May 16th in History

Michael Dobson | May 16

Image: Screenshot from the video game Oregon Trail.
The first major wagon train set out on the Oregon Trail on May 16, 1843.

Today in History

  • Marie Antoinette gets married to the future Louis XVI (1770)
  • The first major wagon train heading for the Pacific Northwest sets out on the Oregon Trail (1843)
  • The Curtiss NC-4, first airplane to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, departs from Newfoundland (1919)
  • Joan of Arc becomes a saint (1920)
  • The first Academy Awards are given (1929)
  • The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising ends (1943)
  • The first optical laser becomes operational (1960)
  • The Soviet probe Venera 5 lands on Venus (1969)
  • The first woman reaches the summit of Mount Everest (1975)
  • Women gain the right to vote in Kuwait (2005)

Birthdays

  • William H. Seward, acquired Alaska for the US (1801)
  • Levi P. Morton, 22nd US Vice President (1824 — died May 16)
  • Henry Fonda, actor (1905)
  • Margret Rey, co-creator of Curious George (1906)
  • Studs Terkel, author (1912)
  • Woody Herman, saxophonist (1913)
  • Liberace, pianist and fashion icon (1919)
  • Yvonne Craig, TV Batgirl (1937)
  • Robert Fripp, King Crimson leader (1946)
  • Christian Lacroix, fashion designer (1951)
  • Pierce Brosnan, actor (1953)
  • Olga Korbut, gymnast (1955)
  • Debra Winger, actress (1955)
  • Mare Winningham, actress (1959)
  • Janet Jackson, singer-songwriter (1966)
  • David Boreanaz, actor (1969)
  • Tucker Carlson, pundit (1969)
  • Tracey Gold, actress (1969)
  • Gabriela Sabatini, tennis player (1970)
  • Tori Spelling, actress (1973)
  • Megan Fox, actress (1986)
  • Grigor Dimitrov, tennis player (1991)

Deaths

  • Joseph Fourier, mathematician and physicist (1830)
  • Levi P. Morton, 22nd US Vice President (1920 — born May 16)
  • محمد سادس (Mehmet VI), last Ottoman sultan (1926)
  • Django Reinhardt, guitarist (1953)
  • James Agee, critic (1955)
  • H. B. Reese, peanut butter cup creator (1956)
  • Eliot Ness, FBI agent (1957)
  • Andy Kaufman, comedian (1984)
  • Irwin Shaw, author (1984)
  • Margaret Hamilton, actress (1985)
  • Sammy Davis, Jr., entertainer (1990)
  • Jim Henson, puppeteer (1990)
  • Bodacious, “world’s most dangerous bull” (2000)
  • Robert Mondavi, winemaker (2008)
  • Hank Jones, country musician (2010)

Holidays and Celebrations

  • Martyrs of Sudan Day (Episcopal Church USA)
  • Mass Graves Day (Iraq)
  • National Day (South Sudan)
  • National Endangered Species Day (US)
  • Teacher’s Day (Malaysia)
Informal and made-up holidays include Biographer’s Day, Love a Tree Day, National Piercing Day,  National Sea Monkey Day, Wear Purple for Peace Day.