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May 16 is the 136th day of the year (137th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 229 days remaining until the end of the year.
Up to 1900
- 218 – Elagabalus is proclaimed Roman Emperor.
- 1204 – Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders is crowned first Emperor of the Latin Empire.
- 1527 – The Florentines drive out the Medici for a second time and Florence re–establishes a republic.
- 1532 – Sir Thomas More resigns as Lord Chancellor of England.
- 1568 – Mary, Queen of Scots, flees to England.
- 1584 – Santiago de Vera becomes the 6th Governor–General of the Spanish colony of the Philippines.
- 1605 – Paul V becomes Pope.
- 1702 – The city of Uppsala in Sweden is destroyed by fire.
- 1770 – 14–year old Marie Antoinette marries 15–year–old Louis–Auguste who later becomes king of France.
- 1771 – Battle of Alamance, a pre–American Revolutionary War battle between local militia and a group of rebels called the "Regulators" occurs in present–day Alamance County, North Carolina.
- 1777 – Lachlan McIntosh and Button Gwinnett shoot each other during a duel near Savannah, Georgia. Gwinnett, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, dies three days later.
- 1811 – Peninsular War: Spain, the UK and Portugal defeat France in the Battle of Albuera.
- 1812 – Russian field marshal Mikhail Kutuzov signs the Treaty of Bucharest, ending the Russo–Turkish War. Bessarabia, mainly covering present–day Moldova, is annexed by Imperial Russia.
- 1843 – The first major wagon train heading for the Northwest sets out with one thousand pioneers from Elm Grove, Missouri on the Oregon Trail.
- 1863 – American Civil War: Battle of Champion Hill – Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant defeat Confederate forces under John C. Pemberton.
- 1866 – The U.S. Congress eliminates the half dime coin and replaces it with the five cent piece, or nickel (coin).
- 1866 – Charles Elmer Hires invents root beer.
- 1868 – President Andrew Johnson is acquitted during his impeachment trial, by one vote in the United States Senate.
- 1874 – A flood on the Mill River in Massachusetts destroys most of four villages, killing 139 people.
- 1887 – In Washington, DC, Emil Berliner demonstrates the gramophone.
- 1888 – Nikola Tesla delivers a lecture describing the equipment which will allow efficient generation and use of alternating currents to transmit electrical power over long distances.
1901 – 2000
- 1910 – The U.S. Congress authorizes the creation of the United States Bureau of Mines.
- 1918 – The Sedition Act is passed by the U.S. Congress, making criticism of the government a jailable offense.
- 1919 – United States Navy Naval Curtiss aircraft NC–4 commanded by Albert Cushing Read leaves Trepassey, Newfoundland, for Lisbon via the Azores on the first transatlantic flight.
- 1920 – In Rome, Pope Benedict XV canonizes Joan of Arc as a saint.
- 1929 – In Hollywood, California, the first Academy Awards are handed out.
- 1932 – On the return from its first voyage, French luxury steamer Georges Philippar catches fire in the Gulf of Aden, killing 54 people.
- 1938 – A fire at the Terminal Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia, kills 35 people.
- 1943 – The Holocaust: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising ends.
- 1943 – World War II: The Dambuster Raids by RAF 617 Squadron on German dams.
- 1948 – Chaim Weizmann is elected as the first President of Israel.
- 1960 – Nikita Khrushchev demands an apology from US President Dwight D. Eisenhower for U–2 spy plane flights over the Soviet Union thus ending a Big Four summit in Paris.
- 1960 – Theodore Maiman operates the first optical laser.
- 1961 – Park Chung–hee leads a coup in South Korea.
- 1966 – Two extremely influential rock albums are released on the same day: Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde and The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds.
- 1969 – Venera program: Venera 5, a Soviet space probe, lands on Venus.
- 1974 – Helmut Schmidt is chosen to succeed Willy Brandt as Chancellor of Germany.
- 1975 – India annexes Sikkim after the mountain state held a referendum where popular vote was in favour of merging with India.
- 1975 – Junko Tabei becomes the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
- 1983 – The Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement rebels against the Sudanese government.
- 1988 – A report by American Surgeon General C. Everett Koop states that the addictive properties of nicotine are similar to those of heroin and cocaine.
- 1991 – Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom becomes the first monarch to speak in front of the United States Congress.
- 1992 – STS–49: Space Shuttle Endeavour lands safely after a successful maiden voyage.
- 1995 – The leader of Aum Shinrikyo, Shoko Asahara, is arrested for his role in the Sarin Gas Attack on the Tokyo subway.
- 1997 – Zaire leader Mobutu Sese Seko flees the country. Soon after, the country is renamed the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
From 2001
- 2002 – Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones opens in cinemas.
- 2003 – Four suicide bombs explode in Casablanca, Morocco, killing over 40 people.
- 2005 – Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith premieres in London.
- 2005 – Kuwait permits women's suffrage in a 35–23 National Assembly vote.
- 2005 – Sony's PlayStation 3 video game console is shown at a press conference (E3).
- 2007 – Nicolas Sarkozy becomes President of France, succeeding Jacques Chirac.
- 2007 – Alex Salmond becomes First Minister of Scotland. He is the first leader of the Scottish National Party to take this post.
- 2009 – In Moscow, Alexander Rybak wins the 54th Eurovision Song Contest for Norway, scoring a record number of points under the then–existing scoring system, 387.
- 2011 – The final flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour begins.
- 2013 – The Spanish language Wikipedia passes the milestone of a million articles.
- 2014 – The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, under Narendra Modi, wins India's elections, achieving an overall parliamentary majority and defeating the ruling Indian National Congress.
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Up to 1900
- 1418 – John II of Cyprus (died 1458)
- 1490 – Albert of Prussia, first duke of Prussia (died 1568)
- 1540 – Paschal Baylon, Spanish friar and saint (died 1592)
- 1578 – Everard Digby, English conspirator (died 1606)
- 1611 – Pope Innocent XI (died 1689)
- 1641 – Dudley North, English economist and politician (died 1691)
- 1678 – Andreas Silbermann, organ builder (died 1734)
- 1710 – William Talbot, 1st Earl Talbot, English politician (died 1782)
- 1718 – Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Italian mathematician (died 1799)
- 1763 – Louis Nicolas Vauquelin, French chemist (died 1829)
- 1776 – Luigi Lambruschini, Italian cardinal (died 1854)
- 1788 – Friedrich Rückert, German poet, translator and orientalist (died 1866)
- 1801 – William H. Seward, 24th United States Secretary of State and 12th Governor of New York (died 1872)
- 1805 – Alexander Burnes, Scottish explorer (died 1841)
- 1819 – Johann Voldemar Jannsen, Estonian journalist and poet (died 1890)
- 1821 – Pafnuty Chebyshev, Russian mathematician (died 1894)
- 1824 – Levi P. Morton, 22nd Vice President of the United States and 31st Governor of New York (died 1920)
- 1827 – Pierre Cuypers, Dutch architect (died 1921)
- 1827 – Norman Jay Coleman, American politician (died 1911)
- 1831 – David Edward Hughes, British inventor and musician (died 1900)
- 1834 – Hobart B. Bigelow, Governor of Connecticut (died 1891)
- 1845 – Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov, Russian biologist, won the 1908 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1916)
- 1849 – Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin, British statesman (died 1917)
- 1882 – Anne McCormick, journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner (died 1954)
- 1883 – Celal Bayar, President of Turkey (died 1986)
- 1886 – Ernest Burgess, sociologist (died 1966)
- 1887 – Jakob van Hoddis, German poet (died 1942)
- 1888 – Royal Raymond Rife, American inventor (died 1971)
- 1891 – Richard Tauber, Austrian tenor (died 1948)
- 1897 – Zvi Ziternik, Israeli entomologist (died 1994)
- 1898 – Tamara de Lempicka, Polish painter (died 1980)
- 1898 – Kenji Mizoguchi, Japanese movie director (died 1956)
1901 – 1950
- 1905 – Henry Fonda, American actor (died 1982)
- 1906 – Arturo Uslar Pietri, Venezuelan writer, diplomat and politician (died 2001)
- 1909 – Margaret Sullavan, American actress (died 1960)
- 1910 – Aleksandr Ivanovich Laktionov, Russian painter (died 1972)
- 1910 – Higashifushimi Kunihide, Japanese monk and educator, uncle of Emperor Akihito (died 2014)
- 1910 – Luigi Villoresi, Italian racing driver (died 1997)
- 1912 – Studs Terkel, American writer (died 2008)
- 1913 – Woody Herman, American musician and band leader (died 1987)
- 1913 – Sebastiano Baggio, Italian cardinal (died 1993)
- 1914 – Edward T. Hall, American anthropologist and ethnologist (died 2009)
- 1915 – Mario Monicelli, Italian director and screenwriter (died 2010)
- 1916 – Ephraim Katzir, Israeli President and scientist (died 2009)
- 1917 – Juan Rulfo, Mexican writer (died 1986)
- 1917 – George Gaynes, Finnish–American actor (died 2016)
- 1919 – Liberace, American pianist (died 1987)
- 1919 – Sik Kok Kwong, Hong Kong Buddhist monk (died 2014)
- 1919 – Gisela Uhlen, German actress (died 2007)
- 1920 – Martine Carol, French actress (died 1967)
- 1921 – Harry Carey, Jr., American actor (died 2012)
- 1923 – Merton Miller, American economist (died 2000)
- 1924 – Dawda Jawara, 1st President of the Gambia (died 2019)
- 1925 – Bobbejaan Schoepen, Belgian singer (died 2010)
- 1925 – Robert Pierpoint, American journalist (died 2011)
- 1925 – Nancy Roman, American astronomer (died 2018)
- 1925 – Nilton Santos, Brazilian footballer (died 2013)
- 1928 – Billy Martin, American baseball player and coach (died 1989)
- 1929 – John Conyers, American politician (died 2019)
- 1929 – Adrienne Rich, American poet, writer and feminist (died 2012)
- 1929 – Friedrich Nowottny, German journalist
- 1929 – Alberto Terry, Peruvian footballer (died 2006)
- 1929 – Betty Carter, American singer (died 1998)
- 1931 – Vujadin Boskov, Serbian footballer (died 2014)
- 1931 – K. Natwar Singh, Indian politician
- 1931 – Lowell P. Weicker, Jr., American politician, 85th Governor of Connecticut
- 1936 – Karl Lehmann, German cardinal and theologian (d. 2018)
- 1936 – Roy Hudd, British radio and television actor
- 1936 – Manfred Stolpe, German politician
- 1937 – Yvonne Craig, American actress (d. 2015)
- 1937 – Antonio Rattin, Argentine footballer
- 1938 – Edmond Classen, Dutch actor (d. 2014)
- 1940 – Ole Ernst, Danish actor (d. 2013)
- 1943 – Kay Andrews, Baroness Andrews, English politician
- 1943 – Dan Coats, American politician and diplomat, 29th United States Ambassador to Germany
- 1944 – Danny Trejo, American actor
- 1944 – Billy Cobham, American drummer and bandleader
- 1945 – Carlos Osoro, Archbishop of Valencia
- 1946 – Robert Fripp, British guitarist
- 1948 – Emma Georgina Rothschild, British historian
- 1948 – Judy Finnigan, British TV presenter
- 1948 – Mariano Gago, Portuguese engineer and politician (d. 2015)
- 1948 – Jimmy Hood, Scottish politician (d. 2017)
- 1949 – Karlheinz Hackl, Austrian actor (d. 2014)
- 1950 – J. Georg Bednorz, German physicist and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics 1987
1951 – 1975
- 1951 – Christian Lacroix, French fashion designer
- 1953 – Kitanoumi Toshimitsu, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 2015)
- 1953 – Pierce Brosnan, Irish actor
- 1954 – Jónína Leósdóttir, Icelandic writer
- 1954 – Dafydd Williams, Canadian physician and astronaut
- 1955 – Olga Korbut, Belarussian gymnast
- 1955 – Jack Morris, American baseball pitcher
- 1955 – Hazel O'Connor, British singer
- 1955 – Debra Winger, American actress
- 1957 – Bob Suter, American ice hockey player (d. 2014)
- 1957 – Nigel Twiston–Davies, English horse trainer
- 1958 – Amp Fiddler, musician (P Funk)
- 1961 – Sarah Boyack, Scottish politician
- 1961 – Kevin McDonald, Canadian actor
- 1963 – Rosie Perez, American actress
- 1964 – John Salley, American basketball player and actor
- 1964 – Milton Jones, English comedian
- 1965 – Danel Tammet, Estonian computer scientist and politician
- 1965 – Krist Novoselic, American musician, former bassist for Nirvana
- 1966 – Janet Jackson, American singer
- 1966 – Thurman Thomas, American football player
- 1969 – David Boreanaz, American actor
- 1969 – Steve Lewis, American athlete
- 1969 – Tucker Carlson, American print and television commentator
- 1969 – Ari–Pekka Nikkola, Finnish ski jumper
- 1970 – Gabriela Sabatini, Argentine tennis player
- 1972 – Andrzej Duda, President of Poland
- 1973 – Tori Spelling, American actress
- 1973 – Jason Acuña "Wee–Man", American television personality
- 1974 – Laura Pausini, Italian pop singer
- 1974 – Adam Richman, American actor and TV presenter (Man v. Food)
- 1974 – Sonny Sandoval, American singer (P.O.D.)
- 1975 – Tony Kakko, Finnish singer (Sonata Arctica)
- 1975 – Tonéx, American singer
From 1976
- 1976 – Christian Califano, French rugby player
- 1977 – Dolcenera, Italian singer
- 1977 – Emilíana Torrini, Icelandic singer
- 1977 – Jean–Sébastien Giguère, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1978 – David Ford, English singer/songwriter
- 1978 – Olga Zaitseva, Russian athlete
- 1978 – Lionel Scaloni, Argentine footballer
- 1979 – McKenzie Lee, English pornographic actress
- 1980 – Mikel Alonso, Spanish footballer
- 1980 – Michael Ryan, American ice hockey player
- 1980 – Jens Spahn, German politician
- 1981 – Jim Sturgess, English actor
- 1982 – Joo Ji Hoon, Korean actor and model
- 1982 – Łukasz Kubot, Polish tennis player
- 1983 – Nancy Ajram, Lebanese singer
- 1983 – Gordon McRory, Scottish Drummer (The Fratellis)
- 1983 – Kyle Wellwood, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1984 – Mickie Knuckles, American female professional wrestler
- 1984 – Jensen Lewis, American baseball player
- 1984 – Rick Rypien, Canadian ice hockey player (died 2011)
- 1985 – Stanislav Ianevski, Bulgarian actor
- 1985 – Anja Mittag, German footballer
- 1985 – Corey Perry, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1985 – Tadayoshi Okura, Japanese singer–songwriter, dancer and actor
- 1986 – Megan Fox, American actress
- 1986 – Andy Keogh, Irish footballer
- 1987 – Olena Khomrova, Ukrainian fencer
- 1990 – Thomas Sangster, English actor
- 1991 – Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgarian tennis player
- 1993 – IU, South Korean singer
- 1994 – Aaron Moores, British Paralympic swimmer
- 1998 – Ariel Waller, Canadian actress
- 2002 – Ryan Gravenberch, Dutch footballer
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Up to 1950
- 583 – Saint Brendan, Irish navigator (b. 484)
- 1265 – Simon Stock, English–French saint (b. 1165)
- 1620 – William Adams, English navigator and Japanese samurai (born 1564)
- 1669 – Pietro da Cortona, Italian painter and architect (born 1596)
- 1703 – Charles Perrault, French writer (born 1628)
- 1782 – Daniel Solander, Swedish botanist (born 1736)
- 1830 – Joseph Fourier, French scientist (born 1768)
- 1882 – Reuben Chapman, 13th Governor of Alabama (born 1799)
- 1891 – Ion C. Bratianu, Romanian statesman (born 1821)
- 1913 – Louis Perrier, Swiss Federal Councillor (born 1849)
- 1920 – Levi P. Morton, 22nd Vice President of the United States and 31st Governor of New York (born 1824)
- 1920 – Joselito, Spanish bullfighter (born 1895)
- 1926 – Mehmed VI, last Ottoman Sultan (born 1861)
- 1931 – Emiliano Figueroa, President of Chile (born 1866)
- 1942 – Bronislaw Malinowski, Polish anthropologist (born 1884)
- 1944 – George Ade, writer (born 1866)
- 1947 – Frederick Gowland Hopkins, English chemist, won the 1929 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (born 1861)
- 1947 – Zhang Lingfu, Chinese general (born 1903)
1951 – 2000
- 1953 – Django Reinhardt, Belgian jazz musician (born 1910)
- 1954 – Clemens Krauss, Austrian conductor (born 1893)
- 1955 – James Agee, American writer (born 1909)
- 1957 – Eliot Ness, American federal agent (born 1903)
- 1963 – Oleg Penkovsky, Soviet–Russian agent (born 1919)
- 1971 – Gregoire–Pierre Agagianian, Armenian cardinal (born 1895)
- 1977 – Modibo Keita, 1st President of Mali (born 1915)
- 1981 – Ernie Freeman, American pianist, composer and bandleader (born 1922)
- 1984 – Andy Kaufman, American comedian (born 1949)
- 1984 – Irwin Shaw, American writer (born 1913)
- 1985 – Margaret Hamilton, American actress (born 1902)
- 1988 – Charles Keeping, illustrator (born 1924)
- 1989 – Leila Kasra, Iranian poet and lyricist (born 1939)
- 1990 – Jim Henson, American puppeteer, creator of the Muppets (born 1936)
- 1990 – Sammy Davis, Jr., American singer, actor and comedian (born 1925)
- 1993 – Marv Johnson, American singer–songwriter and pianist (born 1938)
- 1994 – Alain Cuny, French actor (born 1908)
From 2001
- 2002 – Big Dick Dudley, American professional wrestler (born 1968)
- 2003 – Mark McCormack, American sports business pioneer, founder of IMG (born 1930)
- 2008 – Robert Mondavi, pioneer California winemaker (born 1913)
- 2008 – David Mitton, English model–maker (born 1938)
- 2010 – Oswaldo López Arellano, President of Honduras (born 1921)
- 2010 – Hank Jones, American jazz pianist (born 1918)
- 2010 – Ronnie James Dio, American musician (born 1942)
- 2011 – Edward Hardwicke, British actor (born 1932)
- 2013 – Heinrich Rohrer, Swiss physicist (born 1933)
- 2013 – Paul Shane, British actor (born 1940)
- 2013 – Dick Trickle, racing driver (born 1941)
- 2014 – Viktor Sukhodrev, Russian interpreter (born 1932)
- 2015 – Yeung Kwong, Hong Kong Communist activist (born 1926)
- 2015 – Moshe Levinger, Israeli rabbi (born 1935)
- 2015 – Flora MacNeil, Scottish singer (born 1928)
- 2015 – Dean Potter, American rock climber and BASE jumper (born 1972)
- 2015 – John Templeton Jr., American physician (born 1940)
- 2015 – Moshe Levinger, Israeli rabbi (born 1935)
- 2015 – Elias Gleizer, Brazilian actor (born 1934)
- 2016 – Bobby Freeman, American politician (born 1934)
- 2016 – Romaldo Giurgola, Italian–born American–Australian architect (born 1920)
- 2016 – Emilio Navaria, American country and Tejano singer (born 1962)
- 2016 – Gavyn Farr Arthur, British judge (born 1951)
- 2016 – Giovanni Coppa, Italian cardinal (born 1925)
- 2016 – Lino Toffolo, Italian actor (born 1934)
- 2016 – Aar de Goede, Dutch politician (born 1928)
- 2016 – Jim McMillian, American basketball player (born 1948)
- 2016 – David Rendel, British politician (born 1949)
- 2016 – François Maistre, French actor (born 1925)
- 2016 – Huguette Dreyfus, French harpsichordist (born 1928)
- 2017 – Bernard Bosson, French politician (born 1948)
- 2017 – Outi Ojala, Finnish politician (born 1946)
- 2017 – Doug Somers, American professional wrestler (born 1951)
- 2017 – Gunnar Möller, German actor (born 1928)
- 2018 – François Bréda, Romanian writer and literary critic (born 1956)
- 2018 – Joseph Campanella, American actor (born 1924)
- 2018 – Diana E. Murphy, American judge (born 1934)
- 2018 – Michael Slive, American college sports executive (born 1940)
- 2018 – Gérard Jouannest, French pianist (born 1933)
- 2018 – Eloísa Mafalda, Brazilian actress (born 1924)
- 2018 – Lucian Pintilie, Romanian film director (born 1933)
- 2019 – David Cervinski, Australian footballer (born 1970)
- 2019 – Bob Hawke, 23rd Prime Minister of Australia (born 1929)
- 2019 – Ashley Massaro, American professional wrestler and television personality (born 1979)
- 2019 – I. M. Pei, Chinese–American architect (born 1917)
- 2019 – Sol Yaged, American jazz clarinetist (born 1922)
- 2021 – Bruno Covas, Brazilian lawyer and politician (born 1980)
- 2021 – Rildo da Costa Menezes, Brazilian footballer (born 1942)
- 2021 – M. S. Narasimhan, Indian mathematician (born 1932)
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- In the Irish Calendar – Feast of Saint Brendan the Navigator
- The feast day of the following saints in the Roman Catholic Church:
- Ubaldus
- Saint Honoré
- John of Ponuk or John Nepomucene (1330 – 1393)
- Andrew Bobola
- Simon Stock
- National Day of South Sudan
- Teachers' Day (Malaysia)
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