Discover what happened on April 16 in history, along with notable events that shaped tragedy, space exploration, and sports innovation.
What Happened on April 16 in History?
From a devastating tragedy on a college campus to a mission to the Moon and the invention of a winter sport, April 16 reflects both loss and innovation.
APRIL 16 – TODAY IN HISTORY:
1818 – The U.S. Senate ratified Rush-Bagot amendment to form an unarmed U.S.-Canada border.
1889 – U.S. Patent Number 432,728 was issued for the air-conditioned hat. It was a hat with a wind-up exhaust fan at the back. The fan pulled air in through vents in the front and top of the hat.
1895 – Detroit’s baseball club was called the “Tigers” for the first time in an article by Phil Reed in the Detroit Free Press.
1900 – The first book of postage stamps was issued. The two-cent stamps were available in books of 12, 24 and 48 stamps.
1905 – Andrew Carnegie donated $10,000,000 of personal money to set up the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
1922 – Annie Oakley shot 100 clay targets in a row, to set a women’s record.
1940 – The first no-hit, no-run game to be thrown on an opening day of the major league baseball season was earned by Bob Feller. The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox 1-0.
1943 – In Basel, Switzerland, chemist Albert Hoffman accidentally discovered the the hallucinogenic effects of LSD-25 while working on the medicinal value of lysergic acid.
1947 – An explosion on board a freighter in port caused the city of Texas City, TX to catch fire. The blaze killed almost 600 people.
1947 – The Zoomar lens, invented by Dr. Frank Back, was demonstrated in New York, NY. It was the first lens to exhibit zooming effects.
1962 – Walter Cronkite began anchoring TV’s “The CBS Evening News”.
1966 – Sherman Poppen of Muskegon, MI was issued a patent for a “surf-type snow ski”. He called the sport toy a “snurfer”. He sold the idea to Brunswick Corp and it was sold beginning Christmas of 1966. It is considered to be the original snowboard.
1968 – The Pentagon announced that troops would begin coming home from Vietnam.
1968 – Major league baseball’s longest night game was played when the Houston Astros defeated the New York Mets 1-0. The 24 innings took six hours, six minutes to play.
1972 – Apollo 16 blasted off from Cape Canaveral, FL, on a voyage to the Moon. It was the fifth crewed Moon landing.
1972 – Two giants pandas, named Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, arrived in the U.S. from China. They would reside at the National Zoo in Washington, DC.
1985 – Mickey Mantle was reinstated after being banned from baseball for several years.
1987 – The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) sternly warned U.S. radio stations to watch the use of indecent language on the airwaves.
1987 – The U.S. Patent Office began allowing the patenting of new animals created by genetic engineering.
1990 – Dr. Jack Kevorkian participated in his first assisted suicide.
1993 – Two of the four Los Angeles, CA police officers charged with violating Rodney King’s rights are convicted. The other two are acquitted.
1994 – Minnie Pearl and her $1.98 hat entered the National Comedy Hall of Fame. She was the very first female inductee.
1999 – Wayne Gretzky announced his retirement from the National Hockey League.
2001 – A British TV game show called “You Are the Weakest Link” debuted in the U.S.
2007 – In Blacksburg, VA, a student opened fire on the campus of Virginia Tech University, killing 32 and injuring at least 28 people before killing himself. The gunman was later identified as Cho SeungHui, a student at the school.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS ON APRIL 16:
Bobby Vinton – 91 years old (1935) – Singer
Rich Rollins – 88 years old (1938) – Baseball player
Joan Snyder – 86 years old (1940) – Painter
Jim Lonborg – 84 years old (1942) – Baseball pitcher
Tom Allen – 81 years old (1945) – Lawyer and politician
R. Carlos Nakai – 80 years old (1946) – Flute player
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – 79 years old (1947) – Basketball player and coach
Ellen Barkin – 72 years old (1954) – Actress
Jimmy Osmond – 63 years old (1963) – Singer
Jon Cryer – 61 years old (1965) – Actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
Martin Lawrence – 61 years old (1965) – Actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
Vickie Guerrero – 58 years old (1968) – Wrestler and manager
Fernando Viña – 57 years old (1969) – Baseball player and sportscaster
Walt Williams – 56 years old (1970) – Basketball player
Conchita Martínez – 54 years old (1972) – Spanish-American tennis player
Tracy K. Smith – 54 years old (1972) – Poet and educator
Akon – 53 years old (1973) – Senegalese-American singer, rapper and songwriter
Lukas Haas – 50 years old (1976) – Actor and musician
Kelli O'Hara – 50 years old (1976) – Actress and singer
Gina Carano – 44 years old (1982) – Mixed martial artist and actress
Jonathan Vilma – 44 years old (1982) – Football player
Marié Digby – 43 years old (1983) – Singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
Cat Osterman – 43 years old (1983) – Softball player
Teddy Blass – 42 years old (1984) – Composer and producer
Tucker Fredricks – 42 years old (1984) – Speed skater
Nate Diaz – 41 years old (1985) – Mixed martial artist
Kyle Okposo – 38 years old (1988) – Ice hockey player
Reggie Jackson – 36 years old (1990) – Basketball player
Tony McQuay – 36 years old (1990) – Sprinter
Nolan Arenado – 35 years old (1991) – Baseball player
Chance the Rapper – 33 years old (1993) – Rapper
Mirai Nagasu – 33 years old (1993) – Japanese-American figure skater
Taylor Townsend – 30 years old (1996) – Tennis player
Sadie Sink – 24 years old (2002) – Actress
DAYS OF THE YEAR FOR APRIL 16:
No events found for this date.
For additional information check out websites like: www.on-this-day.com, www.born-today.com, www.famousbirthdays.com, www.daysoftheyear.com, and www.nationaldaycalendar.com.
