Summary of the Day ✨ 16 August (16/08)
California’s August Complex fire devastated over a million acres while multiple disasters struck globally, including Syrian air raids on Douma that killed 96 people, a plane crash in Indonesia claiming 54 lives, a ferry collision in the Philippines leaving 61 dead, and South African police fatally shooting 34 miners during labor unrest.
Historical Events 📜
- 2020: The August Complex fire in California burns more than one million acres of land.
- 2015: More than 96 people are killed and hundreds injured following a series of air-raids by the Syrian Arab Air Force on the rebel-held market town of Douma.
- 2015: Trigana Air Flight 267, an ATR 42, crashes in Oksibil, Bintang Mountains Regency, killing all 54 people on board.
- 2013: The ferry St. Thomas Aquinas collides with a cargo ship and sinks at Cebu, Philippines, killing 61 people with 59 others missing.
- 2012: South African police fatally shoot 34 miners and wound 78 more during an industrial dispute at Marikana near Rustenburg.
- 2010: AIRES Flight 8250 crashes at Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport in San Andrés, San Andrés y Providencia, Colombia, killing two people.
- 2008: The Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago is topped off at 1,389 feet (423 m), at the time becoming the world’s highest residence above ground-level.
- 2005: West Caribbean Airways Flight 708, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, crashes in Machiques, Venezuela, killing all 160 people on board.
- 1991: Indian Airlines Flight 257, a Boeing 737-200, crashes during approach to Imphal Airport, killing all 69 people on board.
- 1989: A solar particle event affects computers at the Toronto Stock Exchange, forcing a halt to trading.
- 1987: Northwest Airlines Flight 255, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, crashes after takeoff in Detroit, Michigan, killing 154 of the 155 on board, plus two people on the ground.
- 1986: A Sudan Airways Fokker F27 Friendship is shot down near Malakal in present day South Sudan, killing 60.
- 1975: Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam symbolically hands over land to the Gurindji people after the eight-year Wave Hill walk-off, a landmark event in the history of Indigenous land rights in Australia, commemorated in a 1991 song by Paul Kelly and an annual celebration.
- 1972: In an unsuccessful coup d’état attempt, the Royal Moroccan Air Force fires upon Hassan II of Morocco’s plane while he is traveling back to Rabat.
- 1966: Vietnam War: The House Un-American Activities Committee begins investigations of Americans who have aided the Viet Cong. The committee intends to introduce legislation making these activities illegal. Anti-war demonstrators disrupt the meeting and 50 people are arrested.
Famous Births 👶
- 2001: Jannik Sinner, Italian tennis player
- 1999: Karen Chen, American figure skater
- 1997: Greyson Chance, American musician
- 1996: Sophie Cunningham, American basketball player
- 1996: Caeleb Dressel, American swimmer
- 1993: Cameron Monaghan, American actor and model
- 1992: Diego Schwartzman, Argentinian tennis player
- 1991: José Eduardo de Araújo, Brazilian footballer
- 1991: Evanna Lynch, Irish actress
- 1991: Young Thug, American rapper, singer and songwriter
- 1990: Godfrey Oboabona, Nigerian footballer
- 1989: Cedric Alexander, American wrestler
- 1989: Wang Hao, Chinese race walker
- 1989: Moussa Sissoko, French footballer
- 1988: Ismaïl Aissati, Moroccan footballer
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2023: Howard S. Becker, American sociologist (born 1928)
- 2021: Sean Lock, English comedian and actor (born 1963)
- 2019: Peter Fonda, American actor, director, and screenwriter. (born 1940)
- 2019: Richard Williams, Canadian-British animator (born 1933)
- 2018: Aretha Franklin, American singer-songwriter (born 1942)
- 2018: Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Indian poet and 12th Prime Minister of India (born 1924)
- 2018: Wakako Yamauchi, American-Japanese writer (born 1924)
- 2016: João Havelange, Brazilian water polo player, lawyer, and businessman (born 1916)
- 2016: John McLaughlin, American television personality (born 1927)
- 2015: Jacob Bekenstein, Mexican-American physicist, astronomer, and academic (born 1947)
- 2015: Anna Kashfi, British actress (born 1934)
- 2015: Shuja Khanzada, Pakistani colonel and politician (born 1943)
- 2015: Mile Mrkšić, Serb general (born 1947)
- 2014: Patrick Aziza, Nigerian general and politician, Governor of Kebbi State (born 1947)
- 2014: Vsevolod Nestayko, Ukrainian author (born 1930)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Bennington Battle Day (Vermont, United States)
- Children’s Day (Paraguay)
- Christian feast day:
Ana Petra Pérez Florido - Christian feast day:
Armel (Armagillus) - Christian feast day:
Diomedes of Tarsus - Christian feast day:
Roch - Christian feast day:
Stephen I of Hungary - Christian feast day:
Translation of the Acheiropoietos icon from Edessa to Constantinople. (Eastern Orthodox Church) - Christian feast day:
August 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) - Gozan no Okuribi (Kyoto, Japan)
- National Airborne Day (United States)
- Restoration Day (Dominican Republic)
- The first day of the Independence Days, celebrates the independence of Gabon from France in 1960.
- Xicolatada (Palau-de-Cerdagne, France)