First Academy Awards ceremony

Born on This Day

Portrait of Liberace Smiling

Liberace

1919 - 1987

Classically trained pianist best known for his showmanship, playing pop music in flamboyant costumes on bedazzled pianos.

"MTV Icon: Janet Jackson"

Janet Jackson

1966 -

Pop superstar and actress who took control as the youngest sibling in the musical Jackson family. Hits include "Rhythm Nation."

Illumination And Universal Pictures' "Minions: The Rise Of Gru" Los Angeles Premiere - Arrivals

Danny Trejo

1944 -

Veteran character who stood out for his rugged, tough-guy look in films like "Machete" and "From Dusk Till Dawn."

LiberaceBettmann Archive

Janet JacksonWireImage

Danny TrejoFilmMagic

1975

MAY16

Junko Tabei of Japan becomes the first woman to summit Mount Everest. She later gains fame as the first woman to conquer all Seven Summits, the tallest mountains on each continent.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on May 16th

Satirical writer Voltaire is imprisoned in the Bastille

Writer Francois-Marie Arouet, better known as Voltaire, is imprisoned in the Bastille on May 16, 1717. The outspoken writer was born to middle-class parents, attended college in Paris, and began to study law. However, he quit law to become a playwright and made a name for himself with classical tragedies. Critics embraced his epic poem, […]

1:10m read read

Virginia’s House of Burgesses criticizes taxation without representation

On May 16, 1769, Virginia’s House of Burgesses passes a resolution calling Britain’s taxes on the American colonies illegal. Though Virginia’s royal governor promptly fired back by disbanding the House of Burgesses, the dissenting legislators were undeterred. During a later meeting held at the Raleigh Tavern in Williamsburg, Virginia’s delegates gave their support to the […]

1:26m read read

French dauphin, Louis, marries Marie Antoinette

At Versailles, Louis, the French dauphin, marries Marie Antoinette, the daughter of Austrian Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I. France hoped their marriage would strengthen its alliance with Austria, its longtime enemy. In 1774, with the death of King Louis XV, Louis and Marie Antoinette were crowned king and queen of France. […]

1:56m read read

Georgia Patriot Button Gwinnett is fatally wounded in duel

On May 16, 1777, British-born Georgia Patriot and signer of the Declaration of Independence Button Gwinnett receives a bullet wound in a duel with his political rival, Georgia city Whig Lachlan McIntosh. Three days later, Gwinnett died as a result of the gangrenous wound. McIntosh was also shot in the duel, but the wound was […]

1:40m read read

Senate fails to convict President Andrew Johnson of impeachment charge

On May 16, 1868, the U.S. Senate votes against impeaching President Andrew Johnson for “high crimes and misdemeanors.” He would not be fully acquitted of all charges until 10 days later, on May 26, 1868. In February 1868, the House of Representatives charged Johnson with 11 articles of impeachment for vague “high crimes and misdemeanors.” […]

1:34m read read

Britain and France conclude Sykes-Picot agreement

On May 16, 1916, representatives of Great Britain and France secretly reach an accord, known as the Sykes-Picot Agreement, by which most of the Arab lands under the rule of the Ottoman Empire are to be divided into British and French spheres of influence with the conclusion of World War I. After the war broke […]

2:38m read read

U.S. Congress passes Sedition Act

On May 16, 1918, the United States Congress passes the Sedition Act, a piece of legislation designed to protect America’s participation in World War I. Along with the Espionage Act of the previous year, the Sedition Act was orchestrated largely by A. Mitchell Palmer, the United States attorney general under President Woodrow Wilson. The Espionage […]

3:14m read read

Warsaw Ghetto uprising ends

In Poland, the Warsaw Ghetto uprising comes to an end as Nazi soldiers gain control of Warsaw’s Jewish ghetto, blowing up the last remaining synagogue and beginning the mass deportation of the ghetto’s remaining dwellers to the Treblinka extermination camp. Shortly after the German occupation of Poland began, the Nazis forced the city’s Jewish citizens […]

2:14m read read

U.S.-Soviet summit meeting collapses after U-2 spy plane shot down

In the wake of the Soviet downing of an American U-2 spy plane on May 1, 1960, Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev lashes out at the United States and President Dwight D. Eisenhower at a Paris summit meeting between the two heads of state. Khrushchev’s outburst angered Eisenhower and doomed any chances for successful talks or […]

2:04m read read

Basketball great Magic Johnson plays center as a rookie, wins championship

On May 16, 1980, Los Angeles Lakers point guard Earvin “Magic” Johnson steps in for injured center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and scores 42 points, leading the Lakers to a four games-to-two series win over the Philadelphia 76ers for their first championship since 1972. In 1979, Magic had led Michigan State to the NCAA title over Larry […]

2:10m read read

Discovery of Ozone Hole announced

In the scientific journal Nature on May 16, 1985, three scientists from the British Antarctic Survey announce their detection of abnormally low levels of ozone over the South Pole. Their discovery, commonly known as the Ozone Hole, became a palpable example of mankind’s ability to damage the Earth’s atmosphere as well as one of the […]

Pioneering TV journalist Barbara Walters signs off

On May 16, 2014, broadcast journalist and TV personality Barbara Walters retires from ABC News and as co-host of the daytime program “The View.” In a landmark career that spanned some 50 years on air, the 84-year-old Walters blazed a trail for women in TV news. On Walter’s May 16th “View” sendoff, Oprah Winfrey, Diane […]

2:36m read read

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