What Happened on August 16th in History
30 historical events on this date
The Dole Air Race begins from Oakland, California, to Honolulu, Hawaii, during which six out of the eight participating planes crash or disappear.
The Dole Air Race, also known as the Dole Derby, was a tragic air race across the Pacific Ocean from northern California to the Territory of Hawaii in August 1927. Of the 18 official and unofficial...
The 1929 Palestine riots break out in Mandatory Palestine between Palestinian Arabs and Jews and continue until the end of the month. In total, 133 Jews and 116 Arabs are killed.
The 1929 Palestine riots, also known as the Western Wall Riots, the Buraq Uprising or the Events of 1929, were a series of demonstrations and riots in Mandatory Palestine in late August 1929...
The first color sound cartoon, Fiddlesticks, is released by Ub Iwerks.
A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to...
The first British Empire Games are opened in Hamilton, Ontario, by the Governor General of Canada, the Viscount Willingdon.
The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event that brings together athletes from across the Commonwealth of Nations, a political association comprising of mostly the...
Christie Pits riot takes place in Toronto, Ontario.
The Christie Pits riot occurred on 16 August 1933 at the Christie Pits playground in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The riot took place in the context of the Great Depression, antisemitism, "Swastika...
World War II: US Navy L-class blimp L-8 drifts in from the Pacific and eventually crashes in Daly City, California. The two-man crew cannot be found.
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. Tanks and aircraft played major...
World War II: 317 Greek civilians are murdered by soldiers of the German 1st Mountain Division in the village of Kommeno, Greece.
The Massacre of Kommeno was a Nazi war crime perpetrated by members of the Wehrmacht in the village of Kommeno, Greece, in 1943, during the German occupation of Greece in World War II.
First flight of a jet with forward-swept wings, the Junkers Ju 287.
A forward-swept wing or reverse-swept wing is an aircraft wing configuration in which the quarter chord line of the wing, from root to tip, has a forward sweep. Typically, the leading edge also...
The National Representatives' Congress, the precursor of the current National Assembly of Vietnam, convenes in Sơn Dương.
The National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is the unicameral supreme state organ of power of Vietnam. The National Assembly is the only branch of government in Vietnam and, in...
Mass riots in Kolkata begin; more than 4,000 people would be killed in 72 hours.
Direct Action Day was the day the All-India Muslim League decided to take a "direct action" using general strikes and economic shut down to demand a separate Muslim homeland after the British exit...
The All Hyderabad Trade Union Congress is founded in Secunderabad.
The All Hyderabad Trade Union Congress (AHTUC) was a trade union centre in the Hyderabad State. Affiliated to the All India Trade Union Congress, it claimed a membership of around 72,000. The trade...
The first issue of Sports Illustrated is published.
Sports Illustrated (SI) is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the...
Cyprus gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
Cyprus, officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, located off the coast of the Levant mainland in West Asia. The island of Cyprus, which is the third...
Joseph Kittinger parachutes from a balloon over New Mexico, United States, at 102,800 feet (31,300 m), setting three records that held until 2012: High-altitude jump, free fall, and highest speed by a human without an aircraft.
Joseph William Kittinger II was an American military pilot who was an officer in the United States Air Force. He served from 1950 to 1978 and earned Command Pilot status before retiring with the...
Vietnam War: A coup d'état replaces Dương Văn Minh with General Nguyễn Khánh as President of South Vietnam. A new constitution is established with aid from the U.S. Embassy.
The Vietnam War was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam and their allies. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union and China, while...
Vietnam War: The House Un-American Activities Committee begins investigations of Americans who have aided the Viet Cong. The committee intends to introduce legislation making these activities illegal. Anti-war demonstrators disrupt the meeting and 50 people are arrested.
The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives...
In an unsuccessful coup d'état attempt, the Royal Moroccan Air Force fires upon Hassan II of Morocco's plane while he is traveling back to Rabat.
A coup d'état, or simply a coup, is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent person or leadership. A self-coup is said to...
Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam symbolically hands over land to the Gurindji people after the eight-year Wave Hill walk-off, a landmark event in the history of Indigenous land rights in Australia, commemorated in a 1991 song by Paul Kelly and an annual celebration.
Edward Gough Whitlam was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from December 1972 to November 1975. To date the longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), he was...
A Sudan Airways Fokker F27 Friendship is shot down near Malakal in present day South Sudan, killing 60.
Sudan Airways is the national airline of Sudan, headquartered in Khartoum. Since 2012, the company has been fully owned by the Government of Sudan.
Northwest Airlines Flight 255, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, crashes after takeoff in Detroit, Michigan, killing 154 of the 155 on board, plus two people on the ground.
On August 16, 1987, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 operating as Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed shortly after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport at about 20:46 EDT. All six crew members and...
A solar particle event affects computers at the Toronto Stock Exchange, forcing a halt to trading.
A solar particle event (SPE), also known as a solar energetic particle event or solar radiation storm, is a solar phenomenon that occurs when particles emitted by the Sun, mostly protons, become...
Indian Airlines Flight 257, a Boeing 737-200, crashes during approach to Imphal Airport, killing all 69 people on board.
Indian Airlines Flight 257 was an Indian Airlines domestic passenger flight operating on the Calcutta–Imphal–Dimapur route. On 16 August 1991, the Boeing 737-2A8 registered VT-EFL crashed into the...
West Caribbean Airways Flight 708, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, crashes in Machiques, Venezuela, killing all 160 people on board.
West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 was a charter flight that crashed in northwest Venezuela in the early hours of 16 August 2005, killing all 160 passengers and crew on board. The plane, a McDonnell...
The Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago is topped off at 1,389 feet (423 m), at the time becoming the world's highest residence above ground-level.
The Trump International Hotel and Tower, or simply the Trump Tower, is a skyscraper condo-hotel in the Near North Side community area in downtown Chicago, Illinois, United States. The building,...
AIRES Flight 8250 crashes at Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport in San Andrés, San Andrés y Providencia, Colombia, killing two people.
AIRES Flight 8250 was a domestic scheduled passenger flight that on 16 August 2010 crashed on landing at night in poor weather on the Colombian island of San Andrés, killing two of the 131 people on...
South African police fatally shoot 34 miners and wound 78 more during an industrial dispute at Marikana near Rustenburg.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) is the national police force of the Republic of South Africa. Its 1,154 police stations in South Africa are divided according to the provincial borders, and a...
The ferry St. Thomas Aquinas collides with a cargo ship and sinks at Cebu, Philippines, killing 61 people with 59 others missing.
MV St. Thomas Aquinas was a Philippine-registered passenger ferry operated by 2GO Travel. On 16 August 2013, the vessel collided with a cargo ship named MV Sulpicio Express Siete of Philippine Span...
More than 96 people are killed and hundreds injured following a series of air-raids by the Syrian Arab Air Force on the rebel-held market town of Douma.
On August 16, 2015, the Syrian Air Force launched strikes on the rebel-held city of Douma, northeast of Damascus, killing at least 96 people and injuring at least 200 others. It was one of the...
Trigana Air Flight 267, an ATR 42, crashes in Oksibil, Bintang Mountains Regency, killing all 54 people on board.
Trigana Air Flight 267 was a scheduled passenger flight from Sentani to Oksibil in the eastern Indonesian province of Papua. On 16 August 2015, the ATR 42 turboprop operating the service crashed on...
The August Complex fire in California burns more than one million acres of land.
The August Complex fire was a massive wildfire complex that burned in the Coast Range of Northern California, in Glenn, Lake, Mendocino, Tehama, Trinity, and Shasta Counties. The complex originated...