On This Day: 16 September

16 September in world history

• 2022The death of Mahsa Amini occurred in Tehran, Iran, sparking worldwide protests.
• 2022During the Let Yet Kone massacre, the Burmese military kills 13 villagers, including eight children, after attacking a school in Sagaing Region, Myanmar.
• 2013A gunman kills twelve people at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C.
• 2007Seventeen Iraqi civilians were shot and killed by Academi guards in Baghdad.
• 2005The Camorra organized crime boss Paolo Di Lauro is arrested in Naples, Italy.
• 2004Hurricane Ivan makes landfall in Gulf Shores, Alabama as a Category 3 hurricane.
• 1996Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on STS-79 to dock with the Russian space station Mir.
• 1987The Montreal Protocol is signed to protect the ozone layer from depletion.
• 1982A Lebanese militia under the direct command of Elie Hobeika carried out a massacre in the Palestinian refugee camp of Sabra and Shatila, killing at least 460 civilians.
• 1979Eight people escaped from East Germany to West Germany in a home-made hot air balloon.
• 1975Cape Verde, Mozambique, and São Tomé and Príncipe join the United Nations.
• 1963Malaysia was formed as an independent nation from the Federation of Malaya, the State of Singapore, the Crown Colony of North Borneo, and the Crown Colony of Sarawak.
• 1961The U.S. National Hurricane Research Project sought to weaken Hurricane Esther by seeding it with silver iodide, leading to the establishment of Project Stormfury.
• 1961Typhoon Nancy, which possibly had the strongest winds ever measured in a tropical cyclone, made landfall in Muroto, Japan.
• 1940World War II: Italian troops conquer Sidi Barrani.
• 1844Felix Mendelssohn completed the score of his Violin Concerto, his final concerto.
• 1822French 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.
• 1776American Revolutionary War: American colonists defeated British troops at the Battle of Harlem Heights on the island of Manhattan.

Born on 16 September

• 1954Sanjoy Bandopadhyay, Indian sitar player and composerIndia
• 1934Elgin Baylor, American basketball player and coach (died 2021)
• 1921Ursula Franklin, German-Canadian metallurgist (died 2016)
• 1916M. S. Subbulakshmi, Indian Carnatic vocalist (died 2004)India
• 1916Raosaheb Gogte, Indian industrialist (died 2000)India
• 1678Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, English philosopher and politician, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (died 1751)

Died on 16 September

• 1955Leo Amery, Indian-English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (born 1873)India
• 1932Ronald Ross, Indian-English physician and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1857)India
• 1931Omar Mukhtar, Libyan theorist and educator (born 1862)
• 1736Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, Polish-Dutch physicist and engineer, invented the thermometer (born 1686)

Frequently asked questions

What happened on 16 September in history?

2022: The death of Mahsa Amini occurred in Tehran, Iran, sparking worldwide protests. 2022: During the Let Yet Kone massacre, the Burmese military kills 13 villagers, including eight children, after attacking a school in Sagaing Region, Myanmar. 2013: A gunman kills twelve people at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. 2007: Seventeen Iraqi civilians were shot and killed by Academi guards in Baghdad.

Which famous people were born on 16 September?

Sanjoy Bandopadhyay, Indian sitar player and composer (1954); Elgin Baylor, American basketball player and coach (died 2021) (1934); Ursula Franklin, German-Canadian metallurgist (died 2016) (1921); M. S. Subbulakshmi, Indian Carnatic vocalist (died 2004) (1916).

Which day is observed on 16 September?

World Ozone Day; Cry of Dolores, celebrates the declaration of independence of Mexico from Spain in 1810. See Fiestas Patrias; Independence Day (Papua New Guinea), celebrates the independence of Papua New Guinea from Australia in 1975.; International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer; Malaysian Armed Forces Day (Malaysia).