Did you know
In 2005, Kuwait permits women's suffrage in a 35–23 National Assembly vote. This featured entry focuses on the immediate decision and its direct historical impact.
May 16 in History
2005 — Kuwait permits women's suffrage in a 35–23 National Assembly vote
May 16 spans 56 recorded events across recorded history, from 946 to 2025. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Historical Events
56 events
946 – 2025
Today in history
More major events on May 16
The featured story and these ranked highlights form a quick summary. Every recorded event remains available in the chronology below.
- 1812 Imperial Russia signs the Treaty of Bucharest, ending the Russo-Turkish War. The Ottoman Empire cedes Bessarabia to Russia. Source
- 1777 Continental Army officer Lachlan McIntosh fatally wounds Button Gwinnett, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, in a duel in Savannah, Georgia. Source
- 1974 Josip Broz Tito is elected president for life of Yugoslavia. Source
Did you know
The National Assembly was the unicameral legislature of Kuwait. This helps explain why the event mattered beyond the initial announcement.
Did you know
It was typically composed of 50 elected members and 16 directly appointed government ministers. This clarifies the institutional and public response around the event.
Did you know
In 2005, Kuwait permits women's suffrage in a 35–23 National Assembly vote had consequences that extended beyond the first headline. The key context is the institutions involved, the policy shift, and how the public response evolved afterward.
Did you know
In 2005, Kuwait permits women's suffrage in a 35–23 National Assembly vote had consequences that extended beyond the first headline. The key context is the institutions involved, the policy shift, and how the public response evolved afterward.
946
Emperor Suzaku abdicates the throne in favor of his brother Murakami who becomes the 62nd emperor of Japan.
Emperor of Japan from 930 to 946
999
Rebel Turkish warlord Mahmud of Ghazni defeats Samanid Emir Mansur II in battle at Merv.
Calendar year
1003
Patrician John Crescentius, who has seized control of Rome, selects Pope John XVII as the new pope.
Consul and patrician of Rome from 1002 to 1012
1204
Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders is crowned as the first Emperor of the Latin Empire.
Latin Emperor from 1204 to 1205
1364
Hundred Years' War: Bertrand du Guesclin and a French army defeat the Anglo-Navarrese army of Charles the Bad at Cocherel.
Medieval Anglo-French conflicts, 1337–1453
1426
1527
The Florentines drive out the Medici for a second time and Florence re-establishes itself as a republic.
Italian banking family and political dynasty
1532
Sir Thomas More resigns as Lord Chancellor of England.
English politician, author and philosopher (1478–1535)
1584
Santiago de Vera becomes sixth governor-general of the Spanish colony of the Philippines.
Spanish colonial governor of the Philippines from 1584 to 1590
1739
The Battle of Vasai concludes as the Marathas defeat the Portuguese army.
1739 conflict between the Portuguese and Maratha Empires in India
1770
The 14-year-old Marie Antoinette marries 15-year-old Louis-Auguste, Dauphin de France, who later becomes king of France.
Queen of France from 1774 to 1792
1771
The Battle of Alamance, a pre-American Revolutionary War battle between local militia and a group of rebels called The "Regulators", occurs in present-day Alamance County, North Carolina.
Final battle of the Regulator Movement
1777
Continental Army officer Lachlan McIntosh fatally wounds Button Gwinnett, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, in a duel in Savannah, Georgia.
Colonial army during the American Revolutionary War
1811
Peninsular War: The allies Spain, Portugal and United Kingdom fight an inconclusive battle against the French at the Albuera.
It is, in proportion to the numbers involved, the bloodiest battle of the war.
1812
Imperial Russia signs the Treaty of Bucharest, ending the Russo-Turkish War.
The Ottoman Empire cedes Bessarabia to Russia.
1822
Greek War of Independence: The Turks capture the Greek town of Souli.
Greek rebellion against the Ottoman Empire (1821–1829)
1832
Juan Godoy discovers the rich silver outcrops of Chañarcillo sparking the Chilean silver rush.
Chilean miner (1800–1842)
1834
The Battle of Asseiceira is fought; it was the final and decisive engagement of the Liberal Wars in Portugal.
1834 final battle of the Portuguese Civil War
1842
The first major wagon train heading for the Pacific Northwest sets out on the Oregon Trail from Elm Grove, Missouri, with 100 pioneers.
Group of wagons traveling together
1863
American Civil War: During the Vicksburg campaign, the decisive Union victory by Ulysses S.
Grant at the Battle of Champion Hill drives the Confederate army under John C. Pemberton back towards Vicksburg, Mississippi.
1866
The United States Congress establishes the nickel.
Bicameral legislature of the United States
1868
The United States Senate fails to convict President Andrew Johnson by one vote.
Upper house of the US Congress
1874
A flood on the Mill River in Massachusetts destroys much of four villages and kills 139 people.
Tributary of the Connecticut River in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, USA
1877
The 16 May 1877 crisis occurs in France, ending with the dissolution of the National Assembly 22 June and affirming the interpretation of the Constitution of 1875 as a parliamentary rather than presidential system.
The elections held in October 1877 led to the defeat of the royalists as a formal political movement in France.
1888
Nikola Tesla delivers a lecture describing the equipment which will allow efficient generation and use of alternating currents to transmit electric power over long distances.
Serbian-American engineer and inventor (1856–1943)
1891
The International Electrotechnical Exhibition opens in Frankfurt, Germany, featuring the world's first long-distance transmission of high-power, three-phase electric current (the most common form today).
1891 trade show in Frankfurt am Main, Germany
1916
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the French Third Republic sign the secret wartime Sykes-Picot Agreement partitioning former Ottoman territories such as Iraq and Syria.
Historical sovereign state in Northwestern Europe (1801–1922)
1918
The Sedition Act of 1918 is passed by the U.S.
Congress, making criticism of the government during wartime an imprisonable offense. It will be repealed less than two years later.
1918
The victory military parade by the Finnish White Guard is held in Helsinki celebrating their decisive victory in the Finnish Civil War.
The day also begin to be celebrated on the Defence Forces Flag Day before it is moved in 1942 to the June 4th.
1919
A naval Curtiss NC-4 aircraft commanded by Albert Cushing Read leaves Trepassey, Newfoundland, for Lisbon via the Azores on the first transatlantic flight.
United States Navy flying boat, First aircraft to cross the Atlantic Ocean
1920
In Rome, Pope Benedict XV canonizes Joan of Arc.
Head of the Catholic Church from 1914 to 1922
1925
The first modern performance of Claudio Monteverdi's opera Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria occurred in Paris.
Italian composer (1567–1643)
1929
In Hollywood, the first Academy Awards ceremony takes place.
Neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, US
1943
The Holocaust: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising ends.
Genocide of European Jews by Nazi Germany
1943
Operation Chastise is undertaken by RAF Bomber Command with specially equipped Avro Lancasters to destroy the Mohne, Sorpe, and Eder dams in the Ruhr valley.
1943 attack on German dams by Royal Air Force
1945
Beginning of the Levant Crisis between Britain and France in Syria.
The latter try to quell nationalist protests but backs down after threat of military action by the British.
1951
The first regularly scheduled transatlantic flights begin between Idlewild Airport (now John F Kennedy International Airport) in New York City and Heathrow Airport in London, operated by El Al Israel Airlines.
Flight of an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean
1954
Beginning of the Kengir uprising in the Gulag.
1954 Gulag prisoner revolt in Kazakh SSR
1959
The Tritons' Fountain in Valletta, Malta is turned on for the first time.
Public fountain, Floriana, Malta
1960
Theodore Maiman operates the first optical laser (a ruby laser), at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California.
American physicist (1927–2007)
1961
Park Chung Hee leads a coup d'état to overthrow the Second Republic of South Korea.
President of South Korea from 1963 to 1979
1966
The Chinese Communist Party issues the "May 16 Notice", marking the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.
Ruling party of the People's Republic of China
1969
Venera program: Venera 5, a Soviet space probe, lands on Venus.
Soviet program that explored Venus with multiple probes
1972
An Antonov An-24 crashes into a kindergarten building in Svetlogorsk, killing 35.
Soviet turboprop airplane
1974
Josip Broz Tito is elected president for life of Yugoslavia.
Leader of Yugoslavia from 1943 to 1980
1975
Junko Tabei from Japan becomes the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
Japanese mountain climber (1939–2016)
1988
A report by the Surgeon General of the United States C.
Everett Koop states that the addictive properties of nicotine are similar to those of heroin and cocaine.
1991
Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom addresses a joint session of the United States Congress.
She is the first British monarch to address the U.S. Congress.
1997
Mobutu Sese Seko, the President of Zaire, flees the country.
President of DR Congo and Zaire from 1965 to 1997
2003
In Morocco, 33 civilians are killed and more than 100 people are injured in the Casablanca terrorist attacks.
Country in North Africa
2011
STS-134 (ISS assembly flight ULF6), launched from the Kennedy Space Center on the 25th and final flight for Space Shuttle Endeavour.
2011 American crewed spaceflight to the ISS
2014
Twelve people are killed in two explosions in the Gikomba market area of Nairobi, Kenya.
2014 IED explosions in Nairobi, Kenya
2025
A catastrophic EF3 tornado kills five people and causes over $1 billion in damages in St.
Louis, MO.
2025
A devastating EF4 tornado kills nineteen people in Southeast Kentucky, hitting the towns of Somerset and London.
EF4 tornado in Kentucky, U.S.