16 December History
- 1431 - Henry VI of England is crowned King of France.
- 1653 - Oliver Cromwell takes on dictatorial powers with the title of "Lord Protector."
- 1773 - To protest the tax on tea from England, a group of young Americans, disguised as Indians, throw chests of tea from British ships in Boston Harbor.
- 1835 - A fire in New York City destroys property estimated to be worth $20,000,000. It lasts two days, ravages 17 blocks, and destroys 674 buildings including the Stock Exchange, Merchants' Exchange, Post Office, and the South Dutch Church.
- 1863 - Confederate General Joseph Johnston takes command of the Army of Tennessee.
- 1864 - Union forces under General George H. Thomas win the battle at Nashville, smashing an entire Confederate army.
- 1930 - In Spain, a general strike is called in support of the revolution.
- 1939 - The National Women's Party urges immediate congressional action on equal rights.
- 1940 - British troops carry out an air raid on Italian Somalia.
- 1944 - Germany mounts a major offensive in the Ardennes Forest in Belgium. As the center of the Allied line falls back, it creates a bulge, leading to the name–the Battle of the Bulge.
- 1949 - Chinese Communist leader Mao Tse-tung is received at the Kremlin in Moscow.
- 1950 - President Harry Truman declares a state of National Emergency as Chinese communists invade deeper into South Korea.
- 1976 - President Jimmy Carter appoints Andrew Young as Ambassador to the United Nations.
- 1978 - Cleveland becomes the first U.S. city to default since the depression.
- 1998 - The United States launches a missile attack on Iraq for failing to comply with United Nations weapons inspectors.
16 December Birthdays
- 1485 - Catherine of Argon, first wife of Henry VIII, who bore him five children.
- 1770 - Ludwig Van Beethoven, German composer best known for his 9th Symphony.
- 1775 - Jane Austen, novelist (Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice).
- 1917 - Arthur C. Clarke, English science fiction writer (2001: A Space Odyssey)