History Events on February 16

The Soviet liner MS Mikhail Lermontov runs aground in the Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand.

#Soviet_Union

Colombo in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) falls to the British, completing their invasion of Ceylon.

#Colombo

Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington, becomes British Prime Minister.

#Spencer_Compton,_1st_Earl_of_Wilmington

The Ash Wednesday bushfires in Victoria and South Australia kill 75.

#Ash_Wednesday_bushfires

First Barbary War: Stephen Decatur leads a raid to burn the pirate-held frigate USS Philadelphia.

#First_Barbary_War

The Austrian Civil War ends with the defeat of the Social Democrats and the Republikanischer Schutzbund.

#Austrian_Civil_War

In Haleyville, Alabama, the first 9-1-1 emergency telephone system goes into service.

#Haleyville,_Alabama

Howard Carter unseals the burial chamber of Pharaoh Tutankhamun.

#Howard_Carter

Iceland's first football club, Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur, is founded.

#Iceland

Dutch forces led by Hendrick Lonck capture Olinda in what was to become part of Dutch Brazil.

#Hendrick_Lonck

Nicaraguan Contras leader Enrique Bermúdez is assassinated in Managua.

#Nicaragua

World War II: American forces land on Corregidor Island in the Philippines.

#Battle_of_Corregidor_(1945)

The Canadian Pacific Railway is incorporated by Act of Parliament at Ottawa (44th Vic., c.1).

#Canadian_Pacific_Railway

The Kyoto Protocol comes into force, following its ratification by Russia.

#Kyoto_Protocol

China Airlines Flight 2265 crashes into the Pacific Ocean near Penghu Airport in Taiwan, killing all 13 aboard.

#China_Airlines_Flight_2265

A Chicago-bound Amtrak train, the Capitol Limited, collides with a MARC commuter train bound for Washington, D.C., killing 11 people.

#Amtrak

Spencer Compton Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington becomes British Secretary of State for War.

#Spencer_Cavendish,_8th_Duke_of_Devonshire

World War II: In the early phases of the Third Battle of Kharkov, Red Army troops re-enter the city.

#Third_Battle_of_Kharkov

Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Livonian Order in the Battle of Karuse.

#Grand_Duchy_of_Lithuania

China Airlines Flight 676 crashes into a road and residential area near Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in Taiwan, killing all 196 aboard and seven more on the ground.

#China_Airlines_Flight_676

Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba after dictator Fulgencio Batista was overthrown on January 1.

#Fidel_Castro

Flooding in the coastal areas of West Germany kills 315 and destroys the homes of about 60,000 people.

#North_Sea_flood_of_1962

The U.S. Navy submarine USS Triton begins Operation Sandblast, setting sail from New London, Connecticut, to begin the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe.

#USS_Triton_(SSRN-586)

Emperor Trajan sends laureatae to the Roman Senate at Rome on account of his victories and conquest of Parthia.

#Trajan

World War II: Altmark Incident: The German tanker Altmark is boarded by sailors from the British destroyer HMS Cossack. 299 British prisoners are freed.

#World_War_II

American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Donelson, Tennessee.

#American_Civil_War

Elections bring the Popular Front to power in Spain.

#Popular_Front_(Spain)

First Leopoldine Diploma is issued by the Holy Roman Emperor, recognizing the Greek Catholic clergy enjoyed the same privileges as Roman Catholic priests in the Principality of Transylvania.

#Leopold_I,_Holy_Roman_Emperor

Battle of Torrington, Devon: The last major battle of the first English Civil War.

#Battle_of_Torrington

A bomb blast at a market in Hazara Town, Quetta, Pakistan kills more than 80 people and injures 190 others.

The last Mobile army surgical hospital (MASH) is decommissioned by the United States Army.

The National Hockey League cancels the entire 2004-05 regular season and playoffs.

Hezbollah is founded.

The first computer bulletin board system is created (CBBS in Chicago).

Explorer program: Explorer 9 (S-56a) is launched.

Wallace H. Carothers receives a United States patent for nylon.

The Romanian Football Federation joins FIFA.

The Council of Lithuania unanimously adopts the Act of Independence, declaring Lithuania an independent state.

Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khagan of the Mongol Empire.