April 16
1746
The Jacobite uprising in England ends when Charles “Bonnie Prince Charlie” Stuart is defeated by the Duke of Cumberland.
1912
Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly across the English Channel.
1917
Lenin returned to Russia after 10 years in exile in Switzerland.
1947
Most of Texas City, Tex., destroyed when French ship Grandcamp exploded.
1972
China sent President Nixon two giant pandas as a gift.
1999
Hockey great Wayne Gretzky announced his retirement.
2007
A male student, Cho Seung-Hui, killed two in a Virginia Tech dorm, then killed 30 more 2 hours later in a classroom building. His suicide brought the death toll to 33, making the shooting rampage the most deadly in U.S. history. Fifteen others were wounded.
Birthdays
April 16
Charlie Chaplin
(Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin), 1889–1977, English film actor, director, producer, writer, and composer, born in London.
Chaplin began on the music hall stage and then joined a pantomime troupe.
Wilbur Wright
airplane inventor (1867)
John Millington Synge
dramatist (1871)
Merce Cunningham
choreographer (1919)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
basketball player (1947)
Selena Quintanilla Perez
singer (1971)