A Brief History
This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on March 16th. For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event.
Digging Deeper
On March 16, 1621, only about 4 months after landing at Plymouth Rock and setting up their new colony in what was then called Plymouth Colony (now Massachusetts and Maine) the Pilgrims that had traveled across the Atlantic on the Mayflower had their first friendly contact with a Native person, and that contact came as quite a shock!
On March 16, 1945, the battle for the island of Iwo Jima supposedly was won by the US, although fighting would continue for another two weeks.
On March 16, 1945, less than a month before Allied armies captured the city, British Lancaster bombers dropped 1,207 tons of high explosive and incendiary bombs on the German city of Würzburg, killing 5,000 people and destroying about 90% of the buildings, including many historic Medieval structures.
On March 15 and 16, 1952, over a 24 hour period the most rain ever recorded in a 24 hour period fell on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean, on the area known as Cilaos.
On March 16, 1958, the 50 millionth Ford automobile rolled off the assembly line, a shiny new Thunderbird!
On March 16, 1988, Marine Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North and National Security Adviser Vice Admiral John Poindexter were indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government.
On March 16, 1995, Mississippi became the last state to ratify the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, the amendment that outlawed slavery in the United States.
On March 16, 2001, Jin Ruchao, a Chinese citizen of Hubei Province in China proved once again that a deranged person does not need guns to kill a LOT of people, when he set off a series of bombs in the provincial capital of Shijiazhuang that killed 108 people and injured 38 more.
On March 16, 2016, we noted how the 50 millionth Ford automobile rolled off the assembly line, a shiny new Thunderbird!
On March 16, 2018, fans of the video game super heroine Lara Croft were treated to a reboot of the movie version of the franchise, this time starring Swedish actress Alicia Vikander in the title role made iconic by Angelina Jolie.
On Wednesday, March 16, 2022, crime drama fans had their chance to be among the first in Cleveland, Ohio to see The Outfit at 7:00 PM at Cedar Lee Theatre in Cleveland Heights, Ohio!
Question for students (and subscribers): Which event that occurred on today’s date would you like to learn more about? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Andrews, John and Matt Baker. Timeline of World History. Thunder Bay Press, 2020.
You can also watch video versions of this article on YouTube.
