What are the important events that happened on July 16? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

July 16: Facts & Myths About This Day

July 16 is the 197^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 168 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Wednesday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is July 3, 2025 – a Wednesday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 29,210,400 minutes has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘hectaenneacontaheptagon’ day.

Cancer is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Ruby is the modern birthstone for this month. Ruby is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 216 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,590 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

July 16 Historical Events

• 1683 –
  Manchu Qing Dynasty naval forces under traitorous commander Shi Lang defeat the Kingdom of Tungning in the Battle of Penghu near the Pescadores Islands.
• 1769 –
  Father Junipero Serra founds California’s first mission, Mission San Diego de Alcalá. Over the following decades, it evolves into the city of San Diego.
• 1782 –
  First performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail.
• 1861 –
  American Civil War: at the order of President Abraham Lincoln, Union troops begin a 25 mile march into Virginia for what will become The First Battle of Bull Run, the first major land battle of the war.
• 1909 –
  Persian Constitutional Revolution: Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar is forced out as Shah of Persia and is replaced by his son Ahmad Shah Qajar.
• 1915 –
  Henry James becomes a British citizen, to highlight his commitment to England during the first World War.
• 1931 –
  Emperor Haile Selassie I signs the first constitution of Ethiopia.
• 1960 –
  USS George Washington a modified Skipjack class submarine successfully test fires the first ballistic missile while submerged.
• 1965 –
  The Mont Blanc Tunnel linking France and Italy opens.
• 1990 –
  The Parliament of the Ukrainian SSR declares state sovereignty over the territory of the Ukrainian SSR.

Who were born on July 16?

• 1714 –
  Marc René, marquis de Montalembert, French military engineer (d. 1800)
• 1796 –
  Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, French painter (d. 1875)
• 1858 –
  Eugène Ysaÿe, Belgian violinist (d. 1931)
• 1904 –
  Goffredo Petrassi, Italian composer (d. 2003)
• 1956 –
  Tony Kushner, American playwright
• 1957 –
  Alexandra Marinina, Russian writer
• 1964 –
  Miguel Indurain, Spanish cyclist
• 1976 –
  Anna Smashnova, Israeli tennis player
• 1980 –
  Adam Scott, Australian golfer
• 1985 –
  Taryn Southern, American actress and singer

Who died on July 16?

• 1691 –
  François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois, French war minister (b. 1641)
• 1886 –
  Ned Buntline, American pulp novelist (b. 1823)
• 1979 –
  Alfred Deller, English countertenor (b. 1912)
• 1982 –
  Charles Robberts Swart, South African politician (b. 1894)
• 1982 –
  Patrick Dewaere, French actor (b. 1947)
• 1990 –
  Robert Blackburn, Irish educationist (b. 1927)
• 1991 –
  Robert Motherwell, American painter (b. 1915)
• 1998 –
  John Henrik Clarke, American historian and scholar (b. 1915)
• 2001 –
  Morris, Belgian cartoonist (b. 1923)
• 2004 –
  Charles Sweeney, American general (b. 1919)