Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date
Thursday, January 16, 2025
Today is the 16th day of 2025. There are 349 days left in this year.
Notable Events
1547
Ivan the Terrible is crowned tsar of Russia.
1786
The legislature of Virginia adopted a religious freedom statute, drafted by Thomas Jefferson and introduced by James Madison. It was the model for the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America.
1804
French physicist Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac ascends to a height of 7,016 m (23,018 ft) in a hydrogen balloon, a record that lasted 50 years.
1847
John C. Fremont, the famed "Pathfinder" of Western exploration, was appointed governor of California.
1883
Congress passes the Civil Service Act, sometimes referred to as the Pendleton Act. This legislation created the foundations of the American civil service system.
1919
Nebraska, Wyoming and Missouri became the 36th, 37th and 38th states to ratify Prohibition, which went into effect a year later.
1920
The League of Nations held its first meeting, in Paris.
1920
Prohibition began in the United States as the 18th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America took effect; it was later repealed by the 21st Amendment in 1933.
1944
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower took command of the Allied invasion force in London.
1961
Mickey Mantle inks a contract for $75,000 a year, the highest in the American League.
1964
The musical "Hello, Dolly!," starring Carol Channing, opened on Broadway, beginning a run of 2,844 performances.
1967
Alan S. Boyd was sworn in as the first secretary of transportation.
1969
Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 perform the first-ever docking of manned spacecraft in orbit, the first-ever transfer of crew from one space vehicle to another, and the only time such a transfer was accomplished with a space walk.
1970
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi assumes the role of prime minister four months after leading a successful coup against the monarchy.
1978
NASA named 35 candidates to fly on the space shuttle, including Sally K. Ride, who became America's first woman in space, and Guion S. Bluford Jr., who became America's first black in space.
1979
Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the leader of Iran since 1941, was forced to flee the country. Two weeks later, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the spiritual leader of the Islamic revolution, returned after 15 years of exile and took control of Iran.
1988
Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder was fired as a CBS sports commentator one day after telling a TV station in Washington, D.C., that, during the era of slavery, blacks had been bred to produce stronger offspring.
1989
Three days of rioting erupted in Miami when a police officer fatally shot a black motorcyclist, causing a crash that also claimed the life of a passenger.
1991
The Persian Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm) began, with the first fighter aircraft launched from Saudi Arabia and off U.S. and British aircraft carriers on bombing missions over Iraq. The goal was to drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait.
1992
Officials of the government of El Salvador and rebel leaders signed a pact in Mexico City ending 12 years of civil war that had left at least 75,000 people dead.
1997
Entertainer Bill Cosby's only son, Ennis, 27, was shot to death while changing a flat tire on a dark road in Los Angeles. Mikail Markhasev, 18, was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
1997
In Atlanta, two bomb blasts an hour apart rocked a building containing an abortion clinic, injuring six people.
1998
NASA announced that John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, would fly aboard the space shuttle later in the year.
1998
The tobacco industry reached a $15.3 billion settlement with the state of Texas.
1999
Closing three days of opening arguments, House prosecutors demanded President Clinton's removal from office, telling a hushed Senate that otherwise the presidency itself may be "deeply and perhaps permanently damaged."
2001
The President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Laurent Kabila, is shot and seriously wounded by a bodyguard.
2001
US President Bill Clinton awards former President Theodore Roosevelt a posthumous Medal of Honor for his service in the Spanish-American War.
2002
The UN Security Council unanimously establishes an arms embargo and the freezing of assets of Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda, and the remaining members of the Taliban.
2003
The Space Shuttle Columbia takes off for mission STS-107 which would be its final one. Columbia disintegrated 16 days later on re-entry.
2005
Adriana Iliescu becomes the oldest woman in the world to give birth at 66 up until that time.
2006
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is sworn in as Liberia's new president. She becomes Africa's first female elected head of state
2012
Customers of online shoe retailer Zappos must change their passwords after Zappos reports hackers accessed up to 24 million customer accounts
2012
The Mali War begins when Tuareg militias start fighting the Malian government for independence
2014
A report from the U.S. Senate on the 2012 Benghazi attack that killed ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, determines that the attack was 'likely preventable'.
2015
New U.S. rules loosening trade restrictions with Cuba went into effect today. U.S. banks were also given greater freedom to transact with Cuban banks.
2016
33 out of 126 freed hostages are injured and 23 killed in terrorist attacks in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on a hotel and a nearby restaurant.
2018
Myanmar police open fire on a group of ethnic Rakhine protesters, killing 7 and wounding 12
2020
The United States Senate ratifies the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement as a replacement for NAFTA
2020
The first impeachment of Donald Trump formally moves into its trial phase in the United States Senate.
Notable Births
1728
Niccolo Piccinni, Italian composer and educator.
1821
John C. Breckinridge, American general and politician, 14th Vice President of the United States
1853
Andre Michelin, French tire maker.
1853
Andre Michelin, French businessman, co-founded the Michelin Tyre Company
1908
Ethel Merman (Zimmerman), American singer, Tony Award-winning actress.
1910
Dizzy Dean, American baseball player and sportscaster
1911
Dizzy Dean, American baseball Hall of Famer.
1934
Marilyn Horne, opera singer.
1935
A.J. Foyt, automobile racer.
1935
A. J. Foyt, American race car driver
1943
Ronnie Milsap, American singer and pianist
1974
Kate Moss, English model and fashion designer
Notable Deaths
1906
Marshall Field, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Marshall Field's department stores
1917
George Dewey, American admiral
1942
Actress Carole Lombard (Jane Alice Peters), her mother were among some 20 people killed when their plane crashed near Las Vegas while returning from a tour to promote war bonds.
1942
Carole Lombard, American actress and comedian
1997
Ennis Cosby, the only son of American television comedian Bill Cosby, shot to death on a freeway ramp in Los Angeles while changing a flat tire.
2009
Andrew Wyeth, American painter
2010
Glen Bell, American businessman, founded Taco Bell
2021
Phil Spector, American record producer, songwriter