May 16 in history — What Happened Today in History

Venera program: Venera 5, a Soviet space probe, lands on Venus.

The Chinese Communist Party issues the "May 16 Notice", marking the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.

Park Chung Hee leads a coup d'état to overthrow the Second Republic of South Korea.

Theodore Maiman operates the first optical laser (a ruby laser), at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California.

The Tritons' Fountain in Valletta, Malta is turned on for the first time.

Beginning of the Kengir uprising in the Gulag.

The first regularly scheduled transatlantic flights begin between Idlewild Airport (now John F Kennedy International Airport) in New York City and Heathrow Airport in London, operated by El Al Israel Airlines.

Beginning of the Levant Crisis between Britain and France in Syria. The latter try to quell nationalist protests but backs down after threat of military action by the British.

The Holocaust: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising ends.

Operation Chastise is undertaken by RAF Bomber Command with specially equipped Avro Lancasters to destroy the Mohne, Sorpe, and Eder dams in the Ruhr valley.

In Hollywood, the first Academy Awards ceremony takes place.

The first modern performance of Claudio Monteverdi's opera Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria occurred in Paris.

In Rome, Pope Benedict XV canonizes Joan of Arc.

A naval Curtiss NC-4 aircraft commanded by Albert Cushing Read leaves Trepassey, Newfoundland, for Lisbon via the Azores on the first transatlantic flight.

The Sedition Act of 1918 is passed by the U.S. Congress, making criticism of the government during wartime an imprisonable offense. It will be repealed less than two years later.

The victory military parade by the Finnish White Guard is held in Helsinki celebrating their decisive victory in the Finnish Civil War. The day also begin to be celebrated on the Defence Forces Flag Day before it is moved in 1942 to the June 4th.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the French Third Republic sign the secret wartime Sykes-Picot Agreement partitioning former Ottoman territories such as Iraq and Syria.

The International Electrotechnical Exhibition opens in Frankfurt, Germany, featuring the world's first long-distance transmission of high-power, three-phase electric current (the most common form today).

Nikola Tesla delivers a lecture describing the equipment which will allow efficient generation and use of alternating currents to transmit electric power over long distances.

The 16 May 1877 crisis occurs in France, ending with the dissolution of the National Assembly 22 June and affirming the interpretation of the Constitution of 1875 as a parliamentary rather than presidential system. The elections held in October 1877 led to the defeat of the royalists as a formal political movement in France.

A flood on the Mill River in Massachusetts destroys much of four villages and kills 139 people.

The United States Senate fails to convict President Andrew Johnson by one vote.

The United States Congress establishes the nickel.

American Civil War: During the Vicksburg campaign, the decisive Union victory by Ulysses S. Grant at the Battle of Champion Hill drives the Confederate army under John C. Pemberton back towards Vicksburg, Mississippi.

The first major wagon train heading for the Pacific Northwest sets out on the Oregon Trail from Elm Grove, Missouri, with 100 pioneers.

The Battle of Asseiceira is fought; it was the final and decisive engagement of the Liberal Wars in Portugal.

Juan Godoy discovers the rich silver outcrops of Chañarcillo sparking the Chilean silver rush.

Greek War of Independence: The Turks capture the Greek town of Souli.

Ashley Wagner, American figure skater

Amanda Carreras, Gibraltarian tennis player

Thomas Brodie-Sangster, English actor

Darko Šarović, Serbian sprinter

Omar Strong, American basketball player

Behati Prinsloo, Namibian model

Jesús Castillo, Mexican footballer

Martynas Gecevičius, Lithuanian basketball player

Jaak Põldma, Estonian tennis player

Tom Onslow-Cole, English race car driver

Megan Fox, American actress

Andy Keogh, Irish footballer

Shamcey Supsup, Filipino model and architect

Vito Favero, Italian cyclist (born 1932)

Bud Hollowell, American baseball player and manager (born 1943)

Clyde Snow, American anthropologist and author (born 1928)

Angelo Errichetti, American politician (born 1928)

Bryan Illerbrun, Canadian football player (born 1957)

Frankie Librán, Puerto Rican-American baseball player (born 1948)

Heinrich Rohrer, Swiss physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1933)

Paul Shane, British actor and comedian (born 1940)

Dick Trickle, American race car driver (born 1941)

Bernard Waber, American author and illustrator (born 1921)

Patricia Aakhus, American author and academic (born 1952)

James Abdnor, American soldier and politician (born 1923)

Chuck Brown, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (born 1936)