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There are many events that happened on this date in history. Here are just a few of them!

February 16 is the 47th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 318 days remain until the end of the year (319 in leap years).

EVENTS

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

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

1900 – The Southern Cross expedition led by Carsten Borchgrevink achieved a new Farthest South of 78° 50'S, making the first landing at the Great Ice Barrier.[4]

1923 – Howard Carter unseals the burial chamber of Pharaoh Tutankhamun.

1945 – The Alaska Equal Rights Act of 1945, the first anti-discrimination law in the United States, was signed into law.

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

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

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).

2005 – The National Hockey League cancels the entire 2004–05 regular season and playoffs.

2006 – The last Mobile army surgical hospital (MASH) is decommissioned by the United States Army.

BIRTHS

1497 – Philip Melanchthon, German astronomer, theologian, and academic (d. 1560)

1698 – Pierre Bouguer, French mathematician, geophysicist, and astronomer (d. 1758)

1727 – Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin, Austrian botanist, chemist, and mycologist (d. 1817)

1740 – Giambattista Bodoni, Italian publisher and engraver (d. 1813)

1838 – Henry Adams, American journalist, historian, and author (d. 1918)

1841 – Armand Guillaumin, French painter (d. 1927)

1843 – Henry M. Leland, American engineer and businessman, founded Cadillac and Lincoln (d. 1932)

1845 – George Kennan, American journalist and explorer (d. 1924)

1856 – Ossian Everett Mills, American academic, founded Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia (d. 1920)

1866 – Billy Hamilton, American baseball player and manager (d. 1940)

1903 – Edgar Bergen, American ventriloquist and actor (d. 1978)

1904 – James Baskett, American actor and singer (d. 1948)

1904 – George F. Kennan, American historian and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union (d. 2005)

1905 – Henrietta Barnett, English Women's Royal Air Force officer (d. 1985)

1909 – Hugh Beaumont, American actor and director (d. 1982)

1909 – Richard McDonald, American businessman, co-founded McDonald's (d. 1998)

1921 – Vera-Ellen, German-American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 1981)

1935 – Sonny Bono, American actor, singer, and politician (d. 1998)

1944 – Richard Ford, American novelist and short story writer

1951 – William Katt, American actor

1952 – James Ingram, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2019)

1954 – Margaux Hemingway, American model and actress (d. 1996)

1957 – LeVar Burton, American actor, director, and producer

1958 – Ice-T, American rapper and actor

1959 – John McEnroe, American tennis player and sportscaster

DEATHS

1862 – William Pennington American lawyer and politician, 13th Governor of New Jersey, 23rd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1796)

1898 – Thomas Bracken, Irish-New Zealand journalist, poet, and politician (b. 1843)

1928 – Eddie Foy Sr., American actor and dancer (b. 1856)

1967 – Smiley Burnette, American singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1911)

1992 – Angela Carter, English novelist, short story writer (b. 1940)

1996 – Pat Brown, American lawyer and politician, 32nd Governor of California (b. 1905)

2001 – Howard W. Koch, American director and producer (b. 1916)

2015 – Lesley Gore, American singer-songwriter (b. 1946)

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