16 April is the 106th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (107th in Leap Year s). There are 259 days remaining.
- 1178 BC - A Solar Eclipse may have marked the return of Odysseus , legendary King of Ithaca , to his kingdom after the Trojan War .
- 1071 - Bari falls to Robert Guiscard , ending Byzantine rule in Italy .
- 1521 - Martin Luther's first appearance before the Diet Of Worms to be examined by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and the rest of the estates of the Empire .
- 1582 - Spanish Conquistador Hernando De Lerma founds the settlement of Salta , Argentina .
- , the last battle of the Jacobite Uprising is fought, ultimately leading to the destruction of the Highland Clan s.
- 1780 - The University Of Münster in Münster , North Rhine-Westphalia , Germany is founded.
- – Napoleon drives Ottoman Turks across the River Jordan near Acre .
- 1853 - The first passenger rail opens in India , from Bori Bunder , Bombay to Thane .
- in Virginia .
- 1862 - in the District Of Columbia became law.
- – 12 ships led by Union Admiral David Dixon Porter move through heavy Confederate artillery fire on approach to Vicksburg, Mississippi . Only one ship is lost.
- 1881 - In Dodge City, Kansas , Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle.
- 1912 - Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly an Airplane across the English Channel .
- 1917 - Vladimir Lenin returns to Petrograd (present-day Saint Petersburg ) from exile in Finland .
- 1919 - Mohandas Gandhi organizes a day of "prayer and fasting" in response to the British slaughter of India n protestors in the Amritsar Massacre .
- 1922 - The Treaty Of Rapallo , in which Germany and the Soviet Union re-establish Diplomatic Relations between Berlin and Moscow , is signed.
- 1925 - the Communist St Nedelya Church Assault in Sofia claims the lives of 150 and injures another 500.
- 1926 - '' Lolly Willows '' by Sylvia Townsend Warner is distributed as the first Book-of-the-Month Club selection.
- 1935 - Radio program '' Fibber McGee And Molly '' debuts.
- 1943 - Dr. Albert Hofmann discovers the Psychedelic effects of LSD .
- 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 ( Colditz Castle ).
- 1945 - German ship Goya , overfilled with refugees, sinks after being torpedoed by a Soviet submarine, killing more than 7,000 people.
- , to catch fire, killing almost 600.
- 1947 - Bernard Baruch coins the term " Cold War " to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union .
- 1949 - Dave Garroway moves from Radio to Television to host the musical-variety show '' Garroway At Large ''.
- 1953 - Queen Elizabeth II launches the Royal Yacht '' Britannia ''.
- 1963 - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. pens his famous Letter From Birmingham Jail while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting against segregation.
- 1964 - Sentences totalling 307 years were passed on 12 men who stole £2.6m in used bank notes after holding up the night mail train travelling from Glasgow to London in August of 1963 - a heist that became known as the Great Train Robbery .
- launches toward the Moon from Cape Canaveral, Florida .
- 1972 - – Prompted by the North Vietnam ese offensive, the United States resumes bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong .
- 1987 - British Conservative MP Harvey Proctor appears at Bow Street Magistrates' Court in central London charged with gross indecency.
- 1988 - In Forlì ( Italy ), Red Brigades kill Italian Senator Roberto Ruffilli , an Advisor of Prime Minister Ciriaco De Mita .
- 1992 - The Katina P. runs aground off of Maputo , Mozambique . 60,000 tons of crude oil spill into the ocean.
- 1996 - France Télécom introduces its Wanadoo Internet service.
- 1998 - One of the most serious urban Tornado es in history does significant damage to downtown Nashville, Tennessee (see Nashville Tornado Of 1998 ).
- 2000 - Protests against the World Bank and IMF in Washington, DC .
- 2003 - Makobo Modjadji is crowned the new Rain Queen of Balobedu .
- 2003 - The Treaty Of Accession is signed in Athens admitting 10 new member states to the European Union .
- 778 - King Louis The Pious (d. 840 )
- 1319 - King John II Of France (d. 1364 )
- 1495 - Petrus Apianus , German mathematician (d. 1557 )
- 1646 - Jules Hardouin Mansart , French architect (d. 1708 )
- 1660 - Hans Sloane , British collector and physician (d. 1753 )
- 1661 - Charles Montagu, 1st Earl Of Halifax , British poet and statesman (d. 1715 )
- 1682 - John Hadley , British inventor (d. 1744 )
- 1728 - Joseph Black , Scottish chemist (d. 1799 )
- 1730 - Henry Clinton , British general (d. 1795 )
- 1755 - Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun , French painter (d. 1842 )
- 1800 - George Bingham, 3rd Earl Of Lucan , British soldier (d. 1888 )
- 1823 - Ferdinand Eisenstein , German mathematician (d. 1852 )
- 1844 - Anatole France , French writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1924 )
- 1865 - Henry George Chauvel , Australian general (d. 1945 )
- 1867 - Wilbur Wright , American aviation pioneer (d. 1912 )
- 1871 - John Millington Synge , Irish writer (d. 1909 )
- 1878 - Tip Foster , English Cricketer (d. 1914 )
- 1886 - Ernst Thälmann , German politician (d. 1944 )
- 1889 - Charles Chaplin , English actor, writer, and film producer (d. 1977 )
- 1904 - Fifi D'Orsay , Canadian actress (d. 1983 )
- 1905 - Frits Philips , Dutch businessman (d. 2005 )
- 1912 - Garth Williams , American illustrator (d. 1996 )
- 1912 - Catherine Scorsese , Italian-American actress (d. 1997 )
- 1915 - Gerard McLarnon , Irish playwright and actor (d. 1997 )
- 1918 - Spike Milligan , British comedian (d. 2002 )
- 1919 - Merce Cunningham , American dancer and choreographer
- 1921 - Peter Ustinov , English writer, actor, and film director (d. 2004 )
- 1922 - Kingsley Amis , English author (d. 1995 )
- 1924 - Henry Mancini , American composer (d. 1994 )
- 1927 - Edie Adams , American actress
- 1927 - Pope Benedict XVI
- 1927 - Peter Mark Richman , American actor
- 1928 - Dick "Night Train" Lane , American football player (d. 2002 )
- 1930 - Herbie Mann , American jazz flute player (d. 2003 )
- 1933 - Joan Bakewell , British broadcaster
- 1935 - Sarah Kirsch , German poet
- 1935 - Bobby Vinton , American singer
- 1937 - Joseph Whipp , American actor
- 1939 - Dusty Springfield , English singer (d. 1999 )
- 1940 - Margrethe II Of Denmark , Queen Regnant
- 1942 - Frank Williams Formula 1 constructor
- 1946 - Margot Adler , American journalist
- 1947 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar , American basketball player
- 1947 - Gerry Rafferty , British musician and songwriter
- 1951 - Pierre Toutain-Dorbec , French photographer, painter, sculptor
- 1951 - Ioan Mihai Cochinescu , Romanian writer and photographer
- 1951 - Björgvin Halldórsson , Icelandic singer
- 1952 - Bill Belichick , American football coach
- 1952 - Billy West , American voice actor
- 1953 - Peter Garrett , Australian musician ( Midnight Oil ), and politician
- 1953 - J. Neil Schulman , American writer and activist
- 1954 - Ellen Barkin , American actress
- 1955 - Bruce Bochy , baseball player and manager
- 1956 - Lise-Marie Morerod , Swiss skier
- 1959 - Alison Ramsay , Scottish field hockey player
- 1960 - Rafael Benitez , Spanish football manager
- 1961 - Doris Dragović , Croatian singer
- 1962 - Ian MacKaye , American musician, ( Fugazi and Minor Threat )
- 1963 - Jimmy Osmond , American pop singer ( The Osmonds )
- 1964 - Dave Pirner , American rock singer ( Soul Asylum )
- 1965 - Jon Cryer , American actor
- 1965 - Martin Lawrence , American actor, comedian, and producer
- 1971 - Selena , American singer (d. 1995 )
- 1975 - Sean Maher , American actor
- 1976 - Lukas Haas , American actor
- 1977 - Fredrik Ljungberg , Swedish footballer
- 1978 - Matthew Lloyd , Australian football player
- 1979 - Howlin' Pelle Almqvist , Swedish musician ( The Hives )
- 1979 - Christijan Albers Formula 1 driver
- 1983 - Cat Osterman , University of Texas softball pitcher
- 1987 - Aaron Lennon , British footballer
- 1994 - Liliana Mumy , American child actress
- 69 - Otho , Roman Emperor (b. 32 )
- 744 - Al-Walid II , Umayyad caliph
- 924 - Berengar Of Friuli , King of Italy
- 1113 - Sviatopolk II Of Kiev , Russian prince (b. 1050 )
- 1118 - Adelaide Del Vasto , wife of Roger II Of Sicily
- 1198 - Duke Frederick I Of Austria
- 1645 - Tobias Hume , English composer
- 1687 - George Villiers, 2nd Duke Of Buckingham , English statesman (b. 1628 )
- 1689 - Aphra Behn , English dramatist
- 1783 - Christian Mayer , Czech astronomer (b. 1719 )
- 1788 - Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte De Buffon , French naturalist (b. 1707 )
- 1828 - Francisco De Goya , Spanish painter (b. 1746 )
- 1846 - Domenico Dragonetti , Italian composer (b. 1763 )
- 1859 - Alexis De Tocqueville , French historian (b. 1805 )
- 1888 - Zygmunt Florenty Wróblewski , Polish physicist (b. 1845 )
- 1904 - Samuel Smiles , Scottish writer and reformer (b. 1812 )
- 1914 - George William Hill , American astronomer (b. 1838 )
- 1915 - Nelson W. Aldrich , U.S. Senator from Rhode Island (b. 1841 )
- 1938 - Steve Bloomer , English footballer (b. 1874 )
- 1946 - Arthur Chevrolet , Swiss-born race car driver and automobile designer (b. 1884 )
- 1958 - Rosalind Franklin , British chemist (b. 1920 )
- 1968 - Edna Ferber , American author (b. 1885 )
- 1972 - Kawabata Yasunari , Japanese writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899 )
- 1978 - Lucius Clay , American general (b. 1897 )
- 1985 - Scott Brady , American actor (b. 1924 )
- 1991 - David Lean , British film director (b. 1908 )
- 1992 - Neville Brand , American actor (b. 1920 )
- 1994 - Ralph Ellison , American writer (b. 1914 )
- 1997 - Doris Angleton , American socialite (b. 1951 )
- 1997 - Roland Topor , French illustrator (b. 1938 )
- 1998 - Fred Davis , English snooker player (b. 1913 )
- 2001 - Michael Ritchie , American film director (b. 1920 )
- 2001 - Alec Stock , English football manager (b. 1917 )
- 2002 - Ruth Fertel , American restaurateur (b. 1927 )
- 2002 - Robert Urich , American actor (b. 1946 )
- 2003 - Graham Stuart Thomas , English author and garden designer (b. 1909 )
- 2005 - Kay Walsh , British actress (b. 1911 )
- 2005 - Marla Ruzicka , American humanitarian worker and peace activist (b. 1976 )
April 15 - April 17 - March 16 - May 16 – Listing Of All Days
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