July 16

1054 – Three Roman legates break relations between Western and Eastern Christian Churches through the act of placing a Papal Bull of Excommunication on the altar of Hagia Sophia during divine liturgy. This is generally considered as the start of the East–West (Roman Catholic- Orthodox Catholic) Schism.

1212 –After Pope Innocent III calls European knights to a crusade, the forces of Kings Alfonso VIII of Castile, Sancho VII of Navarre, Peter II of Aragon and Afonso II of Portugal inflict a serious defeat on those of the Berber moslem leader Almohad near Santa Elena, Jaén, marking a significant turning point in the Reconquista

1536 – French navigator and explorer, Jacques Cartier returns home to the port of St. Malo after claiming Stadacona (Quebec), Hochelaga (Montreal) and the River of Canada (St. Lawrence River) region for France.

1661 – The first banknotes in Europe are issued by the Swedish bank Stockholms Banco.

1769 – FR Junípero Serra founds California’s first mission, Mission San Diego de Alcalá.

1779 – The Continental Army seizes a fortified British Army position in a midnight bayonet attack at the Battle of Stony Point.
What Is The Spirit Of The Bayonet? To KILL!!
What Makes The Grass Grow? BLOOD!!

1790 – The Residence Act establishes the District of Columbia as the capital of the U.S.

1809 – The city of La Paz, Bolivia declares its independence from the Spanish Crown

1861 – Union troops begin a march into Virginia for what will become the First Battle of Bull Run.

1862 – David Farragut is promoted to Rear Admiral, becoming the first officer in the United States Navy to hold an admiral rank.

1886 – Edward Judson Sr.,  more well known by his pseudonym Ned Buntline, dies at his home in Stamford, New York

1931 – Emperor Haile Selassie signs the first constitution of Ethiopia.

1935 – The world’s first parking meter is installed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

1941 – Joe DiMaggio hits safely for the 56th consecutive game

1945 – The U.S. Army’s G Division successfully detonates the ‘Gadget’, a implosion type plutonium nuclear device, near Alamogordo, New Mexico.
The cruiser USS Indianapolis leaves San Francisco, bound for Tinian Island, with parts for the gun type uranium nuclear weapon ‘Little Boy’.

1948 – The city of Nazareth capitulates to Israeli troops during the Arab–Israeli War.

1950 – During the battle of Taejon, 30 American POWs are murdered by the North Korean Army.

1956 – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus closes its last “Big Tent” show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, due to changing economics. All subsequent circus shows will be held in arenas.

1969 – Apollo 11, commanded by astronaut Neil Armstrong, with crew Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins aboard is launched from launch complex LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center

1979 – Iraqi President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr resigns and is replaced by Saddam Hussein.

1994 – Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 is destroyed in a head on collision with Jupiter as predicted by the astronomers who discovered it.

1999 – John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife, Carolyn, and her sister, Lauren Bessette, die when the aircraft, a Piper Saratoga PA-32R,  he was piloting crashes off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard.

2015 – Four U.S. Marines die in an attack by a moslem terrorist targeting military installations in Chattanooga, Tennessee.