On this day: January 16

Events on January 16

• 1458 BC Hatshepsut dies at the age of 50 and is buried in the Valley of the Kings. Wikipedia
• 27 BC Gaius Octavianus was given the titles Augustus and Princeps by the Roman Senate when he became the first Roman emperor. Wikipedia
• 1275 Eleanor of Provence received permission from her son King Edward I of England to expel Jews from the towns of Worcester, Marlborough, Cambridge and Gloucester. Wikipedia
• 1537 Sir Francis Bigod began an armed rebellion against King Henry VIII and the English Parliament. Wikipedia
• 1547 Grand Prince Ivan IV is crowned as Tsar of all Russia. Wikipedia
• 1556 Philip II becomes King of Spain. Wikipedia
• 1605 The first edition of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (Book One of Don Quixote) by Miguel de Cervantes is published in Madrid, Spain. Wikipedia
• 1707 The Scottish Parliament ratifies the Act of Union, paving the way for the creation of Great Britain. Wikipedia
• 1780 American Revolutionary War: The Royal Navy gained their first major naval victory over their European enemies in the war when they defeated a Spanish squadron in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent. Wikipedia
• 1809 Peninsular War: French forces under Jean-de-Dieu Soult attacked the British amphibious evacuation under Sir John Moore at Corunna in Galicia, Spain. Wikipedia
• 1862 A pumping engine at a colliery in New Hartley, England, broke and fell down the shaft, trapping miners below and resulting in 204 deaths. Wikipedia
• 1883 The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, establishing the United States Civil Service, was enacted by the U.S. Congress. Wikipedia
• 1905 Despite being blind in one eye, ice hockey player Frank McGee set the record for most goals in a Stanley Cup game when he scored 14 against the Dawson City Nuggets. Wikipedia
• 1920 The League of Nations, the first worldwide intergovernmental organization with a focus on peace and security, held its first council meeting in Paris. Wikipedia
• 1942 TWA Flight 3 crashed into Potosi Mountain in Nevada, killing actress Carole Lombard and all of the other 21 people on board. Wikipedia
• 1942 World War II: During the Battle of Bataan, U.S. Army sergeant Jose Calugas organized a squad of volunteers to man an artillery position under heavy fire, an action that later earned him the Medal of Honor. Wikipedia
• 1945 World War II: Adolf Hitler and his staff moved into the Führerbunker in Berlin, where he would eventually commit suicide. Wikipedia
• 1964 The musical Hello, Dolly! opened at the St. James Theatre on Broadway, and went on to win ten Tony Awards, a record that stood for 37 years. Wikipedia
• 1979 Iranian Revolution: The last Iranian Shah flees Iran with his family for good and relocates to Egypt. Wikipedia
• 1991 Coalition Forces go to war with Iraq, beginning the Gulf War. Wikipedia
• 2001 Second Congo War: Congolese President Laurent-Désiré Kabila is assassinated by one of his own bodyguards in Kinshasa. Wikipedia
• 2002 War in Afghanistan: The UN Security Council unanimously establishes an arms embargo and the freezing of assets of Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda, and the remaining members of the Taliban. Wikipedia
• 2012 The Mali War begins when Tuareg militias start fighting the Malian government for independence. Wikipedia
• 2016 After gunmen took hostages the previous night at a restaurant in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, government commandos stormed the premises to bring the situation to an end. Wikipedia
• 2017 Turkish Airlines Flight 6491 crashed in Manas International Airport after the flight overflew the entire runway, which resulted in 39 deaths. Wikipedia
• 2018 In Mrauk U, Myanmar, police fired into a crowd protesting the ban of an event to mark the anniversary of the end of the Kingdom of Mrauk U, resulting in seven deaths and twelve injuries. Wikipedia

Born on January 16

• 1749 Vittorio Alfieri, Italian poet and playwright (died 1803) Wikipedia
• 1821 John C. Breckinridge, American general and politician, 14th Vice President of the United States (died 1875) Wikipedia
• 1838 Franz Brentano, German philosopher and psychologist (died 1917) Wikipedia
• 1844 Ismail Kemal, Albanian politician and statesman, first prime minister of Albania (died 1919) Wikipedia
• 1901 Fulgencio Batista, Cuban colonel and politician, ninth President of Cuba (died 1973) Wikipedia
• 1908 Ethel Merman, American actress and singer (died 1984) Wikipedia
• 1911 Eduardo Frei Montalva, Chilean lawyer and politician, 28th President of Chile (died 1982) Wikipedia
• 1924 Katy Jurado, Mexican actress (died 2002) Wikipedia
• 1931 Johannes Rau, German journalist and politician, eighth Federal President of Germany (died 2006) Wikipedia
• 1932 Dian Fossey, American zoologist and anthropologist (died 1985) Wikipedia
• 1933 Susan Sontag, American novelist, essayist, and critic (died 2004) Wikipedia
• 1946 Kabir Bedi, Indian actor Wikipedia
• 1948 John Carpenter, American director, producer, screenwriter, and composer Wikipedia
• 1959 Sade, Nigerian-English singer-songwriter and producer Wikipedia
• 1974 Kate Moss, English model and fashion designer Wikipedia
• 1979 Aaliyah, American singer and actress (died 2001) Wikipedia
• 1980 Seydou Keita, Malian footballer Wikipedia
• 1980 Lin-Manuel Miranda, American actor, playwright, and composer Wikipedia
• 1984 Stephan Lichtsteiner, Swiss footballer Wikipedia
• 1985 Sidharth Malhotra, Indian actor Wikipedia
• 1988 Nicklas Bendtner, Danish footballer Wikipedia
• 1996 Jennie, South Korean singer Wikipedia

Died on January 16

• 1595 Murad III, Ottoman sultan (born 1546) Wikipedia
• 1794 Edward Gibbon, English historian and politician (born 1737) Wikipedia
• 1891 Léo Delibes, French pianist and composer (born 1836) Wikipedia
• 1901 Arnold Böcklin, Swiss painter and academic (born 1827) Wikipedia
• 1936 Albert Fish, American serial killer, rapist and cannibal (born 1870) Wikipedia
• 1942 Carole Lombard, American actress and comedian (born 1908) Wikipedia
• 1957 Arturo Toscanini, Italian cellist and conductor (born 1867) Wikipedia
• 2014 Hiroo Onoda, Japanese lieutenant (born 1922) Wikipedia
• 2017 Eugene Cernan, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (born 1934) Wikipedia
• 2020 Christopher Tolkien, British academic and editor (born 1924) Wikipedia
• 2021 Phil Spector, American record producer, songwriter (born 1939) Wikipedia
• 2022 Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, Former Malian President (born 1945) Wikipedia
• 2025 David Lynch, American filmmaker and actor (born 1946) Wikipedia
• 2025 Dame Joan Plowright, English actress (born 1929) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Pope Benjamin (Coptic) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Berard of Carbio Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blaise (Armenian Apostolic) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Fursey Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Joseph Vaz Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Honoratus of Arles Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Pope Marcellus I Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (Coptic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Titian of Oderzo Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Eve of Saint Anthony observed with ritual bonfires in San Bartolomé de Pinares Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: January 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• National Religious Freedom Day (United States) Wikipedia
• Teachers' Day in Thailand and Myanmar Wikipedia

Sources

• Wikipedia — “January 16” — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/January 16” — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikidata — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “January 16” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for January 16 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.