On this day: 16 May

Selected events and births on 16 May, from Wikipedia’s “On this day”.

Events

• 1426 – Mohnyin Thado captured Sagaing to become the king of Ava, in present-day Myanmar. Read more: Mohnyin Thado Sagaing Kingdom of Ava
• 1605 – After a scuffle in which one cardinal had several bones broken, a papal conclave convened in Rome elected Camillo Borghese as Pope Paul V. Read more: Cardinal (Catholic Church) May 1605 conclave Pope Paul V
• 1832 – Prospector Juan Godoy discovered a silver outcrop in Chañarcillo, sparking the Chilean silver rush. Read more: Juan Godoy Outcrop Chañarcillo
• 1866 – The United States Congress authorized the minting of the Shield nickel (example pictured), the country's first five-cent piece to be made of a copper–nickel alloy. Read more: Shield nickel Nickel (United States coin) Cupronickel
• 1881 – John Richard Clark Hall, a barrister who would go on to write a widely used Anglo-Saxon dictionary and translation of Beowulf, was admitted to Gray's Inn. Read more: John Richard Clark Hall Anglo-Saxons Beowulf
• 1925 – The first modern performance of Claudio Monteverdi's opera Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria occurred in Paris. Read more: Claudio Monteverdi Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria
• 1929 – The first Academy Awards ceremony was held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles, California. Read more: 1st Academy Awards Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel
• 1958 – The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, a supersonic interceptor aircraft, set a world flight airspeed record of 1,404.012 mph (2,259.538 km/h). Read more: Lockheed F-104 Starfighter Interceptor aircraft List of flight airspeed records
• 1959 – The Tritons' Fountain in Valletta, one of Malta's most important Modernist landmarks, was turned on for the first time. Read more: Tritons' Fountain Valletta Modernism
• 1960 – American physicist Theodore Maiman operated the first working laser at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu. Read more: Theodore Maiman Laser HRL Laboratories
• 1975 – Japanese climber Junko Tabei became the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Read more: Junko Tabei Mount Everest
• 1977 – The first Chuck E. Cheese location, the first family restaurant to integrate food, animated entertainment (example pictured), and an indoor arcade, opened in San Jose, California. Read more: Chuck E. Cheese Types of restaurant Animatronics

Born on this day

• 1943 – Dan Coats, American politician and diplomat, 29th United States Ambassador to Germany Read more: Dan Coats List of ambassadors of the United States to Germany
• 1950 – Georg Bednorz, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate Read more: Georg Bednorz Nobel Prize in Physics
• 1960 – Landon Deireragea, Nauruan politician, Nauruan Speaker of Parliament Read more: Landon Deireragea List of speakers of the Parliament of Nauru
• 1969 – Tucker Carlson, American journalist, co-founded The Daily Caller Read more: Tucker Carlson The Daily Caller
• 1993 – Johannes Thingnes Bø, Norwegian biathlete Read more: Johannes Thingnes Bø
• 1993 – Karol Mets, Estonian footballer Read more: Karol Mets
• 1993 – IU, Korean singer-songwriter and actress Read more: IU (entertainer)
• 1994 – Kathinka von Deichmann, Liechtenstein tennis player Read more: Kathinka von Deichmann
• 1995 – Elizabeth Ralston, Australian footballer Read more: Elizabeth Ralston
• 1996 – Louisa Chirico, American tennis player Read more: Louisa Chirico
• 2000 – Luis García Jr., Dominican-American baseball player Read more: Luis García Jr.
• 2002 – Ryan Gravenberch, Dutch footballer Read more: Ryan Gravenberch

Text from Wikipedia: Selected anniversaries / May 16 and the linked articles, via the Wikimedia “On this day” feed, under CC BY-SA 4.0. We leave out entries about wars, violence and disasters to keep this page family-friendly.