September 16

September 16 is the 259th day of the year (260th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 106 days remaining until the end of the year.

* 1400 - Owain Glyndŵr declared Prince of Wales by his followers.
* 1701 - James Francis Edward Stuart,sometimes called the "Old Pretender", becomes the Jacobite claimant to the thrones of England and Scotland.
* 1776 - American Revolutionary War: the Battle of Harlem Heights is fought.
* 1795 - United Kingdom conquers Cape Town, South Africa.
* 1810 - With the Grito de Dolores, Father Miguel Hidalgo begins Mexico's fight for independence from Spain
* 1812 - Russians set fire to Moscow shortly after midnight - the city is burned completely down days later.
* 1863 - Robert College of Istanbul-Turkey, the first American educational institution outside the United States is founded by Christopher Robert, an American philanthropist.
* 1887 - The first game of softball was played in Chicago, Illinois
* 1893 - Settlers race in Oklahoma for prime land in the Cherokee Strip.
* 1901 - Alturas, California, incorporated as the only city in Modoc County.
* 1908 - General Motors is founded.
* 1919 - The American Legion is incorporated.
* 1920 - The Wall Street bombing: a bomb in a horse wagon explodes in front of the J.P.Morgan building in New York City - 38 are killed with 400 injured.
* 1940 - Sam Rayburn elected Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, widely regarded as the most effective Speaker of the House in American history.
* 1941 - Concerned that Reza Pahlavi the Shah of Persia was about to align his petroleum-rich country with Germany during World War II, the United Kingdom and the USSR occupy Iran and forced him to resign in favor of his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
* 1949 - First Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner episode- Fast and Furry-ous is aired.
* 1955 - Juan Perón is deposed in Argentina.
* 1963 - Malaysia is formed from Malaya, Singapore, British North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak.
* 1964 - First episode of Bewitched is aired.
* 1966 - The Metropolitan Opera House opens at Lincoln Center in New York City to the world premiere of Samuel Barber's opera, Antony and Cleopatra.
* 1970 - King Hussein of Jordan declares military rule due to the hijacking of four civilian airliners by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). This results in the formation of the Black September Palestinian paramilitary unit.
* 1975 - Papua New Guinea gains its independence from Australia.
* 1975 - The first prototype of the MiG-31 interceptor makes its maiden flight.
* 1976 - Shavarsh Karapetyan saves 20 people from the trolleybus that had fallen into Erevan reservoir
* 1977 - American-born Greek soprano Maria Callas died in Paris
* 1978 - An earthquake hits the city of Tabas, Iran measuring 7.5-7.9 on the Richter scale killing about 25,000 people.
* 1982 - Sabra and Shatila massacre in Lebanon.
* 1987 - The Montreal Protocol is signed to protect the ozone layer from depletion.
* 1991 - The trial of Panamanian "strongman" Manuel Noriega begins in the United States.
* 1992 - Black Wednesday: the Pound Sterling is forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism by currency speculators and is forced to devalue against the Deutschmark.
* 2004 - Hurricane Ivan touches land near Pensacola, Florida, becoming the third (now fourth) costliest hurricane to strike the United States.
* 2007 - One-Two-GO Airlines Flight 269 carrying 128 crew and passengers crashes in Thailand killing 89 people.

Births

* 16 - Drusilla, daughter of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder (d. 38)
* 1098 - Hildegard of Bingen, German magistra and the first componist to be known by name (d. 1179)
* 1387 - King Henry V of England, (d. 1422)
* 1507 - Jiajing, Emperor of China (d. 1567)
* 1557 - Jacques Mauduit, French composer (d. 1627)
* 1651 - Engelbert Kaempfer, German physician and traveler (d. 1716)
* 1666 - Antoine Parent, French mathematician (d. 1716)
* 1678 - Henry St John, English statesman and philosopher (d. 1751)
* 1722 - Gabriel Christie, British general (d. 1799)
* 1725 - Nicolas Desmarest, French geologist (d. 1815)
* 1745 - Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov, Russian field marshal (d. 1813)
* 1782 - Daoguang, Emperor of China (d. 1850)
* 1823 - Francis Parkman, American historian (d. 1893)
* 1827 - Jean Albert Gaudry, French geologist (d. 1908)
* 1853 - Albrecht Kossel, German physician, Nobel laureate (d. 1927)
* 1858 - Andrew Bonar Law, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1923)
* 1859 - Yuan Shikai, Chinese politician (d. 1916)
* 1875 - James C. Penney, American department store founder (d. 1971)
* 1881 - Clive Bell, English art critic (d. 1964)
* 1883 - T. E. Hulme, English writer (d. 1917)
* 1886 - Jean Arp, Alsatian sculptor and painter (d. 1966)
* 1887 - Nadia Boulanger, French composer and teacher (d. 1979)
* 1888 - F. E. Sillanpää, Finnish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1964)
* 1891 - Stephanie von Hohenlohe, Austrian-born German spy (d. 1972)
* 1891 - Karl Dönitz, German naval leader (d. 1980)
* 1893 - Alexander Korda, Hungarian film director (d. 1956)
* 1893 - Albert Szent-Györgyi, Hungarian physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
* 1905 - Vladimír Holan, Czech poet (d. 1980)
* 1906 - Jack Churchill, English soldier (d. 1996)
* 1906 - Project Mayhem, Auctioneer of José Theodore
* 1910 - Karl Kling, German race car driver (d. 2003)
* 1910 - Erich Kempka, Adolf Hitler's chauffeur (d. 1975)
* 1914 - Allen Funt, American radio and television personality (d. 1999)
* 1916 - M.S. Subbulakshmi, Indian singer (d. 2004)
* 1916 - Robert Bradshaw, Saint Kitts and Nevis politician (d. 1978)
* 1919 - Laurence J. Peter, Canadian born educator and writer (d. 1990)
* 1921 - Jon Hendricks, American jazz singer
* 1922 - Janis Paige, American actress
* 1922 - Marcel Mouloudji, French actor and singer (d. 1994)
* 1923 - Lee Kuan Yew, Minister Mentor of Singapore
* 1924 - Lauren Bacall, American actress
* 1925 - Charlie Byrd, American musician (d. 1999)
* 1925 - B. B. King, American musician
* 1925 - Charles Haughey, Prime Minister of Ireland (d. 2006)
* 1926 - Tommy Bond, American actor (d. 2005)
* 1927 - Peter Falk, American actor
* 1927 - Jack Kelly, American actor (d. 1992)
* 1928 - Lady Gwen Thompson, British occultist (d. 1986)
* 1930 - Anne Francis, American actress
* 1934 - Elgin Baylor, American basketball player
* 1934 - George Chakiris, American actor
* 1935 - Carl Andre, American artist
* 1935 - Bob Kiley, American public transit specialist
* 1937 - Alexander Medved, Russian wrestler
* 1939 - Breyten Breytenbach, South African writer and painter
* 1941 - Richard Perle, American political advisor
* 1942 - Bernie Calvert, British musician (The Hollies)
* 1943 - James Alan McPherson, American writer
* 1944 - Winston Grennan, Jamaican American drummer
* 1946 - Cathee Dahmen, American fashion model
* 1946 - Mike Reynolds, Australian politician
* 1946 - Camilo Sesto, Spanish singer
* 1947 - Russ Abbot, British comedian
* 1947 - Enrique Krauze, Mexican historian and writer
* 1948 - Ron Blair, American bassist
* 1948 - Kenny Jones, English musician (The Small Faces; Faces; The Who)
* 1949 - Ed Begley, Jr., American actor
* 1950 - Loyd Grossman, American television presenter
* 1953 - Eric Vail, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1953 - Nancy Huston, Canadian-born novelist and essayist
* 1954 - Earl Klugh, American jazz guitarist
* 1954 - Frank Reed, American singer (Chi-Lites)
* 1955 - Ron Brewer, American basketball player
* 1955 - Janet Ellis, British television presenter
* 1955 - Yolandita Monge, Puerto Rican singer
* 1955 - Robin Yount, American baseball player
* 1956 - David Copperfield, American magician
* 1956 - Mickey Rourke, American actor
* 1957 - David McCreery, Irish footballer
* 1958 - Orel Hershiser, American baseball player
* 1958 - Neville Southall, Welsh footballer
* 1958 - Jennifer Tilly, American actress
* 1959 - Tim Raines, American baseball player
* 1960 - Danny John-Jules, British actor
* 1960 - Kurt Busiek, American comic book writer
* 1961 - Bilinda Butcher, British singer (My Bloody Valentine)
* 1963 - Richard Marx, American singer
* 1964 - Molly Shannon, American actress
* 1964 - Mary Coustas, Austalian entertainer
* 1965 - Katy Kurtzman, American actress
* 1968 - Marc Anthony, American singer
* 1968 - Walt Becker, American director and writer
* 1970 - Mark Schultz, American musician
* 1971 - Amy Poehler, American comedian (Saturday Night Live)
* 1973 - Alexander Vinokourov, Kazakh cyclist
* 1973 - Justin Haythe, American writer
* 1975 - Shannon Noll, Australian singer and songwriter
* 1976 - Tina Barrett, Former S Club 7 Member
* 1976 - Greg Buckner, American basketball player
* 1976 - Heather Hopper, American actress
* 1978 - Dan Dickau, American basketball player
* 1978 - Matthew Rogers, American singer
* 1980 - Patrik Stefan, Czech hockey player
* 1981 - Alexis Bledel, American actress (Gilmore Girls)
* 1981 - Fan Bingbing, Chinese actress
* 1982 - Leon Knight, English footballer
* 1984 - Katie Melua, Georgian-British singer
* 1984 - Sabrina Bryan, American actress and singer
* 1985 - Madeline Zima, American actress
* 1986 - Kyla Pratt, American actress
* 1987 - Anthony Padilla, American comedian and co-founder of Smosh
* 1988 - Sarah Steele, American actress
* 1988 - Teddy Geiger, American singer
* 2005 - Princess Jalilah bint Ali, of Jordan

It is also a date targeted for the greatest Malaysian political change. Whether it will happen or not, whoever the leaders are or have become, however it turns out, we should all remain calm and work together towards the betterment of this country we call home, Malaysia. On a social and economic level, we have shall reach greater heights provided we are united.