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: 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: 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).