Calendar date · May

What happened on May 16

On May 16, 946: Emperor Suzaku abdicates the throne in favor of his brother Murakami who becomes the 62nd emperor of Japan.

Events

54

across history

Notable births

50

Notable deaths

50

Zodiac

Taurus

Featured moment · 946

Emperor Suzaku abdicates the throne in favor of his brother Murakami who becomes the 62nd emperor of Japan.

Emperor Suzaku was the 61st emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.

People

Born on May 16

Ryan Gravenberch 2002– Dutch footballer (born 2002)
Luis Garcia 2000– American baseball player (born 2000)
Louisa Chirico 1996– American tennis player (born 1996)
Elizabeth Ralston 1995– Australian soccer player
Kathinka von Deichmann 1994– Liechtenstein tennis player (born 1994)
Johannes Thingnes Bø 1993– Norwegian biathlete (born 1993)
Karol Mets 1993– Estonian footballer
IU 1993– South Korean singer and actress (born 1993)
Jeff Skinner 1992– Canadian ice hockey player (born 1992)
Show 9 more — notable births on May 16
Kirstin Maldonado 1992– American singer-songwriter (born 1992)
Grigor Dimitrov 1991– Bulgarian tennis player (born 1991)
Joey Graceffa 1991– American YouTuber (born 1991)
Ashley Wagner 1991– American figure skater (born 1991)
Amanda Carreras 1990– British tennis player
Thomas Brodie-Sangster 1990– English actor (born 1990)
Darko Šarović 1990– Serbian medical doctor and athlete (born 1990)
Omar Strong 1990– American basketball player
Behati Prinsloo 1989– Namibian model (born 1988)

People

Died on May 16

Domingos Maubere East Timorese Catholic priest and activist (1952–2025)
Dabney Coleman American actor (1932–2024)
Eddie Gossage American public speaker and businessman (1958–2024)
Norm Green American long-distance runner
Bruno Covas Former mayor of São Paulo, Brazil
Piet Blauw Dutch politician (1937–2019)
Bob Hawke Prime Minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991
I. M. Pei Chinese-American architect (1917–2019)
Prashant Bhargava American film director
Show 9 more — notable deaths on May 16
Moshe Levinger Israeli rabbi and convict (1935–2015)
Flora MacNeil Scottish Gaelic Traditional singer (1928–2015)
Chris Duckworth Rhodesian cricketer
Vito Favero Italian cyclist (1932–2014)
Bud Hollowell American baseball player (1943–2014)
Clyde Snow American forensic anthropologist (1928–2014)
Angelo Errichetti American politician (1928–2013)
Bryan Illerbrun Canadian football player
Frankie Librán Puerto Rican baseball player (1948–2013)

Timeline

Every May 16 on record

  1. 946 Emperor Suzaku abdicates the throne in favor of his brother Murakami who becomes the 62nd emperor of Japan.

    Emperor of Japan from 930 to 946

    Emperor Suzaku was the 61st emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.

  2. 999 Rebel Turkish warlord Mahmud of Ghazni defeats Samanid Emir Mansur II in battle at Merv.

    Calendar year

    Year 999 (CMXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar.

  3. 1003 Patrician John Crescentius, who has seized control of Rome, selects Pope John XVII as the new pope.

    Consul and patrician of Rome from 1002 to 1012

    John Crescentius also John II Crescentius or Crescentius III was the son of Crescentius the Younger. He succeeded to his father's title of consul and patrician of Rome in 1002 and held it to his death.

  4. 1204 Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders is crowned as the first Emperor of the Latin Empire.

    Latin Emperor from 1204 to 1205

    Baldwin I was the first Emperor of the Latin Empire of Constantinople; Count of Flanders from 1194 to 1205 and Count of Hainaut from 1195 to 1205. Baldwin was one of the most prominent leaders of the Fourth Crusade, which resulted in the sack of Constantinople in 1204, the conquest of the Byzantine Empire, and the foundation of the Latin Empire. The following year he was defeated at the Battle of Adrianople by Kaloyan, the emperor of Bulgaria, and spent his last days as a prisoner.

  5. 1364 Hundred Years' War: Bertrand du Guesclin and a French army defeat the Anglo-Navarrese army of Charles the Bad at Cocherel.

    Medieval Anglo-French conflicts, 1337–1453

    The Hundred Years' War was a conflict between the kingdoms of England and France and a civil war in France during the late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy of Aquitaine and was triggered by a claim to the French throne made by Edward III of England. The war grew into a broader military, economic, and political struggle involving factions from across Western Europe, fuelled by emerging nationalism on both sides.

  6. 1426 Gov. Thado of Mohnyin becomes King of Ava.
  7. 1527 The Florentines drive out the Medici for a second time and Florence re-establishes itself as a republic.
  8. 1532 Sir Thomas More resigns as Lord Chancellor of England.
  9. 1568 Mary, Queen of Scots, flees to England.
  10. 1584 Santiago de Vera becomes sixth governor-general of the Spanish colony of the Philippines.
  11. 1739 The Battle of Vasai concludes as the Marathas defeat the Portuguese army.
  12. 1770 The 14-year-old Marie Antoinette marries 15-year-old Louis-Auguste, Dauphin de France, who later becomes king of France.
  13. 1771 The Battle of Alamance, a pre-American Revolutionary War battle between local militia and a group of rebels called The "Regulators", occurs in present-day Alamance County, North Carolina.
  14. 1777 Continental Army officer Lachlan McIntosh fatally wounds Button Gwinnett, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, in a duel in Savannah, Georgia.
  15. 1811 Peninsular War: The allies Spain, Portugal and United Kingdom fight an inconclusive battle against the French at the Albuera. It is, in proportion to the numbers involved, the bloodiest battle of the war.
Show 15 earlier entries from May 16
  1. 1812 Imperial Russia signs the Treaty of Bucharest, ending the Russo-Turkish War. The Ottoman Empire cedes Bessarabia to Russia.
  2. 1822 Greek War of Independence: The Turks capture the Greek town of Souli.
  3. 1832 Juan Godoy discovers the rich silver outcrops of Chañarcillo sparking the Chilean silver rush.
  4. 1834 The Battle of Asseiceira is fought; it was the final and decisive engagement of the Liberal Wars in Portugal.
  5. 1842 The first major wagon train heading for the Pacific Northwest sets out on the Oregon Trail from Elm Grove, Missouri, with 100 pioneers.
  6. 1863 American Civil War: During the Vicksburg campaign, the decisive Union victory by Ulysses S. Grant at the Battle of Champion Hill drives the Confederate army under John C. Pemberton back towards Vicksburg, Mississippi.
  7. 1866 The United States Congress establishes the nickel.
  8. 1868 The United States Senate fails to convict President Andrew Johnson by one vote.
  9. 1874 A flood on the Mill River in Massachusetts destroys much of four villages and kills 139 people.
  10. 1877 The 16 May 1877 crisis occurs in France, ending with the dissolution of the National Assembly 22 June and affirming the interpretation of the Constitution of 1875 as a parliamentary rather than presidential system. The elections held in October 1877 led to the defeat of the royalists as a formal political movement in France.
  11. 1888 Nikola Tesla delivers a lecture describing the equipment which will allow efficient generation and use of alternating currents to transmit electric power over long distances.
  12. 1891 The International Electrotechnical Exhibition opened in Frankfurt, Germany, featuring the world's first long-distance transmission of high-power, three-phase electric current (the most common form today).
  13. 1916 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the French Third Republic sign the secret wartime Sykes-Picot Agreement partitioning former Ottoman territories such as Iraq and Syria.
  14. 1918 The Sedition Act of 1918 is passed by the U.S. Congress, making criticism of the government during wartime an imprisonable offense. It will be repealed less than two years later.
  15. 1919 A naval Curtiss NC-4 aircraft commanded by Albert Cushing Read leaves Trepassey, Newfoundland, for Lisbon via the Azores on the first transatlantic flight.

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