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

Events

• 1597 - Yi Sun-sin led 12 ships of the Korean fleet against an invasion by 133 Japanese ships. The Koreans sank 31 enemy ships and forced a Japanese retreat.
• 1701 - Prince James Francis Edward Stuart, more commonly referred to as the "Old Pretender", becomes the Jacobite claimant of the thrones of Scotland and England
• 1776 - Battle of Harlem Heights
• 1795 - United Kingdom conquers Cape Town, South Africa
• 1810 - Independence of Mexico from Spain, one of the Mexican Fiestas Patrias.
• 1829 - Russo-Turkish War, 1828-29 ends with the signing of the Treaty of Adrianople (Edirne).
• 1893 - Oklahoma Land Race, settlers race for prime land in the Cherokee Strip.
• 1908 - General Motors founded
• 1919 - American Legion incorporated
• 1940 - United States government begins Selective Service Act, instituting the draft
• 1940 - Sam Rayburn elected Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
• 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 Iran and forced him to resign in favor of his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
• 1956 - Play-Doh is introduced to the world
• 1963 - Malaysia formed from Malaya, Singapore, British North Borneo and Sarawak
• 1975 - Papua New Guinea gains independence from Australia
• 1976 - Tina Barrett, singer (S Club 7)
• 1981 - Sugar Ray Leonard defeats Thomas Hearns by a knockout in round 14 in Las Vegas to unify boxing's world Welterweight championship.
• 1982 - Sabra and Shatila massacre
• 1991 - Manuel Noriega trial 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.
• 2000 - Ukrainian journalist Georgiy Gongadze is last seen alive, and the commemoration date of his death.
• 2004 - Hurricane Ivan landfalls near Gulf Shores, Alabama, becoming the third costliest hurricane to strike the United States.

Births

• 1745 - Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov, Russian field marshal, (d. 1813)
• 1823 - Francis Parkman, author (d. 1893)
• 1875 - James C. Penney, department store founder (d. 1971)
• 1883 - T. E. Hulme, English writer (d. 1917)
• 1886 - Jean Arp, Alsatian sculptor, painter, and poet (d. 1966)
• 1893 - Alexander Korda, film director (d. 1956)
• 1914 - Allen Funt, radio & television personality (d. 1999)
• 1916 - M.S. Subbulakshmi, Indian carnatic vocalist
• 1923 - Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's first Prime Minister (1965-1990)
• 1924 - Lauren Bacall, actress
• 1925 - B. B. King, musician
• 1925 - Charlie Byrd, jazz musician (d. 1999)
• 1925 - Charles J. Haughey, former Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland
• 1927 - Peter Falk, actor, best known for Columbo
• 1934 - Elgin Baylor, National Basketball Association star
• 1934 - George Chakiris, actor
• 1935 - Carl Andre, artist
• 1935 - Bob Kiley
• 1939 - Breyten Breytenbach, South African poet, writer and painter
• 1943 - James Alan McPherson, Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction
• 1947 - Russ Abbott, comedian
• 1949 - Ed Begley, Jr., actor
• 1950 - Loyd Grossman, TV presenter
• 1950 - Mickey Rourke, actor
• 1955 - Janet Ellis, former Blue Peter presenter
• 1955 - Yolandita Monge, Puerto Rican singer of international fame
• 1955 - Robin Yount, baseball player
• 1956 - David Copperfield, magician
• 1958 - Orel Hershiser, baseball pitcher
• 1958 - Jennifer Tilly, actress
• 1958 - Barbara Lora, Mexican journalist and kendoka
• 1960 - John Franco, baseball relief pitcher
• 1963 - Richard Marx, singer
• 1964 - Molly Shannon, Saturday Night Live star
• 1968 - Marc Anthony, singer
• 1975 - Shannon Noll, Australian singer and actor
• 1984 - Katie Melua, Georgian singer

Deaths

• 1087 - Pope Victor III
• 1672 - Anne Bradstreet, American colonial poet
• 1701 - James II of England
• 1736 - Gabriel Fahrenheit, physicist
• 1824 - Louis XVIII of France, King of France
• 1977 - Marc Bolan (real name Marc Feld), rock singer
• 1977 - Maria Callas, opera singer
• 1980 - Jean Piaget, psychologist
• 1993 - Rok Petrovič, Slovenian alpine skier
• 1996 - McGeorge Bundy, National Security Advisor
• 2000 - Georgiy Gongadze, Ukrainian journalist (born 1969).
• 2001 - Samuel A. Arkoff, film producer
• 2003 - Erich Hallhuber, Bavarian actor
• 2003 - Sheb Wooley, actor, singer

Holiday and observances

• Mexico - Independence Day
• In ancient Greece, the third day of the Eleusinian Mysteries, when the initiates walked to the sea at Phaleron and purified themselves in the water.

September 15 · September 17 · August 16 · October 16 · more historical anniversaries