On this day in history

May 16

30 births · 15 deaths · 5 events

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Anniversary highlights

Event anniversary

Cultural Revolution

60 years ago

Born this day

1986

Megan Fox

Turns 40

Oldest record

330th

Mariana of Austria

death anniversary

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Famous births30

1718 · 308 yrs

Maria Gaetana Agnesi

Maria Gaetana Agnesi (16 May 1718 – 9 January 1799) was a Milanese mathematician, philosopher, theologian, and humanitarian. She was the first woman to write a mathematics handbook, the first woman appointed as a mathematics professor at a university and the second woman appointed as a professor overall.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 80

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1788 · 238 yrs

Friedrich Rückert

Johann Michael Friedrich Rückert (German:; 16 May 1788 – 31 January 1866) was a German poet, translator, and professor of Oriental languages.

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LiteratureDied aged 77

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Photo: Bertha Froriep · Public domain

1801 · 225 yrs

William H. Seward

William Henry Seward (May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869 and earlier served as governor of New York and as a United States senator.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 71

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Photo: Mathew Brady · Public domain

1824 · 202 yrs

Levi P. Morton

Levi Parsons Morton (May 16, 1824 – May 16, 1920) was the 22nd vice president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He also served as United States ambassador to France, as a United States representative from New York, and as the 31st governor of New York.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 96

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Photo: Adam Cuerden · Public domain

1879 · 147 yrs

Milutin Milanković

Milutin Milanković (sometimes anglicised as Milutin Milankovitch; Serbian Cyrillic: Милутин Миланковић, pronounced; 28 May 1879 – 12 December 1958) was a Serbian mathematician, astronomer, climatologist, geophysicist, civil engineer, university professor, popularizer of science and academic.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 147

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1883 · 143 yrs100 Club

Celâl Bayar

Mahmut Celâlettin "Celâl" Bayar (16 May 1883 – 22 August 1986) was a Turkish economist and politician who was the president of Turkey from 1950 to 1960. He previously served as the prime minister of Turkey from 1937 to 1939.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 143

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1898 · 128 yrs

Tamara de Lempicka

Tamara Łempicka (pronounced; 16 June 1894 – 18 March 1980), known outside Poland as Tamara de Lempicka, was a Polish painter who spent her working life in France and the United States. She is best known for her polished Art Deco portraits of aristocrats and the wealthy, and for her highly stylized paintings of nudes.

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ArtWould be 128

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Photo: Paweł Cieśla Staszek_Szybki_Jest · CC BY-SA 3.0

1905 · 121 yrs

Henry Fonda

Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor whose career spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. Known for his work on screen and stage, he often portrayed characters who embodied an everyman image.

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FilmWould be 121

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Photo: Studio publicity still · Public domain

1917 · 109 yrs

Juan Rulfo

Juan Nepomuceno Carlos Pérez Rulfo Vizcaíno, best known as Juan Rulfo (Spanish:; 16 May 1917 – 7 January 1986), was a Mexican writer, screenwriter, and photographer. He is best known for two literary works, the 1955 novel Pedro Páramo, and the collection of short stories El Llano en llamas (The Burning Plain, 1953).

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 109

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1925 · 101 yrs

Nílton Santos

Nílton dos Santos (Brazilian Portuguese:; 16 May 1925 – 27 November 2013) was a Brazilian footballer who played primarily as a left-back. At international level, he was a member of the Brazil teams that won the 1958 and 1962 FIFA World Cups.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

SportsWould be 101

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Photo: Unknown · Public domain

1929 · 97 yrs

Adrienne Rich

Adrienne Cecile Rich (May 16, 1929 – March 27, 2012) was an American poet, essayist and feminist. She was called "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century", and was credited with bringing "the oppression of women and lesbians to the forefront of poetic discourse".

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 97

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Photo: K. Kendall · CC BY 2.0

1944 · 82 yrs

Danny Trejo

Danny Trejo (Spanish:; born May 16, 1944) is an American actor. In his body of work he appears as a character actor taking on roles such as inmates, gangsters, or other criminals.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmAge 82

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Photo: Gage Skidmore · CC BY-SA 3.0

Showing 12 of 30

Famous deaths15

1696 · 330 yrs

Mariana of Austria

Mariana of Austria (24 December 1634 – 16 May 1696) was Queen of Spain from 1649 until her husband Philip IV of Spain died in 1665. Appointed Regent for their infant son Charles II, she remained an influential figure until her own death in 1696.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 61

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Photo: Diego Velázquez · Public domain

1703 · 323 yrs

Charles Perrault

Charles Perrault ( perr-OH, US also pə-ROH, French:; 12 January 1628 – 16 May 1703) was a French author and member of the Académie Française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from earlier folk tales, published in his 1697 book Histoires ou contes du temps passé.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 75

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Photo: Charles Le Brun · Public domain

1830 · 196 yrs

Joseph Fourier

Jean-Baptiste Joseph Fourier (French:; 21 March 1768 – 16 May 1830) was a French mathematician and physicist born in Auxerre, Burgundy and best known for initiating the investigation of Fourier series, which eventually developed into Fourier analysis and harmonic analysis, and their applications to problems of heat…

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ScienceDied aged 62

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Photo: Julien-Léopold Boilly · Public domain

1910 · 116 yrs

Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev

Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev (UK: bə-LA(H)K-i-rev, US: BAH-lah-KEER-ef; Russian: Милий Алексеевич Балакирев, pronounced; 2 January 1837 – 29 May 1910) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor known today primarily for his work promoting musical nationalism and his encouragement of more famous Russian composers,…

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicDied aged 73

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1920 · 106 yrs

Levi P. Morton

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 96

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Photo: Adam Cuerden · Public domain

1926 · 100 yrs

Mehmed VI

Mehmed VI Vahideddin (Ottoman Turkish: محمد سادس, romanized: Meḥmed-i sâdis, or وحيد الدين, Vaḥîdü'd-Dîn; Turkish: VI. Mehmed or Vahideddin, also spelled as Vahidettin; 14 January 1861 – 16 May 1926), also known as Şahbaba (lit.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Notable PeopleDied aged 65

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Photo: anonymous court photographer · Public domain

1942 · 84 yrs

Bronisław Malinowski

Bronisław Kasper Malinowski (Polish:; 7 April 1884 – 16 May 1942) was a Polish anthropologist and ethnologist whose writings on ethnography, social theory, and field research have exerted a lasting influence on the discipline of anthropology.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ArtWould be 142

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Photo: Unknown author · No restrictions

1947 · 79 yrs

Frederick Hopkins

Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins (20 June 1861 – 16 May 1947) was an English biochemist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1929, with Christiaan Eijkman, for the discovery of vitamins. He also discovered the amino acid tryptophan, in 1901.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 85

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Photo: John Palmer Clarke (active 1890-1909) · Public domain

1953 · 73 yrs

Django Reinhardt

Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani nickname Django (French: or), was a French jazz guitarist and composer. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe and has been hailed as one of its most significant exponents.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicWould be 116

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Photo: Studio Harcourt · Public domain

1977 · 49 yrs

Modibo Keïta

Modibo Keïta (4 June 1915 – 16 May 1977) was a Malian politician who served as the first President of Mali from 1960 to 1968. He espoused a form of African socialism.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 111

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Photo: Robert LeRoy Knudsen · Public domain

1990 · 36 yrs

Jim Henson

James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmWould be 90

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Photo: Gotfryd, Bernard, photographer · Public domain

2010 · 16 yrs

Ronnie James Dio

Ronald James Padavona (July 10, 1942 – May 16, 2010), known professionally as Ronnie James Dio, was an American singer and musician. He fronted numerous bands throughout his career, including Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio and Heaven & Hell.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicWould be 84

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Photo: Photobra|Adam Bielawski · CC BY-SA 3.0

Showing 12 of 15

Events5

1858 · 168 yrs

Treaty of Aigun

The Treaty of Aigun was an 1858 treaty between the Russian Empire and Qing dynasty of China. Yishan, official of the Qing, signed it on behalf of the Qing.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Politics

1902 · 124 yrs

Copa del Rey

The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey, La Copa or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanish football,…

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Sports

1916 · 110 yrs

Sykes–Picot Agreement

The Sykes–Picot Agreement was a 1916 secret treaty between the United Kingdom and France, with assent from Russia and Italy, to define their mutually agreed spheres of influence and control in an eventual partition of the Ottoman Empire.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Politics

1929 · 97 yrs

1st Academy Awards

The 1st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) and hosted by AMPAS president Douglas Fairbanks, honored the best films from August 1, 1927, to July 31, 1928, and took place on May 16, 1929, at a private dinner held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles,…

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Culture

1966 · 60 yrs

Cultural Revolution

The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong, chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, in 1966 and lasted until his death in 1976.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Politics

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