On this day: April 16

Events on April 16

• 1799 French Revolutionary Wars: The Battle of Mount Tabor: Napoleon drives Ottoman Turks across the River Jordan near Acre. Wikipedia
• 1799 French Revolutionary Wars: Severely outnumbered French forces repulsed an Ottoman attack at the Battle of Mount Tabor in present-day Israel. Wikipedia
• 1862 Slavery in Washington, D.C., ended when the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act became law. Wikipedia
• 1862 American Civil War: Battle at Lee's Mills in Virginia. Wikipedia
• 1908 Natural Bridges National Monument is established in Utah. Wikipedia
• 1917 Russian Revolution: Vladimir Lenin returns to Petrograd, Russia, from exile in Switzerland. Wikipedia
• 1917 World War I: Several French army corps began a massive assault against the German-occupied Chemin des Dames ridge, south of Laon, France. Wikipedia
• 1919 Polish–Lithuanian War: The Polish Army launches the Vilna offensive to capture Vilnius in modern Lithuania. Wikipedia
• 1919 Mohandas Gandhi organizes a day of "prayer and fasting" in response to the killing of Indian protesters in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre by the British colonial troops three days earlier. Wikipedia
• 1919 Polish–Soviet War: The Polish army launched the Vilna offensive to capture Vilnius (now in Lithuania) from the Red Army. Wikipedia
• 1922 The Treaty of Rapallo, pursuant to which Germany and the Soviet Union re-establish diplomatic relations, is signed. Wikipedia
• 1925 During the Communist St Nedelya Church assault in Sofia, Bulgaria, 150 are killed and 500 are wounded. Wikipedia
• 1941 World War II: The Italian-German Tarigo convoy is attacked and destroyed by British ships. Wikipedia
• 1943 Albert Hofmann accidentally discovers the hallucinogenic effects of the research drug LSD. He intentionally takes the drug three days later on April 19. Wikipedia
• 1945 Second World War: British and Canadian forces concluded the Liberation of Arnhem in the Netherlands from German occupation. Wikipedia
• 1947 American financier and presidential adviser Bernard Baruch first described the post–World War II tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States as a "cold war". Wikipedia
• 1947 Bernard Baruch first applies the term "Cold War" to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union. Wikipedia
• 1947 An explosion on board a freighter in port causes Texas City in the state of Texas, United States, to catch fire, killing almost 600 people. Wikipedia
• 1961 In a nationally broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declares that he is a Marxist–Leninist and that Cuba is going to adopt Communism. Wikipedia
• 1963 In response to an open letter written by white clergymen, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote the Letter from Birmingham Jail in defence of the strategy of nonviolent resistance against racism. Wikipedia
• 1963 U.S. civil rights campaigner Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. writes his open letter from Birmingham Jail, sometimes known as "The Negro Is Your Brother", while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama, for protesting against segregation. Wikipedia
• 2001 India and Bangladesh begin a five-day border conflict, but are unable to resolve the disputes about their border. Wikipedia
• 2003 The Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens admitting ten new member states to the European Union. Wikipedia
• 2012 The trial for Anders Behring Breivik, the perpetrator of the 2011 Norway attacks, begins in Oslo, Norway. Wikipedia
• 2014 The South Korean ferry MV Sewol capsizes and sinks near Jindo Island, killing 304 passengers and crew and leading to widespread criticism of the South Korean government, media, and shipping authorities. Wikipedia
• 2024 The historic Børsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, is severely damaged by a fire. Wikipedia

Born on April 16

• 1728 Joseph Black, French-Scottish physician and chemist (died 1799) Wikipedia
• 1755 Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, French painter (died 1842) Wikipedia
• 1839 Antonio Starabba, Marchese di Rudinì, Italian politician, 12th Prime Minister of Italy (died 1908) Wikipedia
• 1844 Anatole France, French journalist, novelist, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1924) Wikipedia
• 1867 Wilbur Wright, American inventor (died 1912) Wikipedia
• 1886 Ernst Thälmann, German politician (died 1944) Wikipedia
• 1889 Charlie Chaplin, English actor, director, producer, screenwriter, and composer (died 1977) Wikipedia
• 1921 Peter Ustinov, English actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2004) Wikipedia
• 1922 Kingsley Amis, English novelist, poet, and critic (died 1995) Wikipedia
• 1927 Pope Benedict XVI (died 2022) Wikipedia
• 1940 Queen Margrethe II of Denmark Wikipedia
• 1942 Sir Frank Williams, English businessman, founded the Williams F1 Racing Team (died 2021) Wikipedia
• 1947 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, American basketball player and coach Wikipedia
• 1955 Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg Wikipedia
• 1960 Rafael Benítez, Spanish footballer and manager Wikipedia
• 1965 Martin Lawrence, German-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1971 Selena, American singer-songwriter, actress, and fashion designer (died 1995) Wikipedia
• 1973 Akon, Senegalese-American singer, rapper and songwriter Wikipedia
• 1977 Freddie Ljungberg, Swedish footballer Wikipedia
• 1986 Shinji Okazaki, Japanese footballer Wikipedia
• 1996 Anya Taylor-Joy, Argentine-British actress Wikipedia
• 2002 Sadie Sink, American actress Wikipedia

Died on April 16

• 69 Otho, Roman emperor (born AD 32) Wikipedia
• 1090 Sikelgaita, duchess of Apulia (born c. 1040) Wikipedia
• 1689 Aphra Behn, English author and playwright (born 1640) Wikipedia
• 1788 Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, French mathematician, cosmologist, and author (born 1707) Wikipedia
• 1828 Francisco Goya, Spanish-French painter and illustrator (born 1746) Wikipedia
• 1850 Marie Tussaud, French-English sculptor, founded the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum (born 1761) Wikipedia
• 1859 Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian and philosopher, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (born 1805) Wikipedia
• 1879 Bernadette Soubirous, French nun and saint (born 1844) Wikipedia
• 1947 Rudolf Höss, German SS officer, commandant of Auschwitz, convicted war criminal (born 1900) Wikipedia
• 1958 Rosalind Franklin, English biophysicist and academic (born 1920) Wikipedia
• 1972 Yasunari Kawabata, Japanese novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1899) Wikipedia
• 1988 Khalil al-Wazir, Palestinian commander, founded Fatah (born 1935) Wikipedia
• 2001 Robert Osterloh, American actor (born 1918)[better source needed] Wikipedia
• 2021 John Dawes, Welsh rugby union player (born 1940) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Benedict Joseph Labre Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Bernadette Soubirous Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Drogo Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Engratia Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Fructuosus of Braga Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Isabella Gilmore (Church of England) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Martyrs of Zaragoza Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Molly Brant (Konwatsijayenni) (Anglican Church of Canada, Episcopal Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Turibius of Astorga Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: April 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Birthday of José de Diego (Puerto Rico, United States) Wikipedia
• Birthday of Queen Margrethe II (Denmark) Wikipedia
• Flag Day (Jordan) Wikipedia
• Emancipation Day (Washington, D.C., United States) Wikipedia
• Memorial Day for the Victims of the Holocaust (Hungary) Wikipedia
• National Healthcare Decisions Day (United States) Wikipedia
• Remembrance of Chemical Attack on Balisan and Sheikh Wasan (Iraqi Kurdistan) Wikipedia
• World Voice Day Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “April 16” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.