Events for March 16
1978 – Supertanker Amoco Cadiz splits in two after running aground on the Portsall Rocks, three miles off the coast of Brittany, resulting in the largest oil spill in history at that time.
1988 – Halabja chemical attack: The Kurdish town of Halabja in Iraq is attacked with a mix of poison gas and nerve agents on the orders of Saddam Hussein, killing 5,000 people and injuring about 10,000 people.
1815 – Prince Willem proclaims himself King of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the first constitutional monarch in the Netherlands.
1978 – A Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Tupolev Tu-134 crashes near Gabare, Bulgaria, killing 73.
1935 – Adolf Hitler orders Germany to rearm itself in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Conscription is reintroduced to form the Wehrmacht.
2003 – American activist Rachel Corrie is killed in Rafah by being run over by an Israel Defense Forces bulldozer while trying to obstruct the demolition of a home.
2020 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls by 2,997.10, the single largest point drop in history and the second-largest percentage drop ever at 12.93%, an even greater crash than Black Monday (1929). This follows the U.S. Federal Reserve announcing that it will cut its target interest rate to 0–0.25%.
1696 – The Dutch bombard Givet during the Nine Years' War.
1945 – Ninety percent of Würzburg, Germany is destroyed in only 20 minutes by British bombers, resulting in at least 4,000 deaths.
1355 – Amidst the Red Turban Rebellions, Han Lin'er, a claimed descendant of Emperor Huizong of Song, is proclaimed emperor of the restored Song dynasty in Bozhou.
934 – Meng Zhixiang declares himself emperor and establishes the Later Shu as a new state independent of the Later Tang.
1962 – Flying Tiger Line Flight 739 disappears in the western Pacific Ocean with all 107 aboard missing and presumed dead.
2022 – Mariupol theatre airstrike during the siege of Mariupol.
1190 – Massacre of Jews at Clifford's Tower, York.
1939 – From Prague Castle, Hitler proclaims Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate.
2016 – Two suicide bombers detonate their explosives at a mosque during morning prayer on the outskirts of Maiduguri, Nigeria, killing 24 and injuring 18.
1918 – Finnish Civil War: Battle of Länkipohja is infamous for its bloody aftermath as the Whites execute 70–100 capitulated Reds.
1979 – Sino-Vietnamese War: The People's Liberation Army crosses the border back into China, ending the war.
1941 – Operation Appearance takes place to re-establish British Somaliland
2012 – Former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar becomes the first batter in history to score 100 centuries in international cricket.
1969 – A Viasa McDonnell Douglas DC-9 crashes in Maracaibo, Venezuela, killing 155.
1977 – Assassination of Kamal Jumblatt, the main leader of the anti-government forces in the Lebanese Civil War.
1898 – In Melbourne, the representatives of five colonies adopt a constitution, which would become the basis of the Commonwealth of Australia.[page needed]
Notable Births & Deaths for March 16
2001 – Kyle Hamilton, American football player
1996 – Ivan Toney, English footballer
1994 – Sierra McClain, American actress
1991 – Chris Boswell, American football player
1989 – Magalie Pottier, French racing cyclist
1993 – Marine Lorphelin, French model and beauty queen, Miss France 2013
1991 – Wolfgang Van Halen, American bassist
1995 – Inga Janulevičiūtė, Lithuanian figure skater
1997 – Dominic Calvert-Lewin, English footballer
2013 – Yadier Pedroso, Cuban pitcher (b. 1986)
2013 – Marina Solodkin, Russian-Israeli academic and politician (b. 1952)
2010 – Ksenija Pajčin, Serbian singer, dancer and model (b. 1977)
2013 – Frank Thornton, English actor (b. 1921)
2014 – Steve Moore, English author and illustrator (b. 1949)
2000 – Jalen Smith, American basketball player
1992 – Brett Davern, American actor
1993 – George Ford, English rugby union player
2008 – Ivan Dixon, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1931)
2016 – Frank Sinatra Jr., American singer and actor (b. 1944)
2012 – Donald E. Hillman, American colonel and pilot (b. 1918)
1991 – Reggie Bullock, American basketball player
2014 – Alexander Pochinok, Russian economist and politician (b. 1958)
2013 – Jamal Nazrul Islam, Bangladeshi physicist and cosmologist (b. 1939)
2014 – Donald Crothers, American chemist and academic (b. 1937)
1989 – Theo Walcott, English footballer
1997 – Florian Neuhaus, German footballer
1990 – Andre Young, American basketball player
1989 – Jung So-min, South Korean actress
1997 – Tyrel Jackson Williams, American actor
2018 – Louise Slaughter, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York (b. 1929)
2013 – Ruchoma Shain, American-born teacher and author (b. 1914)
2013 – José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz, Argentinian economist and politician, Minister of Economy of Argentina (b. 1925)
2015 – Don Robertson, American pianist and composer (b. 1922)
2012 – Takaaki Yoshimoto, Japanese poet, philosopher, and critic (b. 1924)
2011 – Richard Wirthlin, American religious leader (b. 1931)
2016 – Alexander Esenin-Volpin, Russian-American mathematician and poet (b. 1924)
2008 – Gary Hart, American wrestler and manager (b. 1942)
1991 – Admir Mehmedi, Swiss footballer
1992 – Tim Hardaway Jr., American basketball player
1996 – Ajiona Alexus, American actress and singer
2017 – Lewis Rowland, American neurologist (b. 1925)
1994 – Joel Embiid, Cameroonian basketball player
1999 – Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Canadian baseball player
2015 – Jack Haley, American basketball player and sportscaster (b. 1964)
2014 – Yulisa Pat Amadu Maddy, Sierra Leonean author, poet, and playwright (b. 1936)
2014 – Gary Bettenhausen, American race car driver (b. 1941)
Quick Start
Our API is incredibly easy to use, check out the code samples below to get started:
Fetch Historical Events
All you need to do is send a request to https://today.zenquotes.io/api/[month]/[day]/[key] in order to generate a JSON array of historical events, including notable births and deaths. API data pulled from WikiPedia.
*[key] not required but recommended.
Sample Requests
https://today.zenquotes.io/api - Generate notable events, births, and deaths for current server time (UTC).
https://today.zenquotes.io/api/1/1 - Generate notable events, births, and deaths for January 1.
https://today.zenquotes.io/api/5/5 - Generate notable events, births, and deaths for May 5.
https://today.zenquotes.io/api/12/25 - Generate notable events, births, and deaths for December 25.
Response
The result data is formatted as a JSON array, grouped by event type.
{ "info":"OnThisDay API", "date":"April_20", "updated":"1615972324",
"data":{
"Events":[
{
"text":"1303 – The Sapienza University of Rome is instituted by a bull of Pope Boniface VIII.[1]",
"html":"<a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/1303\" title=\"1303\">1303</a> – The <a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapienza_University_of_Rome\" title=\"Sapienza University of Rome\">Sapienza University of Rome</a> is instituted by a <a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_bull\" title=\"Papal bull\">bull</a> of <a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Boniface_VIII\" title=\"Pope Boniface VIII\">Pope Boniface VIII</a>."
},
//.. MORE DATA ..//
],
"Births":[
{
"text":"1494 – Johannes Agricola, German theologian and reformer (d. 1566)[8]",
"html":"<a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/1494\" title=\"1494\">1494</a> – <a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Agricola\" title=\"Johannes Agricola\">Johannes Agricola</a>, German theologian and reformer (d. 1566)"
},
//.. MORE DATA ..//
],
"Deaths":[
{
"text":"689 – Cædwalla, king of Wessex (b. 659)[21]",
"html":"<a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/689\" title=\"689\">689</a> – <a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A6dwalla_of_Wessex\" title=\"Cædwalla of Wessex\">Cædwalla</a>, king of <a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Wessex\" title=\"Wessex\">Wessex</a> (b. 659)" },
//.. MORE DATA ..//
}
]
} }Usage Limits and Attribution
Requests are restricted to 5 per 30 second period, an API key or registered IP is required for unlimited access and to enable Access-Control-Allow-Origin headers. We require that you show attribution with a link back to https://today.zenquotes.io/ when using the free version of this API. Contact support@zenquotes.io to chat with our friendly dev team and get registered.
Historical event data provided by <a href="https://today.zenquotes.io/" target="_blank">ZenQuotes.io</a>