November 16 in history — What Happened Today in History

The first line of Bucharest Metro (Line M1) is opened from Timpuri Noi to Semănătoarea in Bucharest, Romania.

The Arecibo message is broadcast from Puerto Rico.

Skylab program: NASA launches Skylab 4 with a crew of three astronauts from Cape Canaveral, Florida for an 84-day mission.

U.S. president Richard Nixon signs the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act into law, authorizing the construction of the Alaska Pipeline.

Aeroflot Flight 2230 crashes near Koltsovo Airport, killing 107.

The Temptations release their Greatest Hits album, which goes on to be the Billboard Year-End R&B album of 1967.

Venera program: The Soviet Union launches the Venera 3 space probe toward Venus, which will be the first spacecraft to reach the surface of another planet.

National Airlines Flight 967 explodes in mid-air over the Gulf of Mexico, killing all 42 aboard.

Aeroflot Flight 315 crashes on approach to Lviv Airport, killing all 40 people on board.

UNESCO is founded.

World War II: In support of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, the town of Düren is destroyed by Allied aircraft.

The Jussi Awards, the Finnish film award ceremony, is held for the first time at Restaurant Adlon in Helsinki.

World War II: In response to the leveling of Coventry by the German Luftwaffe two days before, the Royal Air Force bombs Hamburg.

The Holocaust: In occupied Poland, the Nazis close off the Warsaw Ghetto from the outside world.

New York City's "Mad Bomber" George Metesky places his first bomb at a Manhattan office building used by Consolidated Edison.

LSD is first synthesized by Albert Hofmann from ergotamine at the Sandoz Laboratories in Basel.

The United States and the Soviet Union establish formal diplomatic relations.

Qantas, Australia's national airline, is founded as Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited.

The Federal Reserve Bank of the United States officially opens.

Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory join to form Oklahoma, which is admitted as the 46th U.S. state.

English engineer John Ambrose Fleming receives a patent for the thermionic valve (vacuum tube).

Canadian rebel leader of the Métis and "Father of Manitoba" Louis Riel is executed for treason.

The National Rifle Association of America receives its charter from New York State.

American Civil War: Confederate troops under General James Longstreet unsuccessfully attack Union forces in the Battle of Campbell's Station, allowing General Ambrose Burnside to secure and fortify Knoxville, Tennessee.

Fisgard Lighthouse, built in the Colony of Vancouver Island, shines its first light, becoming the first permanent lighthouse in present-day British Columbia

Second relief of Lucknow: Twenty-four Victoria Crosses are awarded, the most in a single day.

David Livingstone becomes the first European to see the Victoria Falls in what is now Zambia-Zimbabwe.

A Russian court sentences writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky to death for anti-government activities linked to a radical intellectual group; his sentence is later commuted to hard labor.

Denzel Valentine, American basketball player

George Akpabio, Nigerian footballer

Matthew Allwood, Australian rugby league player

Marcelo Brozović, Croatian footballer

Shane Prince, American-Belarusian ice hockey player

Nemanja Gudelj, Serbian footballer

Tomomi Kasai, Japanese actress and singer

Arjo Atayde, Filipino actor

Dénes Dibusz, Hungarian football player

Iamsu!, American rapper and producer

Eitan Tibi, Israeli footballer

Jordan Walden, American baseball player

Omar Mateen, Islamic terrorist, perpetrator of the Orlando nightclub shooting (died 2016)

Daniel Prodan, Romanian football player (born 1972)

David Canary, American actor (born 1938)

Michael C. Gross, American graphic designer and producer (born 1945)

Bert Olmstead, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1926)

Alton D. Slay, American general (born 1924)

Charles Champlin, American historian, author, and critic (born 1926)

Jovan Ćirilov, Serbian poet and playwright (born 1931)

Ian Craig, Australian cricketer (born 1935)

Juan Joseph, American football player and coach (born 1987)

Jadwiga Piłsudska, Polish soldier, pilot, and architect (born 1920)

Carl Sanders, American soldier, pilot, and politician, 74th Governor of Georgia (born 1925)

Robert Conley, American journalist (born 1928)

Billy Hardwick, American bowler (born 1941)