June 16 is the 167th day of the year (168th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 198 days remaining until the end of the year.
Up to 1900
- 363 - Emperor Julian marches up the Tigris and burns his fleet of supply ships. During the withdrawal, Roman forces suffer several attacks from the Persians.
- 632 - Yazdegerd III becomes Shah of Persia, as the last ruler of the Sassanid Dynasty.
- 1487 – Battle of Stoke Field, the end of the Wars of the Roses.
- 1494 - A tropical storm strikes the island of Hispaniola. It is believed to have been the first Caribbean hurricane to have been observed by Europeans.
- 1586 - Mary, Queen of Scots recognizes Philip II of Spain as her heir and successor.
- 1745 – British troops take Cape Breton Island, which is now part of Nova Scotia, Canada.
- 1745 – Sir William Pepperell captures the French Fortress Louisbourg in Louisbourg, Nova Scotia during the War of the Austrian Succession.
- 1746 – War of Austrian Succession: Austria and Sardinia defeat a Franco-Spanish army at the Battle of Piacenza
- 1755 – French and Indian War: French surrender Fort Beauséjour to the British, leading to the expulsion of the Acadians
- 1774 – Formation of Harrodsburg, Kentucky.
- 1779 - Spain declares war on the United Kingdom and the Siege of Gibraltar begins.
- 1815 – Battle of Ligny and Battle of Quatre Bras, two days before Waterloo.
- 1836 – Formation of the London Working Men's Association begins the Chartist Movement
- 1846 – The Papal conclave of 1846 concludes. Pope Pius IX is elected pope, beginning the longest reign in the history of the post-apostolic papacy.
- 1858 – Abraham Lincoln's House Divided speech in Springfield, Illinois
- 1858 – The Battle of Morar takes place during the Indian Mutiny.
- 1871 – University Tests Act allows students to enter the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Durham without religious tests, except for courses in theology.
- 1883 - The Victoria Hall theatre panic in Sunderland, North East England, kills 183 children.
- 1884 – The first roller coaster in the United States begins operation at Coney Island, New York
- 1891 – John Abbott becomes Canada's third prime minister.
- 1896 - British passenger steamer Drummond Castle strikes a reef off the French island of Ouessant in deep fog, killing 243 out of the 246 people on board.
- 1897 - A treaty annexing the Republic of Hawaii to the US is signed. It enters into effect the following year.
1901 – 1950
- 1902 – Australia: Female British subjects (with the glaring exception of Asians, Aborigines and Africans) won the vote with the Uniform Franchise Act.
- 1903 – Ford Motor Company incorporates.
- 1903 – Roald Amundsen commences first east-west navigation of the Northwest Passage by leaving Oslo, Norway.
- 1904 – Eugen Schauman assassinates Nikolai Bobrikov, Governor-General of Finland.
- 1904 – James Joyce uses this day as the setting for his novel Ulysses, a day in the life of Leopold Bloom. Known as Bloomsday.
- 1911 – A 772 gram stony meteorite struck Earth near Kilbourn, Wisconsin, damaging a barn.
- 1911 – IBM is founded.
- 1915 – Foundation of the British Women's Institute
- 1922 – General election in Irish Free State: large majority to pro-treaty Sinn Féin
- 1924 – Whampoa Military Academy is founded
- 1925 – Artek, the most famous Young Pioneer camp of the USSR, established.
- 1940 – World War II: Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain becomes Premier of Vichy France
- 1940 – A Communist government is installed in Lithuania.
- 1944 - George Stinney, aged 14, becomes the youngest American to be executed in the 20th century when he is wrongly executed for murder.
- 1947 - The Saar Mark is introduced as a currency in Saarland.
- 1948 – The storming of the cockpit of the Miss Macao passenger seaplane, operated by the Cathay Pacific airline, marks the first skyjacking of a commercial plane.
From 2001
- 2001 – George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin meet in Brdo pri Kranju, Slovenia
- 2002 – Politically Incorrect is cancelled (from sponsors dropping the show) after host Bill Maher makes controversial comments on air regarding the integrity of President George W. Bush.
- 2003 – The Hatfields and McCoys sign a formal truce.
- 2003 - The Church of All Saints is consecrated in Yekaterinburg, on the site of the Ipatiev House, where Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family were executed in 1918.
- 2010 - Bhutan bans tobacco.
- 2012 - Liu Yang becomes China's first female astronaut.
- 2012 - Aung San Suu Kyi accepts the Nobel Peace Prize in person, having won it in 1991 while she was under house arrest.
- 2014 - A terrorist attack in Kenya kills 48 people.
- 2014 - It is announced that Michael Schumacher is no longer in a coma following his skiing accident on December 29, 2013. He is moved from a hospital in Grenoble, France to Switzerland.
- 2015 - Donald Trump announces his intention to run for US President in 2016.
- 2016 - British Member of Parliament Jo Cox dies after being attacked in her constituency.
- 2018 - Iceland, the least-populated country ever to play in the competition, picks up its first FIFA World Cup point, and scores its first goal in the competition, drawing 1-1 with Argentina.
- 2019 - A widespread power outage affects most of Argentina and Uruguay, as well as parts of Paraguay.
- 2020 - Twenty Indian soldiers are killed in a border clash with the People's Republic of China.
- 2020 - COVID-19 pandemic: The number of recorded COVID-19 cases worldwide reaches 8 million.
Up to 1800
- 1139 - Emperor Konoe of Japan (d. 1155)
- 1313 – Giovanni Boccaccio, Italian writer (d. 1375)
- 1332 - Isabella de Coucy, daughter of Edward III of England (d. 1382)
- 1514 – John Cheke, English classical scholar (d. 1557)
- 1583 – Axel Oxenstierna, Swedish statesman (d. 1654)
- 1591 – Joseph Solomon Delmedigo, Italian physician, mathematician, and music theorist (d. 1655)
- 1606 – Arthur Chichester, 1st Earl of Donegall, Irish soldier (d. 1675)
- 1612 – Murad IV, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1640)
- 1613 – John Cleveland, English poet (d. 1658)
- 1633 – Jean de Thévenot, French traveler and scientist (d. 1667)
- 1644 – Henrietta Anne Stuart, Princess of Scotland, England and Ireland and Duchess of Orléans (d. 1670)
- 1713 - Meshech Weare, Governor of New Hampshire (d. 1786)
- 1723 – Adam Smith, Scottish philosopher (d. 1790)
- 1738 – Mary Katharine Goddard, American printer and publisher (d. 1816)
- 1752 - Salawat Yulayev, Russian Bashkir national hero (d. 1800)
- 1792 – John Linnell, English artist (d. 1882)
- 1792 – Sir Thomas Mitchell, Australian explorer (d. 1855)
- 1793 - Diego Portales, Chilean politician (d. 1837)
1801 – 1900
- 1801 – Julius Plücker, German mathematician and physicist (d. 1868)
- 1806 – Edward Davy, English physician, chemist, and inventor (d. 1885)
- 1813 – Otto Jahn, German archaeologist (d. 1869)
- 1820 – Athanase Coquerel, French Protestant preacher (d. 1875)
- 1821 - Old Tom Morris, Scottish golfer (d. 1908)
- 1826 – Constantin von Ettingshausen, Austrian geologist and botanist (d. 1897)
- 1829 – Geronimo, Apache leader (d. 1909)
- 1836 – Wesley Merritt, American soldier (d. 1910)
- 1837 – Ernst Laas, German philosopher (d. 1885)
- 1838 – Cushman Davis, American politician (d. 1900)
- 1838 - Frederic Archer, British composer, conductor and organist (d. 1901)
- 1840 – Ernst Otto Schlick, German engineer (d. 1913)
- 1851 - Peter Adler Alberti, Danish politician and swindler (d. 1932)
- 1851 - Georg Jellinek, German public lawyer (d. 1911)
- 1858 – King Gustav V of Sweden (d. 1950)
- 1858 - John Peter Russell, Australian painter (d. 1930)
- 1862 - Olaf Frydenlund, Norwegian rifle shooter (d. 1947)
- 1863 - Paul Vidal, French composer (d. 1931)
- 1874 – Arthur Meighen, ninth Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1960)
- 1880 – Otto Eisenschiml, Austrian-American chemist and historian (d. 1963)
- 1880 - Alice Bailey, British author (d. 1949)
- 1881 - Natalia Goncharova, Russian painter (d. 1962)
- 1882 - Mohammad Mosaddegh, Prime Minister of Iran (d. 1967)
- 1888 - Alexander Friedmann, Russian physicist and mathematician (d. 1925)
- 1888 - Peter Stoner, American mathematician and astronomer (d. 1980)
- 1890 – Stan Laurel, British-born actor and comedian (d. 1965)
- 1894 - Norman Kerry, American actor (d. 1956)
- 1896 – Murray Leinster, American writer (d. 1976)
- 1897 - Elaine Hammerstein, American actress (d. 1948)
- 1897 – Georg Wittig, German chemist, Nobel Prize winner (d. 1987)
- 1899 - Helen Traubel, American singer (d. 1972)
1901 – 1925
- 1901 - Henri Lefebvre, French sociologist and philosopher (d. 1991)
- 1902 – Barbara McClintock, American geneticist (d. 1992)
- 1902 – George Gaylord Simpson, American paleontologist (d. 1984)
- 1903 – Helen Traubel, American soprano (d. 1972)
- 1907 – Jack Albertson, American actor (d. 1981)
- 1908 - Sarit Thanarat, Prime Minister of Thailand (d. 1963)
- 1909 – Archie Fairley Carr, biologist (d. 1987)
- 1910 – Juan Velasco, President of Peru (d. 1977)
- 1912 – Enoch Powell, British politician (d. 1998)
- 1915 – Mariano Rumor, Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1990)
- 1916 – Hank Luisetti, American baseball player (d. 2002)
- 1917 – Katharine Graham, American publisher (d. 2001)
- 1917 – Irving Penn, American photographer (d. 2009)
- 1917 – Phaedon Gizikis, Greek army officer and President (d. 1999)
- 1917 - Aurelio Lampredi, Italian automobile and aircraft designer (d. 1989)
- 1920 – José López Portillo, President of Mexico (d. 2004)
- 1920 – John Howard Griffin, American writer (d. 1980)
- 1920 - Hemanta Kumar Mukhopadhyay, Bengali singer, composer and producer (d. 1989)
- 1922 - Frances Rafferty, American actress and dancer (d. 2004)
- 1924 - Faith Domergue, American actor (d. 1999)
- 1925 - Jean d'Ormesson, French novelist (d. 2017)
- 1925 - Otto Muehl, Austrian artist
1926 – 1950
- 1926 - Efraín Ríos Montt, 26th President of Guatemala (d. 2018)
- 1927 – Tom Graveney, English cricketer (d. 2015)
- 1927 – Herbert Lichtenfeld, German writer and playwright (d. 2001)
- 1927 - Ariano Suassuna, Brazilian playwright and author (d. 2014)
- 1928 - Pierrette Bloch, Swiss artist (d. 2017)
- 1928 - Annie Cordy, Belgian singer and actress
- 1929 – Ramón Bieri, American actor (d. 2001)
- 1929 - Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait
- 1929 - Pauline Yates, English actress (d. 2015)
- 1930 – Vilmos Zsigmond, Hungarian-American cinematographer (d. 2016)
- 1934 – Dame Eileen Atkins, English actress
- 1934 - Jane Henson, American puppeteer (d. 2013)
- 1934 – William Forsyth Sharpe, American economist
- 1935 – Jim Dine, American artist
- 1935 - James Bolam, English actor
- 1936 - Lincoln Almond, former Governor of Rhode Island
- 1936 - Ann Carter, American actress (d. 2014)
- 1936 - Anthony Olubunmi Okogie, Nigerian cardinal
- 1937 – Erich Segal, American writer (d. 2010)
- 1937 – Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha, Bulgarian royal and Prime Minister
- 1938 – Joyce Carol Oates, American novelist
- 1938 - Torgny Lindgren, Swedish writer (d. 2017)
- 1940 – Neil Goldschmidt, former Governor of Oregon
- 1941 – Lamont Dozier, American record company executive
- 1942 – Giacomo Agostini, Italian motorcyclist
- 1942 - John Rostill, British musician (d. 1973)
- 1943 - Joan Van Ark, American actress
- 1946 – Rick Adelman, American basketball player and coach
- 1946 - Jodi Rell, 87th Governor of Connecticut
- 1946 - Derek Sanderson, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1947 - Willy Mutunga, Chief Justice of Kenya
- 1947 - Günther Kaufmann, German actor (d. 2012)
- 1948 - Leopoldo María Panero, Spanish poet (d. 2014)
- 1950 - Mithun Chakraborty, Indian actor
- 1950 - Klaus Lage, German musician
1951 – 1975
- 1951 – Roberto Durán, Panamanian boxer
- 1952 – George Papandreou, former Prime Minister of Greece
- 1952 – Gino Vannelli, Canadian singer and songwriter
- 1954 - Jeffrey Ashby, American astronaut
- 1955 – Laurie Metcalf, American actress
- 1955 - Patrizio Sala, Italian footballer
- 1957 - Ian Buchanan, Scottish-American actor
- 1957 - Alexandra Marinina, Russian writer
- 1958 - Darrell Griffith, American basketball player
- 1958 - Johannes Helgason, Icelandic guitarist and pilot
- 1959 - The Ultimate Warrior, American professional wrestler (d. 2014)
- 1962 - Femi Kuti, Nigerian singer-songwriter and musician
- 1966 – Jan Zelezný, Czech athlete
- 1967 - Jürgen Klopp, German footballer and coach
- 1967 – John Franklin, American actor
- 1968 - James Patrick Stuart, American actor
- 1969 - Shami Chakrabarti, British academic and activist
- 1970 – Phil Mickelson, American golfer
- 1970 – James Shaffer, American guitarist (KoЯn)
- 1970 – Cobi Jones, American soccer player
- 1970 - Clifton Collins, Jr., American actor
- 1971 – Tupac Shakur, American rapper and actor (d. 1996)
- 1971 – Derek R. Audette, Canadian artist and poet
- 1972 - Simon Coveney, Irish politician
- 1972 – Hank von Helvete, Norwegian musician
- 1972 - John Cho, Korean-American actor and musician
- 1973 - Eddie Cibrian, American actor
- 1973 - Federica Mogherini, Italian politician, former European Union foreign policy chief
- 1974 - Joseph May, Canadian voice actor
From 1976
- 1976 – Edwin Tenorio, Ecuadorean footballer
- 1976 - Cian Ciaran, Welsh musician
- 1977 – Kerry Wood, American baseball player
- 1978 – Daniel Brühl, Spanish-German actor
- 1978 - Dainius Zubrus, Lithuanian ice hockey player
- 1978 - Fish Leong, Malaysian singer
- 1980 - Brandon Armstrong, American basketball player
- 1980 – Joey Yung, Hong Kong singer
- 1980 – Martin Stranzl, Austrian footballer
- 1980 – Nehir Erdoğan, Turkish actress
- 1980 - Sibel Kekilli, German actress
- 1981 – Laron Kevin Mathieu, American poet and world traveler
- 1981 - Benjamin Becker, German tennis player
- 1982 - Albert Rocas, Spanish handball player
- 1983 - Olivia Hack, American actress
- 1983 – Armend Dallku, Albanian footballer
- 1984 – Steven Whittaker, Scottish footballer
- 1985 - Cat Smith, English politician
- 1986 – Fernando Muslera, Uruguayan footballer
- 1987 - Per Ciljan Skjelbred, Norwegian footballer
- 1987 – Abby Elliott, American actress and comedienne
- 1988 – Keshia Chanté, Canadian singer
- 1988 - Banks, American singer and songwriter
- 1989 - Jelena Glabova, Estonian figure skater
- 1989 - Odion Ighalo, Nigerian footballer
- 1989 - Yuichi Maruyama, Japanese footballer
- 1990 - John Newman, English singer
- 1991 – Joe McElderry, English singer
- 1991 - Siya Kolisi, South African rugby union player
- 1994 - Caitlyn Taylor Love, American actress and singer
- 1995 - Joo Da-young, South Korean actress
- 1998 - Lauren Taylor, American actress and singer
- 2000 - Bianca Andreescu, Canadian tennis player
Up to 1900
- AD 1216 – Pope Innocent III
- 1397 – Philip of Artois, Count of Eu, French soldier (b. 1358)
- 1464 – Roger van der Weyden, Flemish painter (b. 1399)
- 1468 – Jean Le Fevre, Burgundian chronicler (b. ca. 1395)
- 1622 – Alexander Seton, 1st Earl of Dunfermline, Chancellor of Scotland (b. 1555)
- 1623 – Christian, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Wolfenbüttel, German Protestant military leader (b. 1599)
- 1666 – Richard Fanshawe, English poet, translator, and diplomat (b. 1608)
- 1671 – Stenka Razin, Cossack rebel leader (executed)
- 1707 – Marie d'Orléans-Longueville, Duchess de Nemours, sovereign princess of Neuchâtel and writer (b. 1625)
- 1712 - Hans-Adam I, Prince of Liechtenstein (b. 1657)
- 1722 – John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, English general (b. 1650)
- 1749 – Johann Baptista Ruffini, Italian trader (b. 1672)
- 1752 – Giulio Alberoni, Spanish cardinal (b. 1664)
- 1752 – Joseph Butler, English philosopher (b. 1692)
- 1777 – Jean-Baptiste-Louis Gresset, French poet and dramatist (b. 1709)
- 1778 – Konrad Ekhof, German actor (b. 1720)
- 1779 – Sir Francis Bernard, Governor of New Jersey and Massachusetts (b. 1712)
- 1792 - Benjamin Tupper, American general (b. 1738)
- 1804 – Johann Hiller, German composer (b. 1728)
- 1817 – Alexander J. Dallas, American statesman and financier (b. 1759)
- 1824 - Charles-François Lebrun, duc de Plaisance, French statesman (b. 1839)
- 1849 – Wilhelm Martin Leberecht de Wette, German theologian (b. 1780)
- 1850 - William Lawson, explorer of Australia (b. 1774)
- 1855 – John Gorrie, American physician (b. 1803)
- 1858 – John Snow, English obstetrician (b. 1813)
- 1862 - Hidenoyama Raigoro, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1808)
- 1866 – Joseph Méry French poet (b. 1798)
- 1869 – Charles Sturt, English explorer (b. 1795)
- 1872 – Norman MacLeod, Scottish clergyman (b. 1812)
- 1878 – Crawford Long, American physician (b. 1815)
- 1881 – Sir Josiah Mason, English manufacturer (b. 1795)
- 1885 – Wilhelm Camphausen, German painter (b. 1818)
- 1894 – William Calder Marshall, Scottish sculptor (b. 1813)
1901 – 2000
- 1902 - Ernst Schröder, German mathematician (b. 1841)
- 1925 – Chittaranjan Das, Indian patriot and freedom fighter (b. 1870)
- 1925 – Emmett Hardy, American musician (b. 1903)
- 1929 - Bramwell Booth, 2nd General of the Salvation Army (b. 1871)
- 1930 – Elmer Ambrose Sperry, American inventor (b. 1860)
- 1930 – Ezra Fitch, American founder of the Abercrombie & Fitch clothing retailer (b. 1865)
- 1939 - Chick Webb, American drummer and bandleader (b. 1905)
- 1940 – DuBose Heyward, American writer (b. 1885)
- 1944 – Marc Bloch, French historian (executed) (b. 1886)
- 1944 - George Stinney, African American wrongly executed for murder (b. 1929)
- 1952 – Andrew Lawson, Scottish-American geologist (b. 1861)
- 1953 – Margaret Bondfield, English politician and feminist (b. 1873)
- 1958 – Imre Nagy, Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1896)
- 1958 - Pál Maléter, Hungarian revolution leader (b. 1917)
- 1959 – George Reeves, American actor (b. 1914)
- 1969 – Harold Alexander, British military commander (b. 1891)
- 1970 – Heino Eller, Estonian composer (b. 1887)
- 1970 – Brian Piccolo, American football player (b. 1943)
- 1971 – Lord Reith, British broadcast executive (b. 1889)
- 1973 - Louise Latimer, American actress (b. 1913)
- 1976 – Hector Pieterson, South African schoolboy and symbol of anti-Apartheid movement (b. 1963) (shot)
- 1977 – Wernher von Braun, German-born rocket scientist (b. 1912)
- 1979 – Nicholas Ray, American movie director (b. 1911)
- 1979 - Ignatius KutuAcheampong, Ghanaian leader (b. 1931)
- 1981 – Jule Gregory Charney, meteorologist (b. 1917)
- 1982 - James Honeyman-Scott, British musician (b. 1956)
- 1986 – Maurice Duruflé, French composer and organist (b. 1902)
- 1988 – Kim Milford, American actor (b. 1951)
- 1990 – Gertrude Baniszewski, American murderer (of Sylvia Likens) (b. 1929)
- 1991 - Vicki Brown, English singer (b. 1940)
- 1993 – Lindsay Hassett, Australian cricketer (b. 1913)
- 1994 - Kristen Pfaff, American bassist (b. 1967)
- 1996 – Mel Allen, baseball announcer (b. 1913)
- 1996 – Curt Swan, American comic book artist (b. 1920)
- 1998 - Jafar Sharif-Emami, Prime Minister of Iran (b. 1910)
- 1999 – Screaming Lord Sutch, British musician and politician (b. 1940)
- 2000 – Empress Nagako of Japan (b. 1903)
From 2001
- 2003 – Georg Henrik von Wright, Finnish-Swedish philosopher (b. 1916)
- 2004 – Thanom Kittikachorn, Prime Minister of Thailand (b. 1912)
- 2005 – Enrique Laguerre, Puerto Rican writer (b. 1906)
- 2008 – Mario Rigoni Stern, Italian writer (b. 1921)
- 2008 - Tom Compernolle, Belgian runner (b. 1975)
- 2010 – Ronald Neame, British cinematographer, producer, screenwriter and director (b. 1911)
- 2010 - Marc Bazin, 49th President of Haiti (b. 1932)
- 2012 - Nils Karlsson, Swedish cross-country skier (b. 1917)
- 2012 - Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz al-Saud, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia (b. 1934)
- 2013 - Ottmar Walter, German footballer (b. 1924)
- 2013 - Hans Hass, Austrian diver (b. 1919)
- 2014 - Tony Gwynn, American baseball player (b. 1960)
- 2014 - Pierre D'Archambeau, Belgian-American violinist (b. 1927)
- 2015 - Charles Correa, Indian architect (b. 1930)
- 2015 - Tony Ranasinghe, Sri Lankan actor (b. 1937)
- 2016 - Jo Cox, English politician (b. 1974)
- 2016 - Bill Berkson, American poet and art critic (b. 1939)
- 2016 - Irving Moskowitz, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1928)
- 2016 - Pat Suggate, British-New Zealand geologist (b. 1922)
- 2016 - Jerome Teasley, American drummer (b. 1948)
- 2017 - Helmut Kohl, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1930)
- 2017 - John G. Avildsen, American film director (b. 1935)
- 2017 - Curt Hanson, American politician (b. 1943)
- 2017 - Stephen Furst, American actor (b. 1955)
- 2018 - Martin Bregman, American film producer (b. 1926)
- 2018 - Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Russian conductor (b. 1931)
- 2019 - Bishop Bullwinkle, American singer and comedian (b. 1948)
- 2019 - Erzsébet Gulyás-Köteles, Hungarian gymnast (b. 1924)
- 2019 - Frank LaMere, Native American activist (b. 1950)
- 2019 - Simona Mafai De Pasquale, Italian politician (b. 1928)
- 2020 - Mohammad Asghar, Welsh politician (b. 1945)
- 2020 - Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., Filipino businessman and politician (b. 1935)
- 2020 - Fred Jarvis, English trade union leader (b. 1924)
- 2020 - John Madigan, Australian politician (b. 1966)
- 2020 - Patrick Poivey, French actor (b. 1948)
- 2020 - John G. Richardson, American lawyer and politician (b. 1957)