On this day in history

January 16

28 births · 17 deaths · 5 events

Prev Capricorn Next

Anniversary highlights

Event anniversary

Mali War

14 years ago

Born this day

1933

Susan Sontag

Would be 93

Photo (modified): Lynn Gilbert · CC BY-SA 4.0

Oldest record

1717th

Marcellus I

death anniversary

View profile

Famous births28

1749 · 277 yrs

Vittorio Alfieri

Count Vittorio Amedeo Alfieri (also US:; Italian:; 16 January 1749 – 8 October 1803) was an Italian playwright and poet, considered the "founder of Italian tragedy." He wrote nineteen tragedies, sonnets, satires, a notable autobiography, and translated Virgil and other works from Latin and Greek.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 54

View profile Photo (modified): François-Xavier Fabre · Public domain

1821 · 205 yrs

John C. Breckinridge

John Cabell Breckinridge (January 16, 1821 – May 17, 1875) was an American politician who served as the 14th vice president of the United States, with President James Buchanan, from 1857 to 1861, and as a general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 54

View profile Photo (modified): Mathew Benjamin Brady / Levin Corbin Handy · Public domain

1838 · 188 yrs

Franz Brentano

Franz Clemens Honoratus Hermann Josef Brentano (German:; 16 January 1838 – 17 March 1917) was a German philosopher and psychologist.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PhilosophyDied aged 79

View profile Photo (modified): user:svencb · Public domain

1844 · 182 yrs

Ismail Kemal

Ismail Qemali, or Ismail Kemal Bey Vlora (Albanian:; 16 January 1844 – 26 January 1919), was an Albanian politician and statesman who is regarded as the founder of modern Albania. He served as the first prime minister of Albania from December 1912 until his resignation in January 1914.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 75

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1853 · 173 yrs

Vladimir Solovyov

Vladimir Sergeyevich Solovyov (Russian: Владимир Сергеевич Соловьёв; 28 January 1853 – 13 August 1900) was a Russian philosopher, theologian, poet, pamphleteer, and literary critic, who played a significant role in the development of Russian philosophy and poetry at the end of the 19th century and in the spiritual…

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PhilosophyDied aged 47

View profile Photo (modified): S. Sdobnov · Public domain

1901 · 125 yrs

Fulgencio Batista

Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (born Rubén Zaldívar; 16 January 1901 – 6 August 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who served as president of Cuba from 1940 to 1944, and again from 1952 to his resignation in 1959, when he was overthrown in the Cuban Revolution.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 125

View profile Photo (modified): Harris & Ewing · Public domain

1908 · 118 yrs

Ethel Merman

Ethel Merman (born Ethel Agnes Zimmermann; January 16, 1908 – February 15, 1984) was an American singer and actress.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicWould be 118

View profile Photo (modified): ABC Television Uploaded by We hope at en.wikipedia · Public domain

1931 · 95 yrs

Johannes Rau

Johannes Rau (German:; 16 January 1931 – 27 January 2006) was a German politician who served as President of Germany from 1999 to 2004. A member of the Social Democratic Party, he previously served as the Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 1978 to 1998.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 95

View profile Photo (modified): Ulrich Wienke · CC BY-SA 3.0 de

1932 · 94 yrs

Dian Fossey

Dian Fossey (January 16, 1932 – December 26, 1985) was an American primatologist and conservationist known for undertaking an extensive study of mountain gorilla groups from 1966 until her murder in 1985.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 94

View profile Photo (modified): Tribune Publishing, no photographer credited · Public domain

1933 · 93 yrs

Susan Sontag

Susan Lee Sontag (January 16, 1933 – December 28, 2004) was an American writer and critic. She primarily wrote essays, but also published novels; she published her first major work, the essay "Notes on 'Camp' ", in 1964.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 93

View profile Photo (modified): Lynn Gilbert · CC BY-SA 4.0

1947 · 79 yrs

Apasra Hongsakula

Apasra Hongsakula (Thai: อาภัสรา หงสกุล, RTGS: Aphatsara Hongsakun, pronounced; born January 16, 1947) is a Thai businesswoman and beauty queen who won the title of Miss Universe 1965. She is a daughter of Group Captain Perm and Kayoon Hongsakula.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FashionAge 79

View profile Photo (modified): Associated Press (AP) · Public domain

1948 · 78 yrs

John Carpenter

John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, composer, and actor. Most commonly associated with horror, action, and science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s, he is generally recognized as a master of the horror genre.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmAge 78

View profile Photo (modified): Kyle Cassidy · CC BY-SA 4.0

Showing 12 of 28

Famous deaths17

AD 309 · 1717 yrs

Marcellus I

Pope Marcellus I (Italian: Marcello I) (6 January 255 – 16 January 309) was the bishop of Rome from May or June 308 to his death on 16 January 309. He succeeded Marcellinus after a considerable interval.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ReligionDied aged 54

View profile Photo (modified): Artaud de Montor (1772–1849) · Public domain

1595 · 431 yrs

Murad III

Murad III (Ottoman Turkish: مراد ثالث, romanized: Murād-i sālis; Turkish: III. Murad; 4 July 1546 – 16 January 1595) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1574 until his death in 1595. His rule saw battles with the Habsburgs and exhausting wars with the Safavids.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Notable PeopleDied aged 48

View profile Photo (modified): 16th century artist · Public domain

1794 · 232 yrs

Edward Gibbon

Edward Gibbon (8 May 1737 – 16 January 1794) was a British essayist, historian and politician. His most important and influential work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, was published in six volumes between 1776 and 1789, to critical and commercial success.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScholarshipDied aged 56

View profile Photo (modified): Joshua Reynolds · Public domain

1901 · 125 yrs

Arnold Böcklin

Arnold Böcklin (16 October 1827 – 16 January 1901) was a Swiss Symbolist painter. His five versions of the Isle of the Dead inspired works by several late Romantic composers.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ArtDied aged 73

View profile Photo (modified): Arnold Böcklin · Public domain

1942 · 84 yrs

Carole Lombard

Carole Lombard (born Jane Alice Peters; October 6, 1908 – January 16, 1942) was an American actress, particularly noted for her energetic, often off-beat roles in screwball comedies. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Lombard 23rd on its list of the greatest female stars of Classic Hollywood Cinema.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmWould be 118

View profile Photo (modified): Metro-Goldwy-Mayer · Public domain

1957 · 69 yrs

Arturo Toscanini

Arturo Toscanini (Italian:; March 25, 1867 – January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, Toscanini was renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his eidetic memory.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicDied aged 89

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown (Mondadori Publishers) · Public domain

1993 · 33 yrs

Jón Páll Sigmarsson

Jón Páll Sigmarsson (28 April 1960 – 16 January 1993) was an Icelandic strongman, powerlifter and bodybuilder. He was the first man to win the World's Strongest Man four times, the only man to win the World Muscle Power Classic five times and the only man to win Pure Strength individual title.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Notable PeopleWould be 66

View profile Photo (modified): Jose Lu · CC BY-SA 4.0

2001 · 25 yrs

Laurent-Désiré Kabila

Laurent-Désiré Kabila (French pronunciation:; 27 November 1939 – 16 January 2001), usually known as Laurent Kabila or Kabila the Father (US: ), was a Congolese rebel and politician who served as the third president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1997 until his assassination in 2001.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 86

View profile Photo (modified): Etienne Scholasse, European Communities · CC BY 4.0

2014 · 12 yrs

Hiroo Onoda

Hiroo Onoda (Japanese: 小野田寛郎, Hepburn: Onoda Hiroo; IPA:) 19 March 1922 – 16 January 2014) was a Japanese soldier who served as a second lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MilitaryWould be 104

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

2017 · 9 yrs

Eugene Cernan

Eugene Andrew Cernan (March 14, 1934 – January 16, 2017) was an American astronaut, naval aviator, electrical engineer, aeronautical engineer, and fighter pilot. As of 2026, he is the last person to walk on the Moon.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

AviationWould be 92

View profile Photo (modified): NASA · Public domain

2020 · 6 yrs

Christopher Tolkien

Christopher John Reuel Tolkien (21 November 1924 – 16 January 2020) was an English academic editor and writer. The son of the author and academic J. R. R.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 101

View profile

2021 · 5 yrs

Phil Spector

Harvey Phillip Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter known primarily for his orchestral pop productions and recording technique, dubbed "the Wall of Sound", and decades later for his trials and imprisonment for murder.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Notable PeopleWould be 86

View profile Photo (modified): Kingkongphoto & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0

Showing 12 of 17

Events5

1906 · 120 yrs

Algeciras Conference

The Algeciras Conference of 1906 took place in Algeciras, Spain, and lasted from 16 January to 7 April.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Politics

1997 · 29 yrs

1997 Albanian civil unrest

In 1997, Albania experienced widespread civil unrest due to economic problems stemming from the collapse of pyramid schemes. The large sums of money siphoned from the government to fund these schemes led to the collapse of the Democratic Party's government in January 1997.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

History

2012 · 14 yrs

Mali War

The Mali War is an ongoing conflict that began on 16 January 2012 with a Tuareg rebellion in northern Mali. The rebels included the secular-oriented National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), a group fighting for independence or greater autonomy of a region they called Azawad.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

2017 · 9 yrs

2017 Turkish Airlines cargo plane crash

Turkish Airlines Flight 6491 was a scheduled international cargo flight operated by ACT Airlines on behalf of Turkish Cargo, from Hong Kong to Istanbul via Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Disaster

2020 · 6 yrs

COVID-19 pandemic in Japan

The COVID-19 pandemic in Japan resulted in 33,803,572 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 74,694 deaths, along with 33,728,878 recoveries. The Japanese government confirmed the country's first case of the disease on 16 January 2020 in a resident of Kanagawa Prefecture who had returned from Wuhan, China.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Disaster

Nearby dates

Born on January 16? Find your birthday matches →

Share January 16

Living room with framed Who Shares My Birthday poster

Close-up

FrameShown to scale · framed 34 × 46 cmThis is the frame we'll deliver, with a white mount

Printable keepsake

Your birthday matches poster

A personalised A3 framed print of everyone famous born on January 16, what happened on your birthday in history and your zodiac sign. We print and frame it for you and deliver it to your door (UK only).

Name on poster

Your photo

Kept private and only used to make your poster.