April 16

This Day in History

Also on This Day

Lead Story
Hallucinogenic effects of LSD discovered, 1943
American Revolution
General Sir Henry Clinton is born, 1738
Automotive
Arthur Chevrolet commits suicide, 1946
Civil War
Union ships pass Vicksburg, 1863
Cold War
Bernard Baruch coins the term "Cold War", 1947
Crime
Massacre at Virginia Tech leaves 32 dead, 2007
Disaster
Fertilizer explosion kills 581 in Texas, 1947
General Interest
Lenin returns, 1917
Texas City explodes, 1947
Apollo 16 departs for moon, 1972
Hollywood
Charlie Chaplin born, 1889
Literary
Kingsley Amis is born, 1922
Music
David Soul, of Starsky & Hutch, has the #1 song on the U.S. pop charts, 1977
Old West
Bat Masterson's last shootout, 1881
Presidential
Washington leaves Mt. Vernon for his inauguration, 1789
Sports
Bob Feller throws no-hitter, 1940
Vietnam War
Johnson arrives in Honolulu, 1968
United States resumes bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong, 1972
World War I
Lenin returns to Russia from exile, 1917
World War II
Frederick William Winterbotham, one of Britain's top code breakers, is born, 1897

General Interest

Apr 16, 1972:

Apollo 16 departs for moon

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From Cape Canaveral, Florida, Apollo 16, the fifth of six U.S. lunar landing missions, is successfully launched on its 238,000-mile journey to the moon. On April 20, astronauts John W. Young and Charles M. Duke descended to the lunar surface from Apollo 16, which remained in orbit around the moon with a third astronaut, Thomas K. Mattingly, in command. Young and Duke remained on the moon for nearly three days, and spent more than 20 hours exploring the surface of Earth's only satellite. The two astronauts used the Lunar Rover vehicle to collect more than 200 pounds of rock before returning to Apollo 16 on April 23. Four days later, the three astronauts returned to Earth, safely splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.

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This Week in History, Apr 16 - Apr 22

Apr 16, 1917
Lenin returns
Apr 16, 1947
Texas City explodes
Apr 16, 1972
Apollo 16 departs for moon
Apr 17, 1790
Benjamin Franklin dies
Apr 17, 1941
Yugoslavia surrenders
Apr 17, 1969
Architect of Czechoslovakia's Prague Spring resigns
Apr 18, 1521
Luther defiant at Diet of Worms
Apr 18, 1775
Revere and Dawes ride
Apr 18, 1942
Doolittle leads air raid on Tokyo
Apr 18, 1945
Journalist Ernie Pyle killed
Apr 18, 1983
Suicide bomber destroys U.S. embassy in Beirut
Apr 19, 1861
First blood in the Civil War
Apr 19, 1943
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising begins
Apr 19, 1993
Branch Davidian compound burns
Apr 19, 1995
Truck bomb explodes in Oklahoma City
Apr 20, 1689
Siege of Londonderry begins
Apr 20, 1871
Ku Klux Act passed by Congress
Apr 20, 1902
Curies isolate radium
Apr 20, 1999
Columbine High School massacre
Apr 21, 1836
The Battle of San Jacinto
Apr 21, 1918
Red Baron killed in action
Apr 21, 1989
Chinese students begin protests at Tiananmen Square
Apr 22, 1915
Germans introduce poison gas
Apr 22, 1997
Fujimori orders assault on Japanese ambassador's home

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