16 August on the globe: what happened in the world on this day, and who was born

Wang Mang consolidates his power in China and is declared marshal of state. Emperor Ai of Han, who died the previous day, had no heirs.

Start of the four-day Battle of al-Mada'in, between the Hamdanids of Mosul and the Baridis of Basra over control of the Abbasid capital, Baghdad.

Nikephoros II Phokas is crowned emperor of the Byzantine Empire, swearing to protect the two sons of the previous emperor Romanos II, who are already crowned co-emperors.

Nikephoros II Phokas captures the city of Tarsus, finalising the Byzantine conquest of Cilicia.

The House of Gonzaga seizes power in the Duchy of Mantua, and will rule until 1708.

Battle of the Spurs (Battle of Guinegate): King Henry VIII of England and his Imperial allies defeat French forces who are then forced to retreat.

Rabbi Moses Isserles issues his ruling in the Bragadin-Giustiniani dispute, one of the earliest instances of a copyright suit over any book.

The Principality of Transylvania is established after John II Zápolya renounces his claim as King of Hungary in the Treaty of Speyer.

Battle of Plymouth: Inconclusive naval action between the fleets of Michiel de Ruyter and George Ayscue in the First Anglo-Dutch War.

Great Turkish War: An imperial coalition army under Charles of Lorraine defeats the Ottoman army that had been besieging Esztergom.

Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718): An imperial coalition army under Prince Eugene of Savoy defeats an Ottoman army under Haji Halil Pasha, leading to the surrender of the Ottoman garrison of Belgrade a few days later.

American Revolutionary War: The Americans led by General John Stark rout British and Brunswick troops under Friedrich Baum at the Battle of Bennington in Walloomsac, New York.

American Revolutionary War: Battle of Camden: The British defeat the Americans near Camden, South Carolina.

Maximilien Robespierre presents the petition of the Commune of Paris to the Legislative Assembly, which demanded the formation of a revolutionary tribunal.

French Revolution: A levée en masse is decreed by the National Convention.

War of 1812: American General William Hull surrenders Fort Detroit without a fight to the British Army.

Peterloo Massacre: Seventeen people die and over 600 are injured in cavalry charges at a public meeting at St. Peter's Field, Manchester, England.

Three African soldiers in the 1st West India Regiment – Daaga, Edward Coffin and Maurice Ogston – are executed for their role in the St. Joseph Mutiny in the British colony of Trinidad.

U.S. President John Tyler vetoes a bill which called for the re-establishment of the Second Bank of the United States. Enraged Whig Party members riot outside the White House in the most violent demonstration on White House grounds in U.S. history.

Governor-general of the Philippines Narciso Claveria signs a decree to reform the country's calendar by skipping Tuesday, December 31, as a solution to anomalies that had existed since Ferdinand Magellan's arrival in 1521.

U.S. President James Buchanan inaugurates the new transatlantic telegraph cable by exchanging greetings with Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. However, a weak signal forces a shutdown of the service in a few weeks.

The Grand Duchy of Tuscany formally deposes the exiled House of Lorraine.

The Dominican Restoration War begins when Gregorio Luperón raises the Dominican flag in Santo Domingo after Spain had recolonized the country.

Battle of Acosta Ñu: A Paraguayan battalion largely made up of children is massacred by the Brazilian Army during the Paraguayan War.

Franco-Prussian War: The Battle of Mars-la-Tour is fought, resulting in a Prussian victory.

Richard Wagner's Siegfried, the penultimate opera in his Ring cycle, is premiered at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus.

The Basilica of San Sebastian, Manila, the first all-steel church in Asia, is officially inaugurated and blessed.

Skookum Jim Mason, George Carmack and Dawson Charlie discover gold in a tributary of the Klondike River in Canada, setting off the Klondike Gold Rush.

The Battle of Elands River during the Second Boer War ends after a 13-day siege is lifted by the British. The battle had begun when a force of between 2,000 and 3,000 Boers had surrounded a force of 500 Australians, Rhodesians, Canadians and British soldiers at a supply dump at Brakfontein Drift.

The 8.2 Mw Valparaíso earthquake hits central Chile, killing 3,882 people.

Completion of the Royal Navy battlecruiser HMS Queen Mary.

Tōhoku Imperial University of Japan (modern day Tohoku University) becomes the first university in Japan to admit female students.

German admiral Wilhelm Souchon hands over the two warships under his command to the Ottomans and becomes commander of the Turkish navy, leading later to the entry of the Ottoman Empire in World War I.

The Migratory Bird Treaty between Canada and the United States is signed.

The Battle of Lake Baikal is fought between the Czechoslovak Legion and the Red Army.

In the United Kingdom, the Blind Persons Act received royal assent.

Polish–Soviet War: The Battle of Radzymin concludes; the Soviet Red Army is forced to turn away from Warsaw.

Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians is hit on the head by a fastball thrown by Carl Mays of the New York Yankees. Next day, Chapman will become the second player to die from injuries sustained in a Major League Baseball game.

The congress of the Communist Party of Bukhara opens. The congress would call for armed revolution.

The United Kingdom gives the name "Ross Dependency" to part of its claimed Antarctic territory and makes the Governor-General of the Dominion of New Zealand its administrator.

The Dole Air Race begins from Oakland, California, to Honolulu, Hawaii, during which six out of the eight participating planes crash or disappear.

The 1929 Palestine riots break out in Mandatory Palestine between Palestinian Arabs and Jews and continue until the end of the month. In total, 133 Jews and 116 Arabs are killed.

The first British Empire Games are opened in Hamilton, Ontario, by the Governor General of Canada, the Viscount Willingdon.

The first color sound cartoon, Fiddlesticks, is released by Ub Iwerks.

Christie Pits riot takes place in Toronto, Ontario.

The Holocaust: During the deportation of Jews from Slovakia, President Jozef Tiso gave a speech describing Jews as "parasites" and "the eternal enemy".

World War II: US Navy L-class blimp L-8 drifts in from the Pacific and eventually crashes in Daly City, California. The two-man crew cannot be found.

World War II: 317 Greek civilians are murdered by soldiers of the German 1st Mountain Division in the village of Kommeno, Greece.

First flight of a jet with forward-swept wings, the Junkers Ju 287.

The National Representatives' Congress, the precursor of the current National Assembly of Vietnam, convenes in Sơn Dương.

The Stanley Internment Camp in Hong Kong was liberated following the announcement of the surrender of Japan in World War II.

Mass riots in Kolkata begin; more than 4,000 people would be killed in 72 hours.

The All Hyderabad Trade Union Congress is founded in Secunderabad.

The first issue of Sports Illustrated is published.

Cyprus gains its independence from the United Kingdom.

Joseph Kittinger parachutes from a balloon over New Mexico, United States, at 102,800 feet (31,300 m), setting three records that held until 2012: High-altitude jump, free fall, and highest speed by a human without an aircraft.

The English rock band the Beatles fired their drummer Pete Best, replacing him with Ringo Starr.

Vietnam War: A coup d'état replaces Dương Văn Minh with General Nguyễn Khánh as President of South Vietnam. A new constitution is established with aid from the U.S. Embassy.

Vietnam War: The House Un-American Activities Committee begins investigations of Americans who have aided the Viet Cong. The committee intends to introduce legislation making these activities illegal. Anti-war demonstrators disrupt the meeting and 50 people are arrested.

In an unsuccessful coup d'état attempt, the Royal Moroccan Air Force fires upon Hassan II of Morocco's plane while he is traveling back to Rabat.

Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam symbolically hands over land to the Gurindji people after the eight-year Wave Hill walk-off, a landmark event in the history of Indigenous land rights in Australia, commemorated in a 1991 song by Paul Kelly and an annual celebration.

American singer and actor Elvis Presley, often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", was found dead in his home in Memphis, Tennessee.

A Sudan Airways Fokker F27 Friendship is shot down near Malakal in present day South Sudan, killing 60.

Typhoon Wayne formed over the South China Sea, going on to become one of the longest-lived tropical cyclones in the north-western Pacific, lasting 21 days.

Northwest Airlines Flight 255, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, crashes after takeoff in Detroit, Michigan, killing 154 of the 155 on board, plus two people on the ground.

A solar particle event affects computers at the Toronto Stock Exchange, forcing a halt to trading.

Indian Airlines Flight 257, a Boeing 737-200, crashes during approach to Imphal Airport, killing all 69 people on board.

West Caribbean Airways Flight 708, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, crashes in Machiques, Venezuela, killing all 160 people on board.

The Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago is topped off at 1,389 feet (423 m), at the time becoming the world's highest residence above ground-level.

At the World Championships in Athletics in Berlin, Usain Bolt ran the 100 metres in 9.58 seconds, breaking his own record set a year earlier.

AIRES Flight 8250 crashes at Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport in San Andrés, San Andrés y Providencia, Colombia, killing two people.

South African police fatally shoot 34 miners and wound 78 more during an industrial dispute at Marikana near Rustenburg.

The ferry St. Thomas Aquinas collides with a cargo ship and sinks at Cebu, Philippines, killing 61 people with 59 others missing.

More than 96 people are killed and hundreds injured following a series of air-raids by the Syrian Arab Air Force on the rebel-held market town of Douma.

Suicide bombers assassinated Pakistani politician Shuja Khanzada and killed at least 21 others at his home in Attock District.

Trigana Air Flight 267, an ATR 42, crashes in Oksibil, Bintang Mountains Regency, killing all 54 people on board.

The August Complex fire in California burns more than one million acres of land.

Madonna, American singer-songwriter, producer, actress, and director

Octavia Taylor, daughter of Zachary Taylor (died 1820)

James Cameron, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter

Charles Bukowski, German-American poet, novelist, and short story writer (died 1994)

Menachem Begin, Belarusian-Israeli politician, Prime Minister of Israel, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1992)

Gabriel Lippmann, Luxembourger-French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1921)

Wilhelm Wundt, German physician, psychologist, and physiologist (died 1920)

T. E. Lawrence, British colonel, diplomat, writer and archaeologist (died 1935)

John Bosco, Italian priest and educator (died 1888)

Jean de La Bruyère, French philosopher and author (died 1696)

Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, Nigerian businessman and politician, 13th President of Nigeria (died 2010)

Steve Carell, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

Jannik Sinner, Italian tennis player

Angela Bassett, American actress

Wendell Meredith Stanley, American biochemist and virologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1971)

Anne L'Huillier, French physicist

Timothy Hutton, American actor, producer and director

Manisha Koirala, Nepalese actress in Indian films

Arthur Cayley, English mathematician and academic (died 1895)

Moussa Sissoko, French footballer

Masoud Barzani, Iranian-Kurdish politician, President of Iraqi Kurdistan

Taika Waititi, New Zealand director, screenwriter and actor

Bill Evans, American pianist and composer (died 1980)

Julie Newmar, American actress

Pierre Richard, French actor, director, and screenwriter

Diana Wynne Jones, English author (died 2011)

Roque Santa Cruz, Paraguayan footballer

Evanna Lynch, Irish actress

Helmut Rahn, German footballer (died 2003)

Ann Blyth, American actress and singer (died 2026)

Cam Gigandet, American actor

Louis, Duke of Burgundy (died 1712)

Joleon Lescott, English footballer

Pierre Méchain, French astronomer and surveyor (died 1804)

Ivan Bilibin, Russian illustrator and stage designer (died 1942)

Hugo Gernsback, Luxembourger-American author and publisher (died 1967)

Cristin Milioti, American actress

Marian Rejewski, Polish mathematician and cryptologist (1st to break German Enigma code) (died 1980)

Arvind Kejriwal, Indian civil servant and politician, 7th Chief Minister of Delhi

Young Thug, American rapper, singer and songwriter

Agostino Carracci, Italian painter and etcher (died 1602)

Hongxi Emperor of China (died 1425)

Jules Laforgue, Uruguayan-French poet and author (died 1887)

Albert Cohen, Greek-Swiss author and playwright (died 1981)

Vanessa Carlton, American singer-songwriter

E. F. Schumacher, German economist and statistician (died 1977)

Caeleb Dressel, American swimmer

George Galloway, Scottish-English politician and broadcaster

Anne of Austria, Queen of Poland (died 1598)

Georgette Heyer, English author (died 1974)

Stuart Roosa, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (died 1994)

Lesley Ann Warren, American actress

Rumer Willis, American actress

Greyson Chance, American musician

Robert Culp, American actor, director, and screenwriter (died 2010)

Carol Moseley Braun, American lawyer and politician, United States Ambassador to New Zealand

Reginald VelJohnson, American actor

Iván Hurtado, Ecuadorian footballer and politician

Christina, Grand Duchess of Tuscany (died 1637)

Leslie Manigat, Haitian educator and politician, 43rd President of Haiti (died 2014)