April 16

Saturday 16, 2005:

BBC announces David Tennant's casting as the Tenth Doctor in the long-running science-fiction series, Doctor Who

Wednesday 16, 2003:

Makobo Modjadji is crowned the new Rain Queen of Balobedu.

Monday 16, 2001:

First 3G voice call on Vodafone UK's 3G network.

Thursday 16, 1998:

One of the most serious urban tornadoes in history does significant damage to downtown Nashville, Tennessee (see Nashville Tornado of 1998).

Tuesday 16, 1996:

France Télécom introduces its Wanadoo Internet service.

Thursday 16, 1992:

The Katina P. runs aground off of Maputo, Mozambique. 60,000 tons of crude oil spill into the ocean.

Sunday 16, 1972:

Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue Offensive – Prompted by the North Vietnamese offensive, the United States resumes bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong.

Saturday 16, 1949:

Dave Garroway moves from radio to television to host the musical-variety show Garroway at Large.

Wednesday 16, 1947:

Bernard Baruch coins the term "Cold War" to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Friday 16, 1943:

Dr. Albert Hofmann discovers the psychedelic effects of LSD.

Monday 16, 1945:

The United States Army liberates Nazi Sonderlager (high security) Prisoner of War camp Oflag IVc (Colditz Castle).

Tuesday 16, 1935:

Radio program Fibber McGee and Molly debuts.

Friday 16, 1926:

Lolly Willows by Sylvia Townsend Warner is distributed as the first Book-of-the-Month Club selection.

Sunday 16, 1922:

The Treaty of Rapallo, in which Germany and the Soviet Union re-establish diplomatic relations between Berlin and Moscow, is signed.

Wednesday 16, 1919:

Mohandas Gandhi organizes a day of "prayer and fasting" in response to the British slaughter of Indian protestors in the Amritsar Massacre.

Monday 16, 1917:

Vladimir Lenin returns to Petrograd (present-day Saint Petersburg) from exile in Finland.

Tuesday 16, 1912:

Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel.

Saturday 16, 1881:

In Dodge City, Kansas, Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle.

Thursday 16, 1863:

American Civil War: Siege of Vicksburg – 12 ships led by Union Admiral David Dixon Porter move through heavy Confederate artillery fire on approach to Vicksburg, Mississippi. Only one ship is lost.

Saturday 16, 1853:

The first passenger rail opens in India, from Bori Bunder, Bombay to Thane.

Tuesday 16, 1799:

Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Mount Tabor – Napoleon drives Ottoman Turks across the River Jordan near Acre.

Sunday 16, 1780:

The University of Münster in Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany is founded

Saturday 16, 1746:

Second Jacobite Rebellion: The Battle of Culloden, the last battle of the Jacobite Uprising is fought, ultimately leading to the destruction of the Highland clans.

Saturday 16, 1521:

Martin Luther's first appearance before the Diet of Worms to be examined by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and the rest of the estates of the empire.

Sunday 16, 1071:

Bari falls to Robert Guiscard, ending Byzantine rule in Italy.

Monday 16, -1178:

A solar eclipse may mark the return of Odysseus, legendary King of Ithaca, to his kingdom after the Trojan War.

More on April, 16

• People Born on April, 16
• They left us on April, 16