May 16 in History

A catastrophic EF3 tornado kills five people and causes over $1 billion in damages in St. Louis, MO.

A devastating EF4 tornado kills nineteen people in Southeast Kentucky, hitting the towns of Somerset and London.

Twelve people are killed in two explosions in the Gikomba market area of Nairobi, Kenya.

STS-134 (ISS assembly flight ULF6), launched from the Kennedy Space Center on the 25th and final flight for Space Shuttle Endeavour.

Kuwait permits women's suffrage in a 35–23 National Assembly vote.

In Morocco, 33 civilians are killed and more than 100 people are injured in the Casablanca terrorist attacks.

Mobutu Sese Seko, the President of Zaire, flees the country.

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom addresses a joint session of the United States Congress. She is the first British monarch to address the U.S. Congress.

A report by the Surgeon General of the United States C. Everett Koop states that the addictive properties of nicotine are similar to those of heroin and cocaine.

Junko Tabei from Japan becomes the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

Josip Broz Tito is elected president for life of Yugoslavia.

An Antonov An-24 crashes into a kindergarten building in Svetlogorsk, killing 35.

Venera program: Venera 5, a Soviet space probe, lands on Venus.

The Chinese Communist Party issues the "May 16 Notice", marking the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.

Park Chung Hee leads a coup d'état to overthrow the Second Republic of South Korea.

Theodore Maiman operates the first optical laser (a ruby laser), at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California.

The Tritons' Fountain in Valletta, Malta is turned on for the first time.

Beginning of the Kengir uprising in the Gulag.

The first regularly scheduled transatlantic flights begin between Idlewild Airport (now John F Kennedy International Airport) in New York City and Heathrow Airport in London, operated by El Al Israel Airlines.

Beginning of the Levant Crisis between Britain and France in Syria. The latter try to quell nationalist protests but backs down after threat of military action by the British.

The Holocaust: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising ends.

Operation Chastise is undertaken by RAF Bomber Command with specially equipped Avro Lancasters to destroy the Mohne, Sorpe, and Eder dams in the Ruhr valley.

In Hollywood, the first Academy Awards ceremony takes place.

The first modern performance of Claudio Monteverdi's opera Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria occurred in Paris.

In Rome, Pope Benedict XV canonizes Joan of Arc.

A naval Curtiss NC-4 aircraft commanded by Albert Cushing Read leaves Trepassey, Newfoundland, for Lisbon via the Azores on the first transatlantic flight.

The Sedition Act of 1918 is passed by the U.S. Congress, making criticism of the government during wartime an imprisonable offense. It will be repealed less than two years later.

The victory military parade by the Finnish White Guard is held in Helsinki celebrating their decisive victory in the Finnish Civil War. The day also begin to be celebrated on the Defence Forces Flag Day before it is moved in 1942 to the June 4th.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the French Third Republic sign the secret wartime Sykes-Picot Agreement partitioning former Ottoman territories such as Iraq and Syria.

The International Electrotechnical Exhibition opens in Frankfurt, Germany, featuring the world's first long-distance transmission of high-power, three-phase electric current (the most common form today).

Nikola Tesla delivers a lecture describing the equipment which will allow efficient generation and use of alternating currents to transmit electric power over long distances.

The 16 May 1877 crisis occurs in France, ending with the dissolution of the National Assembly 22 June and affirming the interpretation of the Constitution of 1875 as a parliamentary rather than presidential system. The elections held in October 1877 led to the defeat of the royalists as a formal political movement in France.

A flood on the Mill River in Massachusetts destroys much of four villages and kills 139 people.

The United States Senate fails to convict President Andrew Johnson by one vote.

The United States Congress establishes the nickel.

American Civil War: During the Vicksburg campaign, the decisive Union victory by Ulysses S. Grant at the Battle of Champion Hill drives the Confederate army under John C. Pemberton back towards Vicksburg, Mississippi.

The first major wagon train heading for the Pacific Northwest sets out on the Oregon Trail from Elm Grove, Missouri, with 100 pioneers.

The Battle of Asseiceira is fought; it was the final and decisive engagement of the Liberal Wars in Portugal.

Juan Godoy discovers the rich silver outcrops of Chañarcillo sparking the Chilean silver rush.

Greek War of Independence: The Turks capture the Greek town of Souli.

Imperial Russia signs the Treaty of Bucharest, ending the Russo-Turkish War. The Ottoman Empire cedes Bessarabia to Russia.

Peninsular War: The allies Spain, Portugal and United Kingdom fight an inconclusive battle against the French at the Albuera. It is, in proportion to the numbers involved, the bloodiest battle of the war.

Continental Army officer Lachlan McIntosh fatally wounds Button Gwinnett, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, in a duel in Savannah, Georgia.

The Battle of Alamance, a pre-American Revolutionary War battle between local militia and a group of rebels called The "Regulators", occurs in present-day Alamance County, North Carolina.

The 14-year-old Marie Antoinette marries 15-year-old Louis-Auguste, Dauphin de France, who later becomes king of France.

The Battle of Vasai concludes as the Marathas defeat the Portuguese army.

Santiago de Vera becomes sixth governor-general of the Spanish colony of the Philippines.

Mary, Queen of Scots, flees to England.

Sir Thomas More resigns as Lord Chancellor of England.

The Florentines drive out the Medici for a second time and Florence re-establishes itself as a republic.

Gov. Thado of Mohnyin becomes King of Ava.

Hundred Years' War: Bertrand du Guesclin and a French army defeat the Anglo-Navarrese army of Charles the Bad at Cocherel.

Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders is crowned as the first Emperor of the Latin Empire.

Patrician John Crescentius, who has seized control of Rome, selects Pope John XVII as the new pope.

Rebel Turkish warlord Mahmud of Ghazni defeats Samanid Emir Mansur II in battle at Merv.

Emperor Suzaku abdicates the throne in favor of his brother Murakami who becomes the 62nd emperor of Japan.

Ryan Gravenberch, Dutch footballer

Luis Garcia, Dominican-American baseball player

Louisa Chirico, American tennis player

Elizabeth Ralston, Australian footballer

Kathinka von Deichmann, Liechtenstein tennis player

Johannes Thingnes Bø, Norwegian biathlete

Karol Mets, Estonian footballer

IU, Korean singer-songwriter and actress

Jeff Skinner, Canadian ice hockey player

Kirstin Maldonado, American singer and songwriter

Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgarian tennis player

Joey Graceffa, American internet celebrity

Ashley Wagner, American figure skater

Amanda Carreras, Gibraltarian tennis player

Thomas Brodie-Sangster, English actor

Darko Šarović, Serbian sprinter

Omar Strong, American basketball player

Behati Prinsloo, Namibian model

Jesús Castillo, Mexican footballer

Martynas Gecevičius, Lithuanian basketball player

Jaak Põldma, Estonian tennis player

Tom Onslow-Cole, English race car driver

Megan Fox, American actress

Andy Keogh, Irish footballer

Shamcey Supsup, Filipino model and architect

Anja Mittag, German footballer

Rodrigo Peters Marques, Brazilian footballer

Corey Perry, Canadian ice hockey player

Darío Cvitanich, Argentinian footballer

Tomáš Fleischmann, Czech ice hockey player

Jensen Lewis, American baseball player

Rick Rypien, Canadian ice hockey player (died 2011)

Daniel Kerr, Australian footballer

Kyle Wellwood, Canadian ice hockey player

Łukasz Kubot, Polish tennis player

Ricardo Costa, Portuguese footballer

Nuria Llagostera Vives, Spanish tennis player

Michael Oberlechner, Austrian politician

Scott Nicholls, English motorcycle racer

Lionel Scaloni, Argentinian footballer and manager

Melanie Lynskey, New Zealand actress

Emilíana Torrini, Icelandic singer-songwriter

Dirk Nannes, Australian-Dutch cricketer

Tony Kakko, Finnish musician, composer, and vocalist

Simon Whitfield, Canadian triathlete

Laura Pausini, Italian singer-songwriter and producer

Sonny Sandoval, American singer-songwriter and rapper

Tori Spelling, American actress, reality television personality, and author

Christian Califano, French rugby player

Matthew Hart, New Zealand cricketer

Phil Clarke, English rugby league player and sportscaster

Rachel Goswell, English singer-songwriter and guitarist

Gabriela Sabatini, Argentinian tennis player

Danielle Spencer, Australian singer-songwriter and actress

David Boreanaz, American actor

Tucker Carlson, American journalist, co-founded The Daily Caller

Steve Lewis, American sprinter

Ralph Tresvant, American singer and producer

Doug Brocail, American baseball player and coach

Susan Williams, Baroness Williams of Trafford, British politician

Janet Jackson, American singer-songwriter and actress

Scott Reeves, American singer-songwriter and actor

Thurman Thomas, American football player

Krist Novoselic, American bass player, songwriter, author, and activist

Tanel Tammet, Estonian computer scientist, engineer, and academic

John Salley, American basketball player and actor

Boyd Tinsley, American singer-songwriter and violinist

Milton Jones, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter

Rachel Griffith, Anglo-American economist

David Wilkinson, English theologian and academic

Helga Radtke, German long jumper

Kevin McDonald, Canadian actor and screenwriter

Charles Wright, American wrestler

Landon Deireragea, Nauruan politician, Nauruan Speaker of Parliament

Bruce Norris, American actor and playwright

S. Shanmuganathan, Sri Lankan commander and politician (died 1998)

Mitch Webster, American baseball player

Mare Winningham, American actress and singer-songwriter

Joan Benoit, American runner

Benjamin Mancroft, 3rd Baron Mancroft, English politician

Yuri Shevchuk, Russian singer-songwriter and guitarist

Anthony St John, 22nd Baron St John of Bletso, English lawyer and businessman

Bob Suter, American ice hockey player and coach (died 2014)

Loretta Schrijver, Dutch television host, news anchor (died 2025)

Olga Korbut, Soviet gymnast

Jack Morris, American baseball player and sportscaster

Hazel O'Connor, English-born Irish singer-songwriter and actress

Páidí Ó Sé, Irish footballer and manager (died 2012)

Debra Winger, American actress

Dafydd Williams, Canadian physician and astronaut

Pierce Brosnan, Irish-American actor and producer

Peter Onorati, American actor

Richard Page, American singer-songwriter and bass player

Kitanoumi Toshimitsu, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 55th Yokozuna (died 2015)

David Maclean, Scottish politician

Stephen Woolman, Lord Woolman, Scottish judge and academic

Christian Lacroix, French fashion designer

Jonathan Richman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Janet Soskice, Canadian philosopher and theologian

Georg Bednorz, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

Ray Condo, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2004)

Bruce Coville, American author

Rick Reuschel, American baseball player

Jesper Christensen, Danish actor, director, and producer

Judy Finnigan, English talk show host and author

Enrico Fumia, Italian automobile and product designer

Jimmy Hood, Scottish engineer and politician (died 2017)

Emma Georgina Rothschild, English historian and academic

Staf Van Roosbroeck, Belgian cyclist

Cheryl Clarke, American writer

Darrell Sweet, Scottish drummer (died 1999)

Roch Thériault, Canadian religious leader (died 2011)

John Law, English sociologist and academic

Robert Fripp, English guitarist, songwriter and producer

Billy Cobham, Panamanian-American drummer, composer, and bandleader

Antal Nagy, Hungarian footballer

Friedrich Schorlemmer, German Protestant theologian (died 2024)

Danny Trejo, American actor

Kay Andrews, Baroness Andrews, English politician

Dan Coats, American politician and diplomat, 29th United States Ambassador to Germany

Wieteke van Dort, Dutch actress, comedian, singer, writer and artist (died 2024)

David Penry-Davey, English lawyer and judge (died 2015)

Denis Hart, Australian archbishop

Mario Segni, Italian professor and politician

Stuart Bell, English lawyer and politician (died 2012)

Ivan Sutherland, American computer scientist and academic

Marco Aurelio Denegri, Peruvian television host and sexologist (died 2018)

Yvonne Craig, American ballet dancer and actress (died 2015)

Jim Hunt, American politician, 69th and 71st Governor of North Carolina (died 2025)

Karl Lehmann, German cardinal (died 2018)

Floyd Smith, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

Kenneth O. Morgan, Welsh historian and author

Antony Walker, English general (died 2023)

Vujadin Boškov, Serbian footballer, coach, and manager (died 2014)

Hana Brady, Jewish-Czech Holocaust victim (died 1944)

Lowell P. Weicker Jr., American soldier and politician, 85th Governor of Connecticut (died 2023)

Friedrich Gulda, Austrian pianist and composer (died 2000)

Betty Carter, American singer-songwriter (died 1998)

John Conyers, American lawyer and politician (died 2019)

Claude Morin, Canadian academic and politician (died 2026)

Adrienne Rich, American poet, essayist, and feminist (died 2012)

K. Natwar Singh, Indian scholar and politician, Indian Minister of External Affairs (died 2024)

Billy Martin, American baseball player and coach (died 1989)

Glen Michael, British television presenter and entertainer (died 2025)

Robert Jay Lifton, American psychiatrist and author (died 2025)

Nancy Roman, American astronomer (died 2018)

Ola Vincent, Nigerian banker and economist (died 2012)

Nílton Santos, Brazilian footballer (died 2013)

Barbara Bachmann, American microbiologist (died 1999)

Dawda Jawara, 1st President of the Gambia (died 2019)

Victoria Fromkin, American linguist and academic (died 2000)

Merton Miller, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2000)

Peter Underwood, English parapsychologist and author (died 2014)

Harry Carey Jr., American actor, producer, and screenwriter (died 2012)

Martine Carol, French actress (died 1967)

Liberace, American pianist and entertainer (died 1987)

Ramon Margalef, Spanish ecologist and biologist (died 2004)

Wilf Mannion, English footballer and manager (died 2000)

Ben Kuroki, American sergeant and pilot (died 2015)

James C. Murray, American lawyer and politician (died 1999)

Juan Rulfo, Mexican author and photographer (died 1986)

Ephraim Katzir, Israeli biophysicist and politician, 4th President of Israel (died 2009)

Mario Monicelli, Italian director and screenwriter (died 2010)

Edward T. Hall, American anthropologist and author (died 2009)

Gordon Chalk, Australian politician, 30th Premier of Queensland (died 1991)

Woody Herman, American singer, saxophonist, and clarinet player (died 1987)

Studs Terkel, American historian and author (died 2008)

Olga Bergholz, Russian poet and author (died 1975)

Higashifushimi Kunihide, Japanese monk and educator (died 2014)

Margaret Sullavan, American actress and singer (died 1960)

Luigi Villoresi, Italian race car driver (died 1997)

Bob Tisdall, Irish hurdler (died 2004)

Ernie McCormick, Australian cricketer (died 1991)

Alfred Pellan, Canadian painter and educator (died 1988)

Arturo Uslar Pietri, Venezuelan lawyer, journalist, and author (died 2001)

Margret Rey, German author and illustrator (died 1996)

Henry Fonda, American actor (died 1982)

H.E. Bates, British writer (died 1974)

Charles F. Brannock, American inventor and manufacturer (died 1992)

Tamara de Lempicka, Polish-American painter (died 1980)

Desanka Maksimović, Serbian poet and academic (died 1993)

Kenji Mizoguchi, Japanese director and screenwriter (died 1956)

Zvi Sliternik, Israeli entomologist and academic (died 1993)

Walter Yust, American journalist and writer (died 1960)

Osgood Perkins (actor, born 1892), American actor (died 1937)

Edith Grace White, American ichthyologist (died 1975)

Royal Rife, American microbiologist and instrument maker (died 1971)

Maria Lacerda de Moura, Brazilian teacher and anarcha-feminist (died 1945)

Celâl Bayar, Turkish politician, 3rd President of Turkey (died 1986)

Simeon Price, American golfer (died 1945)

Pierre Gilliard, Swiss author and academic (died 1962)

Fred Conrad Koch, American biochemist and endocrinologist (died 1948)

Margaret Fountaine, English lepidopterist and diarist (died 1940)

Horace Hutchinson, English golfer (died 1932)

David Edward Hughes, Welsh-American physicist, co-invented the microphone (died 1900)

Pierre Cuypers, Dutch architect, designed the Amsterdam Centraal railway station and Rijksmuseum (died 1921)

Levi P. Morton, American banker and politician, 22nd United States Vice President (died 1920)

Edmund Kirby Smith, American general (died 1893)

Pafnuty Chebyshev, Russian mathematician and statistician (died 1894)

Johann Voldemar Jannsen, Estonian journalist and poet (died 1890)

Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, American educator who founded the first U.S. kindergarten (died 1894)

William H. Seward, American lawyer and politician, 24th United States Secretary of State (died 1872)

Friedrich Rückert, German poet and translator (died 1866)

Louis Nicolas Vauquelin, French pharmacist and chemist (died 1829)

Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Italian mathematician and philosopher (died 1799)

William Talbot, 1st Earl Talbot, English politician, Lord Steward of the Household (died 1782)

Dudley North, English economist and politician (died 1691)

Pope Innocent XI (died 1689)

John Bulwer, British doctor (died 1656)

Anna Sibylle of Hanau-Lichtenberg, German noblewoman (died 1580)

Wolfgang I of Oettingen, German count (died 1522)

John II of Cyprus, King of Cyprus and Armenia and also titular King of Jerusalem from 1432 to 1458 (probable; (died 1458)

Domingos Maubere, East Timorese Catholic priest and activist (born 1952)

Dabney Coleman, American actor (born 1932)

Eddie Gossage, American public speaker and businessman (born 1958)

Norm Green, American long-distance runner (born 1932)

Bruno Covas, Brazilian lawyer, politician (born 1980)

Piet Blauw, Dutch politician (born 1937)

Bob Hawke, Australian politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Australia (born 1929)

I. M. Pei, Chinese-American architect (born 1917)

Prashant Bhargava, American director and producer (born 1973)

Moshe Levinger, Israeli rabbi and author (born 1935)

Flora MacNeil, Scottish Gaelic singer (born 1928)

Chris Duckworth, Zimbabwean-South African cricketer (born 1933)

Vito Favero, Italian cyclist (born 1932)

Bud Hollowell, American baseball player and manager (born 1943)

Clyde Snow, American anthropologist and author (born 1928)

Angelo Errichetti, American politician (born 1928)

Bryan Illerbrun, Canadian football player (born 1957)

Frankie Librán, Puerto Rican-American baseball player (born 1948)

Heinrich Rohrer, Swiss physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1933)

Paul Shane, British actor and comedian (born 1940)

Dick Trickle, American race car driver (born 1941)

Bernard Waber, American author and illustrator (born 1921)

Patricia Aakhus, American author and academic (born 1952)

James Abdnor, American soldier and politician (born 1923)

Chuck Brown, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (born 1936)

Ernie Chan, Filipino-American illustrator (born 1940)

Kevin Hickey, American baseball player (born 1956)

Ralph Barker, English author (born 1917)

Bob Davis, Australian footballer and coach (born 1928)

Edward Hardwicke, English actor (born 1932)

Kiyoshi Kodama, Japanese actor (born 1934)

Ronnie James Dio, American singer-songwriter and producer (born 1942)

Hank Jones, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (born 1918)

Robert Mondavi, American winemaker, co-founded the Opus One Winery (born 1913)

Andrew Goodpaster, American general (born 1915)

Mark McCormack, American lawyer and sports agent, founded IMG (born 1930)

Alec Campbell, Australian soldier (born 1899)

Elbridge Durbrow, American diplomat (born 1903)

Jeremy Michael Boorda, American admiral (born 1939)

Alain Cuny, French actor (born 1908)

Marv Johnson, American singer-songwriter and pianist (born 1938)

Sammy Davis Jr., American singer, dancer, and actor (born 1925)

Jim Henson, American puppeteer, director, producer, and screenwriter, creator of The Muppets (born 1936)

Leila Kasra, Iranian poet and songwriter (born 1939)

Margaret Hamilton, American actress (born 1902)

Andy Kaufman, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter (born 1949)

Irwin Shaw, American playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and short story writer (born 1913)

Ernie Freeman, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (born 1922)

Willy Hartner, German physician and academic (born 1905)

A. Philip Randolph, American union leader and activist (born 1889)

Modibo Keïta, Malian politician, 1st President of Mali (born 1915)

George A. Malcolm, American lawyer and jurist (born 1881)

Eliot Ness, American federal agent (born 1903)

H. B. Reese, American candy-maker and businessman, created Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (born 1876)

James Agee, American novelist, screenwriter, and critic(born 1909)

Manny Ayulo, American race car driver (born 1921)

Clemens Krauss, Austrian conductor and manager (born 1893)

Django Reinhardt, Belgian guitarist and composer (born 1910)

Frederick Gowland Hopkins, English biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1861)

Kalle Hakala, Finnish politician (born 1880)

Zhang Lingfu, Chinese general (born 1903)

Bruno Tesch, German chemist and businessman (born 1890)

George Ade, American journalist, author, and playwright (born 1866)

Filip Mișea, Aromanian activist, physician and politician (born 1873)

Alfred Hoche, German psychiatrist and academic (born 1865)

Nigger, black labrador retriever belonging to Wing Commander Guy Gibson of the Royal Air Force, and the mascot of No. 617 Squadron.

Joseph Strauss, American engineer, co designed The Golden Gate Bridge (born 1870)

Leonidas Paraskevopoulos, Greek general and politician (born 1860)

Mehmed VI, the 36th and last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (born 1861)

Levi P. Morton, American politician, 22nd United States Vice President (born 1824)

Louis Perrier, Swiss architect and politician (born 1849)

Henri-Edmond Cross, French Neo-Impressionist painter (born 1856)

Ion C. Brătianu, Romanian politician, 14th Prime Minister of Romania (born 1821)

Mihkel Veske, Estonian poet, linguist and theologist (born 1843)

Reuben Chapman, American lawyer and politician, 13th Governor of Alabama (born 1799)

Edward Gibbon Wakefield, English politician (born 1796)

John Stevens Henslow, British priest, geologist and doctoral advisor to Charles Darwin (born 1796)

Joseph Fourier, French mathematician and physicist (born 1768)

Grace Elliott, Scottish courtesan and spy (born c. 1754)

Matthew Lewis, English author and playwright (born 1775)

Philip Yorke, 2nd Earl of Hardwicke, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire (born 1720)

Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness, English politician, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (born 1718)

Charles Perrault, French author and academic (born 1628)

Mariana of Austria, Queen consort of Spain (born 1634)

Jacob Leisler, German-American politician, 8th Colonial Governor of New York (born 1640)

Pietro da Cortona, Italian painter and architect, designed the Santi Luca e Martina (born 1596)

Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton, English politician, Lord High Treasurer (born 1607)

Andrew Bobola, Polish missionary and martyr (born 1591)

William Adams, English sailor and navigator (born 1564)

Jan Tarnowski, Polish noble and statesman (born 1488)

Gian Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan (born 1388)

Liu Bowen, Chinese military strategist, officer, statesman and poet (born 1311)

Simon Stock, English-French saint (born 1165)

John Komnenos Vatatzes, Byzantine general (born 1132)

Lambert of Arras, Flemish bishop

Fujiwara no Michitaka, Japanese nobleman (born 953)

Meng Hanqiong, eunuch official of Later Tang

Qian Kuan, Chinese nobleman

Emperor Wu of Jin, Chinese emperor (born 236)