Year 1556
Philip II became the Emperor of Spain.
JANUARY 16
Daily Historical Chronicle
UPSC CSE • State PSC • SSC CGL Matrix
16 January: What Happened On This Day in History
Curated historical timeline of momentous political pacts, freedom struggle uprisings, constitutional developments, scientific breakthroughs, and prominent birthdays recorded on 16 January.
Observances & Special Days
National Religious Freedom Day (United States)
Teacher's Day (Myanmar)
Teachers' Day (Thailand)
Year 1681
Chhatrapati Sambhaji Raje was crowned as the successor of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in a function held at Raigad Fort.
Year 1760
The British capture Pondicherry from the French.
Year 1769
Planned horse racing organized for the first time in Accra, Calcutta (now Kolkata).
Year 1818
The Rana of Udaipur signed a treaty with the British to protect Mewad.
Year 1858
Baithi, Laikha, Ratna, Maani, and the women who participated in Mairath Kranti at Gudgaon, all were hanged.
Year 1919
The 18th Amendment to the US Constitution had enacted, and a nationwide embargo imposed.
Year 1920
League of Nations held its first council meeting in Paris.
Year 1941
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose left the country.
Year 1942
Jawaharlal Nehru succeeds Gandhi as head of Indian National Congress.
Year 1948
Pakistan charges India with systematic campaign to wipe out Muslims.
Year 1973
Om Prakash Mehra, Air Chief Marshal PVSM, became the Air Officer Commanding, India Command. He was in this office till 31/01/1976.
Year 1979
The Shah of Iran fled to Egypt with his family.
Year 1990
All Governors asked to resign.
Year 1992
Extradition treaty between India and Britain.
Year 1992
Prices of steel and iron decontrolled.
Year 1992
For the first time in a decade, India decides to import one million tonnes of wheat.
Year 1995
INS Vidyut, a homemade missile ship, launched at Goa.
Year 1996
Hubble Space Telescope scientists claim to have discovered more than 100 new galaxies in space.
Year 1996
Supreme Court says trial courts should hold trial of rape cases in camera.
Year 1999
Anil Sood of India became the Vice President of the World Bank.
Year 1996
Union Cabinet Minister V.C. Shukla, Balram Jhakar, Madhavrao Scindia, and others including BJP President L.K. Advani, Arjun Singh and Devi Lal chargesheeted in the multi-crore Jain `Hawala' case. CBI seeks sanction to prosecute them. L.K. Advani resigns from Lok Sabha membership.
Year 1999
Ritwick Bhattacharya (Delhi) and Mekhala Subedar (Maharashtra) won the men's and women's titles in the National squash championship in Calcutta.
Year 2000
P. Moses, Indian High Commission Staff member, badly beaten up and abducted by Pakistani intelligence operators in Islamabad.
Year 2000
The Chinese government recognized the two-year-old Tibetan boy as the patron of Buddha.
Year 2000
Punjab men and Railway women win the Senior National Volleyball Championship in Salem.
Year 2003
Kalpana Chawla of Indian origin embarked on a second space trip.
Year 2006
Socialist leader Michelle Bachelet became the first female President of Chile.
Year 2008
Tata Motors unveiled the Nano, a Rs. 1 lakh People’s Car.
Born 1605
Shahryar Mirza, the fifth and youngest son of the Mughal emperor Jahangir.
Born 1853
André Michelin, a French industrialist.
Born 1896
Jaideva Singh, famous musician and educationist, was born Shohratgarh, U.P.
Born 1916
Amat Debananda, politician, was born in Balani village at Orissa .
Born 1919
Nasikrao Khantadu Tirpude, former Duputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, was born.
Born 1920
Nanabhoy Palkhivala, an Indian jurist and liberal economist.
Born 1926
O. P. Nayyar, an Indian film music composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, and musician.
Born 1931
Subhash Mukhopadhyay, an Indian scientist, and physician from Hazaribagh, Bihar, and Orissa Province, British India.
Born 1941
Ashok Vajpai, veteran critic and Hindi poet, was born.
Born 1978
Vijay Sethupathi, an Indian actor, producer, lyricist, and dialogue writer.
Born 1946
Kabir Bedi, Indian actor
Born 1985
Sidharth Malhotra, Indian actor
Died 1620
Amarsingh I, Rajput's guhilot lineage king of Mewad, died.
Died 1711
Joseph Vaz, Indian-Sri Lankan priest and saint (b. 1651)
Died 1901
Mahadev Govind Ranade, an Indian scholar, social reformer, judge, and author.
Died 1924
In a tragic ship wreck, Kumaran Asan, famous Malayalam poet & eminent social worker, died.
Died 1938
Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, a Bengali novelist and short story writer of the early 20th century.
Died 1954
Baburao Painter (Baburao Krishnaji Meshri), famous artist, sculptor, filmmaker and producer, died.
Died 1966
Sadhu Thanwardas Lilaram Vaswani, noted thinker and saint poet, great orator, professor and prolific writer, died at Pune. He was an Indian educationist who started the Mira Movement.
Died 1967
Robert Jemison Van de Graaff, an American physicist, noted for his design and construction of high-voltage Van de Graaff generators.
Died 1988
L. K. Jha, famous economist and member of Rajya Sabha, died.
Died 1989
Prem Nazir, an Indian film actor known as one of Malayalam cinema’s definitive leading men of his generation.
Died 1990
Dr. R.R. Diwakar, Gandhian and former Union Minister, passed away.
Died 1997
Dr. Datta Samant, Trade Union leader, shot dead in Mumbai.
Died 2000
Triloki Nath Kaul, one of India’s foremost diplomats in the 20th century.
Died 2010
Jyoti Basu, Indian lawyer and politician, 9th Chief Minister of West Bengal (b. 1914)