On This Day August 16th

  OTD

August 16th is the two-hundredth-twenty-eighth day of the year, and there are 137 days remaining until the end of the year.

 

Events

1328 – The House of Gonzaga seizes power in the Duchy of Mantua and will rule until 1708.

1777 – American Revolutionary War: The Americans led by General John Stark rout British and Brunswick troops under Friedrich Baum at the Battle of Bennington in Walloomsac, New York.

1792 – Maximilien de Robespierre presented the petition of the Commune of Paris to the Legislative Assembly, which demanded the formation of a revolutionary tribunal.

1841 – U.S. President John Tyler vetoed a bill for re-establishing the Second Bank of the United States. Enraged Whig Party members rioted outside the White House in the most violent demonstration on White House grounds in U.S. history.

1876 – Richard Wagner's Siegfried, the penultimate opera in his Ring cycle, premieres at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus.

1916 – The Migratory Bird Treaty between Canada and the United States is signed.

1930 – The first color sound cartoon, Fiddlesticks, is released by Ub Iwerks.

1954 – The first issue of Sports Illustrated is published.

1960 – Joseph Kittinger parachutes from a balloon over New Mexico, United States, at 102,800 feet (31,300 m), setting three records until 2012: High-altitude jump, free fall, and highest speed by a human without an aircraft.

1989 – A solar particle event affects computers at the Toronto Stock Exchange, forcing a halt to trade.

2013 – The ferry St. Thomas Aquinas collides with a cargo ship and sinks at Cebu, Philippines, killing 61 people with 59 others missing.

 

Birthdays

 1557 – Agostino Carracci, Italian painter, and etcher (d. 1602)

1744 – Pierre Méchain, French astronomer and surveyor (d. 1804)

1845 – Gabriel Lippmann, Luxembourger French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1921)

1888 – T. E. Lawrence, British colonel, diplomat, writer, and archaeologist (d. 1935)

1909 – Paul Callaway, American organist and conductor (d. 1995)

1924 – Fess Parker, American actor (d. 2010)

1930 – Frank Gifford, American football player, sportscaster, and actor (d. 2015)

1954 – James Cameron, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter.

1958 – Madonna, American singer-songwriter, producer, actress, and director.

1986 – Yu Darvish, Japanese baseball player

  

Holiday Spotlight

 National Rum Day

Rum's history is closely tied to the Americas. Its popularity surged in the 17th century when colonizers began producing it from sugarcane in the Caribbean. The word "rum" is thought to have originated from "rumbuillion" or "rumbustion," both meaning an upheaval. Rum quickly spread throughout the Caribbean and beyond, becoming one of the most popular spirits and even being used as currency. However, the drink's history is marred by its connection to the slave trade in early America.

 

Holidays And Observance.

Bennington Battle Day (State of Vermont)

Joe Miller's Joke Day

National Airborne Day

National Bratwurst Day

National Men's Grooming Day

National Roller Coaster Day

National Rum Day

Statehood Day in Hawaii

Surveillance Day

True Love Forever Day  

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