November 16 in History

1620 – British settlers found the first corn (maize) in North America, including Myles Standish and William Bradford, in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

1676 – First colonial prison was organized in Nantucket, Massachusetts. William Bunker was the first warden.

1801 – First edition of New York Evening Post was published. It is the US’ oldest continuously published daily newspaper.

1822 – Missouri trader William Becknell arrived in Santa Fe, New Mexico, over a route that became known as the Santa Fe Trail.

1841 – The first patent (#2,359) for a US life preserver of cork was issued to Napoleon E. Guerin of New York City for his “Improvement in Buoyant Dresses or Life-Preservers.”

1855 – David Livingstone became the first European to see the Victoria Falls in what is now present-day Zambia-Zimbabwe.

1910 – The first American driver to exceed the speed of ‘a mile a minute’ (60 mph) was of A.C. Bostwick on the Ocean Parkway Racetrack in Brooklyn, New York.

1907 – Oklahoma became the United States’ 46th state.

1914 – The Federal Reserve Bank of the United States (made up of 12 Federal Reserve Districts) officially opened for business.

1938 – LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) was first synthesized by Swiss chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann at the Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, Switzerland.

1940 – New York City’s “Mad Bomber” George Metesky set his first bomb at a Manhattan office building used by Consolidated Edison. He planted at least 33 over his career. He had gotten injured while working for Con Ed.

1945 – Two new elements were announced in Chicago: americium (atomic number 95) and curium (atomic number 96).

1945 – United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was founded.

#1 Hit November 16, 1959 – December 13, 1959: The Fleetwoods – Mr. Blue

1959 – The Sound of Music (Broadway Musical) Opened on November 16, 1959 and closed on June 15, 1963. It opened at Lunt Fontanne Theater New York City, starring Mary Martin and Theodore Bikel.

1963 – #1 Hit November 16, 1963 – November 22, 1963: Nino Tempo and April Stevens – Deep Purple

1965 – Venera 3 launched, and was the first to land on another planet (it crashed into Venus).

1965 – Walt Disney launched Epcot Center: Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow.

1973 – President Richard Nixon signed the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act into law, authorizing the construction of the Alaska Pipeline.

#1 Hit November 16, 1974 – November 22, 1974: John Lennon – Whatever Gets You Thru the Night

1981 – Luke and Laura’s wedding for ABC soap opera General Hospital was one of the most watched weddings in American television history.

#1 Hit November 16, 1985 – November 29, 1985: Starship – We Built This City

1992 – The Hoxne Hoard, the largest hoard of late Roman silver and gold discovered in Britain, was discovered by metal detectorist Eric Lawes in Hoxne, Suffolk.

2006 – Mary Poppins (Broadway Musical) Opened on November 16, 2006 and closed on March 3, 2013

2006 – Great Firewall of China began, giving the Chinese government much control over what could be seen online by its citizens.

2012 – Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 grossed $500 million in 24 hours to become the biggest entertainment launch of all time (so far).