Did you know
Girton College was established by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as a pioneering institution for women's education.
October 16 in History
1869 — Girton College, Cambridge is founded, becoming England's first residential college for women
October 16 spans 63 recorded events across recorded history, from 456 to 2017. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Historical Events
63 events
456 – 2017
Today in history
More major events on October 16
The featured story and these ranked highlights form a quick summary. Every recorded event remains available in the chronology below.
- 1968 Yasunari Kawabata becomes the first Japanese person to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Source
- 1909 William Howard Taft and Porfirio Díaz hold the first summit between a U.S. and a Mexican president. They narrowly escape assassination. Source
- 1951 The first Prime Minister of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan, is assassinated in Rawalpindi. Source
Did you know
The college was granted full college status by the University of Cambridge in 1948, marking a significant milestone in women's access to higher education.
Did you know
Somerville College, Oxford, is considered the sister college of Girton College, Cambridge, due to their shared history of women's education.
Did you know
In 1976, Girton College became the first Cambridge women's college to adopt a coeducational model, allowing men and women to study together.
Did you know
The University of Cambridge officially admitted women to its degree programs in 1948, following Girton College's grant of full college status.
456
Ricimer defeats Avitus at Piacenza and becomes master of the Western Roman Empire.
General and ruler of the Western Roman Empire (c. 418–472)
690
Empress Wu Zetian ascends to the throne of the Tang dynasty and proclaims herself ruler of the Chinese Empire.
Empress of China from 690 to 705
912
Abd ar-Rahman III becomes the eighth Emir of Córdoba.
Final Emir of Córdoba (r. 912–929); founder and 1st Caliph of Córdoba (r. 929–961)
955
King Otto I defeats a Slavic revolt in what is now Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
955 AD battle between the allied Kingdom of Germany and Rani tribe against the Obotrites
1311
The Council of Vienne convenes for the first time.
Ecumenical council of the Catholic Church (1311–1312)
1384
Jadwiga is crowned King of Poland, although she is a woman.
Monarch of Poland from 1384 to 1399
1590
Prince Gesualdo of Venosa murders his wife and her lover.
Italian prince, composer and murderer (1566–1613)
1736
Mathematician William Whiston's predicted comet fails to strike the Earth.
English theologian, historian, translator and mathematician (1667–1752)
1780
American Revolutionary War: The British-led Royalton raid is the last Native American raid on New England.
British-Indian military raid during the American War of Independence
1780
The Great Hurricane of 1780 finishes after its sixth day, killing between 20,000 and 24,000 residents of the Lesser Antilles.
Category 5 Atlantic hurricane
1793
French Revolution: Queen Marie Antoinette is executed.
Queen of France from 1774 to 1792
1793
War of the First Coalition: French victory at the Battle of Wattignies forces Austria to raise the siege of Maubeuge.
1793 battle during the War of the First Coalition
1805
War of the Third Coalition: Napoleon surrounds the Austrian army at Ulm.
1805 battle during the War of the Third Coalition
1813
The Sixth Coalition attacks Napoleon in the four-day Battle of Leipzig.
1813 battle of the Napoleonic Wars
1817
Italian explorer and archaeologist Giovanni Belzoni, uncovered the Tomb of Seti I in the Valley of the Kings.
Italian explorer (1778–1823)
1817
Simón Bolívar sentences Manuel Piar to death for challenging the racial-caste in Venezuela.
Venezuelan general (1774–1817)
1834
Much of the ancient structure of the Palace of Westminster in London burns to the ground.
1834 destruction of the Houses of Parliament, London
1836
Great Trek: Afrikaner voortrekkers repulse a Matabele attack, but lose their livestock.
1836 conflict during the Great Trek of the Boers
1841
Queen's University is founded in the Province of Canada.
Public university in Kingston, Ontario, Canada
1843
William Rowan Hamilton invents quaternions, a three-dimensional system of complex numbers.
Irish mathematician and physicist (1805–1865)
1846
1859
Origins of the American Civil War: Abolitionist John Brown and his supporters launch a raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia).
1869
The Cardiff Giant, one of the most famous American hoaxes, is "discovered".
1869 American archaeological hoax
1875
Brigham Young University is founded in Provo, Utah.
Private university in Provo, Utah, US
1882
The Nickel Plate Railroad opens for business.
Railway in the mid-central United States (1881–1964)
1891
A diplomatic incident between the United States and Chile occurred after U.S.
sailors were attacked in Valparaíso, nearly leading to war.
1905
The Partition of Bengal in India takes place.
Territorial partition in British India
1909
William Howard Taft and Porfirio Díaz hold the first summit between a U.S.
and a Mexican president. They narrowly escape assassination.
1916
Margaret Sanger opens the first family planning clinic in the United States.
American birth control activist and nurse (1879–1966)
1919
Adolf Hitler delivers his first public address at a meeting of the German Workers' Party.
Predecessor of the Nazi Party (1919–1920)
1923
Walt Disney and his brother, Roy, found the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, today known as The Walt Disney Company.
American animator, producer and entrepreneur (1901–1966)
1934
Chinese Communists begin the Long March to escape Nationalist encirclement.
1934–1936 Red Army retreat during the Chinese Civil War
1939
1940
Holocaust in Poland: The Warsaw Ghetto is established.
Nazi ghetto in occupied Poland
1946
Nuremberg trials: Ten defendants found guilty by the International Military Tribunal are executed by hanging.
Trials of Nazi German leaders
1947
The Philippines takes over the administration of the Turtle Islands and the Mangsee Islands from the United Kingdom.
Municipality in the Philippines
1949
The Greek Communist Party announces a "temporary cease-fire", thus ending the Greek Civil War.
1946–1949 civil war in Greece
1951
The first Prime Minister of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan, is assassinated in Rawalpindi.
Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1947 to 1951
1953
Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro delivers his "History Will Absolve Me" speech, and is sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment by the Fulgencio Batista government for leading an attack on the Moncada Barracks.
Country in the Caribbean
1962
Cuban Missile Crisis begins: U.S.
President John F. Kennedy is informed of photos taken on October 14 by a U-2 showing nuclear missiles (the crisis will last for 13 days starting from this point).
1964
Leonid Brezhnev becomes leader of the Soviet Communist Party, while Alexei Kosygin becomes the head of government.
Leader of the Soviet Union from 1964 to 1982
1968
Tommie Smith and John Carlos are ejected from the US Olympic team for participating in the Olympics Black Power salute.
Protest during 1968 Olympic Games
1968
Kingston, Jamaica is rocked by the Rodney riots, inspired by the barring of Walter Rodney from the country.
1968 civil unrest in Kingston, Jamaica
1968
Yasunari Kawabata becomes the first Japanese person to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Japanese novelist (1899–1972)
1970
Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau invokes the War Measures Act during the October Crisis.
Canadian legislation which provided the government emergency powers (1914–88)
1973
Henry Kissinger and Lê Đức Thọ are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
American diplomat and politician (1923–2023)
1975
Indonesian troops kill the Balibo Five, a group of Australian journalists, in Portuguese Timor.
Group of foreign journalists killed by Indonesian forces in Portuguese Timor (1975)
1975
Three-year-old Rahima Banu, from Bangladesh, is the last known case of naturally occurring smallpox.
Last known person to have been infected with naturally occurring Variola major smallpox
1975
The Australian Coalition sparks a constitutional crisis when they vote to defer funding for the government's annual budget.
Dismissal of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam
1978
Cardinal Karol Wojtyła is elected to the papacy as Pope John Paul II, he becomes the first non-Italian pontiff since 1523.
1984
Desmond Tutu is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
South African bishop and anti-apartheid activist (1931–2021)
1991
George Hennard runs amok in Killeen, Texas, killing 23 and wounding 20.
1991 mass shooting in Texas, U.S.
1995
The Skye Bridge in Scotland is opened.
Bridge connecting the Isle of Skye to the island of Eilean Bàn, Scotland
1996
Eighty-four football fans die and 180 are injured in a massive crush at a match in Guatemala City.
1996 football crowd disaster
1998
Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet is arrested in London on a murder extradition warrant.
Dictator of Chile from 1973 to 1990
1999
The magnitude 7.1 Hector Mine earthquake strikes Southern California
Magnitude 7.1 earthquake in California
2002
The Bibliotheca Alexandrina opens in Egypt, commemorating the ancient library of Alexandria.
Major library and cultural center in Alexandria, Egypt
2013
Lao Airlines Flight 301 crashes on approach to Pakse International Airport in Laos, killing 49 people.
2013 aviation accident
2017
