On This Day: 16 March

16 March in Indian history

• 2012Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar becomes the first batter in history to score 100 centuries in international cricket.India

16 March in world history

• 2014Crimea votes in a controversial referendum to secede from Ukraine to join Russia.
• 2002Sofia Gubaidulina's Johannes-Ostern is premiered, together with her earlier Johannes-Passion, at Hamburg's Michaeliskirche, performed by soloists, choir and orchestra from the Mariinsky Theatre combined with NDR choir and orchestra, conducted by Valery Gergiev
• 1995Mississippi formally ratifies the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment was officially ratified in 1865.
• 1988Michael Stone, an Ulster loyalist, attacked the funeral of three Provisional IRA members, killing three attendees and injuring at least sixty others.
• 1988Iran–Iraq War: Iraqi forces began attacking the Kurdish town of Halabja with chemical weapons, killing up to 5,000 people.
• 1988Iran–Contra affair: Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North and Vice Admiral John Poindexter are indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States.
• 1985Associated Press newsman Terry Anderson is taken hostage in Beirut; he is not released until December 1991.
• 1978A Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Tupolev Tu-134 crashes near Gabare, Bulgaria, killing 73.
• 1968Vietnam War: American soldiers killed hundreds of unarmed civilians in the Sơn Mỹ village in the Sơn Tịnh District of South Vietnam.
• 1960African American civil rights activists in Savannah, Georgia, conducted a sit-in, commencing the Savannah Protest Movement.
• 1935Adolf Hitler orders Germany to rearm itself in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Conscription is reintroduced to form the Wehrmacht.
• 1918Finnish Civil War: Battle of Länkipohja is infamous for its bloody aftermath as the Whites execute 70–100 capitulated Reds.
• 1898In Melbourne, the representatives of five colonies adopt a constitution, which would become the basis of the Commonwealth of Australia.[page needed]
• 1872In the inaugural final of the FA Cup Wanderers defeated Royal Engineers 1–0 in London.
• 1782American Revolutionary War: Spain captured the island of Roatán from England off the coast of what is now Honduras.
• 1660The Long Parliament, originally called by King Charles I of England in 1640 following the Bishops' Wars, dissolved itself.
• 1322Despenser War: A royalist army defeated troops loyal to Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, in the Battle of Boroughbridge, which allowed King Edward II of England to hold on to power for another five years.

Born on 16 March

• 1940Kaak, Indian cartoonist (died 2025)India
• 1911Philip Pavia, American painter and sculptor (died 2005)
• 1910Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, Indian-English cricketer and politician, 8th Nawab of Pataudi (died 1952)India
• 1865Patsy Donovan, Irish-American baseball player and manager (died 1953)
• 1819José Paranhos, Brazilian politician (died 1880)
• 1693Malhar Rao Holkar, Indian nobleman (died 1766)India

Died on 16 March

• 2025Jesse Colin Young, American singer and songwriter (born 1941)
• 1961Chen Geng, Chinese general and politician (born 1903)
• 1935John Macleod, Scottish physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1876)
• 1698Leonora Christina Ulfeldt, Danish countess, author of Jammers Minde (born 1621)

Frequently asked questions

What happened on 16 March in history?

2014: Crimea votes in a controversial referendum to secede from Ukraine to join Russia. 2012: Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar becomes the first batter in history to score 100 centuries in international cricket. 2002: Sofia Gubaidulina's Johannes-Ostern is premiered, together with her earlier Johannes-Passion, at Hamburg's Michaeliskirche, performed by soloists, choir and orchestra from the Mariinsky Theatre combined with NDR choir and orchestra, conducted by Valery Gergiev. 1995: Mississippi formally ratifies the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment was officially ratified in 1865.

What happened on 16 March in Indian history?

2012: Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar becomes the first batter in history to score 100 centuries in international cricket.

Which famous people were born on 16 March?

Kaak, Indian cartoonist (died 2025) (1940); Philip Pavia, American painter and sculptor (died 2005) (1911); Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, Indian-English cricketer and politician, 8th Nawab of Pataudi (died 1952) (1910); Patsy Donovan, Irish-American baseball player and manager (died 1953) (1865).

Which day is observed on 16 March?

Day of the Book Smugglers (Lithuania); Remembrance day of the Latvian legionnaires (Latvia); Saint Urho's Day (Finnish Americans and Finnish Canadians).