)
• 1892 - Guo Moruo, Chinese writer (d. 1978)
• 1892 - Tazio Nuvolari, Italian racing driver (d. 1953)
• 1895 - Paul Hindemith, German composer (d. 1963)
• 1896 - Oswald Mosley, British fascist (d. 1980)
• 1896 - Lawrence Tibbett, American singer (d. 1960)
• 1897 - Choudhary Rehmat Ali, Pakistani nationalist (d. 1951)
• 1904 - Nnamdi Azikiwe, President of Nigeria (d. 1996)
• 1905 - Eddie Condon, American musician (d. 1973)
• 1908 - Burgess Meredith, American actor (d. 1997)
• 1916 - Daws Butler, voice actor (d. 1988)
• 1922 - Gene Amdahl, American computer scientist
• 1922 - José Saramago, Portuguese writer, Nobel laureate
• 1924 - Mel Patton, American athlete
• 1928 - Clu Gulager, American actor
• 1930 - Chinua Achebe, Nigerian author
• 1930 - Salvatore Riina, Sicilian mafioso
• 1931 - Luciano Bottaro, Italian comic book artist (d. 2006)
• 1931 - Hubert Sumlin, American blues musician
• 1933 - Garnet Mimms, American singer
• 1938 - Robert Nozick, American philosopher (d. 2002)
• 1942 - Willie Carson, Scottish jockey
• 1942 - Joanna Pettet, English-American actress
• 1946 - Terence McKenna, American writer (d. 2000)
• 1947 - Ebby Thust, German Boxing promoter and writer
• 1950 - David Leisure, American actor
• 1951 - Miguel Sandoval, American actor
• 1952 - Robin McKinley, writer
• 1952 - Shigeru Miyamoto, Japanese video game designer
• 1954 - Andrea Barrett, American author
• 1954 - Dick Gross, Australian politician
• 1954 - Bruce Edwards, golf caddy (d. 2004)
• 1955 - Pierre Larouche, National Hockey League player
• 1956 - Terry Labonte, NASCAR driver
• 1957 - Jacques Gamblin, French actor
• 1958 - Marg Helgenberger, American actress
• 1958 - Boris Krivokapić, Serbian academic
• 1961 - Frank Bruno, British boxer
• 1961 - Corinne Hermès, French singer
• 1962 - Josh Silver, American musician (Type O Negative)
• 1964 - Dwight Gooden, American athlete
• 1964 - Diana Krall, Canadian Jazz pianist and singer
• 1964 - Harry J. Lennix, American actor
• 1964 - Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Italian actress
• 1965 - Mika Aaltonen, Finnish footballer
• 1966 - Christian Lorenz, German keyboardist (Rammstein)
• 1966 - Dean McDermott, Canadian actor
• 1966 - Tahir Shah, British travel writer and explorer
• 1967 - Craig Arnold, American poet
• 1967 - Lisa Bonet, American actress
• 1968 - Vlado Šola, Croatian handball goalkeeper
• 1969 - Maeve Quinlan, American actress
• 1970 - Martha Plimpton, American actress
• 1971 - Mustapha Hadji, Moroccan footballer
• 1971 - Alexander Popov, Russian swimmer
• 1971 - Koshi Rikdo, Japanese mangaka.
• 1971 - Waqar Younis, Pakistani cricketer
• 1972 - Missi Pyle, American actress
• 1973 - Christian Horner, British Formula One team owner
• 1973 - Brendan Laney, Scottish rugby player
• 1974 - Eric Judy, American Musician
• 1974 - Maurizio Margaglio, Italian ice dancer
• 1974 - Paul Scholes, British footballer
• 1975 - Julio Lugo, Dominican baseball player
• 1976 - Juha Pasoja, Finnish footballer
• 1976 - Danny Wallace, British author
• 1976 - Martijn Zuijdweg, Dutch swimmer
• 1977 - Oksana Baiul, Ukrainian figure skater
• 1977 - Maggie Gyllenhaal, American actress
• 1977 - Mauricio Ochmann, Mexican actor
• 1978 - Kip Bouknight, American baseball player
• 1978 - Gary Naysmith, Scottish footballer
• 1978 - Carolina Parra, Brazilian musician (CSS)
• 1980 - Kayte Christensen, American basketball player
• 1980 - Nicole Gius, Italian alpine skier
• 1981 - Allison Crowe, Canadian singer
• 1981 - Caitlin Glass, American voice actress
• 1981 - Osi Umenyiora, NFL football player
• 1982 - Jannie du Plessis, South African rugby player
• 1982 - Amare Stoudemire, American basketball player
• 1983 - K, South Korean singer
• 1983 - Kari Lehtonen, Finnish ice hockey goaltender
• 1984 - Gemma Atkinson, British actress and model
• 1984 - Kimberly J. Brown, American actress
• 1995 - Noah Gray-Cabey, American child actor

• 1093 - Saint Margaret of Scotland, wife of Malcolm III of Scotland
• 1240 - Edmund Rich, St. Edmund of Canterbury
• 1272 - King Henry III of England (b. 1207)
• 1328 - Prince Hisaaki, Japanese shogun (b. 1276)
• 1613 - Trajano Boccalini, Italian satirist (b. 1556)
• 1628 - Paolo Quagliati, Italian composer
• 1632 - King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden (killed in battle) (b. 1594)
• 1695 - Pierre Nicole, French philosopher (b. 1625)
• 1724 - Jack Sheppard, English burglar (hanged) (b. 1702)
• 1745 - James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde, Irish statesman and soldier (b. 1665)
• 1773 - John Hawkesworth, English writer
• 1779 - Pehr Kalm, Finnish explorer and naturalist (b. 1716)
• 1790 - Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, American Continental Congressman (b. 1723)
• 1797 - Frederick William II of Prussia (b. 1744)
• 1802 - André Michaux, French botanist (b. 1746)
• 1806 - Moses Cleaveland, founder of Cleveland, Ohio (b. 1754)
• 1836 - Christian Hendrik Persoon, Dutch mycologist (b. 1761)
• 1884 - František Chvostek, Moravian physician (b. 1835)
• 1885 - Louis Riel, Canadian politician (b. 1844)
• 1907 - Robert I, Duke of Parma, last ruling Duke of Parma (b. 1848)
• 1908 - Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière, French-born Canadian politician (b. 1829)
• 1911 - Albert Alonzo Ames, Mayor of Minneapolis (b. 1842)
• 1922 - Max Abraham, German physicist (b. 1875)
• 1939 - Pierce Butler, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (b. 1866)
• 1950 - Bob Smith, American doctor, co-founder of the Alcoholics Anonymous (b. 1879)
• 1960 - Clark Gable, American actor (b. 1901)
• 1961 - Sam Rayburn, U.S. Speaker of the House (b. 1882)
• 1971 - Edie Sedgwick, American socialite and heiress (b. 1940)
• 1972 - Vera Karalli, Russian ballerina and actress (b. 1889)
• 1973 - Alan Watts, English writer (b. 1915)
• 1981 - William Holden, American actor (b. 1918)
• 1982 - Arthur Askey, British comedian (b. 1900)
• 1982 - Pavel Sergeevich Alexandrov, Russian mathematician (b. 1896)
• 1982 - Lenny Murphy, Leader of Belfast's notorious Shankill Butchers (b. 1952)
• 1984 - Vic Dickenson, American trombonist (b. 1906)
• 1986 - Siobhán McKenna, Irish stage and screen actress (b. 1923)
• 1987 - Jim Brewer, Major League Baseball relief pitcher (b. 1937)
• 1987 - Zubir Said, Singaporean composer who composed Singapore's national anthem (b. 1907)
• 1989 - Jean-Claude Malépart, Quebec politician (b. 1938)
• 1993 - Lucia Popp, Slovakian soprano (b. 1939)
• 1993 - Achille Zavatta, French clown (b. 1915)
• 1994 - Doris Speed, British actress (b. 1899)
• 1994 - Dino Valente, American musician (Quicksilver Messenger Service) (b.1943)
• 1995 - Jack Finney, American author (b. 1911)
• 1999 - Daniel Nathans, American microbiologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1928)
• 2000 - DJ Screw, American hiphop DJ (b. 1971)
• 2000 - Joe C., American rapper (b. 1974)
• 2001 - Tommy Flanagan, American jazz pianist (b. 1930)
• 2003 - Bettina Goislard, French relief worker (b. 1974)
• 2004 - Margaret Hassan, Irish-born aid worker (b. 1945)
• 2005 - Henry Taube, Canadian-born chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)
• 2005 - Robert Tisch, American football team owner (b. 1926)
• 2005 - Donald Watson, English founder of the Vegan Society (b. 1910)
• 2006 - Milton Friedman, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1912)
• 2006 - Yuri Levada, Russian sociologist (b. 1930)
• 2007 - Harold Alfond, American businessman (b. 1914)
• 2007 - Grethe Kausland, Norwegian actress and singer (b. 1947)
• 2007 - Trond Kirkvaag, Norwegian comedian and author (b. 1946)

• R.C. Saints - Saint Margaret of Scotland ; Gertrude the Great
• International Day for Tolerance
• Iceland - Dagur íslenskrar tungu (Icelandic Language Day)
• United Kingdom and Ireland - Children in Need Day

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada