February 16th in History

An operation performed at the 8029th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) during the Korean War.

Today in History

  • The silver dollar becomes official US currency (1974)
  • Prohibition ends in the US (1933)
  • World War II: American forces land on Corregidor, Philippines (1945)
  • Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba (1959)
  • The USS Triton begins the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe (1960)
  • The first 911 emergency telephone system goes into service in Haleyville, Alabama (1968)
  • The first computer bulletin board system (BBS) goes into operation (1978)
  • Hezbollah is founded (1985)
  • The trial of accused Nazi concentration camp guard John Demjanjuk begins (1987)
  • The last mobile army surgical hospital (MASH) unit is decommissioned (2006)

Birthdays

  • Nichiren, founder of Nicheren Buddhism (1222)
  • Octave Mirbeau, writer (1848 — died February 16, 1917)
  • Edgar Bergen, ventriloquist (1903)
  • Hugh Beaumont, actor (1909)
  • Vera-Ellen, actress, singer, and dancer (1921)
  • Margot Frank, Holocaust victim, sister of Anne Frank (1926)
  • Sonny Bono, musician and politician (1935)
  • Kim Jong-Il, North Korean supreme leader (1941)
  • Margaux Hemingway, model and actress (1954)
  • LeVar Burton, actor (1957)
  • Ice-T, rapper and actor (1958)
  • John McEnroe, tennis player (1959)
  • Sarah Clarke, actress (1972)

Deaths

  • Octave Mirbeau, writer (1917 — born February 16, 1848)
  • Keith Haring, painter (1990)
  • Angela Carter, writer (1992)
  • William Masters, sexologist, part of Masters and Johnson (2001)
  • Lasse Brown, filmmaker (2015)
  • Lesley Gore, singer-songwriter (2015)
  • Boutros Boutros-Ghali, UN Secretary-General

Holidays and Celebrations

  • Day of the Shining Star (North Korea)
  • National Almond Day (US)
  • Restoration of Lithuania’s Statehood Day (Lithuania)

February 16 is the 47th day of the year. There are 318 days (319 in leap years) remaining until the end of the year.