History Events on March 16

Supertanker Amoco Cadiz splits in two after running aground on the Portsall Rocks, three miles off the coast of Brittany, resulting in the largest oil spill in history at that time.

#Amoco_Cadiz

French Revolutionary Wars: An Austrian column is defeated by the French in the Battle of Valvasone.

#French_Revolutionary_Wars

Israel officially hands over Jericho to Palestinian control.

#Israel

The Troubles: Ulster loyalist militant Michael Stone attacks a Provisional IRA funeral in Belfast with pistols and grenades. A PIRA volunteer and two civilians are killed, and more than 60 others are wounded.

#The_Troubles

Jules Massenet's opera Thaïs is first performed.

#Jules_Massenet

American Civil War: During the Red River Campaign, Union troops reach Alexandria, Louisiana.

#American_Civil_War

British Prime Minister Harold Wilson resigns, citing personal reasons.

#Harold_Wilson

American Revolutionary War: Spanish troops capture the British-held island of Roatán.

#American_Revolutionary_War

In Egypt, a 4400-year-old mummy is found near the Pyramid of Cheops.

#Egypt

The Army Corps of Engineers is established to found and operate the United States Military Academy at West Point.

#United_States_Army_Corps_of_Engineers

History of Rocketry: Robert Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket, at Auburn, Massachusetts.

#Rocket

Prince Willem proclaims himself King of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the first constitutional monarch in the Netherlands.

#William_I_of_the_Netherlands

First person killed (James Isbister) in a German bombing raid on the UK in World War II during a raid on Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands.

#Scapa_Flow

The Battle of Boroughbridge takes place in the Despenser Wars.

#Battle_of_Boroughbridge

Assassination of Kamal Jumblatt, the main leader of the anti-government forces in the Lebanese Civil War.

#Kamal_Jumblatt

World War II: The Battle of Iwo Jima ended, but small pockets of Japanese resistance persisted.

#World_War_II

The 7th and 10th US cavalry regiments under John J. Pershing cross the US-Mexico border to join the hunt for Pancho Villa.

#John_J._Pershing

Samoset, a Mohegan, visited the settlers of Plymouth Colony and greets them, "Welcome, Englishmen! My name is Samoset."

#Samoset

Finnish Civil War: Battle of Länkipohja is infamous for its bloody aftermath as the Whites executed 70-100 capitulated Reds.

#Finnish_Civil_War

The Ford Motor Company produces its 50 millionth automobile, the Thunderbird, averaging almost a million cars a year since the company's founding.

#Ford_Motor_Company

General Motors produces its 100 millionth automobile, the Oldsmobile Toronado.

#General_Motors

Former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro is kidnapped. (He is later murdered by his captors.)

#Aldo_Moro

Ferdinand Magellan reaches the island of Homonhon in the Philippines.

#Ferdinand_Magellan

Sir Arthur Evans purchased the land around the ruins of Knossos, the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete.

#Arthur_Evans

Associated Press newsman Terry Anderson is taken hostage in Beirut. He is released on December 4, 1991.

#Associated_Press

Vietnam War: My Lai Massacre occurs; between 347 and 500 Vietnamese villagers (men, women, and children) are killed by American troops.

#Vietnam_War

Mississippi formally ratifies the Thirteenth Amendment, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment was officially ratified in 1865.

#Mississippi

Launch of Gemini 8, the 12th manned American space flight and first space docking with an Agena Target Vehicle.

#Gemini_8

In Melbourne the representatives of five colonies adopted a constitution, which would become the basis of the Commonwealth of Australia.

#Melbourne

Iran-Contra affair: Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North and Vice Admiral John Poindexter are indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States.

#Iran-Contra_affair

Ninety percent of Würzburg, Germany is destroyed in only 20 minutes by British bombers, resulting in around 5,000 deaths.

#Bombing_of_Würzburg_in_World_War_II

World War I: A German auxiliary cruiser is sunk in the Action of 16 March 1917.

#World_War_I

The airplane carrying eight members of Reba McEntire's touring band crashed on the side of Otay Mountain.

#Reba_McEntire

An earthquake occurs in Yunnan, China.

#1925_Dali_earthquake

The 23rd Regiment of Foot, or Royal Welch Fusiliers, is founded.

#Royal_Welch_Fusiliers

The Long Parliament of England is dissolved so as to prepare for the new Convention Parliament.

#Long_Parliament

Crimea votes in a controversial referendum to secede from Ukraine to join Russia.

#Crimea

Sino-Vietnamese War: The People's Liberation Army crosses the border back into China, ends the war.

#Sino-Vietnamese_War

The Siege of Badajoz begins: British and Portuguese forces besiege and defeat the French garrison during the Peninsular War.

#Siege_of_Badajoz_(1812)

From Prague Castle, Hitler proclaims Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate.

#Prague_Castle

Demolition of the Ismaning radio transmitter, the last wooden radio tower in Germany.

#Ismaning_radio_transmitter

Massacre of Jews at Clifford's Tower, York.

#York_Castle

Adolf Hitler orders Germany to rearm herself in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Conscription is reintroduced to form the Wehrmacht.

#Adolf_Hitler

Warmer-than-normal temperatures rapidly melt snow and ice on the upper Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, leading to a major flood in Pittsburgh.

#Allegheny_River

Two suicide bombers detonate their explosives at a mosque during morning prayer on the outskirts of Maiduguri, Nigeria, killing 22 and injuring 18.

A bomb detonates in a bus carrying government employees in Peshawar, Pakistan, killing 15 and injuring at least 54.

American activist Rachel Corrie is killed in Rafah trying to obstruct the demolition of a home by being run over by a bulldozer.

A series of bomb blasts that took place in the city of Shijiazhuang, China killed 108 people and injured 38 others, was the biggest mass murder in China in decades.

Halabja chemical attack: The Kurdish town of Halabja in Iraq is attacked with a mix of poison gas and nerve agents on the orders of Saddam Hussein, killing 5,000 people and injuring about 10,000 people.

William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Beirut, Lebanon, is kidnapped by Islamic fundamentalists. (He later dies in captivity.)

A Viasa McDonnell Douglas DC-9 crashes in Maracaibo, Venezuela, killing 155.

A Flying Tiger Line Super Constellation disappears in the western Pacific Ocean, with all 107 aboard missing and presumed dead.

In accordance with the Treaty of Rome, Fiume becomes annexed as part of Italy.

The Wanderers F.C. won the first FA Cup, the oldest football competition in the world, beating Royal Engineers A.F.C. 1-0 at The Oval in Kennington, London.

The first version of the overture fantasy Romeo and Juliet by Tchaikovsky receives its première performance.

American Civil War: The Battle of Averasborough began as Confederate forces suffer irreplaceable casualties in the final months of the war.

In the Second Battle of Cancha Rayada, Spanish forces defeated Chileans under José de San Martín.

King Gustav III of Sweden is shot; he dies on March 29.

Anglo-Spanish War (1779): Action of 16 March 1782.

Over 200 Cathars who refuse to recant are burned to death after the Fall of Montségur.

Meng Zhixiang declares himself emperor and establishes Later Shu as a new state independent of Later Tang.