May 16th in History

1204 - Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders is crowned as the first Emperor of the Latin Empire.

1527 - The Florentines drive out the Medici for a second time and Florence re-establishes itself as a republic.

1532 - Sir Thomas More resigns as Lord Chancellor of England.

1568 - Mary, Queen of Scots, flees to England.

1770 - 14 year old Marie Antoinette marries 15 year old Louis-Auguste who later becomes Louis XVI of France.

1771 - The Battle of Alamance, a pre-American Revolutionary War battle between local militia and a group of rebels called The "Regulators", occurs in present-day Alamance County, North Carolina.

1822 - Greek War of Independence: The Turks capture the Greek town of Souli.

1868 - President Andrew Johnson is acquitted in his impeachment trial by one vote in the United States Senate.

1920 - In Rome, Pope Benedict XV canonizes St. Joan of Arc.

1943 - Holocaust: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising ends.

1966 - The Communist Party of China issues the "May 16 Notice", marking the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.

1974 - Josip Broz Tito is re-elected president of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. This time he is elected for life.

1983 - Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement rebels against the Sudanese government.

1991 - Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom addresses a joint session of the United States Congress. She is the first British monarch to address the US Congress.

2005 - Kuwait permits women's suffrage in a 35-23 National Assembly vote.

2007 - Nicolas Sarkozy takes office as President of France.

2013 - David Beckham retired from football.

Famous Birthdays


1578 - Everard Digby, conspirator, member of the failed Gunpowder Plot

1611 - Blessed Pope Innocent XI

1831 - David E. Hughes, scientist and musician, co-inventor of the microphone

1882 - Simeon Price, golfer

1905 - Henry Fonda, actor

1917 - George Gaynes, actor

1929 - Adrienne Rich, writer

1953 - Pierce Brosnan, actor


1955 - Debra Winger, actress

1961 -Kevin McDonald, comedian and actor

1969 - HSH Prince Maximilian of Liechtenstein

1970 - Gabriela Sabatini, tennis player

1977 - Melanie Lynskey, actress

1983 - Daniel Kerr, footballer

1986 - Megan Fox, actress

1991 - Grigor Dimitrov, tennis player