On this day in history

November 16

27 births · 11 deaths · 5 events

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Anniversary highlights

Event anniversary

1389

Battle of al-Qadisiyyah

1389 years ago

Born this day

1955

Guillermo Lasso

Turns 70

Photo (modified): Presidencia de la República del Ecuador · Public domain

Oldest record

1389th

Battle of al-Qadisiyyah

event anniversary

Famous births27

1717 · 308 yrs

Jean Le Rond d'Alembert

Jean Le Rond d'Alembert ( DAL-əm-BAIR; French:; 16 November 1717 – 29 October 1783) was a French mathematician, physicist, philosopher, and music theorist. Until 1759 he was, together with Denis Diderot, a co-editor of the Encyclopédie.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 65

View profile Photo (modified): After Maurice Quentin de La Tour · Public domain

1829 · 196 yrs

Anton Rubinstein

Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein (Russian: Антон Григорьевич Рубинштейн, romanized: Anton Grigoryevich Rubinshteyn; 28 November 1829 – 20 November 1894) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor who founded the Saint Petersburg Conservatory.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicDied aged 64

View profile Photo (modified): J Ganz, Brussels · Public domain

1890 · 135 yrs

Elpidio Quirino

Elpidio Rivera Quirino (Tagalog:; November 16, 1890 – February 29, 1956) was the sixth president of the Philippines, serving from 1948 to 1953. As the second vice president from 1946 to 1948, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Manuel Roxas in 1948.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 135

View profile Photo (modified): Philippine Presidential Museum and Library · Public domain

1894 · 131 yrs

Richard Nikolaus von Coudenhove-Kalergi

Richard Nikolaus Eijiro, Count of Coudenhove-Kalergi (German: Richard Nikolaus Eijiro Graf von Coudenhove-Kalergi; Japanese: リヒャルト・ニコラウス・栄次郎・クーデンホーフ＝カレルギー伯爵, romanized: Rihyaruto Nikorausu Eijirō Kūdenhōfu-Karerugī Hakushaku; 16 November 1894 – 27 July 1972), was a politician, philosopher, and count of…

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 131

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

1895 · 130 yrs

Paul Hindemith

Paul Hindemith ( POWL HIN-də-mit; German:; 16 November 1895 – 28 December 1963) was a German and American composer, music theorist, teacher, violist, and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicWould be 130

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1896 · 129 yrs

Oswald Mosley

Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980), was a British far-right politician who rose to fame during the 1920s and 1930s when, disillusioned with mainstream politics, he turned to fascism.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyWould be 129

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1904 · 121 yrs

Nnamdi Azikiwe

Nnamdi Benjamin Azikiwe PC (16 November 1904 – 11 May 1996), commonly referred to as Zik of Africa, was a Nigerian politician, statesman, and revolutionary leader who served as the first native governor-general of Nigeria from 1960 to 1963 and the first president of Nigeria during the First Nigerian Republic…

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 121

View profile Photo (modified): Kambai Akau · CC BY-SA 4.0

1907 · 118 yrs

Burgess Meredith

Oliver Burgess Meredith (November 16, 1907 – September 9, 1997) was an American actor and filmmaker whose career encompassed radio, theater, film, and television. Active for more than six decades, Meredith has been called "a virtuosic actor" and "one of the most accomplished actors of the century".

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmWould be 118

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

1922 · 103 yrs

José Saramago

José de Sousa Saramago (European Portuguese:; 16 November 1922 – 18 June 2010) was a Portuguese writer.

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LiteratureWould be 103

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1930 · 95 yrs

Salvatore Riina

Salvatore "Totò" Riina (16 November 1930 – 17 November 2017) was an Italian mobster and boss of the Sicilian Mafia.

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Notable PeopleWould be 95

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1930 · 95 yrs

Chinua Achebe

Chinua Achebe (born Albert Chinụalụmọgụ Achebe; 16 November 1930 – 21 March 2013) was a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic who is regarded as a central figure of modern African literature.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 95

View profile Photo (modified): Carlo Bavagnoli · Public domain

1938 · 87 yrs

Robert Nozick

Robert Nozick (November 16, 1938 – January 23, 2002) was an American philosopher. He held the Joseph Pellegrino University Professorship at Harvard University, and was president of the American Philosophical Association.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PhilosophyWould be 87

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Showing 12 of 27

Famous deaths11

1240 · 785 yrs

Ibn Arabi

Ibn al-ʿArabī (August, 1165 – November, 1240) was a Muslim Arab scholar, mystic, poet, and philosopher from al-Andalus, who exercised notable influence within Sufi metaphysics and Islamic thought in general.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PhilosophyDied aged 75

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

1272 · 753 yrs

Henry III of England

Henry III (1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272), also known as Henry of Winchester, was King of England, Lord of Ireland and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death in 1272.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 65

View profile Photo (modified): Matthew Paris · Public domain

1831 · 194 yrs

Carl von Clausewitz

Carl Philipp Gottlieb von Clausewitz ( KLOW-zə-vits; German:; born Carl Philipp Gottlieb Clauswitz; 1 July 1780 – 16 November 1831) was a Prussian army officer and military theorist who stressed the "moral" (in modern terms meaning psychological) and political aspects of waging war.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MilitaryDied aged 51

View profile Photo (modified): Wilhelm Wach · Public domain

1876 · 149 yrs

Karl Ernst von Baer

Karl Ernst Ritter von Baer Edler von Huthorn (Russian: Карл Макси́мович Бэр; 28 February 1792 – 28 November 1876) was a Baltic German scientist and explorer. Baer was a naturalist, biologist, geologist, meteorologist, geographer, and is considered a, or the, founding father of embryology.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 84

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

1885 · 140 yrs

Louis Riel

Louis Riel (French:; 22 October 1844 – 16 November 1885) was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of Canada and its first prime minister John A. Macdonald.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 41

View profile Photo (modified): Photographer: I. Bennetto & Co. (Israel Bennetto, 1860-1946 [2] ) (possibly) Engraver: Octave-Henri Julien (1852-190 · Public domain

1960 · 65 yrs

Clark Gable

William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901 – November 16, 1960) was an American actor often referred to as the "King of Hollywood ". He appeared in more than 60 motion pictures across a variety of genres during a 37-year career, three decades of which he spent as a leading man.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmWould be 125

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown · Public domain

1971 · 54 yrs

Edie Sedgwick

Edith Minturn Sedgwick Post (April 20, 1943 – November 16, 1971) was an American actress, model, and socialite. Best known as a Warhol superstar, Vogue named her a "Youthquaker" in 1965, recognizing her influence on youth culture and style.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FashionWould be 83

View profile Photo (modified): Terry Stevenson · Public domain

1999 · 26 yrs

Daniel Nathans

Daniel Nathans (October 30, 1928 – November 16, 1999) was an American microbiologist. Along with American researcher Hamilton Smith and Swiss researcher Werner Arber, he shared the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of restriction enzymes and their application in restriction mapping.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 97

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2005 · 20 yrs

Henry Taube

Henry Taube (November 30, 1915 – November 16, 2005) was a Canadian-born American chemist who was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for "his work in the mechanisms of electron-transfer reactions, especially in metal complexes." He was the second Canadian-born chemist to win the Nobel Prize, and remains the only…

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 110

View profile Photo (modified): ENERGY.GOV · Public domain

2006 · 19 yrs

Milton Friedman

Milton Friedman (July 31, 1912 – November 16, 2006) was an American economist and statistician who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and the complexity of stabilization policy.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 114

View profile Photo (modified): Bachrach Studios · Public domain

2023 · 2 yrs

A. S. Byatt

Dame Antonia Susan Duffy (née Drabble; 24 August 1936 – 16 November 2023), known professionally by her former married name, A. S. Byatt ( BY-ət), was an English critic, novelist, poet and short-story writer. Her books have been translated into more than thirty languages.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 90

View profile Photo (modified): Seamus Kearney · CC BY-SA 3.0

Events5

AD 636 · 1389 yrs

Battle of al-Qadisiyyah

The Battle of al-Qadisiyyah (Arabic: مَعْرَكَة ٱلْقَادِسِيَّة, romanized: Maʿrakat al-Qādisīya; Persian: نبرد قادسیه, romanized: Nabard-i Qādisiya) took place between the armies of the Rashidun Caliphate and the Sasanian Empire in November 636.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1632 · 393 yrs

Battle of Lützen

The Battle of Lützen, fought on 16 November 1632, was one of the most important of the Thirty Years' War. A Swedish army under Gustavus Adolphus, supported by troops from Saxony and Hesse-Kassel, narrowly defeated an Imperial force under Albrecht von Wallenstein.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1914 · 111 yrs

Battle of Kolubara

The Battle of Kolubara (Serbian Cyrillic: Колубарска битка, German: Schlacht an der Kolubara) was fought between Austria-Hungary and Serbia in November and December 1914, during the Serbian Campaign of 1914.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

2002 · 23 yrs

2002–2004 SARS outbreak

The 2002–2004 outbreak of SARS, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), infected over 8,000 people from 30 countries and territories, and resulted in at least 774 deaths worldwide. The outbreak was first identified in Foshan, Guangdong, China, in November 2002.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Disaster

2024 · 1 yrs

Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2024

The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2024 was the 22nd edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, held on 16 November 2024 at the Caja Mágica in Madrid, Spain, and presented by Ruth Lorenzo, Marc Clotet, and Melani García.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Culture

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