September 16 in History

September 16 spans 56 recorded events across recorded history, from 681 to 2022. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.

Holidays and observances on September 16

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Inspiration4, the first private orbital crewed spaceflight, is launched from the

2021 — Inspiration4, the first private orbital crewed spaceflight, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center.

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Historical Events 56 events 681 – 2022

More major events on September 16

The featured story and these ranked highlights form a quick summary. Every recorded event remains available in the chronology below.

  1. 1863 Robert College, in Istanbul, the first American educational institution outside the United States, is founded by Christopher Robert, an American philanthropist. Source
  2. 1955 A Soviet Zulu-class submarine becomes the first to launch a ballistic missile. Source

Did you know

In 2021, Inspiration4, the first private orbital crewed spaceflight, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center. This featured entry focuses on the immediate decision and its direct historical impact.

Did you know

Kennedy Space Center, located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the ten field centers of NASA. This helps explain why the event mattered beyond the initial announcement.

Did you know

Since 1968, KSC has been NASA's primary launch center of American spaceflight, research, and technology. This clarifies the institutional and public response around the event.

Did you know

Launch operations for the Apollo, Skylab, Space Shuttle and Artemis programs were carried out from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 and managed by KSC. This shows how the event shaped policy and public communication in the same period.

Did you know

Located on the east coast of Florida, KSC is adjacent to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS). This helps explain why the event mattered beyond the initial announcement.


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Showing all 55 events

681 Pope_Honorius_I

Pope Honorius I is posthumously excommunicated by the Sixth Ecumenical Council.

Pope Honorius I was the bishop of Rome from his consecration on 27 October 625 until his death on 12 October 638.
1400 Owain Glyndŵr

Owain Glyndŵr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers.

Owain ap Gruffudd Fychan or Owain Glyndŵr (c. 1359 – c. 1416) was a Welsh nobleman and military commander in the late Middle Ages who led a revolt with the aim of establishing an independent Wales free from English rule. Owain was acclaimed Prince of Wales by his supporters on 16 September 1400, and following initial successes, the rebellion was able to take control of the entirety of the country between 1404 and 1405. However, an increase of English military pressure and the lack of foreign aid resulted in the loss of all rebel territory by 1409, after which Owain continued sporadic resistance until his disappearance from the historical record in 1412. He was never captured, and died in hiding around 1416. During the year 1400, Owain, a Welsh soldier and Lord of Glyndyfrdwy, had a dispute with his English neighbour Reginald de Grey, a symptom of larger animosity between the Welsh and English in Wales which ultimately led to a national revolt that pitted common Welsh countrymen and nobles against the English military. In response to the rebellion, discriminatory penal laws were implemented against the Welsh people; this deepened civil unrest and significantly increased support for Owain across Wales. Then, in 1404, after a series of successful castle sieges and several battlefield victories for the Welsh, Owain gained control of most of Wales and held a parliament in Machynlleth in the presence of envoys from France, Scotland, the Spanish kingdoms of Castille and Leon, and representatives from every region of Wales. Military aid was given to the rebellion from France, Brittany, and Scotland. Owain wrote in the Pennal Letter of 1406 that he had plans to build two universities, one in North Wales and one in South Wales, and reinstate the traditional Welsh laws of Hywel Dda, and to expand Wales' borders into England, which would have affected the structure of the Church. The war continued, and over the next several years, the English gradually gained control of large parts of Wales. By 1409 the rebellion’s last remaining castles of Harlech and Aberystwyth had been captured by English forces. Owain refused two royal pardons and retreated to the Welsh hills and mountains with his remaining forces, where he continued to resist English rule by using guerrilla warfare tactics, until his disappearance from the historical record in 1412. Owain was never captured or killed, and the circumstances surrounding his death are unknown. In Welsh culture he acquired a mythical status alongside Cadwaladr, Cynon ap Clydno and King Arthur as a folk hero, and was seen as the 'Son of Destiny', just as was Owain Lawgoch a few decades earlier. He also appears in William Shakespeare's play Henry IV, Part 1 as the character Owen Glendower.
1410 Ferdinand_I_of_Aragon

Ferdinand of Trastámara takes Antequera from the emirate of Granada.

Ferdinand I named Ferdinand of Antequera and also the Just was king of Aragon, Valencia, Majorca, Sardinia and (nominally) Corsica and king of Sicily, duke (nominal) of Athens and Neopatria, and count of Barcelona, Roussillon and Cerdanya (1412–1416). He was also regent of Castile (1406–1416). He was the first Castillian ruler of the Crown of Aragon.
1620 Pilgrims_(Plymouth_Colony)

Pilgrims set sail for Virginia from Plymouth, England in the Mayflower.

The Pilgrims, also known as the Pilgrim Fathers, were the English settlers who traveled to North America on the ship Mayflower and established the Plymouth Colony at what now is Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. John Smith named this territory New Plymouth in 1614, sharing the name of the Pilgrims' final departure port of Plymouth, Devon, England. The Pilgrims' leadership came from religious congregations of Brownists or Separatists who had fled religious persecution in England for the tolerance of 17th-century Holland in the Netherlands.
1701 James Francis Edward Stuart

James Francis Edward Stuart, sometimes called the "Old Pretender", becomes the Jacobite claimant to the thrones of England and Scotland on the death of his father, James II.

James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 1688 – 1 January 1766), also known as the Old Pretender and the Chevalier de St. George, was the senior House of Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland from 1701 until his death in 1766. The only surviving son of James II of England and his second wife, Mary of Modena, he was created Prince of Wales. He was heir-apparent until his Catholic father was deposed and exiled in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. His Protestant half-sister Mary II and her husband William III and II became co-monarchs. As a Catholic, he was subsequently excluded from the succession by the Bill of Rights 1689. James claimed the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland when his father died in September 1701. As part of the War of the Spanish Succession, in 1708 Louis XIV of France backed a landing in Scotland on his behalf. This failed, as did further attempts in 1715 and 1719, after which James lived quietly in Rome. Led by his elder son Charles Edward Stuart, the 1745 Rising was the last serious effort to restore the Stuart line.
1732 Campo_Maior,_Portugal

In Campo Maior, Portugal, a storm hits the Armory and a violent explosion ensues, killing two-thirds of its inhabitants.

Campo Maior, officially the Loyal and Valorous Town of Campo Maior, is a municipality in the Portalegre District, Alentejo Region, Portugal. The population in 2011 was 8,456, in an area of 247.20 square kilometres (95.44 sq mi). It is bordered by Spain on the North and East, by Elvas Municipality on the Southeast, and by Arronches Municipality on the West.
1776 American Revolutionary War

American Revolutionary War: American forces win the Battle of Harlem Heights after General George Washington orders a counterattack on advancing British light infantry.

The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence or simply the American Revolution, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which American Patriot forces organized as the Continental Army and, commanded by George Washington, defeated the British Army. The conflict was fought in North America, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic Ocean. The war's outcome seemed uncertain for most of the war, but Washington and the Continental Army's decisive victory in the Siege of Yorktown in 1781 led King George III and the Kingdom of Great Britain to negotiate an end to the war. In 1783, in the Treaty of Paris, the British monarchy acknowledged the independence of the Thirteen Colonies, leading to the establishment of the United States as an independent and sovereign nation. In 1763, after the British Empire gained dominance in North America following its victory over the French in the Seven Years' War, tensions and disputes began escalating between the British and the Thirteen Colonies, especially following passage of the Stamp and Townshend Acts. The British Army responded by seeking to occupy Boston militarily, leading to the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770. In mid-1774, with tensions escalating even further between the British Army and the colonies, the British Parliament imposed the Intolerable Acts, an attempt to disarm Americans, leading to the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775, the first battles of the Revolutionary War. In June 1775, the Second Continental Congress voted to incorporate colonial-based Patriot militias into a central military, the Continental Army, and unanimously appointed Washington its commander-in-chief. Two months later, in August 1775, George III declared the colonies to be in a state of rebellion. In July 1776, the Second Continental Congress formalized the war, passing the Lee Resolution on July 2, and, two days later, unanimously adopting the Declaration of Independence, on July 4. In March 1776, in an early win for the newly-formed Continental Army under Washington's command, following a successful siege of Boston, the Continental Army successfully drove the British Army out of Boston. British commander in chief William Howe responded by launching the New York and New Jersey campaign, which resulted in Howe's capture of New York City in November. Washington responded by clandestinely crossing the Delaware River and winning small but significant victories at Trenton and Princeton. In the summer of 1777, as Howe was poised to capture Philadelphia, the Continental Congress fled to Baltimore. In October 1777, a separate northern British force under the command of John Burgoyne was forced to surrender at Saratoga in an American victory that proved crucial in convincing France and Spain that an independent United States was a viable possibility. France signed a commercial agreement with the revolutionaries, followed by a Treaty of Alliance in February 1778. In 1779, the Sullivan Expedition undertook a scorched earth campaign against British-allied factions of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (also Iroquois). Native American raids on the American frontier, however, continued to be a problem. Also, in 1779, Spain allied with France against Great Britain in the Treaty of Aranjuez, though Spain did not formally ally with the Americans. Howe's replacement Henry Clinton intended to take the war against the Americans into the Southern Colonies. Despite some initial success, British General Cornwallis was besieged by a Franco-American army in Yorktown, Virginia, in September and October 1781. The French navy cut off Cornwallis's escape and he was forced to surrender in October. The British wars with France and Spain continued for another two years, but fighting largely ceased in North America. In the Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, Great Britain acknowledged the sovereignty and independence of the United States, bringing the American Revolutionary War to an end. The Treaties of Versailles resolved Great Britain's conflicts with France and Spain, and forced Great Britain to cede Tobago, Senegal, and small territories in India to France, and Menorca, West Florida, and East Florida to Spain.
1779 Siege of Savannah (1779)

American Revolutionary War: The Franco-American Siege of Savannah begins.

The siege of Savannah or the second battle of Savannah was an encounter of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) in 1779. The year before, the city of Savannah, Georgia, had been captured by a British expeditionary corps under Lieutenant-Colonel Archibald Campbell. The siege itself consisted of a joint Franco-American attempt to retake Savannah, from September 16 to October 18, 1779. On October 9, 1779, a major assault against the British siege works failed. During the attack, Polish nobleman Count Casimir Pulaski, leading the combined cavalry forces on the American side, was mortally wounded. With the failure of the joint attack, the siege was abandoned, and the British remained in control of Savannah until July 1782, near the end of the war.
1810 Grito de Dolores

With the Grito de Dolores, Father Miguel Hidalgo begins Mexico's fight for independence from Spain.

The Cry of Dolores (Spanish: Grito de Dolores) occurred in Dolores, Mexico, on 16 September 1810, when Roman Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rang his church bell and gave the call to arms that triggered the Mexican War of Independence. The Cry of Dolores is most commonly known by the locals as El Grito de Independencia (The Independence Cry). Every year on the eve of Independence Day, the president of Mexico re-enacts the cry from the balcony of the National Palace in Mexico City while ringing the same bell Hidalgo used in 1810. During the patriotic speech, the president calls out the names of the fallen heroes who died during the War of Independence and ends the speech by shouting "¡Viva México!" three times, followed by the Mexican National Anthem.
1822 Augustin-Jean Fresnel

French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel, in a "note" read to the Academy of Sciences, reports a direct refraction experiment verifying David Brewster's hypothesis that photoelasticity (as it is now known) is stress-induced birefringence.

Augustin-Jean Fresnel (10 May 1788 – 14 July 1827) was a French civil engineer and physicist whose research in optics led to the almost unanimous acceptance of the wave theory of light, fully supplanting Newton's corpuscular theory, from the late 1830s until the end of the 19th century. He is perhaps better known for inventing the catadioptric (reflective/refractive) Fresnel lens and for pioneering the use of "stepped" lenses to extend the visibility of lighthouses, saving countless lives at sea. The simpler dioptric (purely refractive) stepped lens, first proposed by Count Buffon and independently reinvented by Fresnel, is used in screen magnifiers and in condenser lenses for overhead projectors. Fresnel gave the first satisfactory explanation of diffraction by straight edges, including the first satisfactory wave-based explanation of rectilinear propagation. By further supposing that light waves are purely transverse, Fresnel explained the nature of polarization. He then worked on double refraction. Fresnel had a lifelong battle with tuberculosis, to which he succumbed at the age of 39. He lived just long enough to receive recognition from his peers, including (on his deathbed) the Rumford Medal of the Royal Society, and his name is ubiquitous in the modern terminology of optics and waves. After the wave theory of light was subsumed by Maxwell's electromagnetic theory in the 1860s, some attention was diverted from the magnitude of Fresnel's contribution. In the period between Fresnel's unification of physical optics and Maxwell's wider unification, a contemporary authority, Humphrey Lloyd, described Fresnel's transverse-wave theory as "the noblest fabric which has ever adorned the domain of physical science, Newton's system of the universe alone excepted".
1863 Robert College

Robert College, in Istanbul, the first American educational institution outside the United States, is founded by Christopher Robert, an American philanthropist.

American Robert College of Istanbul is an independent, co-educational, private high school in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded in 1863, Robert College is the oldest continuously operating American school outside the United States. The school is situated in a 265-acre (107 ha) wooded campus on the European side of Istanbul in the Beşiktaş district, with the historic Arnavutköy neighborhood to the east and the upscale Ulus neighborhood to the west.
1880 The Cornell Daily Sun

The Cornell Daily Sun prints its first issue in Ithaca, New York.

The Cornell Daily Sun is an independent newspaper at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. It is published twice weekly by Cornell University students and hired employees. Founded in 1880, The Sun is the oldest continuously independent college daily in the United States. The Sun features coverage of the university and its environs. It prints on Wednesdays when the university is open for academic instruction. In addition to these regular issues, The Sun publishes a graduation issue, reunion issue, and a freshman issue, which is mailed to incoming Cornell freshmen before their first semester. The paper is free on campus and online. The Sun edits under its proprietary "Sun Style Guide," an amended version of AP Style. Aside from a few full-time production positions, The Sun is staffed by Cornell students and is fully independent of the university. It operates out of its own building in downtown Ithaca. As of 2023, The Sun is ranked the third-best college student newspaper in the nation, behind Yale and Syracuse, according to College Choice's annual rankings.
1893 Land Run of 1893

Settlers make a land run for prime land in the Cherokee Strip in Oklahoma.

In U.S. history, the Land Run of 1893, also known as the Cherokee Outlet Opening or the Cherokee Strip Land Run, marked the opening to settlement of the Cherokee Outlet in the Oklahoma Territory's fourth and largest land run. It was part of what would later become the U.S. state of Oklahoma in 1907.
1908 General Motors

The General Motors Corporation is founded.

General Motors Company (GM) is an American multinational automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing four automobile brands: Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac, each a separate division of GM. By total sales, it has continuously been the largest automaker in the United States, and was the largest in the world for 77 years before losing the title to Toyota in 2008. General Motors operates manufacturing plants in eight countries. In addition to its four core brands, GM also holds interests in Chinese brands Baojun and Wuling via SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile. GM further owns a namesake defense vehicles division which produces military vehicles for the United States government and military, the vehicle safety, security, and information services provider OnStar, the auto parts company ACDelco, and a namesake financial lending service. The company originated as a holding company for Buick established on September 16, 1908, by William C. Durant. The current entity was established in 2009 after the General Motors Chapter 11 reorganization. As of 2024, General Motors ranks 25th by total revenue out of all American companies on the Fortune 500 and 50th on the Fortune Global 500. In 2023, the company was ranked 70th in the Forbes Global 2000. In 2021, GM announced its intent to end production of vehicles using internal combustion engines by 2035, as part of its plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040. These plans were mostly scaled back in 2025.
1914 World_War_I

World War I: The Siege of Przemyśl (present-day Poland) begins.

World War I, or the First World War, also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Central Powers. One of the deadliest conflicts in history, World War I resulted in an estimated 15 to 22 million deaths, including those in war crimes and genocides. The war also helped spread the Spanish flu pandemic. The conflict saw important developments in weaponry, including the first large-scale use of machine guns, artillery, aircraft, chemical weapons, and tanks.
1920 Wall Street bombing

The Wall Street bombing: A bomb in a horse wagon explodes in front of the J.

P. Morgan building in New York City killing 38 and injuring 400.
The Wall Street bombing was an act of terrorism on Wall Street at 12:01 pm on Thursday, September 16, 1920. The blast killed 30 people immediately, and another eight later died of wounds that they sustained in the blast. There were 143 seriously injured, and the total number of injured was in the hundreds. The bombing was never solved, although investigators and historians believe it was carried out by Galleanists, a group responsible for a series of bombings the previous year.
1940 World_War_II

World War II: Italian troops conquer Sidi Barrani.

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many engaging in total war on an unprecedented scale. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the deaths of 60 to 75 million people, a majority of whom were civilians. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.
1943 10th Army (Wehrmacht)

World War II: The German Tenth Army reports that it can no longer contain the Allied bridgehead around Salerno.

The 10th Army (German: 10. Armee) was a World War II field army of the Wehrmacht (Germany). A new 10th Army was activated in 1943 in response to the Allied invasion of Italy. It saw action notably in late 1943 and early 1944 along the "Winter Line" at the Battle of San Pietro Infine and the Battle of Monte Cassino, before finally surrendering near the Alps. Among its troops at Cassino were the XIV Panzer Corps and Parachute divisions of the Luftwaffe.
1945 Japanese_occupation_of_Hong_Kong

World War II: The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong comes to an end.

The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began when the governor of Hong Kong, Mark Aitchison Young, surrendered the British Crown colony of Hong Kong to the Empire of Japan on 25 December 1941. His surrender occurred after 18 days of fierce fighting against the Japanese forces that invaded the territory. The occupation lasted for three years and eight months until Japan surrendered at the end of the Second World War. The length of the period later became a metonym of the occupation.
1953 American Airlines Flight 723

American Airlines Flight 723 crashes in Colonie, New York, killing 28 people.

American Airlines Flight 723 was a scheduled American Airlines flight from Boston Airport in Massachusetts, to Chicago Midway Airport in Illinois. On September 16, 1953, a Convair 240 propliner flying this route crashed while attempting to land at Albany Airport in upstate New York, killing all 28 people on board.
1955 Revolución Libertadora

The military coup to unseat President Juan Perón of Argentina is launched at midnight.

The Revolución Libertadora (Spanish pronunciation: [reβoluˈsjon liβeɾtaˈðoɾa]; Liberating Revolution) as it named itself, was the civic-military dictatorship that ruled the Argentine Republic after overthrowing President Juan Domingo Perón, shutting down the National Congress, removing members of the Supreme Court, as well as provincial, municipal, and university authorities, and placing the entire Judiciary under commission. This occurred through a coup d'état on 16 September 1955. Uruguay, led by Luis Batlle Berres, received 90 aviators involved in the May Square Bombings, and provided the anti-peronist military with logistical supply, radio broadcast relays and port access for warships. Western powers were not involved in the coup, but they saw its outcome as a major Cold War victory against Latin American non-alignment and helped stabilize the new regime. The Eisenhower administration provided financial loans and intelligence coordination to combat instability. British diplomats welcomed the new government as an ideal opportunity to reopen Argentine markets, tie Argentina with Western security and dismantle Perón’s pragmatic trade agreements with the Communist bloc. West Germany's intelligence agencies such as the Bundesnachrichtendienst collaborated with the post-coup Argentine apparatus and financed anti-communist propaganda. After two years the dictatorship organized conditional elections, which transferred power on 1 May 1958 to a constitutional government led by the Radical Arturo Frondizi, who in turn would also be overthrown by another military-led coup d'état in 1962.
1955 Zulu-class_submarine

A Soviet Zulu-class submarine becomes the first to launch a ballistic missile.

The Soviet Navy's Project 611 were one of the first Soviet post-Second-World-War attack submarines. They were similarly capable to the American GUPPY fleet-boat conversions. They were a contemporary of the Whiskey-class submarines and shared a similar sonar arrangement. Like most conventional submarines designed 1946–1960, their design was influenced by the German World War II Type XXI submarine.
1956 TCN

TCN-9 Sydney is the first Australian television station to commence regular broadcasts.

TCN is the flagship television station of the Nine Network in Australia. The station is currently located at 1 Denison Street, North Sydney. The licence, issued to a company named Television Corporation Ltd headed by Frank Packer, was one of the first four licences (two in Sydney, two in Melbourne) to be issued for commercial television stations in Australia. TCN-9 is the home of the NRL coverage and national-level Nine News bulletins.
1959 Xerox 914

The first successful photocopier, the Xerox 914, is introduced in a demonstration on live television from New York City.

The Xerox 914 was the first successful commercial plain paper copier. Introduced in 1959 by the Haloid/Xerox company, it revolutionized the document-copying industry. The culmination of inventor Chester Carlson's work on the xerographic process, the 914 was fast and economical. The copier was introduced to the public on September 16, 1959, in a demonstration at the Sherry-Netherland Hotel in New York, shown on live television.
1961 Hurricane Esther

The United States National Hurricane Research Project drops eight cylinders of silver iodide into the eyewall of Hurricane Esther.

Wind speed reduces by 10%, giving rise to Project Stormfury.
Hurricane Esther was the first large tropical cyclone to be discovered by satellite imagery. The fifth tropical cyclone, named storm, and hurricane of the 1961 Atlantic hurricane season, Esther developed from an area of disturbed weather hundreds of miles west-southwest of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands on September 10. Moving northwestward, the depression strengthened into Tropical Storm Esther on September 11, before reaching hurricane intensity on the following day. Early on September 13, Esther curved westward and deepened into a major hurricane. The storm remained a Category 3 hurricane for about four days and gradually moved in a west-northwestward direction. Late on September 17, Esther strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane, peaking with sustained winds of 160 mph (260 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 919 mbar (91.9 kPa; 27.1 inHg) on September 18. The storm curved north-northeastward on September 19, while offshore of North Carolina. Esther began to weaken while approaching New England and fell to Category 3 intensity on September 21. The storm turned eastward early on the following day, and rapidly weakened to a tropical storm. Esther then executed a large loop, until curving northward on September 25. Early on the following day, Esther made landfall on Cape Cod, hours before emerging into the Gulf of Maine. Later on September 26, the storm made landfall in southeastern Maine, before weakening to a tropical depression and transitioning to an extratropical cyclone over southeastern Quebec. The cyclone persisted for about 12 hours, before dissipating early on September 27. Between North Carolina and New Jersey, effects were primarily limited to strong winds and minor beach erosion and coastal flooding due to storm surge. In New York, strong winds led to severe crop losses and over 300,000 power outages. High tides caused coastal flooding and damage to a number of pleasure boats. Similar impact was reported in Massachusetts. Additionally, some areas observed more than 8 inches (203 mm) of rainfall, flooding basements, low-lying roads, and underpasses. Overall, damages totaled about $6 million (1961 USD). There were also seven deaths reported when a United States Navy P5M aircraft crashed about 120 miles (190 km) north of Bermuda.
1961 Typhoon Nancy (1961)

Typhoon Nancy, with possibly the strongest winds ever measured in a tropical cyclone, makes landfall in Osaka, Japan, killing 173 people.

Super Typhoon Nancy, also known as the 2nd Muroto Typhoon (第二室戸台風, Daini-muroto Taifū), was an extremely powerful tropical cyclone of the 1961 Pacific typhoon season, produced the highest accumulated cyclone energy—a metric used to measure the total energy generated by tropical cyclones—of any individual cyclone on record in the basin, also one of the most intense tropical cyclones on record. The system possibly had the strongest winds ever measured in a tropical cyclone, with 345 km/h (215 mph) winds, tied with Hurricane Patricia of 2015. Nancy caused extensive damage, as well as at least 202 deaths and nearly 5,000 injuries in Japan and elsewhere, in September 1961.
1961 SUPARCO

Pakistan establishes its Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission with Abdus Salam as its head.

The Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission, commonly referred to as SUPARCO, is the national space agency of Pakistan. The agency, originally established in 1961 as a committee in Karachi, became an independent commission in 1981. Its initial objective was to study rocketry and high-altitude research from the United States, which eventually led to the development of a national satellite programme. This culminated in the successful launch of Pakistan's first satellite from China in 1990. The agency was also an early participant in the rocket development programme launched by the Ministry of Defence of Pakistan. The agency leads the National Space Programme (NSP) and maintains the orbital operations of its satellites with support facilities throughout the country. SUPARCO also serves as the secretariat for Pakistan Space Activities Regulatory Board (PSARB) which was established in February 2024 under the National Command Authority to regulate all space-related activities in Pakistan.
1963 Malaysia

Malaysia is formed from the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak.

However, Singapore is soon expelled from this new country.
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. A federal constitutional monarchy, it consists of 13 states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia on Mainland Southeast Asia and East Malaysia on the island of Borneo. Peninsular Malaysia shares land and maritime borders with Thailand, as well as maritime borders with Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia; East Malaysia shares land borders with Brunei and Indonesia, and maritime borders with the Philippines and Vietnam. Kuala Lumpur is the country's national capital, largest city, and the seat of the legislative branch of the federal government, while Putrajaya is the federal administrative capital, representing the seat of both the executive branch and the judicial branch of the federal government. With a population of over 34 million, it is the world's 43rd-most populous country. The country has its origins in the Malay kingdoms, which, from the 18th century on, became subject to the British Empire, along with the British Straits Settlements protectorate. During World War II, British Malaya, along with other nearby British and American colonies, was occupied by the Empire of Japan. Following three years of occupation, Malaya was briefly unified as the Malayan Union in 1946 until 1948 when it was restructured as the Federation of Malaya. The country achieved independence on 31 August 1957. On 16 September 1963, independent Malaya united with the then British crown colonies of North Borneo, Sarawak, and Singapore to become Malaysia. In August 1965, Singapore was separated from the federation and became an independent country. Malaysia is tropical and is one of 17 megadiverse countries; it is home to numerous endemic species. The country is multiethnic and multicultural, which has a significant effect on its politics. About half the population is ethnically Malay, with minorities of Chinese, Indians, and indigenous peoples. The Bumiputra policy grants the Malay majority a constitutionally enshrined privileged status over Malaysian citizens who are Chinese or Indians via affirmative action measures. The official language is Malaysian Malay, a standard form of the Malay language. English remains an active second language. While recognising Islam as the official religion, the constitution grants freedom of religion to non-Muslims though conversion out of Islam is forbidden while conversion to it is allowed. The government is modelled on the Westminster parliamentary system, and the legal system is based on common law. The head of state is an elected monarch, chosen among the nine state rulers every five years. The head of government is the prime minister. The country's economy was once heavily reliant on agriculture and primary commodities but is now driven by the services and manufacturing sectors. Malaysia ranks highly in peacefulness and passport strength and has a newly industrialised economy that is relatively open and state-oriented. The country is a founding member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the East Asia Summit (EAS), and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as a member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), the Commonwealth of Nations, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
1966 Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center)

The Metropolitan Opera House opens at Lincoln Center in New York City with the world premiere of Samuel Barber's opera Antony and Cleopatra.

The Metropolitan Opera House (also known as The Met) is an opera house located on Broadway at Lincoln Square on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Part of Lincoln Center, the theater was designed by Wallace K. Harrison. It opened in 1966, replacing the original 1883 Metropolitan Opera House at Broadway and 39th Street. With a total capacity of 3,975 (175 being standing-room spaces), the house is the largest repertory opera house in the world. Home to the Metropolitan Opera Company, the facility also hosts the American Ballet Theatre in the summer months.
1970 Hussein of Jordan

King Hussein of Jordan declares war against the Palestine Liberation Organization, the conflict came to be known as Black September.

Hussein bin Talal (Arabic: الحسين بن طلال; 14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 1952 until his death in 1999. A member of the Hashemite dynasty, he is regarded as a 40th-generation descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Hussein was born in Amman as the eldest child of Talal bin Abdullah and Zein al-Sharaf bint Jamil. Talal was at that time the heir to his own father, King Abdullah I. Hussein began his schooling in Amman, continuing his education abroad. After Talal became king in 1951, Hussein was named heir apparent. The Jordanian Parliament forced Talal to abdicate a year later due to his mental illness, and a regency council was appointed until Hussein came of age. He was enthroned at the age of 17 in 1953. Hussein was married four separate times and fathered eleven children. Hussein, a constitutional monarch, started his rule by allowing the formation of the only democratically elected government in Jordan's history in 1956, which he forced to resign a few months later, declaring martial law and banning political parties. Under Hussein, Jordan fought three wars with Israel, including the 1967 Six-Day War, which ended in Jordan's loss of the West Bank. In 1970, Hussein expelled Palestinian militants from Jordan in what became known as Black September. The King renounced Jordan's ties to the West Bank in 1988 after the Palestine Liberation Organization was recognized internationally as the sole representative of the Palestinians. He lifted martial law and reintroduced elections in 1989 when riots over price hikes spread in southern Jordan. In 1994 he became the second Arab head of state to sign a peace treaty with Israel. At the time of Hussein's accession in 1953, Jordan was a young nation and controlled the West Bank. The country had few natural resources, and a large Palestinian refugee population as a result of the 1948 Palestine War. Hussein led his country through four turbulent decades of the Arab–Israeli conflict and the Cold War, successfully balancing pressures from Arab nationalists, Islamists, the Soviet Union, Western countries, and Israel, transforming Jordan by the end of his 46-year reign into a stable modern state. After 1967 he engaged in efforts to solve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. He acted as a conciliatory intermediate between various Middle Eastern rivals, and came to be seen as the region's peacemaker. He was revered for pardoning political dissidents and opponents, and giving them senior posts in the government. Hussein, who survived dozens of assassination attempts and plots to overthrow him, was the region's longest-reigning leader. He died at the age of 63 from cancer in 1999 and was succeeded by his eldest son, Abdullah II.
1975 Papua_New_Guinea

Papua New Guinea gains independence from Australia.

Papua New Guinea (PNG), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island nation in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean north of Australia. It has a land border with Indonesia to the west and maritime borders with Australia to the south and the Solomon Islands to the east. Its capital is Port Moresby. The country's 462,840 km2 (178,700 mi2) includes a large mainland and hundreds of islands.
1975 Cape_Verde

Cape Verde, Mozambique, and São Tomé and Príncipe join the United Nations.

Cape Verde, also referred to in English by its Portuguese name Cabo Verde, and known officially as the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an archipelagic country in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of West Africa. It consists of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about 4,033 square kilometres (1,557 sq mi). These islands lie between 600 and 850 kilometres west of Cap-Vert, the westernmost point of continental Africa, after which they are named. Cape Verde forms part of the Macaronesia ecoregion, along with the Azores, the Canary Islands, Madeira and the Savage Islands.
1975 Mikoyan_MiG-31

The first prototype of the Mikoyan MiG-31 interceptor makes its maiden flight.

The Mikoyan MiG-31 is a supersonic interceptor aircraft developed for the Soviet Air Forces by the Mikoyan design bureau as a replacement for the MiG-25 "Foxbat", on which it is based and with which it shares design elements.
1976 Shavarsh_Karapetyan

Armenian champion swimmer Shavarsh Karapetyan saves 20 people from a trolleybus that had fallen into a Yerevan reservoir.

Shavarsh Vladimiri (Vladimirovich) Karapetyan is a Soviet-Armenian former finswimmer. He was best known for saving the lives of 20 people in a 1976 incident in Yerevan.
1976

Night of the Pencils: In the city of La Plata, Argentina, a group of high-school students were kidnapped and later tortured, raped and murdered during the Argentinian military dictatorship

The Night of the Pencils, was a series of kidnappings and forced disappearances, followed by the torture, rape, and murder of 10 high-school students that began on the evening of 16 September 1976 and continued into the next day, during Argentina's last civil-military dictatorship. The event is one of the most infamous acts of repression committed by the last Argentine military dictatorship, as most of the victims were under 18 years of age. Four of the victims survived; the remains of the others have never been found.
1978 1978_Tabas_earthquake

The 7.4 Mw Tabas earthquake affects the city of Tabas, Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent).

At least 15,000 people are killed.
The 1978 Tabas earthquake occurred on September 16 at 19:05:55 local time in central Iran. The shock measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale and had a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX+ (Violent). The death toll was in the range of 15,000–25,000, with severe damage occurring in the town of Tabas.
1979 East_Germany_balloon_escape

Eight people escape from East Germany to the west in a homemade hot air balloon.

On 16 September 1979, eight people from two families escaped from East Germany by crossing the border into West Germany at night in a homemade hot air balloon. The unique feat was the result of over a year and a half of preparations involving three different balloons, various modifications, and a first, unsuccessful attempt. The failed attempt alerted the East German authorities to the plot, but the police were unable to identify the escapees before their second, successful flight two months later.
1979 The_Sugarhill_Gang

The Sugarhill Gang released their first single, Rapper's Delight.

The Sugarhill Gang is an American old-school hip-hop group formed in Englewood, New Jersey, in 1979. Their hit "Rapper's Delight", released the same year they were formed, was the first rap single to become a top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching a peak position of number 36 on January 12, 1980. This was the trio's only U.S. hit, though they would have further success in Europe until the mid-1980s. The trio reformed in 1994 and embarked on a world tour in 2016.
1982 1982_Lebanon_War

Lebanon War: The Sabra and Shatila massacre in Lebanon takes place.

The 1982 Lebanon War, also called the Second Israeli invasion of Lebanon, began on 6 June 1982, when Israel invaded southern Lebanon. The invasion followed a series of attacks and counter-attacks between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) operating in southern Lebanon and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which had caused civilian casualties on both sides of the border. The Israeli military operation, codenamed Operation Peace for Galilee, was launched after gunmen from the Abu Nidal Organization attempted to assassinate Shlomo Argov, Israel's ambassador to the United Kingdom. Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin blamed the PLO, using the incident as a casus belli. It was the second invasion of Lebanon by Israel, following the 1978 South Lebanon conflict.
1987 Montreal_Protocol

The Montreal Protocol is signed to protect the ozone layer from depletion.

The Montreal Protocol, officially the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer, is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances that are responsible for ozone depletion. It was agreed on 16 September 1987, and was entered into force on 1 January 1989. Since then, it has undergone several amendments and adjustments, with revisions agreed to in 1990 (London), 1992 (Copenhagen), 1995 (Vienna), 1997 (Montreal), 1999 (Beijing), 2007 (Montreal), 2016 (Kigali) and 2018 (Quito).
1990 Dostyk

The railroad between the People's Republic of China and Kazakhstan is completed at Dostyk, adding a sizable link to the concept of the Eurasian Land Bridge.

Dostyk or Druzhba is a small town in Kazakhstan's Jetisu Region, on the border with Xinjiang, China. It is a port of entry from China. The rail portion serves as an important link in the Eurasian Land Bridge. It is situated in the Dzungarian Gate, a historically significant mountain pass.
1992 Manuel_Noriega

The trial of the deposed Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega ends in the United States with a 40-year sentence for drug trafficking and money laundering.

Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno was a Panamanian military officer and politician who was the de facto ruler of Panama from 1983 to 1989. He never officially served as president of Panama, instead ruling as an unelected military dictator through puppet presidents. Amassing a personal fortune through drug trafficking operations by the Panamanian military, Noriega had longstanding ties with American intelligence agencies before the United States invasion of Panama removed him from power.
1992 Black_Wednesday

Black Wednesday: The British pound is forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism by currency speculators and is forced to devalue against the German mark.

Black Wednesday, or the 1992 sterling crisis, was a financial crisis that occurred on 16 September 1992 when the UK Government was forced to withdraw pound sterling (GBP) from the (first) European Exchange Rate Mechanism , following a failed attempt to keep its exchange rate above the lower limit required for ERM participation. At that time, the United Kingdom held the presidency of the Council of the European Union.
1994 1988–1994_British_broadcasting_voice_restrictions

The British government lifts the broadcasting ban imposed against members of Sinn Féin and Irish paramilitary groups in 1988.

From October 1988 to September 1994 the British government banned broadcasts of the voices of representatives from Sinn Féin and ten other Irish republican and loyalist groups on television and radio in the United Kingdom. The restrictions, announced by the Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd, on 19 October 1988, followed a heightened period of violence in the course of the Troubles, and reflected the UK government's belief in a need to prevent these groups from using the media for political advantage.
1996 Space_Shuttle_Atlantis

Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on STS-79 to dock with the Russian space station Mir.

Space Shuttle Atlantis is a retired Space Shuttle orbiter vehicle which belongs to NASA, the spaceflight and space exploration agency of the United States. Atlantis was manufactured by the Rockwell International company in Southern California and was delivered to the Kennedy Space Center in Eastern Florida in April 1985. Atlantis is the fourth operational and the second-to-last Space Shuttle built. Its maiden flight was STS-51-J made from October 3 to 7, 1985. It was, along with Challenger, one of only two orbiters equipped to carry the Shuttle-Centaur booster.
2004 Hurricane_Ivan

Hurricane Ivan makes landfall in Gulf Shores, Alabama as a Category 3 hurricane.

Hurricane Ivan was a large, long-lived, and devastating tropical cyclone that caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and United States. The ninth named storm, the sixth hurricane, and the fourth major hurricane of the active 2004 Atlantic hurricane season, Ivan formed in early September and reached Category 5 strength on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale (SSHS). Ivan caused catastrophic damage in Grenada as a strong Category 3 storm, heavy damage in Jamaica as a strong Category 4 storm, and then severe damage in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, and the western tip of Cuba as a Category 5 hurricane. After peaking in strength, the hurricane moved north-northwest across the Gulf of Mexico to strike Pensacola/Milton, Florida and Alabama as a strong Category 3 storm, causing significant damage. Ivan dropped heavy rain on the Southeastern United States as it progressed northeastward and eastward through the Eastern United States, becoming an extratropical cyclone on September 18. The remnant low of the storm moved into the western subtropical Atlantic and regenerated into a tropical cyclone on September 22, which then moved across Florida and the Gulf of Mexico, and then into Louisiana and Texas, causing minimal damage. Ivan degenerated into a remnant low on September 24, before dissipating on the next day.
2005

The Camorra organized crime boss Paolo Di Lauro is arrested in Naples, Italy.

The Camorra is an Italian Mafia-type criminal organization and criminal society originating in the region of Campania. It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy, dating to the 18th century. The Camorra's organizational structure is divided into individual groups called "clans". Every capo or "boss" is the head of a clan, in which there may be tens or hundreds of affiliates, depending on the clan's power and structure. The Camorra's main businesses are drug trafficking, racketeering, counterfeiting, and money laundering. It is also not unusual for Camorra clans to infiltrate the politics of their respective areas.
2007 One-Two-Go_Airlines_Flight_269

One-Two-Go Airlines Flight 269 carrying 130 crew and passengers crashes in Thailand, killing 90 people.

One-Two-Go Airlines Flight 269 (OG269/OTG269) was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Bangkok to Phuket, Thailand. On 16 September 2007, about 15:41 ICT, the McDonnell Douglas MD-82 operating the flight crashed into an embankment beside runway 27 at Phuket International Airport (HKT) bursting into flames upon impact during an attempted go-around after an aborted landing, killing 90 of the 130 people on board. It is the third deadliest aviation incident to occur in Thailand.
2007

Security guards working for Blackwater Worldwide shoot and kill 17 Iraqis in Nisour Square, Baghdad.

The Nisour Square massacre occurred on September 16, 2007, when employees of Blackwater Security Consulting, which was a private military company contracted by the United States government to provide security services in Iraq, shot at Iraqi civilians, killing 17 and injuring 20 in Nisour Square, Baghdad, while escorting a U.S. embassy convoy. The killings outraged Iraqis and strained relations between Iraq and the United States. In 2014, four Blackwater employees were tried and convicted in U.S. federal court; one of murder, and the other three of manslaughter and firearms charges. In 2020, all four convicted were pardoned by President Donald Trump. United Nations experts said the pardons "violate U.S. obligations under international law and more broadly undermine humanitarian law and human rights at a global level".
2013 Washington_Navy_Yard_shooting

A gunman kills twelve people at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C.

The Washington Navy Yard shooting occurred on September 16, 2013, when 34-year-old Aaron Alexis fatally shot 12 people and injured three others in a mass shooting at the headquarters of the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), inside the Washington Navy Yard, in southeast Washington, D.C. The attack took place in the Navy Yard's Building 197; it began around 8:16 a.m. EDT and ended when police killed Alexis around 9:25 a.m. It is the deadliest mass shooting in Washington, D.C. history, as well as the second deadliest mass murder on a U.S. military base, behind the 2009 Fort Hood shooting.
2014 Siege_of_Kobanî

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant launches its Kobani offensive against Syrian–Kurdish forces.

The siege of Kobanî was launched by the Islamic State (IS) on 13 September 2014, in order to capture the Kobanî Canton and its main city of Kobanî in northern Syria, in the de facto autonomous region of Rojava.
2015 2015_Illapel_earthquake

A 8.3 Mw earthquake strikes the Chilean city of Illapel, killing 15 people, injuring at least 34, leaving at least six missing, and causing extensive damage.

One person also dies in Argentina.
The 2015 Illapel earthquake occurred 46 km (29 mi) offshore from Illapel on 16 September 2015 at 19:54:32 Chile Standard Time (22:54:32 UTC), with a moment magnitude of 8.3–8.4. The initial quake lasted between three and five minutes; it was followed by several aftershocks greater than magnitude six and two that exceeded magnitude seven. The Chilean government reported 15 deaths, 6 missing and thousands of people affected. In Buenos Aires, Argentina, a man died from a stroke while he was evacuating a building.
2021

A 6.0 Mw earthquake strikes Lu County, Sichuan, China, killing three and injuring more than 88.

The 2021 Luxian earthquake was a damaging seismic event occurring in the early hours of September 16 at 04:33 China Standard Time. The surface-wave magnitude (Ms) 6.0 or moment magnitude (Mw) 5.4 earthquake struck at a shallow depth of 7.5 km and severe shaking in an area of 4,000 square kilometers was assigned a maximum intensity of VIII on the China seismic intensity scale. Three people were killed and 146 injured when the earthquake struck Lu County, Luzhou, Sichuan Province. At least 36,800 buildings were affected, 7,800 of them seriously damaged or completely destroyed, causing about a quarter of a billion dollars' worth of damage.
2022

During the Let Yet Kone massacre, the Burmese military kills 13 villagers, including eight children, after attacking a school in Sagaing Region, Myanmar.

The Let Yet Kone massacre was a mass killing of civilians on 16 September 2022, at a monastic school in the village of Let Yet Kone, near Tabayin in Sagaing Region, in north-western Myanmar. During the massacre, Myanmar Army and Myanmar Air Force troops killed at least 13 civilians, including 8 children. The event became one of Myanmar's deadliest civilian massacres involving children in 2022, during which 165 children were killed by military forces.
2022 Death_of_Mahsa_Amini

The death of Mahsa Amini occurred in Tehran, Iran, sparking worldwide protests.

On 16 September 2022, 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, also known as Jina Amini, died in a hospital in Tehran, Iran, under suspicious circumstances. The Guidance Patrol, the religious morality police of Iran's government, had arrested Amini for allegedly not wearing the hijab in accordance with government standards. The Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran stated that she had a heart attack at a police station, collapsed, and fell into a coma before being transferred to a hospital. However, eyewitnesses, including women who were detained with Amini, reported that she was severely beaten and that she died as a result of police brutality, which was denied by the Iranian authorities. The assertions of police brutality, in addition to leaked medical scans, led some observers to believe Amini had a cerebral hemorrhage or stroke due to head injuries received after her arrest.

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