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- 0073 Masada, a Jewish fortress, falls to the Romans after several months of siege, ending the Jewish Revolt.
- 1071 Bari falls to Robert Guiscard, ending Byzantine rule in Italy.
- 1071 Five centuries of Byzantine rule in Italy end April 16 as Bari falls to Robert Guiscard after a 3-year Norman siege
- 1178 BC - A solar eclipse may have marked the return of Odysseus, legendary King of Ithaca, to his kingdom after the Trojan War.
- 1346 Serbian Empire was proclaimed in Skopje by Dusan Silni, occupying much of the South-Eastern Europe.
- 1395 Azzo X d'Este is defeated at the Battle of Portomaggiore by Venetian-Ferrarese troops.
- 1521 Martin Luther's first appearance before the Diet of Worms to be examined by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and the other estates of the empire.
- 1582 Spanish conquistador Hernando de Lerma founds the settlement of Salta, Argentina.
- 1705 Queen Anne of England knights Isaac Newton at Trinity College
- 1746 Battle of Culloden
- 1777 Battle of Bennington-New England's Green Mountain Boys rout Brits
- 1780 The University of Mnster in Mnster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany is founded.
- 1789 George Washington heads for first presidential inauguration
- 1818 Senate ratifies Rush-Bagot ammendment (unarmed US-Canada border)
- 1849 M DeGasparis discovers the 10th asteroid, Hygeia [or 0412]
- 1849 The opera "Il Profeta" is produced (Paris)
- 1853 The first passenger rail opens in India, from Bori Bunder, Bombay to Thane.
- 1854 San Salvador destroyed by earthquake
- 1854 Steamer "Long Beach" sinks off Long Beach NY, 311 die
- 1862 District of Columbia abolishes slavery
- 1862 Pres Davis approves conscription act for white males between 18-35
- 1862 Slavery abolished in District of Columbia
- 1863 Union gunboats pass Confederate batteries at Vicksburg
- 1866 Nitroglycerine at Wells Fargo & Co office explodes
- 1868 Louisiana voters approve new constitution
- 1869 Ebenezer Bassett, first US Negro diplomat, begins service in Haiti
- 1881 In Dodge City, Kansas, Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle.
- 1889 Visitor posting - Sir Charles Chaplin born in London - United Kingdom
- 1891 Arthur Tolkien, father of J.R.R. Tolkien, marries Mabel Suffield.
- 1908 Natural Bridges National Monument established
- 1912 Harriet Quimby becomes first woman pilot to cross the English Channel
- 1917 Lenin returns to Russia to start Bolshevik Revolution
- 1919 Mohandas Gandhi organizes a day of "prayer and fasting" in response to the British slaughter of Indian protestors in the Amritsar Massacre.
- 1922 Annie Oakley shot 100 clay targets in a row, a women's record
- 1922 The Treaty of Rapallo, in which Germany and the Soviet Union re-establish diplomatic relations between Berlin and Moscow, is signed.
- 1924 Navy commences relief operations in Mississippi Valley floods, lasting until 16 June
- 1925 During the Communist St Nedelya Church assault in Sofia, 150 are killed and 500 are wounded.
- 1926 Book of the Month Club sends out its first selections "Lolly Willowes" & "Loving Huntsman" by Sylvia Townsend Warner
- 1932 Visitor posting - Brian Watson was born
- 1935 The first radio broadcast of "Fibber McGee & Molly"
- 1941 World War II: The Italian convoy Duisburg, directed to Tunisia, is attacked and destroyed by British ships.
- 1943 Dr. Albert Hofmann discovers the psychedelic effects of LSD.
- 1945 More than 7,000 die when the German refugee ship Goya is sunk by a Soviet submarine torpedo.
- 1945 The Red Army begins the final assault on German forces around Berlin.
- 1945 The United States Army liberates Nazi Sonderlager (high security) Prisoner of War camp Oflag IVc .
- 1945 US troops enter Nuremberg, Germany, during WW II
- 1946 US launch of captured V-2 rocket, White Sands, NM; 8 km alt
- 1947 Act of Congress gives Navy Nurse Corps members commissioned rank
- 1947 Bernard Baruch coins the term "Cold War" to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union.
- 1947 HMCS Esquimalt (RCN- minesweeper) torpedoed off Halifax
- 1947 Lens to provide zoom effects demonstrated (NYC)
- 1947 Massive explosion & fire kills 500 in Texas City, Tx
- 1947 Texas City Disaster: An explosion on board a freighter in port causes the city of Texas City, Texas, to catch fire, killing almost 600.
- 1953 Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup
- 1953 Queen Elizabeth II launches the Royal Yacht Britannia.
- 1959 Helicopters from USS Edisto begin rescue operations in Montevideo, Uruguay. By 26 April they had carried 277 flood victims to safety.
- 1961 Chic Black Hawks beat Det Red Wings 4 games to 2 for the Stanley Cup
- 1962 Walter Cronkite begins anchoring CBS Evening News
- 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. pens his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting against segregation.
- 1963 Great Train Robbery - 12 men are sentenced to a total of 307 years.
- 1966 Rhodesian PM Ian Smith breaks diplomatic relations with Britain
- 1969 Number one hit on UK music charts - Desmond Dekker & The Aces - Israelites
- 1970 70 die in a snow crush (France)
- 1971 Visitor posting - Selena, Tejano Singer, was born - USA
- 1972 2 giants pandas arrive in the US, from China
- 1972 Apollo 16 launched; 5th manned lunar landing (Decartes Highlands)
- 1972 Apollo program: Apollo 16 launches towards the Moon from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
- 1972 Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue Offensive Prompted by the North Vietnamese offensive, the United States resumes bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong.
- 1973 Visitor posting - Marci J. Goheen Born - USA
- 1977 Alex Haley finds his Roots in Juffure, Gambia
- 1978 Visitor posting - Sherry Ann Ashford was born - USA
- 1980 L Brozek discovers asteroid #2696 Magion
- 1981 Columbia space shuttle returns [04/24]
- 1983 Steve Garvey sets NL record by playing in 1,118 consecutive games
- 1986 Henry and Luz get married in Phillipines
- 1987 British Conservative MP Harvey Proctor appears at Bow Street Magistrates' Court in London charged with gross indecency.
- 1987 FCC imposes a broader definition of indecency over airwaves
- 1987 Michael Jordon, becomes 2nd NBA to score 3000 points in a season
- 1988 In Forl, Italy, Red Brigades kill Italian Senator Roberto Ruffilli, an advisor of Prime Minister Ciriaco de Mita.
- 1989 Costa Rica beats US 1-0, in 3rd round of 1990 world soccer cup
- 1989 Visitor posting - April 16 1989 Malynda Mesler Born
- 1992 "Metro" opens at Minskoff theater on Broadway
- 1992 Visitor posting - Devon Kayla born at Whiteman AFB - USA
- 1992 Visitor posting - Emily Sapp was born. 11:30am - USA
- 1992 The Katina P. runs aground off of Maputo, Mozambique. 60,000 tons of crude oil spill into the ocean.
- 1994 Visitor posting - April 16th, 1994 - Nicholas Howell, is born
- 1995 Visitor posting - Coby Lodrigue was born - USA
- 1996 Visitor posting - Rose Payva born. My pet is a dog named Baxter. He's weird. I like my cat better. - USA
- 1998 Visitor posting - ashley was born - USA
- 2003 The Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens admitting 10 new member states to the European Union.
- 2005 Visitor posting - April 16 2005 Mac Corbitt is born
- 2007 Visitor posting - April 16th 2007 Caitlin Grace Thrumble daughter of Dean Thrumble was born
- 2007 Virginia Tech massacre: the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history, in which a gunman shoots 32 people to death and injures 23 others before committing suicide.
- 2008 Visitor posting - Chelsie Ann Bennett marries Bryan Scott Bard, Key West Florida, Smathers Beach - USA
More historical events added daily - keep checking back