# On this day: July 16

July 16 is the 197th day of the year (198th in leap years), with 168 days left until the end of the year.

## July 16 in one line

Headline entries for July 16, from Wikipedia: in 1945, The United States conducted the first detonation of a nuclear weapon during the Trinity test; born 1872: Roald Amundsen, Norwegian pilot and explorer (died 1928); died 1985: Heinrich Böll, German novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1917). In 2026 it is a Thursday, in 2027 a Friday.

## Events on July 16

- 622 The Hijrah of Muhammad begins, marking the beginning of the Islamic calendar. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_calendar)
- 1232 Muhammad ibn Yusuf, who later established the Emirate of Granada, the last Muslim state in Spain, was elected the ruler of Arjona. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_I_of_Granada)
- 1377 The ten-year-old Richard II was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_II_of_England)
- 1536 Jacques Cartier, navigator and explorer, returns home to St. Malo after claiming Stadacona (Quebec), Hochelaga (Montreal) and the River of Canada (St. Lawrence River) region for France. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Cartier)
- 1782 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail premiered in Vienna, after which Emperor Joseph II anecdotally remarked that it had "too many notes". [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Entf%C3%BChrung_aus_dem_Serail)
- 1790 President George Washington signed the Residence Act, selecting a new permanent site along the Potomac River for the capital of the United States, which later became Washington, D.C. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residence_Act)
- 1861 American Civil War: At the order of President Abraham Lincoln, Union troops begin a 25-mile march into Virginia for what will become the First Battle of Bull Run, the first major land battle of the war. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_Bull_Run)
- 1915 Henry James becomes a British citizen to highlight his commitment to Britain during the first World War. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_James)
- 1916 Max Reger's Hebbel Requiem was first performed in a memorial concert for the composer, conducted by Philipp Wolfrum. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Requiem_(Reger))
- 1931 Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie promulgated the nation's first modern constitution. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1931_Constitution_of_Ethiopia)
- 1945 The United States conducted the first detonation of a nuclear weapon during the Trinity test. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_(nuclear_test))
- 1948 Following token resistance, the city of Nazareth, revered by Christians as the hometown of Jesus, capitulates to Israeli troops during Operation Dekel in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Dekel)
- 1950 Korean War: A Korean People's Army unit massacred 31 prisoners of war of the U.S. Army on a mountain near the village of Tuman. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaplain%E2%80%93Medic_massacre)
- 1950 Uruguay won the decisive match of the fourth FIFA World Cup, defeating Brazil 2–1 at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguay_v_Brazil_(1950_FIFA_World_Cup))
- 1951 The Catcher in the Rye, an American coming-of-age novel by J. D. Salinger, was published by Little, Brown. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Catcher_in_the_Rye)
- 1965 South Vietnamese Colonel Phạm Ngọc Thảo—an undetected communist spy—was reported dead due to injuries sustained during his capture, but it is generally assumed he was killed on the orders of military officials. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ph%E1%BA%A1m_Ng%E1%BB%8Dc_Th%E1%BA%A3o)
- 1969 The Apollo 11 lunar landing mission is launched from Cape Kennedy in Florida, USA. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11)
- 1979 Iraqi President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr resigns and is replaced by Saddam Hussein. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saddam_Hussein)
- 1983 A Sikorsky S-61 helicopter operated by British Airways crashed in thick fog in the Celtic Sea, killing 20 of the 26 people on board. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Helicopters_Flight_5918)
- 1990 A 7.8 MS earthquake struck the densely populated Philippine island of Luzon, killing an estimated 1,621 people. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990_Luzon_earthquake)
- 1994 Fragments of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 began colliding with the planet Jupiter , with the first impact causing a fireball that reached a peak temperature of 24,000 kelvin. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Shoemaker%E2%80%93Levy_9)
- 2003 A faction of the armed forces of São Tomé and Príncipe led by Major Fernando Pereira overthrew the government of Fradique de Menezes in a bloodless coup d'état. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_S%C3%A3o_Tom%C3%A9_and_Pr%C3%ADncipe_coup_d'%C3%A9tat)
- 2004 Millennium Park, a public park in Chicago, Illinois, and one of the world's largest rooftop gardens, opened to the public. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Park)
- 2007 A magnitude-6.6 earthquake struck off the coast of Niigata Prefecture, Japan, causing a leak of radioactive gases from the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Ch%C5%ABetsu_offshore_earthquake)
- 2008 A tainted milk powder scandal broke in China which ultimately involved an estimated 300,000 victims, the vast majority infants, with 54,000 hospitalized with kidney problems and six deaths. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Chinese_milk_scandal)
- 2013 At least 23 students died and dozens more fell ill at a primary school in the Indian state of Bihar after consuming a Midday Meal that was contaminated with pesticide. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bihar_school_meal_poisoning_incident)

## Born on July 16

- 1194 Clare of Assisi, Italian nun and saint (died 1253) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clare_of_Assisi)
- 1486 Andrea del Sarto, Italian painter (died 1530) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_del_Sarto)
- 1723 Joshua Reynolds, English painter and academic (died 1792) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Reynolds)
- 1796 Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, French painter and etcher (died 1875) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste-Camille_Corot)
- 1821 Mary Baker Eddy, American religious leader and author, founded Christian Science (died 1910) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Baker_Eddy)
- 1862 Ida B. Wells, American journalist and activist (died 1931) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_B._Wells)
- 1872 Roald Amundsen, Norwegian pilot and explorer (died 1928) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roald_Amundsen)
- 1888 Frits Zernike, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1966) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frits_Zernike)
- 1896 Trygve Lie, Norwegian trade union leader and politician, 1st Secretary-General of the United Nations (died 1968) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trygve_Lie)
- 1907 Barbara Stanwyck, American actress (died 1990) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Stanwyck)
- 1911 Ginger Rogers, American actress, singer, and dancer (died 1995) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginger_Rogers)
- 1926 Irwin Rose, American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2015) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irwin_Rose)
- 1936 Yasuo Fukuda, Japanese politician, 91st Prime Minister of Japan [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasuo_Fukuda)
- 1942 Margaret Court, Australian tennis player and minister [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Court)
- 1964 Miguel Induráin, Spanish cyclist [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_Indur%C3%A1in)
- 1967 Will Ferrell, American actor, comedian, and producer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Ferrell)
- 1968 Larry Sanger, American philosopher and businessman, co-founded Wikipedia and Citizendium [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Sanger)
- 1969 Sahra Wagenknecht, German politician [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahra_Wagenknecht)
- 1983 Katrina Kaif, British Indian actress and model [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katrina_Kaif)
- 1987 Mousa Dembélé, Belgian footballer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mousa_Demb%C3%A9l%C3%A9_(Belgian_footballer))
- 1988 Sergio Busquets, Spanish footballer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergio_Busquets)
- 1989 Gareth Bale, Welsh footballer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth_Bale)

## Died on July 16

- 1216 Pope Innocent III (born 1160) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Innocent_III)
- 1557 Anne of Cleves, Queen consort of England (born 1515) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_of_Cleves)
- 1882 Mary Todd Lincoln, First Lady of the United States 1861–1865 (born 1818) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Todd_Lincoln)
- 1885 Rosalía de Castro, Spanish poet (born 1837) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosal%C3%ADa_de_Castro)
- 1915 Ellen G. White, American author and co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church(born 1827) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_G._White)
- 1985 Heinrich Böll, German novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1917) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_B%C3%B6ll)
- 1989 Herbert von Karajan, Austrian conductor and manager (born 1908) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_von_Karajan)
- 1994 Julian Schwinger, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1918) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Schwinger)
- 2003 Celia Cruz, Cuban-American singer and actress (born 1925) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celia_Cruz)
- 2012 Stephen Covey, American businessman and author (born 1932) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Covey)
- 2017 George A. Romero, American filmmaker (born 1940) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_A._Romero)
- 2023 Jane Birkin, British model, actress, singer, and songwriter (born 1944) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Birkin)
- 2023 Kevin Mitnick, American hacker (born 1963) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Mitnick)
- 2025 Connie Francis, American singer and actress (born 1937) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connie_Francis)

## Holidays and observances

- Christian feast day: André de Soveral [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_de_Soveral)
- Christian feast day: Gondulphus of Tongeren [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gondulph_of_Maastricht)
- Christian feast day: Helier [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helier)
- Christian feast day: Blessed Irmgard of Chiemsee [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irmgard_of_Chiemsee)
- Christian feast day: Marie-Madeleine Postel [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie-Madeleine_Postel)
- Christian feast day: Our Lady of Mount Carmel Fiesta de La Tirana (Tarapacá Region, Chile) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiesta_de_La_Tirana)
- Christian feast day: Reineldis [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reineldis)
- Christian feast day: Sisenandus of Beja [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisenandus_of_Beja)
- Christian feast day: July 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_16_(Eastern_Orthodox_liturgics))
- Engineer's Day (Honduras) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineer's_Day)
- Holocaust Memorial Day (France) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Holocaust_memorial_days)

## Sources

- [Wikipedia — “July 16”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_16) — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
- [Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/July 16”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Selected_anniversaries/July_16) — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/) — 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)](https://github.com/vacanza/holidays) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article [“July 16”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_16) and the articles it links to ([authors and history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_16?action=history)), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/); this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for July 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. The 1945 entry comes first in the one-line summary: a short list, checked by hand, names the event a date is best known for where the order above would put a lesser one first. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.

## July 16 in the calendar

| Year | Weekday | ISO week | Moon (UTC) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026 | Thursday | 2026-W29 | 🌒 Waxing Crescent |
| 2027 | Friday | 2027-W28 | 🌔 Waxing Gibbous |
| 2028 | Sunday | 2028-W28 | 🌘 Waning Crescent |
| 2029 | Monday | 2029-W29 | 🌒 Waxing Crescent |
| 2030 | Tuesday | 2030-W29 | 🌖 Waning Gibbous |

Moon phases are for the day in UTC; at the edges of a phase your local date can differ.

## Public holidays on July 16

- [🇨🇱 Chile](https://whathappen.today/holidays/chile/): Our Lady of Mount Carmel (2026 and 2027)

[Today's holidays in 28 countries →](https://whathappen.today/holidays/)

## Nearby dates

[← July 15](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/july-15/) · [July 17 →](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/july-17/)

[All 366 days](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/)

Last updated: 15 October 2026

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Web page: https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/july-16/