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

Yazdegerd III ascends the throne as king (shah) of the Persian Empire. He becomes the last ruler of the Sasanian dynasty (modern Iran).

Ming–Hồ War: Retired King Hồ Quý Ly and his son King Hồ Hán Thương of Hồ dynasty are captured by the Ming armies.

Battle of Stoke Field: King Henry VII of England defeats the leaders of a Yorkist rebellion in the final engagement of the Wars of the Roses.

The Plymouth Company grants a land patent to Thomas Purchase, the first settler of Pejepscot, Maine, settling at the site of Fort Andross.

War of the Austrian Succession: New England colonial troops under the command of William Pepperrell capture the Fortress of Louisbourg in Louisbourg, New France (Old Style date).

War of the Austrian Succession: Austria and Sardinia defeat a Franco-Spanish army at the Battle of Piacenza.

French and Indian War: The French surrender Fort Beauséjour to the British, leading to the expulsion of the Acadians.

French and Indian War: Robert Rogers and his Rangers surprise French held Fort Sainte Thérèse on the Richelieu River near Lake Champlain. The fort is raided and burned.

American Revolutionary War: Spain declares war on the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Great Siege of Gibraltar begins.

French Revolutionary Wars: In what became known as Cornwallis's Retreat, a British Royal Navy squadron led by Vice Admiral William Cornwallis strongly resists a much larger French Navy force and withdraws largely intact, setting up the French Navy defeat at the Battle of Groix six days later.

Survivors of an attack the previous day by Tla-o-qui-aht on board the Pacific Fur Company's ship Tonquin intentionally detonate a powder magazine on the ship, destroying it and killing about 100 attackers.

Battle of Ligny and Battle of Quatre Bras, two days before the Battle of Waterloo.

A major earthquake strikes the Kutch district of western India, killing over 1,543 people and raising a 6-metre-high (20 ft), 6-kilometre-wide (3.7 mi), ridge, extending for at least 80 kilometres (50 mi), that was known as the Allah Bund ("Dam of God").

A meeting at Old Slaughter's coffee house in London leads to the formation of what is now the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA).

The formation of the London Working Men's Association gives rise to the Chartist Movement.

The Papal conclave of 1846 elects Pope Pius IX, beginning the longest reign in the history of the papacy.

Abraham Lincoln delivers his House Divided speech in Springfield, Illinois.

The Universities Tests Act 1871 allows students to enter the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Durham without religious tests (except for those intending to study theology).

The Victoria Hall theatre panic in Sunderland, England, kills 183 children.

The first purpose-built roller coaster, LaMarcus Adna Thompson's "Switchback Railway", opens in New York's Coney Island amusement park.

A treaty annexing the Republic of Hawaii to the United States is signed; the Republic would not be dissolved until a year later.

Roald Amundsen leaves Oslo, Norway, to commence the first east–west navigation of the Northwest Passage.

The Ford Motor Company is incorporated.

Eugen Schauman assassinates Nikolay Bobrikov, Governor-General of Finland.

Irish author James Joyce begins a relationship with Nora Barnacle and subsequently uses the date to set the actions for his novel Ulysses; this date is now traditionally called "Bloomsday".

IBM founded as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company in Endicott, New York.

General election in the Irish Free State: The pro-Treaty Sinn Féin party wins a large majority.

Artek, the most famous Young Pioneer camp of the Soviet Union, is established.

Sovnarkom establishes decree time in the USSR.

The National Industrial Recovery Act is passed in the United States, allowing businesses to avoid antitrust prosecution if they establish voluntary wage, price, and working condition regulations on an industry-wide basis.

A Junkers Ju 52 aircraft of Norwegian Air Lines crashed into a mountainside near Hyllestad, Norway, killing all seven people on board.

The Soviet Union occupies Lithuania, which will eventually become the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR).

World War II: Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain becomes Chief of State of Vichy France (Chef de l'État Français).

Members of the Malayan Communist Party kill three British plantation managers in Sungai Siput; in response, British Malaya declares a state of emergency.

In a futile effort to topple Argentine President Juan Perón, rogue aircraft pilots of the Argentine Navy drop several bombs upon an unarmed crowd demonstrating in favor of Perón in Buenos Aires, killing 364 and injuring at least 800. At the same time on the ground, some soldiers attempt to stage a coup but are suppressed by loyal forces.

Imre Nagy, Pál Maléter and other leaders of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising are executed.

Psycho, a psychological horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and based on a novel of the same name by Robert Bloch, premiered.

While on tour with the Kirov Ballet in Paris, Rudolf Nureyev defects from the Soviet Union.

In an attempt to resolve the Buddhist crisis in South Vietnam, a Joint Communique is signed between President Ngo Dinh Diem and Buddhist leaders.

Soviet Space Program: Vostok 6 mission: Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space.

English musician David Bowie released his breakthrough album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

The largest single-site hydroelectric power project in Canada is inaugurated at Churchill Falls Generating Station.

Soweto uprising: A non-violent march by 15,000 students in Soweto, South Africa, turns into days of rioting when police open fire on the crowd.

Oracle Corporation is incorporated in Redwood Shores, California, as Software Development Laboratories (SDL), by Larry Ellison, Bob Miner and Ed Oates.

US President Ronald Reagan awards the Congressional Gold Medal to Ken Taylor, Canada's former ambassador to Iran, for helping six Americans escape from Iran during the hostage crisis of 1979–81; he is the first foreign citizen bestowed the honor.

Revolutions of 1989: Imre Nagy, the former Hungarian prime minister, is reburied in Budapest following the collapse of Communism in Hungary.

The Astronomy Picture of the Day website is launched.

Fifty people are killed in the Daïat Labguer (M'sila) massacre in Algeria.

The English rock band Radiohead released their landmark third album OK Computer in the United Kingdom.

The Secretary-General of the UN reports that Israel has complied with United Nations Security Council Resolution 425, 22 years after its issuance, and completely withdrawn from Lebanon. The Resolution does not encompass the Shebaa farms, which is claimed by Israel, Syria and Lebanon.

Padre Pio is canonized by the Roman Catholic Church.

Bhutan becomes the first country to institute a total ban on tobacco.

China successfully launches its Shenzhou 9 spacecraft, carrying three astronauts, including the first female Chinese astronaut Liu Yang, to the Tiangong-1 orbital module.

The United States Air Force's robotic Boeing X-37B spaceplane returns to Earth after a classified 469-day orbital mission.

A multi-day cloudburst, centered on the North Indian state of Uttarakhand, causes devastating floods and landslides, becoming the country's worst natural disaster since the 2004 tsunami.

American businessman Donald Trump announces his campaign to run for President of the United States in the upcoming election.

Jo Cox, a British Member of Parliament, was murdered in her constituency.

Shanghai Disneyland Park, the first Disney Park in mainland China, opens to the public.

Upwards of 2,000,000 people participate in the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, the largest in Hong Kong's history.

Adam Smith, Scottish philosopher and economist (died 1790)

Tupac Shakur, American rapper and producer (died 1996)

Barbara McClintock, American geneticist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1992)

Jürgen Klopp, German footballer and manager

Geronimo, Apache military leader (died 1909)

Gustaf V, King of Sweden (died 1950)

Mohammad Mosaddegh, Iranian educator and politician, 60th Prime Minister of Iran (died 1967)

Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (died 2020)

George Papandreou, Greek sociologist and politician, 182nd Prime Minister of Greece

Stan Laurel, English actor and comedian (died 1965)

Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Bulgarian politician, 48th Prime Minister of Bulgaria

Joyce Carol Oates, American novelist, short story writer, critic, and poet

Alexander Friedmann, Russian physicist and mathematician (died 1925)

Daniel Brühl, Spanish-German actor

Fernando Muslera, Uruguayan footballer

Georg Wittig, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1987)

Salawat Yulayev, Russian poet (died 1800)

Mithun Chakraborty, Indian actor and politician

Arnold Vosloo, South African-American actor

Jan Železný, Czech javelin thrower and coach

José López Portillo, Mexican lawyer and politician, 31st President of Mexico (died 2004)

Sibel Kekilli, German actress

Axel Oxenstierna, Swedish politician, Lord High Chancellor of Sweden (died 1654)

Laurie Metcalf, American actress

Bianca Andreescu, Canadian tennis player

Katharine Graham, American publisher (died 2001)

Park Bo-gum, South Korean actor

Arthur Meighen, Canadian lawyer and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Canada (died 1960)

Jack Albertson, American actor (died 1981)

Julius Plücker, German mathematician and physicist (died 1868)

Enoch Powell, English soldier and politician, Secretary of State for Health (died 1998)

Efraín Ríos Montt, Guatemalan general and politician, 26th President of Guatemala (died 2018)

John Cho, American actor

Urby Emanuelson, Dutch footballer

Henrietta Anne Stuart, Princess of Scotland, England and Ireland (died 1670)

Jean d'Ormesson, French journalist and author (died 2017)

Juan Velasco Alvarado, Peruvian general and politician, 1st President of Peru (died 1977)

Erich Segal, American author and screenwriter (died 2010)

Odion Ighalo, Nigerian footballer

George Gaylord Simpson, American paleontologist and author (died 1984)

Andy Weir, American novelist

Cobi Jones, American soccer player and manager

John Newman, English musician, singer, songwriter and record producer

John Tukey, American mathematician and academic (died 2000)

Bill Cobbs, American actor (died 2024)

The Ultimate Warrior, American wrestler (died 2014)

James Patrick Stuart, American actor

MC Ren, American rapper

Joseph Schooling, Singaporean swimmer

Irving Penn, American photographer (died 2009)

Vilmos Zsigmond, Hungarian-American cinematographer and producer (died 2016)

Roberto Durán, Panamanian boxer

Phil Mickelson, American golfer

Eddie Cibrian, American actor

Francisco León de la Barra, Mexican politician and diplomat (died 1939)

Emperor Konoe of Japan (died 1155)

Giacomo Agostini, Italian motorcycle racer and manager

Murray Leinster, American author and screenwriter (died 1976)

Valerie Mahaffey, American actress (died 2025)

Benjamin Becker, German tennis player