Summary of the Day ✨ 16 January (16/01)
The U.S. Senate moved forward with Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial while simultaneously ratifying the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement to replace NAFTA, marking a day of significant political developments in Washington. Meanwhile, international tensions escalated as Myanmar police killed protesters, a Turkish Airlines flight crashed in Kyrgyzstan claiming 39 lives, and terrorist attacks in Burkina Faso resulted in 23 deaths and numerous injuries among freed hostages.
Historical Events 📜
- 2020: The first impeachment of Donald Trump formally moves into its trial phase in the United States Senate.
- 2020: The United States Senate ratifies the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement as a replacement for NAFTA.
- 2018: Myanmar police open fire on a group of ethnic Rakhine protesters, killing seven and wounding twelve.
- 2017: Turkish Airlines Flight 6491 crashes into a residential area near Manas International Airport in Kyrgyzstan, killing 39 people.
- 2016: Thirty-three out of 126 freed hostages are injured and 23 killed in terrorist attacks in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on a hotel and a nearby restaurant.
- 2012: The Mali War begins when Tuareg militias start fighting the Malian government for independence.
- 2011: Syrian civil war: The Movement for a Democratic Society (TEV-DEM) is established with the stated goal of re-organizing Syria along the lines of democratic confederalism.
- 2006: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is sworn in as Liberia’s new president. She becomes Africa’s first female elected head of state.
- 2003: The Space Shuttle Columbia takes off for mission STS-107 which would be its final one. Columbia disintegrated 16 days later on re-entry.
- 2002: War in Afghanistan: The UN Security Council unanimously establishes an arms embargo and the freezing of assets of Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda, and the remaining members of the Taliban.
- 2001: Second Congo War: Congolese President Laurent-Désiré Kabila is assassinated by one of his own bodyguards in Kinshasa.
- 2001: US President Bill Clinton awards former President Theodore Roosevelt a posthumous Medal of Honor for his service in the Spanish–American War.
- 1995: An avalanche hits the Icelandic village Súðavík, destroying 25 homes and burying 26 people, 14 of whom died.
- 1992: El Salvador officials and rebel leaders sign the Chapultepec Peace Accords in Mexico City, Mexico ending the 12-year Salvadoran Civil War that claimed at least 75,000 lives.
- 1991: Coalition Forces go to war with Iraq, beginning the Gulf War.
Famous Births 👶
- 2000: Andrew Nembhard, Canadian basketball player
- 1998: Boo Seung-kwan, South Korean singer
- 1996: Jennie, South Korean singer
- 1996: Zhou Qi, Chinese basketball player
- 1995: Jonathan Allen, American football player
- 1995: Mikaela Turik, Australian-Canadian cricketer
- 1995: Tre’Davious White, American football player
- 1994: Mikko Lehtonen, Finnish ice hockey player
- 1993: Hannes Anier, Estonian footballer
- 1993: Amandine Hesse, French tennis player
- 1993: Sungjin, South Korean musician
- 1992: Jason Zucker, American ice hockey player
- 1991: Matt Duchene, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1990: Dennis Kelly, American football player
- 1988: Nicklas Bendtner, Danish footballer
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2025: David Lynch, American filmmaker and actor (born 1946)
- 2025: Dame Joan Plowright, English actress (born 1929)
- 2025: Bob Uecker, American professional baseball catcher and sportscaster (born 1934)
- 2022: Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, Former Malian President (born 1945)
- 2021: Pedro Trebbau, German-born Venezuelan zoologist (born 1929)
- 2021: Chris Cramer, British journalist (born 1948)
- 2021: Phil Spector, American record producer, songwriter (born 1939)
- 2020: Christopher Tolkien, British academic and editor (born 1924)
- 2019: John C. Bogle, American businessman, investor, and philanthropist (born 1929)
- 2019: Lorna Doom, American musician (born 1958)
- 2019: Chris Wilson, Australian musician (born 1956)
- 2018: Ed Doolan, British radio presenter (born 1941)
- 2018: Oliver Ivanović, Kosovo Serb politician (born 1953)
- 2017: Eugene Cernan, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (born 1934)
- 2016: Joannis Avramidis, Greek sculptor (born 1922)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Christian feast day:
Pope Benjamin (Coptic) - Christian feast day:
Berard of Carbio - Christian feast day:
Blaise (Armenian Apostolic) - Christian feast day:
Fursey - Christian feast day:
Joseph Vaz - Christian feast day:
Honoratus of Arles - Christian feast day:
Pope Marcellus I - Christian feast day:
Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (Coptic Church) - Christian feast day:
Titian of Oderzo - Christian feast day:
Eve of Saint Anthony observed with ritual bonfires in San Bartolomé de Pinares - Christian feast day:
January 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) - National Religious Freedom Day (United States)
- Teachers’ Day in Thailand and Myanmar