Did you know
The Kennedy Space Center is located on Merritt Island, Florida, and has been NASA's primary launch center since 1968.
September 16 in History
2021 — Inspiration4, the first private orbital crewed spaceflight, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center
September 16 spans 54 recorded events across recorded history, from 681 to 2022. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Historical Events
54 events
681 – 2022
Today in history
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.
- 1863 Robert College, in Istanbul, the first American educational institution outside the United States, is founded by Christopher Robert, an American philanthropist. Source
- 1955 A Soviet Zulu-class submarine becomes the first to launch a ballistic missile. Source
- 1955 The military coup to unseat President Juan Perón of Argentina is launched at midnight. Source
Did you know
Launch Complex 39 at the Kennedy Space Center was used for the Apollo, Skylab, Space Shuttle, and Artemis programs.
Did you know
The Kennedy Space Center is adjacent to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, with which it shares resources and operates facilities.
Did you know
The John F. Kennedy Space Center is one of the ten field centers of NASA, playing a crucial role in American spaceflight and research.
Did you know
NASA's management of the Kennedy Space Center has enabled the launch of numerous historic spaceflights, including those of the Space Shuttle program.
681
Pope Honorius I is posthumously excommunicated by the Sixth Ecumenical Council.
Head of the Catholic Church from 625 to 638
1400
Owain Glyndŵr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers.
Welsh rebel and pretender (died c. 1416)
1620
Pilgrims set sail for Virginia from Plymouth, England in the Mayflower.
Early settlers in Massachusetts
1701
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.
Jacobite pretender (1688–1766)
1732
In Campo Maior, Portugal, a storm hits the Armory and a violent explosion ensues, killing two-thirds of its inhabitants.
Municipality in Alentejo, Portugal
1776
American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Harlem Heights is fought.
1775–1783 conflict in North America
1779
American Revolutionary War: The Franco-American Siege of Savannah begins.
1779 siege of the American Revolutionary War
1810
With the Grito de Dolores, Father Miguel Hidalgo begins Mexico's fight for independence from Spain.
Call to arms triggering the Mexican War of Independence
1822
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.
French optical physicist (1788–1827)
1863
Robert College, in Istanbul, the first American educational institution outside the United States, is founded by Christopher Robert, an American philanthropist.
Private selective high school in Turkey
1880
The Cornell Daily Sun prints its first issue in Ithaca, New York.
Newspaper in Ithaca, New York
1893
Settlers make a land run for prime land in the Cherokee Strip in Oklahoma.
Opening of part of the Oklahoma Territory to settlers
1908
The General Motors Corporation is founded.
American multinational automotive company
1914
World War I: The Siege of Przemyśl (present-day Poland) begins.
Global conflict from 1914 to 1918
1920
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.
1940
1943
World War II: The German Tenth Army reports that it can no longer contain the Allied bridgehead around Salerno.
German field army (1943 to 1945)
1945
World War II: The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong comes to an end.
Military occupation during World War II
1953
American Airlines Flight 723 crashes in Colonie, New York, killing 28 people.
1953 aviation accident
1955
The military coup to unseat President Juan Perón of Argentina is launched at midnight.
1955 coup d'état in Argentina
1955
A Soviet Zulu-class submarine becomes the first to launch a ballistic missile.
Soviet diesel-electric submarine class
1956
TCN-9 Sydney is the first Australian television station to commence regular broadcasts.
Television station in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
1959
The first successful photocopier, the Xerox 914, is introduced in a demonstration on live television from New York City.
1959 model of photocopier produced by Xerox; first successful commercial photocopier
1961
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.
1961
Typhoon Nancy, with possibly the strongest winds ever measured in a tropical cyclone, makes landfall in Osaka, Japan, killing 173 people.
Category 5 Pacific typhoon
1961
Pakistan establishes its Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission with Abdus Salam as its head.
National Space Agency of Pakistan
1963
Malaysia is formed from the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak.
However, Singapore is soon expelled from this new country.
1966
The Metropolitan Opera House opens at Lincoln Center in New York City with the world premiere of Samuel Barber's opera Antony and Cleopatra.
Opera house in Manhattan, New York
1970
King Hussein of Jordan declares war against the Palestine Liberation Organization, the conflict came to be known as Black September.
King of Jordan from 1952 to 1999
1975
Cape Verde, Mozambique, and São Tomé and Príncipe join the United Nations.
Island country in West Africa
1975
The first prototype of the Mikoyan MiG-31 interceptor makes its maiden flight.
Interceptor aircraft
1976
Armenian champion swimmer Shavarsh Karapetyan saves 20 people from a trolleybus that had fallen into a Yerevan reservoir.
Armenian finswimmer (born 1953)
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
1976 kidnappings and forced disappearances in Argentina
1978
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.
1979
Eight people escape from East Germany to the west in a homemade hot air balloon.
1979 crossing into West Germany
1982
Lebanon War: The Sabra and Shatila massacre in Lebanon takes place.
1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon
1987
The Montreal Protocol is signed to protect the ozone layer from depletion.
1987 treaty to protect the ozone layer
1990
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.
Settlement in Jetisu Region, Kazakhstan
1992
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.
Military dictator of Panama from 1983 to 1989
1992
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.
1992 UK financial crisis
1994
The British government lifts the broadcasting ban imposed against members of Sinn Féin and Irish paramilitary groups in 1988.
Partial ban on voices of specific speakers
1996
Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on STS-79 to dock with the Russian space station Mir.
Space Shuttle orbiter (1985–2011)
2004
Hurricane Ivan makes landfall in Gulf Shores, Alabama as a Category 3 hurricane.
Category 5 Atlantic hurricane in 2004
2005
The Camorra organized crime boss Paolo Di Lauro is arrested in Naples, Italy.
Criminal organization in Italy
2007
One-Two-Go Airlines Flight 269 carrying 130 crew and passengers crashes in Thailand, killing 90 people.
2007 plane crash in Phuket, Thailand
2007
Security guards working for Blackwater Worldwide shoot and kill 17 Iraqis in Nisour Square, Baghdad.
2007 mass shooting in Iraq
2013
A gunman kills twelve people at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C.
2013 mass shooting in Washington, D.C., U.S.
2014
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant launches its Kobani offensive against Syrian–Kurdish forces.
2014 IS offensive in northern Syria during the Syrian Civil War
2015
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.
2021
A 6.0 Mw earthquake strikes Lu County, Sichuan, China, killing three and injuring more than 88.
Earthquake in China
2022
During the Let Yet Kone massacre, the Burmese military kills 13 villagers, including eight children, after attacking a school in Sagaing Region, Myanmar.
2022 massacre in Sagaing Region, Myanmar
2022
The death of Mahsa Amini occurred in Tehran, Iran, sparking worldwide protests.
2022 killing in Tehran, Iran