July 16
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1945: First atomic bomb exploded near Alamogordo, New Mexico
On this day in 1945 the United States detonated the world’s first atomic bomb during the Trinity test in the desert near Alamogordo, New Mexico. The successful culmination of the top secret Manhattan Project marked the beginning of the atomic age and paved the way for the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki—and the end of World War II—just weeks later.
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U.S. Department of Energy; Photo Illustration Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Featured Event
© Justin Ide/Newsmakers/Boston Herald—Hulton Archive/Getty Images
John F. Kennedy, Jr., his wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and her sister Lauren Bessette were killed in a plane crash off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, while en route to a family wedding. [Is there a Kennedy curse?]
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Featured Biography
Image: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
American dancer and actress Ginger Rogers, born this day in 1911, achieved fame as the partner of Fred Astaire in a series of popular musicals and later won an Oscar for her dramatic performance in Kitty Foyle (1940).
Famous Birthdays
More on July 16
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2017
American filmmaker George A. Romero—who was known for his horror films, notably Night of the Living Dead (1968), which launched a series of related movies—died at age 77. [Test your knowledge of scary movies.]
© Margie Hurwich/Shutterstock.com
2004
Chicago officially opened its Millennium Park, which featured fountains, eye-catching sculptures, and a large outdoor concert facility designed by architect Frank Gehry. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about Chicago architecture.]
Ian Walton/Getty Images
2001
Jacques Rogge of Belgium was chosen to replace Juan António Samaranch as the president of the International Olympic Committee. [Take our quiz about Olympic history.]
© Jacques Pavlovsky—Sygma/Getty Images
1979
Saddam Hussein became president of Iraq, and his brutal rule, which lasted 24 years, was marked by costly and unsuccessful wars with neighboring countries as well as atrocities against the Iraqi people. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about the Middle East.]
KSC/NASA
1969
Apollo 11 lifted off from NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and four days later two of its astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, became the first humans to set foot on the Moon. [Test your knowledge of space exploration.]
© vouvraysan/stock.adobe.com
1965
The Mont Blanc Tunnel officially opened, linking France and Italy; at the time, it was the world’s longest vehicular tunnel, spanning 7.3 miles (11.7 km). [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about European history.]
Little, Brown and Company/Hachette Book Group USA
1951
J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, which centred on the sensitive, rebellious adolescent Holden Caulfield, was published and later became a classic. [Take our quiz about famous novels.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1941
American baseball player Joe DiMaggio set an MLB record for most consecutive games (56) with a hit. [How much do you know about baseball?]
Image: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1935
The world’s first parking meters were installed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; the device, which sought to ease congestion, was designed by Carl C. Magee. [Test your knowledge of inventors and their inventions.]
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (neg. no. LC USZ 62 15325)
1882
First lady (1861–65) Mary Todd Lincoln—the wife of Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of the United States—died at age 63. [Take our quiz about first ladies of the United States.]
Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum
1862
Ida B. Wells-Barnett, an American journalist who led a crusade against lynching, was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi. [How well do you know African American history?]
© Photos.com/Jupiterimages
1377
Richard II was officially installed as king of England, almost a month after the death of his grandfather, Edward III. [Test your knowledge of the kings of England.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Kenny Chmielewski
1054
Humbert of Silva Candida, cardinal and papal legate, excommunicated Michael Cerularius, patriarch of Constantinople, who retaliated by excommunicating the cardinal, which led to the East-West schism between the churches of Rome and Constantinople.
© Mawardibahar/Dreamstime.com
622
The Prophet Muhammad’s migration from Mecca to Yathrib (Medina), known as the Hijrah, began. The Hijrah marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar and one of the defining moments in Islamic history.