April 16

Events1178 BC - A solar eclipse may have marked the return of Odysseus, legendary King of Ithaca, to his kingdom after the Trojan War.73 - Masada, a Jewish fortress, falls to the Romans after several months of siege, ending the Jewish Revolt.1071 - Bari falls to Robert Guiscard, ending Byzantine rule in Italy.1346 - Serbian Empire was proclaimed in Skopje by Dusan Silni, occupying much of the South-Eastern Europe. 1395 - Azzo X d'Este is defeated at the Battle of Portomaggiore by Venetian-Ferrarese troops.1521 - Martin Luther's first appearance before the Diet of Worms to be examined by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and the other estates of the empire.1582 - Spanish conquistador Hernando de Lerma founds the settlement of Salta, Argentina.1746 - Battle of Culloden 1780 - The University of Münster in Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany is founded.1799 - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Mount Tabor –  Napoleon drives Ottoman Turks across the River Jordan near Acre.1853 - The first passenger rail opens in India, from Bori Bunder, Bombay to Thane.1862 - American Civil War: Battle at Lee's Mills in Virginia.1862 - American Civil War: A bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia became law.1863 - American Civil War: Siege of Vicksburg – ships led by  Union Admiral David Dixon Porter move through heavy Confederate artillery fire on approach to Vicksburg, Mississippi. 1881 - In Dodge City, Kansas, Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle.1912 - Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel.1917 - Vladimir Lenin returns to Saint Petersburg from exile in Finland.1919 - Mohandas Gandhi organizes a day of "prayer and fasting" in response to the British slaughter of Indian protestors in the Amritsar Massacre.1922 - The Treaty of Rapallo, in which Germany and the Soviet Union re-establish diplomatic relations between Berlin and Moscow, is signed. 1925 - During the Communist St Nedelya Church assault in Sofia, 150 are killed and 500 are wounded.1926 - Lolly Willows by Sylvia Townsend Warner is distributed as the first Book-of-the-Month Club selection.1941 - World War II: The Italian convoy Duisburg, directed to Tunisia, is attacked and destroyed by British ships.1943 - Dr. Albert Hofmann discovers the psychedelic effects of LSD.1945 - The Red Army begins the final assault on German forces around Berlin.1945 - The United States Army liberates Nazi Sonderlager (high security) Prisoner of War camp Oflag IVc .1945 - German ship Goya, overfilled with refugees, sinks after being torpedoed by a Soviet submarine, killing more than 7,000 people.1946 - Syria gains independence.1947 - Texas City Disaster: An explosion on board a freighter in port causes the city of Texas City, Texas, to catch fire, killing almost 600.1947 - Bernard Baruch coins the term "Cold War" to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union.1953 - Queen Elizabeth II launches the Royal Yacht Britannia.1962 - The first CARP Rodeo began at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.1963 - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. pens his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting against segregation.1964 - Sentences totalling 307 years were passed on 12 men who stole £2.6m in used bank notes in what became known as the Great Train Robbery.1972 - Apollo program: Apollo 16 launches towards the Moon from Cape Canaveral, Florida.1972 - Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue Offensive – Prompted by the  North Vietnamese offensive, the United States resumes bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong.1987 - British Conservative MP Harvey Proctor appears at Bow Street Magistrates' Court in London charged with gross indecency.1988 - In Forlì, Italy, Red Brigades kill Italian Senator Roberto Ruffilli, an advisor of Prime Minister Ciriaco de Mita.1992 - The Katina P. runs aground off of Maputo, Mozambique. 60,000 tons of crude oil spill into the ocean.1994 - The Super J Cup professional wrestling tournament takes place in Tokyo, Japan.1996 - The Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association achieve an all-time record 70th win in a season.1998 - The Nashville tornado outbreak of 1998, one of the most serious urban tornadoes causes one death and significantly damages downtown Nashville, Tennessee. 2003 - The Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens admitting 10 new member states to the European Union.2007 - Virginia Tech massacre, the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history, leaves 33 dead.
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