Browse events, births, deaths and holidays on August 16 throughout history.
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 …
The August Complex fire in California burns more than one million acres of land.
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 w…
More than 96 people are killed and hundreds injured following a series of air-raids by the Syrian Arab Air Force on…
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 …
Trigana Air Flight 267, an ATR 42, crashes in Oksibil, Bintang Mountains Regency, killing all 54 people on board.
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 …
The ferry St. Thomas Aquinas collides with a cargo ship and sinks at Cebu, Philippines, killing 61 people with 59…
The South African Police Service (SAPS) is the national police force of the Republic of South Africa. Its 1,165 police stations in South Africa are divided according to the provin…
South African police fatally shoot 34 miners and wound 78 more during an industrial dispute at Marikana near Rustenburg.
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 o…
AIRES Flight 8250 crashes at Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport in San Andrés, San Andrés y Providencia,…
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 Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago is topped off at 1,389 feet (423 m), at the time becoming the…
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 …
West Caribbean Airways Flight 708, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, crashes in Machiques, Venezuela, killing all 160 people…
Indian Airlines Flight 257 was an Indian Airlines domestic passenger flight operating on the Calcutta–Imphal–Dimapur route. On 16 August 1991, the Boeing 737-200 registered VT-EFL…
Indian Airlines Flight 257, a Boeing 737-200, crashes during approach to Imphal Airport, killing all 69 people on board.
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 …
A solar particle event affects computers at the Toronto Stock Exchange, forcing a halt to trading.
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 si…
Northwest Airlines Flight 255, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, crashes after takeoff in Detroit, Michigan, killing 154 of…
Sudan Airways is the flag carrier airline of Sudan, headquartered in Khartoum. Since 2012, the company has been fully owned by the Government of Sudan.
A Sudan Airways Fokker F27 Friendship is shot down near Malakal in present day South Sudan, killing 60.
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 Part…
Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam symbolically hands over land to the Gurindji people after the eight-year Wave…
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 sel…
In an unsuccessful coup d'état attempt, the Royal Moroccan Air Force fires upon Hassan II of Morocco's plane while he…
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 Rep…
Vietnam War: The House Un-American Activities Committee begins investigations of Americans who have aided the Viet…
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 Uni…
Vietnam War: A coup d'état replaces Dương Văn Minh with General Nguyễn Khánh as President of South Vietnam. A new…
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, …
Cyprus gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
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 re…
Joseph Kittinger parachutes from a balloon over New Mexico, United States, at 102,800 feet (31,300 m), setting three…
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…
The first issue of Sports Illustrated is published.
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…
Mass riots in Kolkata begin; more than 4,000 people would be killed in 72 hours.