The United States Senate ratifies the Rush–Bagot Treaty📜 HISTORICAL EVENTS🌍 UNITED STATES🗓️ 16 April 1818Upper house of the US Congress
American Civil War: The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act📜 WARS🌍 UNITED STATES🗓️ 16 April 18621862 U.S. federal law ending slavery in DC
American Civil War: Battle at Lee’s Mills in Virginia.📜 POLITICS🌍 UNITED STATES🗓️ 16 April 18621861–1865 conflict in the United States
American Civil War: During the Vicksburg Campaign📜 INDIAN ARMY🌍 UNITED STATES🗓️ 16 April 1863Military campaign of the American Civil War
The Senate of the Grand Duchy of Finland issues a declaration establishing a city of Kotka on the southern part islands from the old Kymi parish.📜 CITIES🌍 GLOBAL🗓️ 16 April 1878Historical government body in Finland from 1816 to 1918
Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel.📜 CINEMA🌍 UNITED STATES🗓️ 16 April 1912American aviation pioneer (1875–1912)
Russian Revolution: Vladimir Lenin returns to Petrograd📜 WARS🌍 RUSSIA🗓️ 16 April 19171917–1922 civil war in Russia
The United States Army liberates Nazi Sonderlager (high security) prisoner-of-war camp Oflag IV-C (better known as Colditz).📜 INDIAN ARMY🌍 UNITED STATES🗓️ 16 April 1945Land service branch of the U.S. military
Bernard Baruch first applies the term “Cold War” to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union.📜 WARS🌍 UNITED STATES🗓️ 16 April 1947American businessman (1870–1965)
An explosion on board a freighter in port causes Texas City in the state of Texas📜 HISTORY🌍 UNITED STATES🗓️ 16 April 19471947 explosions at Texas City, Texas
U.S. civil rights campaigner Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. writes his open letter from Birmingham Jail📜 HISTORICAL EVENTS🌍 UNITED STATES🗓️ 16 April 1963American minister and civil rights activist (1929–1968)
Apollo program: The launch of Apollo 16 from Cape Canaveral📜 HISTORICAL EVENTS🌍 UNITED STATES🗓️ 16 April 19721961–1972 American crewed lunar exploration program
The New York Times and the New Yorker win the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for breaking news of the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse scandal.📜 CITIES🌍 UNITED STATES🗓️ 16 April 2018American daily newspaper
The Pocotaligo Massacre triggers the start of the Yamasee War in colonial South Carolina.📜 WARS🌍 UNITED STATES🗓️ 15 April 1715Conflict between Carolinian colonial settlers and Native American tribes (1715–17)
Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc found the American School for the Deaf (then called the Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons)📜 HISTORICAL EVENTS🌍 UNITED STATES🗓️ 15 April 1817American educator (1787–1851)
President Abraham Lincoln calls for 75📜 WARS🌍 UNITED STATES🗓️ 15 April 1861President of the United States from 1861 to 1865
President Abraham Lincoln dies after being shot the previous evening by actor John Wilkes Booth. Three hours later📜 WARS🌍 UNITED STATES🗓️ 15 April 18651865 murder in Washington, D.C., US
The General Electric Company is formed.📜 HISTORICAL EVENTS🌍 UNITED STATES🗓️ 15 April 1892American multinational conglomerate (1892–2024)
Philippine–American War: Filipino guerrillas launch a surprise attack on U.S. infantry and begin a four-day siege of Catubig📜 WARS🌍 UNITED STATES🗓️ 15 April 1900Armed Philippine-American conflict (1899–1902)