History Events on November 16

Greek War of Independence: The London Protocol entails the creation of an autonomous Greek state under Ottoman suzerainty, encompassing the Morea and the Cyclades.

#Greek_War_of_Independence

Canadian rebel leader of the Métis and "Father of Manitoba" Louis Riel is executed for treason.

#Métis

U.S. President Richard Nixon signs the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act into law, authorizing the construction of the Alaska Pipeline.

#Richard_Nixon

In the first open election in more than a decade, voters in Pakistan elect populist candidate Benazir Bhutto to be Prime Minister of Pakistan.

#Pakistan

LSD is first synthesized by Albert Hofmann from ergotamine at the Sandoz Laboratories in Basel.

#Lysergic_acid_diethylamide

The Prussian heir apparent, Frederick William, becomes King of Prussia as Frederick William III.

#Frederick_William_III_of_Prussia

David Livingstone becomes the first European to see the Victoria Falls in what is now Zambia-Zimbabwe.

#David_Livingstone

The Hoxne Hoard is discovered by metal detectorist Eric Lawes in Hoxne, Suffolk.

#Hoxne_Hoard

World War II: Operation Queen, the costly Allied thrust to the Rur, is launched.

#Operation_Queen

Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Schöngrabern: Russian forces under Pyotr Bagration delay the pursuit by French troops under Joachim Murat.

#Napoleonic_Wars

After nearly 18 years of incarceration, the People's Republic of China releases Wei Jingsheng, a pro-democracy dissident, from jail for medical reasons.

#Wei_Jingsheng

American Revolution: The United Provinces (Low Countries) recognize the independence of the United States.

#Dutch_Republic

An auto-da-fé, held in the Brasero de la Dehesa outside of Ávila, concludes the case of the Holy Child of La Guardia with the public execution of several Jewish and converso suspects.

#Auto-da-fé

UNESCO is founded.

#UNESCO

Skylab program: NASA launches Skylab 4 with a crew of three astronauts from Cape Canaveral, Florida for an 84-day mission.

#Skylab

The Holocaust: In occupied Poland, the Nazis close off the Warsaw Ghetto from the outside world.

#The_Holocaust

Second relief of Lucknow: Twenty-four Victoria Crosses are awarded, the most in a single day.

#Siege_of_Lucknow

French Revolution: Ninety dissident Roman Catholic priests are executed by drowning at Nantes.

#French_Revolution

Emperor Li Jing sends a Southern Tang expeditionary force of 10,000 men under Bian Hao to conquer Chu. Li Jing removes the ruling family to his own capital in Nanjing, ending the Chu Kingdom.

#Li_Jing_(Southern_Tang)

The United States and the Soviet Union establish formal diplomatic relations.

#Soviet_Union

The first line of Bucharest Metro (Line M1) is opened from Timpuri Noi to Sem?n?toarea in Bucharest, Romania.

#Bucharest_Metro

English engineer John Ambrose Fleming receives a patent for the thermionic valve (vacuum tube).

#John_Ambrose_Fleming

Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory join to form Oklahoma, which is admitted as the 46th U.S. state.

#Indian_Territory

The English astronomer John Russell Hind discovers the asteroid 22 Kalliope.

#John_Russell_Hind

World War II: In response to the leveling of Coventry by the German Luftwaffe two days before, the Royal Air Force bombs Hamburg.

#World_War_II

Francisco Pizarro and his men capture Inca Emperor Atahualpa at the Battle of Cajamarca.

#Francisco_Pizarro

Justinian I, who was an Eastern Roman (Byzantine) emperor in Constantinople, approves and publishes the second and final revision of the Codex Justinianus

#Justinian_I

The Federal Reserve Bank of the United States officially opens.

#Federal_Reserve_Bank

American Revolutionary War: British and Hessian units capture Fort Washington from the Patriots.

#American_Revolutionary_War

World War II: Düren, Germany, is destroyed by Allied bombers.

#Düren

Cunard Line's RMS Mauretania, sister ship of RMS Lusitania, sets sail on her maiden voyage from Liverpool, England, to New York City.

#Cunard_Line

American Civil War: Battle of Campbell's Station near Knoxville, Tennessee: Confederate troops unsuccessfully attack Union forces.

#American_Civil_War

Pop group Milli Vanilli are stripped of their Grammy Award because the duo did not sing at all on the Girl You Know It's True album. Session musicians had provided all the vocals.

El Salvadoran army troops kills six Jesuit priests and two others at Jose Simeon Canas University.

The Supreme Soviet of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic declares that Estonia is "sovereign" but stops short of declaring independence.

The Arecibo message is broadcast from the Arecibo Radio Telescope in Puerto Rico. It was aimed at the current location of the globular star cluster Messier 13 some 25,000 light years away. The message will reach empty space by the time it finally arrives since the cluster will have changed position.

Venera program: The Soviet Union launches the Venera 3 space probe toward Venus, which will be the first spacecraft to reach the surface of another planet.

World War II: American bombers strike a hydro-electric power facility and heavy water factory in German-controlled Vemork, Norway.

New York City's "Mad Bomber" George Metesky places his first bomb at a Manhattan office building used by Consolidated Edison.

Qantas, Australia's national airline, is founded as Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited.

The first ever Metropolitan Police strike.

The National Rifle Association receives its charter from New York State.

A Russian court sentences writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky to death for anti-government activities linked to a radical intellectual group; his sentence is later commuted to hard labor.

American Old West: Missouri trader William Becknell arrives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, over a route that became known as the Santa Fe Trail.

While travelling during the Ninth Crusade, Prince Edward becomes King of England upon Henry III of England's death, but he will not return to England for nearly two years to assume the throne.