This Day – July 16 — In History
We are not makers of history. We are made by history. – Martin Luther King Jr.
We strive hard every day to make history, but it is history which has made us what we are today. Let’s take a moment to know about the important events of July 16.
On this day –
622 – Muslim Era begins – Muhammad begins flight from Mecca to Medina (Hijra)
1439 – Kissing is banned in England (to stop the Black Death from spreading)
1661 – 1st banknotes in Europe are issued by Bank of Stockholm
1782 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s opera “Die Entführung aus dem Serail” premieres in Vienna with Mozart conducting
1790 – Congress declares the city of Washington in the District of Columbia, the permanent capital of the United States
1819 – Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen sets sail to explore Antarctica for Tsar Alexander I
1880 – Dr. Emily Stowe becomes the first woman licensed to practice medicine in Canada
1896 – Indian born K S Ranjitsinhji debuts for England v Australia in 2nd Test at Old Trafford; first Indian to play Test cricket
1926 – National Geographic takes 1st natural-color undersea photos
1940 – Adolf Hitler orders preparations for the invasion of Britain (Operation Sealion)
1945 – 1st test detonation of an atomic bomb, Trinity Site, Alamogordo, New Mexico as part of the US Manhattan Project
1969 – Apollo 11 launched, carrying 1st men to land on Moon
1980 – Ronald Reagan nominated for US President by Republicans in Detroit
1989 – US Open Women’s Golf, Indianwood G & CC: Betsy King wins the first of her 2 consecutive titles, 4 strokes ahead of runner-up Nancy Lopez
1999 – John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette are killed in a plane crash off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard.
2001 – “Jurassic Park III”, starring Sam Neill and William H Macy, premieres in the US
2005 – “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”, the 6th book in the series by J. K. Rowling, is published worldwide.
2012 – “The Dark Knight Rises”, directed by Christopher Nolan, starring Christian Bale and Anne Hathaway, premieres in New York
2014 – Bashar al-Assad is sworn in for a third term as President of Syria
2017 – BBC announces first ever female Doctor Who will be played by Jodie Whittaker
2018 – 12 new moons discovered orbiting Jupiter bringing planet’s moon total to 79, by scientists at Carnegie Institution for Science
