What Happened On
Saddam in 1979
Saddam in 1979
Saddam Hussein Becomes President of Iraq
July 16, 1979
Saddam Hussein became a general in the Iraqi armed forces in 1976 and rapidly became the strongman of the government. As the ailing President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr became unable to execute his duties, Saddam took on an increasingly prominent role becoming the de facto leader of Iraq. However, in 1979 al-Bakr started making treaties with Syria that would lead to unification of the two countries. This would place Syrian President Hafez al-Assad as deputy leader, driving Saddam out of power. On July 16, 1979, Saddam forced al-Bakr to resign and formally assumed the presidency. He then began purging out members of the government that he felt were disloyal. Hundreds of high-ranking Ba'ath party members were executed in the following weeks.
Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module pilot Michael Collins, Lunar Module pilot Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr.
Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module pilot Michael Collins, Lunar Module pilot Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr.
First Manned Flight to Land on the Moon
July 16, 1969
Apollo 11 is launched, landing on the Moon four days later. Neil Armstrong became the first person to step onto the lunar surface six hours after landing on July 21, with Buzz Aldrin following him shortly thereafter. Aldrin would later joke that while Armstrong was the first man to walk on the Moon, he was the first to piss his pants on the Moon.
They also left behind a laser reflector which was used to prove the Moon was 131.2 feet farther away than previously believed.
Artificial Heart Invented by TV Personality
July 16, 1963
Paul Winchell from television's The Paul Winchell Show receives the first U.S. patent for an implantable artificial heart, which he developed with the assistance of Henry Heimlich (the inventor of the Heimlich maneuver). Winchell is also famous as a ventriloquist with dummies Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff, and provided the voice of Tigger in several Winnie the Pooh movies.
Catalina Seaplane similar to the one hijacked
Catalina Seaplane similar to the one hijacked
First Commercial Skyjacking
July 16, 1948
A group of four Chinese bandits attempt to hijack, rob, and ransom the passengers of a flight from Macau to Hong Kong. When the crew refused, a scuffle ensued and the pilot was shot in the head. The plane crashed into the sea before the copilot could take the controls. Everyone aboard was killed, except the leader of the hijackers, who jumped out of the plane before it crashed. The Macau court suggested that the surviving hijacker should be prosecuted in Hong Kong, since the plane was registered in Hong Kong and most of the passengers were from there. However, the British colonial government in Hong Kong stated that the incident happened over Chinese territory in which the British had no jurisdiction. Since no state claimed authority to try him, the hijacker was released without trial after three years in prison.
First Atomic Blast
July 16, 1945
A plutonium device equivalent to 15,000 tons of TNT is detonated in Alamogordo, New Mexico. It was visible 180 miles away.
Willis Carrier
Willis Carrier
First Air Conditioner
July 16, 1902
The first modern-style electric air conditioner is installed in Brooklyn, NY. It was invented by Willis Carrier who went on to found the Carrier Corporation (1915).
Doomsday Comet
July 16, 1862
The Swift-Tuttle Comet is discovered by Louis Swift in New York. Horace Tuttle spotted it three days later in Massachusetts. It has a 1 in 10,000 chance of colliding with Earth in the year 2126. If this occurs it will probably end civilization.
Jupiter Struck by Comet
July 16, 1994
Our solar system's largest planet Jupiter is struck by the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet, creating blasts equal to millions of large nuclear weapons.
Ross Perot in Presidential Debate (October 1992)
Ross Perot in Presidential Debate (October 1992)
Ross Perot Drops Out
July 16, 1992
Texas billionaire Ross Perot "drops out" of the U.S. Presidential race, although he was never actually a candidate. He reentered 2½ months later, having spent $10,000,000 during the time he was "out" maintaining his campaign organization and creating new advertisements.
He would later claim he dropped out due to threats to disrupt his daughter's wedding.
First Species Removed from the Endangered Species List
July 16, 1975
The first species removed from the endangered species list, which was enacted in 1969: Three species of trout.
Nixon (left) and tape recorder he used to record his conversations
Nixon (left) and tape recorder he used to record his conversations
Watergate Recordings
July 16, 1973
During Senate questioning it becomes known that most of U.S. President Richard Nixon's office conversations and phone calls had been recorded.
Company I of the 36th Colored Regiment (circa 1864)
Company I of the 36th Colored Regiment (circa 1864)
Blacks In the U.S. Military
July 16, 1862
First federal law allowing persons of African descent to serve in the U.S. military is introduced into Congress. It was signed into law by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln the following day.
However, blacks had served in various wartime capacities including combat, especially the Navy, since the American Revolution.
U.S. Capitol
July 16, 1790
The site for the Capitol building is chosen by Major Pierre Charles L'Enfant, who then planned the basic layout of Washington D.C.
Birthdays
Shoeless Joe Jackson (Joseph Jefferson Jackson)
Born July 16, 1887 d. 1951
American baseball player. He was banished for life from professional baseball for his alleged role in throwing the 1919 World Series. "Say it ain't so, Joe! Say it ain't so!"
Discoverer of the South Pole
Roald Amundsen
Born July 16, 1872 d. 1928
Norwegian explorer. First to sail from the Atlantic to the Pacific using the Northwest Passage (1905), and discoverer of the South Pole (1911). He disappeared during a rescue mission to the Arctic.
Last President of the Continental Congress
Cyrus Griffin
Born July 16, 1748 d. 1810
American lawyer. He was the 16th and last president of the Continental Congress (1788). He resigned after the ratification of the U.S. Constitution rendered the old Congress obsolete, becoming a federal judge (1789-1910, U.S. District Court of Virginia).
Corey Feldman
Born July 16, 1971
American actor. Film: Gremlins (1984), Goonies (1985), Stand By Me (1986), and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990).
Barry Sanders
Born July 16, 1968
American Hall of Fame football running back with the Detroit Lions, Heisman Trophy winner (1988).
Will Ferrell
Born July 16, 1967
American actor. TV: Saturday Night Live (1995-2002).
Phoebe Cates
Born July 16, 1963
American actress. Film: Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) and Gremlins (1984).
Stewart Copeland
Born July 16, 1952
American drummer, with Police. Music: Roxanne (1978), Message In A Bottle (1979, #1), Every Breath You Take (1983, #1).
The Father of the Spreadsheet
Dan Bricklin
Born July 16, 1951
American computer scientist. He and Bob Frankston created VisiCalc, the first computer spreadsheet (1979), and is known as "The Father of the Spreadsheet".
Max McGee
Born July 16, 1932 d. 2007
American football player. He scored the first Super Bowl touchdown (1967), playing for the Green Bay Packers, he caught an 18-yard pass and ran it in from the 19-yard line against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Bess Myerson
Born July 16, 1924 d. 2014
American beauty contestant, actress. She was the first Jewish Miss America (1945). She was also the first Miss New York to win the title. She was charged with bribery and conspiracy as a result of hiring a judge's daughter, presumably to influence the judge to rule favorably toward Myerson's lover in his divorce case. The scandal was known as the "Bess Mess" (1988). She was eventually acquitted of the charges. She was also arrested for shoplifting $44 worth of goods from a drug store (1988), to which she plead guilty and was fined.
Barnard Hughes (Bernard Hughes)
Born July 16, 1915 d. 2006
American Tony-Emmy-winning actor. TV: Guiding Light (Dr. Bruce Banning) and The Cavanaughs (Pop Cavanaugh).
Ginger Rogers (Virginia McMath)
Born July 16, 1911 d. 1995
American Oscar-winning actress, Fred Astaire's dance partner.
Orville Redenbacher
Born July 16, 1907 d. 1995
American popcorn maker, co-creator of "snowflake" popcorn.
Barbara Stanwyck (Ruby Stevens)
Born July 16, 1907 d. 1990
American Emmy-winning actress. TV: Big Valley (Emmy, Victoria Barkley) and The Colbys (Constance Colby). In 1944 the IRS reported her as the highest-paid American woman.
Mary Philbin
Born July 16, 1902 d. 1993
American silent-film actress. She co-starred with Lon Chaney in The Phantom of the Opera (1925).
Carl Ed
Born July 16, 1890 d. 1959
American cartoonist. Creator of Harold Teen (1919) which was later made into movies.
Percy Kilbride
Born July 16, 1888 d. 1964
American actor. Film: Pa of the Ma and Pa Kettle films (1947-55).
Béla Schick
Born July 16, 1877 d. 1967
Hungarian-born American pediatrician. He developed the Schick test (1913) for diphtheria, which led to effective inoculation against the disease.
Mary Baker Eddy
Born July 16, 1821 d. 1910
American religious leader. She founded the Church of Christ, Scientist (1879, Christian Science). Quote: "Happiness is spiritual, born of truth and love. It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it."
Giuseppe Piazzi
Born July 16, 1746 d. 1826
Italian astronomer. He was the first to discover an asteroid (1801, Ceres).
Samuel Huntington
Born July 16, 1731 d. 1796
American statesman. 7th president of the Continental Congress (1779-81), signer of the Declaration of Independence, president of the Continental Congress (1779-81), and governor of Connecticut (1786-96).
Deaths
Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead
Creator of the Modern Zombie Movie
George A. Romero
Died July 16, 2017 b. 1940
American-Canadian filmmaker. He is the creator of the modern-era zombie movie, starting with Night of the Living Dead (1968). Film: Dawn of the Dead (1978), Day of the Dead (1985), Creepshow (1982), Monkey Shines (1988), and The Dark Half (1993).
Major Charles Sweeney
Died July 16, 2004 b. 1919
American pilot. He flew the plane which dropped the "Fat Man" atom bomb on Nagasaki (1945). Sixty percent of the city was destroyed and approximately 70,000 people were killed in the initial blast. This was the second atomic bomb dropped on Japan, after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
Ellen Gould White
Died July 16, 1915 b. 1827
American author, Christian pioneer. She and her husband helped found the Seventh-day Adventist Church. She claimed to have religious visions which were the basis for many of her books.
Mary Todd Lincoln
Died July 16, 1882 b. 1818
American First Lady, wife of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. She was declared insane and committed to an mental institution (1875), but was later released.
Photo Credit: JohnKadvany
Photo Credit: JohnKadvany
Johnny Winter (John Dawson Winter III)
Died July 16, 2014 b. 1944
American Blues Hall of Fame blues singer/guitarist. He and his younger brother musician Edgar Winter were both born with albinism.
Winter also produced three Grammy Award-winning albums for blues singer and guitarist Muddy Waters.
Music: Silver Train (1973).
Kitty Wells (Ellen Muriel Deason)
Died July 16, 2012 b. 1919
American country singer, "Queen of Country Music." She was the first woman to hit #1 on the country charts with It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels (1952).
Many radio stations refused to play It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels because the lyrics were considered controversial at the time. Especially troubling were the lines, "It's a shame that all the blame is on us women" and "It brings back memories of when I was a trustful wife". Wells changed one of the lines from "trustful" to "trusting" to get the ban lifted.
Wells was among the hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.
John F. Kennedy, Jr.
Died July 16, 1999 b. 1960
American lawyer, son of President John F. Kennedy. He, his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette were killed in a plane crash off the coast of Martha's Vineyard. The plane was piloted by Kennedy.
"Gorgeous" George Arena
Died July 16, 1992 b. 1907
American wrestler. Platinum-haired villain of the early days of TV wrestling. Known for his three-inch platform shoes and silk robes.
Herbert von Karajan
Died July 16, 1989 b. 1908
Austrian classical conductor.
Harry Chapin
Died July 16, 1981 b. 1942
American folk-rock singer. Taxi (1972) and Cat's In The Cradle (1974, #1).
John Phillips Marquand
Died July 16, 1960 b. 1893
American Pulitzer-winning author. Writings: The Late George Apley (1937, Pulitzer). He also created the Japanese detective Mr. Moto.
Josiah Spode II
Died July 16, 1827 b. 1755
English potter. He coined the term "Bone China" (c. 1800) to describe the china he and his father had developed.
Innocent III
Died July 16, 1216 b. 1161
Italian religious leader, 176th Pope (1198-1216).