16 February

116          Emperor Trajan sends laureatae to the Roman Senate at Rome on account of his victories and being conqueror of Parthia.

1497       Philipp Melanchthon (born), German theologian and reformer (died 1560)

1531       Johannes Stöffler (died), German mathematician and astronomer (born 1452)

1646       Battle of Torrington, Devon – the last major battle of the first English Civil War.

1698       Pierre Bouguer (born), French mathematician, geophysicist, and astronomer (died 1758)

1699       First Leopoldine Diploma is issued by the Holy Roman Emperor, recognizing the Greek Catholic clergy enjoyed the same privileges as Roman Catholic priests in the Principality of Transylvania.

1727       Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin (born), Austrian scientist (died 1817)

1740       Giambattista Bodoni (born), Italian publisher and engraver (died 1813)

1754       Richard Mead (died), English physician (born 1673)

1802      Phineas Quimby (born), American philosopher (died 1866)

1804      First Barbary War: Stephen Decatur leads a raid to burn the pirate-held frigate USS Philadelphia.

1804      Karl Theodor Ernst von Siebold (born), German physiologist (died 1885)

1821       Heinrich Barth (born), German explorer and scholar (died 1865)

1822       Francis Galton (born), English biologist and statistician (died 1911)

1824       Peter Kozler (born), Slovenian cartographer and geographer (died 1879)

1834       Ernst Haeckel (born), German biologist and philosopher (died 1919)

1838      Henry Adams (born), American journalist, historian, and author (died 1918)

1845       George Kennan (born), American explorer (died 1924)

1848      Hugo de Vries (born), Dutch botanist (died 1935)

1852       Studebaker Brothers wagon company, precursor of the automobile manufacturer, is established.

1862       American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Donelson, Tennessee.

1874       Silver Dollar becomes legal US tender.

1891       Hans F. K. Günther (born), German eugenicist (died 1967)

1903       André Berthomieu (born), French director and screenwriter (died 1960)

1903       Edgar Bergen (born), American ventriloquist and actor (died 1978)

1903       Georges-Henri Lévesque (born), Canadian priest and sociologist (died 2000)

1909       Jeffrey Lynn (born), American actor (died 1995)

1909       Richard McDonald (born), American businessman, co-founded McDonald’s (died 1998)

1918       Patty Andrews (born), American singer (The Andrews Sisters) (died 2013)

1921       John Galbraith Graham (born), English priest and crossword compiler

1923       Howard Carter unseals the burial chamber of Pharaoh Tutankhamun.

1925       Carlos Paredes (born), Portuguese guitarist and composer (died 2004)

1926       John Schlesinger (born), English actor and director (died 2003)

1928       Eddie Foy, Sr. (died), American actor and dancer (born 1856)

1932       Gretchen Wyler (born), American actress and dancer (died 2007)

1934       Harold ‘Hal’ Kalin (born), American singer (Kalin Twins) (died 2005)

1934       Herbert ‘Herbie’ Kalin (born), American singer (Kalin Twins) (died 2006)

1934       The Austrian Civil War ends with the defeat of the Social Democrats and the Republican Schutzbund.

1935       Sonny Bono (born), American actor, singer, and politician (Sonny & Cher) (died 1998)

1937       Wallace H. Carothers receives a United States patent for nylon.

1940       World War II: Altmark Incident: The German tanker Altmark is boarded by sailors from the British destroyer HMS Cossack. 299 British prisoners are freed.

1941       Kim Jong-il (born), North Korean politician, 2nd Supreme Leader of North Korea (died 2011)

1943       World War II: Insertion of Operation Gunnerside, Norway.

1945       World War II: American forces land on Corregidor Island in the Philippines.

1954       Margaux Hemingway (born), American actress and model (died 1996)

1957       The “Toddlers’ Truce”, a controversial television close down between 6.00 pm and 7.00 pm is abolished in the United Kingdom.

1958       Ice-T (born), American rapper and actor (Body Count)

1958       Natalie Angier (born), American journalist and author

1959       Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba after dictator Fulgencio Batista was overthrown on January 1.

1959       John McEnroe (born), American tennis player

1960       The U.S. Navy submarine USS Triton begins Operation Sandblast, setting sail from New London, Connecticut, to begin the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe.

1961       Andy Taylor (born), English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Duran Duran, The Power Station)

1961       Explorer program: Explorer 9 (S-56a) is launched.

1962       Flooding in the coastal areas of West Germany kills 315 and destroys the homes of about 60,000 people.

1968       In Haleyville, Alabama, the first 9-1-1 emergency telephone system goes into service.

1978       The first computer bulletin board system is created (CBBS in Chicago, Illinois).

1985       Hezbollah is founded.

1987       The trial of John Demjanjuk, accused of being a Nazi guard dubbed “Ivan the Terrible” in Treblinka extermination camp, starts in Jerusalem.

1996       Brownie McGhee (died), American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1915)

1999       Across Europe, Kurdish rebels take over embassies and hold hostages after Turkey arrests one of their rebel leaders, Abdullah Öcalan.

1999       In Uzbekistan, a bomb explodes and gunfire is heard at the government headquarters in an apparent assassination attempt against PresidentIslam Karimov.

2001      William Masters (died), American gynecologist and sexologist (born 1915)

2005      The Kyoto Protocol comes into force, following its ratification by Russia.

2005      The National Hockey League cancels the entire 2004-2005 regular season and playoffs.

2006      The last Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) is decommissioned by the United States Army.

2013       A bomb blast at a market in Hazara Town in Quetta, Pakistan, kills more than 80 people and injures 190 others.

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EO Smith

Interests include biological anthropology, evolution, social behavior, and human behavior. Conducted field research in the Tana River National Primate Reserve, Kenya and on Angaur, Palau, Micronesia, as well as research with captive nonhuman primates at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center and the Institute for Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya.
EO Smith
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