16 December: On This Day In History | What Special Day Is Today?

16 December: In a year, the 16^th of December is the 350^th day as per the Georgian Calendar. In a leap year, it is the 351^st day of the year.

What special day is today?

On this day, the sci-fi thriller ‘Avatar’ was released internationally, Prof. H. Tracy Hall created America’s first synthetic diamonds, and Vasco da Gama passed by the Groot-Visrivier or the Great Fish River.

Famous birthdays include Jane Austen, Philip K. Dick, and Liv Ullmann.

Let’s explore what happened today.

16 December: On This Day In History | What Special Day Is Today?

What Happened Today? On This Day in History: 16 December

Art & Artists

1899 – Sir Noël Coward, the English actor, and playwright was born in Teddington, United Kingdom.

2009 – The international release of Avatar, the Hollywood sci-fi thriller. The James Cameron-directed movie became a box-office hit worldwide. It made the record of becoming the highest-grossing (over $2.7 billion) movie in the world.

Science & Technology

1935 – The publication of an article on “the use of eye print as a method for identification” in Time magazine. The articles described how the new method is as unique and scientific as fingerprints.
1954 – Prof. H. Tracy Hall created America’s first synthetic diamonds at G.E. Research Laboratories.

Leaders & Politics

1773 – In a protest against a tax on tea, the colonists from America masked as Mohawk Indians hurled the British East India Company’s 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor. The incident is famous as the Boston Tea Party.
1971 – The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and the Bangladesh Liberation War ended with a ceasefire by the Pakistan Army.

People & Society

1985 – Paul Castellano, the top-notch organized crime figure from America was shot to death in New York. He was allegedly the “boss of bosses” of the Five Families (mafias).

Disasters: Natural & Man-made

1631 – Mount Vesuvius erupted which killed no less than 3,000 people.

1920 – A high-magnified earthquake bangs the Chinese province of Gansu which killed approximately 200,000.
2014 – Tehrik-e-Taliban, a Taliban outfit in Pakistan, attacked a Peshawar-based school in which 150 people have killed including at least 134 children.

Discoveries & Explorations

1497 – At the southern tip of the continent of Africa, Vasco da Gama passed by the Groot-Visrivier or the Great Fish River, Eastern Cape, South Africa.

1907 – Great White Fleet (the US Navy battleships) commenced its mission to circumnavigate the world.

Leisure & Sports

1927 – The debut of cricketer Sir Don Bradman, the batting genius from Australia, in 1st-class cricket. He played for NSW against South Australia.

Birth Anniversaries (16 December)

1775 – Jane Austen (English novelist)
1917 – Arthur C. Clarke (British Author And Scientist)

1928 – Philip K. Dick (American Author)
1938 – Liv Ullmann (Norwegian Actress)

Death Anniversaries (16 December)

1675 – Johannes Vermeer (Dutch Painter)

1944 – Glenn Miller (American Composer and Musician)
2013 – James Flint (English commander)
2015 – Lizmark (Mexican wrestler)

2017 – Keely Smith (American singer and actress)

What Special Day is Today: (16 December)

Victory Day (India)
National Day (Bahrain)
Victory Day (Bangladesh)

National Sports Day (Thailand)
Independence Day (Kazakhstan)
Day of Reconciliation (South Africa)

Conclusion

A day can make a prince a pauper; a mighty ruler a prisoner, and a traveler to ‘sleep in his coffin’. As we saw, the day (16 December) is no different.

It holds thousands of untold stories; some are painful, some are pleasurable, and some are puzzling. The day has been an onlooker of what happened on this day in history.

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