16 September

1380   Charles V of France (died) (born 1338)

1386   Henry V of England (born), (died 1422)

1615    Heinrich Bach (born), German organist and composer (died 1692)

1620   The Mayflower starts her voyage to North America

1651    Engelbert Kaempfer (born), German physician (died 1716)

1725    Nicolas Desmarest (born), French geologist (died 1815)

1736    Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (died), Polish-Dutch physicist and engineer, invented the thermometer (born 1686)

1776    American Revolutionary War: the Battle of Harlem Heights is fought.

1777    Nathan Mayer Rothschild (born), German-English banker and financier (died 1836)

1779    American Revolutionary War: The Franco-American Siege of Savannah begins.

1792    Nguyễn Huệ (died), Vietnamese emperor (born 1753)

1803   Nicolas Baudin (died), French explorer, hydrographer, and cartographer (born 1754)

1810    With the Grito de Dolores, Father Miguel Hidalgo begins Mexico’s fight for independence from Spain.

1812    The Fire of Moscow begins shortly after midnight and destroys three quarters of the city days later.

1819    John Jeffries (died), American physician and surgeon (born 1744)

1824   Louis XVIII of France (died) (born 1755)

1827    Jean Albert Gaudry (born), French geologist and palaeontologist (died 1908)

1846   Anna Kingsford (born), English activist (died 1888)

1853    Albrecht Kossel (born), German physician and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1927)

1863   Robert College of Istanbul-Turkey, the first American educational institution outside the United States, is founded by Christopher Robert, an American philanthropist.

1875    James Cash Penney (born), American businessman, founded J. C. Penney (died 1971)

1877    Jacob Schick (born), American-Canadian inventor and businessman, founded Schick Razors (died 1937)

1880   Alfred Noyes (born), English poet (died 1958)

1880   The Cornell Daily Sun prints its first issue in Ithaca, New York. The Sun is the nation’s oldest, continuously-independent college daily.

1893   Settlers make a land run for prime land in the Cherokee Strip in Oklahoma.

1898   H. A. Rey (born), American author and illustrator, co-created Curious George (died 1977)

1899   Hans Swarowsky (born), Hungarian-Austrian conductor (died 1975)

1903   Joe Venuti (born), American violinist (The Dorsey Brothers) (died 1978)

1908   The General Motors Corporation is founded.

1911     Edward Whymper (died), English-French mountaineer, explorer, and author (born 1840)

1914    Allen Funt (born), American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1999)

1919    Andy Russell (born), American singer (died 1992)

1919    Laurence J. Peter (born), Canadian-American hierarchiologist and educator (died 1990)

1919    The American Legion is incorporated.

1920   The Wall Street bombing: a bomb in a horse wagon explodes in front of the J. P. Morgan building in New York City – 38 are killed and 400 injured.

1924    Lauren Bacall (born), American actress and singer

1925    B.B. King (born), American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

1925    Charlie Byrd (born), American guitarist (died 1999)

1926    John Knowles (born), American author (died 2001)

1927    Peter Falk (born), American actor, singer, and producer (died 2011)

1928   The Okeechobee hurricane strikes southeastern Florida, killing upwards of 2,500 people. It is the third deadliest natural disaster in United States history, behind the Galveston hurricane of 1900 and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

1931    K. D. Arulpragasam (born), Sri Lankan zoologist and academic (died 2003)

1934    Dick Heckstall-Smith (born), English saxophonist (Blues Incorporated, The Graham Bond Organisation, and Colosseum) (died 2004)

1935    Billy Boy Arnold (born), American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1941    Joe Butler (born), American singer, autoharp player, and drummer (The Lovin’ Spoonful)

1941    World War II: Concerned that Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, is about to ally his petroleum-rich empire with Nazi Germany, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union invade Iran in late August and force the Shah to abdicate in favor of his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

1942    Bernie Calvert (born), English bass player and keyboard player (The Hollies)

1945    World War II: The surrender of the Japanese troops in Hong Kong is accepted by Royal Navy Admiral Sir Cecil Harcourt.

1946    James Hopwood Jeans (died), English physicist, astronomer, and mathematician (born 1877)

1948   Kenney Jones (born), English drummer (The Small Faces, Faces, The Who, The Law, and The Jones Gang)

1948   Rosemary Casals (born), American tennis player

1949    Ed Begley, Jr. (born), American actor and producer

1950    David Bellamy (born), American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Bellamy Brothers)

1950    Henry Louis Gates (born), American educator, scholar, and author

1952    Mickey Rourke (born), American boxer, actor, and screenwriter

1955    A Soviet Navy Zulu class submarine becomes the first submarine to launch a ballistic missile.

1955    The military coup to unseat President Juan Perón of Argentina is launched at midnight.

1956    David Copperfield (born), American magician

1959    The first successful photocopier, the Xerox 914, is introduced in a demonstration on live television from New York City.

1960   Ean Evans (born), American bass player (Lynyrd Skynyrd and Outlaws) (died 2009)

1961    The United States National Hurricane Research Project drops eight cylinders of silver iodide into the eyewall of Hurricane Esther. Wind speed reduces by 10%, giving rise to Project Stormfury.

1963    Malaysia is formed from the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak. However, Singapore soon leaves this new country.

1965    Fred Quimby (died), American animator and producer (born 1886)

1966    The Metropolitan Opera House opens at Lincoln Center in New York City with the world premiere of Samuel Barber’s opera, Antony and Cleopatra.

1970    King Hussein of Jordan declares military rule following the hijacking of four civilian airliners by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). This results in the formation of the Black September Palestinian paramilitary unit.

1971    Amy Poehler (born), American actress, producer, and screenwriter

1971    Typhoon Nancy, with possibly the strongest winds ever measured in a tropical cyclone, makes landfall in Osaka, Japan, killing 173 people.

1974    Julian Castro (born), American lawyer and politician, Mayor of San Antonio

1975    Papua New Guinea gains its independence from Australia.

1975    The Cape Verde Islands, Mozambique, and Sao Tome and Principe join the United Nations.

1975    The first prototype of the MiG-31 interceptor makes its maiden flight.

1977    Maria Callas (died), American-Greek soprano (born 1923)

1980   Jean Piaget (died), Swiss psychologist and philosopher (born 1896)

1980   Saint Vincent and the Grenadines join the United Nations.

1984   Louis Réard (died), French engineer and fashion designer, created the bikini (born 1897)

1987    The Montreal Protocol is signed to protect the ozone layer from depletion.

1991    The trial of the deposed Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega begins in the United States.

1992    Black Wednesday: the Pound Sterling is forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism by currency speculators and is forced to devalue against the German mark.

1992    Millicent Fenwick (died), American journalist and politician (born 1910)

1992    Nick Jonas (born), American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (Jonas Brothers and Nick Jonas & the Administration)

1994    The British government lifts the broadcasting ban imposed against members of Sinn Féin and Irish paramilitary groups in 1988.

2005   Gordon Gould (died), American physicist, invented the laser (born 1920)

2007   Mercenaries working for Blackwater Worldwide allegedly shoot and kill 17 Iraqis in Nisour Square, Baghdad; all criminal charges against them are later dismissed, sparking outrage in the Arab world.

2009   Mary Travers (died), American singer-songwriter (Peter, Paul, and Mary) (born 1936)

2011    Willie “Big Eyes” Smith (died), American electric blues vocalist, harmonica player, and drummer (born 1936)

2013   A gunman kills twelve people at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C.

2013   Patsy Swayze (died), American dancer and choreographer (born 1927)

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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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