Milestones for June 16

1871 New York City

Thirteen Masons found Mecca Temple, the first Temple of the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of Mystic Shrine - the Shriners - a body with almost 600,000 members today. A Master Mason must have achieved the 32nd degree in the Scottish Rite or the Knights Templar degree in the York Rite before he can petition to become a Noble of the Mystic Shrine, and receive additional instruction and explanation regarding the allegory and symbolism learned in the Masonic Lodge; Shriners are distinguished by an enjoyment of life expressed as "Pleasure without intemperance, hospitality without rudeness and jollity without coarseness." They also wear red fezzes, drive very small vehicles in parades and raise funds for what has become known as the "World's
Greatest Philanthropy", Shriners Hospitals for Children.

1884 Coney Island, New York

World's first roller coaster begins operating at Coney Island.

1904 Dublin, Ireland

Writer James Joyce first "walks out" with his future wife Nora Barnacle. As a tribute to her, he used this day in which he set all the action in his 1922 novel, Ulysses, which among other things is a modern retelling of Homer's Odyssey. June 16th is also now known as Bloomsday, named after the principle character, Leopold Bloom, a Jewish advertising canvasser, his wife, Molly, and friend Stephen Dedalus. In Dublin today, people dress up as characters from the novel, and there are readings of Ulysses in museums and theaters. [picture: Joyce in 1904; with Sylvia Beach at Shakespeare & Company, Paris]

1909 New York City

Glenn Curtiss sells his first commercial airplane, the Gold Bug, to the New York Aeronautical Society for $5,000; a year earlier, in 1908, he won the first leg of the three-legged Scientific American magazine competition for being first to fly in a straight line for more than a kilometer. He won the next leg in 1909, for establishing a distance record, then won the Gordon Bennett Trophy, plus the $5,000 prize, in the world's first international air meet at Reims, France. [picture: June Bug replica at Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport, NY]

1911 New York City

Founding of the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR) through a merger of the Tabulating Company (founded by Hollerith), the Computing Scale Company, and the International Time Recording Company; in 1914 Thomas J. Watson became President, merging the company into what became International Business Machines in 1924.

1922 College Park, Maryland

Henry Berliner, son of Emile Berliner, inventor of the gramophone and flat phonograph record, takes the first US helicopter flight at College Park, demonstrating his machine to the US Bureau of Aeronautics; it is based on a Neuport 23 fuselage, and utilizes two counter-rotating main roters, one attached to each wing tip; Emile Berliner began experimenting with vertical flight aircraft in the early 1900's, with a successful recorded tethered flight around 1909; the machine Henry flew could maneuver in all directions and could obtain a forward speed of about 40 mph, with main roter blades controlled by differential braking; he later added ailerons on the trailing edge of the main rotar blades to control pitch. Henry was the founder of Berliner Aircraft Company, later Berliner-Joyce Aircraft Co, which became part of North American Aviation in the early 1930s.

1947 New York City

The Dumont Network airs the world's first network TV news program - "News from Washington".

1963 Tyuratam, Kazakhstan

Cosmonaut Valentina 'Valya' Tereshkova blasts off from Tyuratam Space Station at 12:30 pm for three days in orbit, becoming the first woman in space; the 26-year-old Tereshkova, daughter of a Red Army soldier killed in World War II, orbited the earth 48 times in the Vostok 6 spacecraft; then toured the world promoting Soviet science; in 1963, she married Soviet cosmonaut Colonel Andrian Nikolayev, who had orbited the earth 64 times in 1962 in Vostok III; their daughter Yelena was born on June 8, 1964, and was carefully studied by doctors fearful of her parents' space exposure, but no ill effects were found. Tereshkova was a Deputy to the Supreme Soviet between 1966 and 1989, and a People's Deputy from 1989 to 1991. Quote: "I believe a woman should always remain a woman and nothing feminine should be alien to her. At the same time I strongly feel that no work done by a woman in the field of science or culture or whatever, however vigourous or demanding, can enter into conflict with her ancient 'wonderful mission' - to love, to be loved - and with her craving for the bliss of motherhood. On the contrary, these two aspects of her life can complement each other perfectly."
[picture: with Yuri Gagarin]

Other Events

0632 06 16 Origin of Persian [Yezdegird] Era
1338 06 16 German monarch declares pope & king's decree redundant
1487 06 16 Battle at Stoke: Henry VII beats John de la Pole & Lord Lovell
1567 06 16 Mary, Queen of Scots, imprisoned in Lochleven Castle prison Scotland
1624 06 16 Judge directs US colony Virginia to English crown
1673 06 16 Peace of Vossem: Fren King Louis XIV & Frederik Willem of Brandenburg
1745 06 16 English fleet occupies Cap Breton on St Lawrence River
1746 06 16 Battle at Piacenza: Austria & Sardinia beat Spanish & French army
1755 06 16 British capture Fort Beauséjour, expel Acadians
1775 06 16 Battle of Bunker Hill (actually it is Breed's Hill)
1775 06 16 Liberty Bell rang for the 2nd Continental Congress
1779 06 16 In support of the US, Spain declares war on England
1779 06 16 Vice-adm Hardy sails out of Isle of Wright against Spanish Armada
1784 06 16 Holland forbids orange clothes
1794 06 16 First stone layed at Dutch biggest grain windmill (De Walvisch)
1815 06 16 Battle at Ligny: French army under Napoleon beats Prussia
1815 06 16 Battle at Quatre-Bras: allies strike French
1822 06 16 Denmark Vessy leads slave rebellion in South Carolina
1823 06 16 King Willem I opens shipyard at Rotterdam-Antwerp
1832 06 16 Battle of Kellogg's Grove, Ill
1836 06 16 London Working Men's Assn forms
1842 06 16 Natchex Mississippi, hit by tornado; about 500 die
1858 06 16 Abraham Lincoln says A house divided against itself cannot stand
1861 06 16 Battle of Vienna, VA & Secessionville, SC (James Island)
1864 06 16 Battle of Lynchburg VA
1864 06 16 Skirmish at Golgotha Georgia
1864 06 16 Union Gen Grant begin siege of Petersburg, Va
1871 06 16 Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of Mystic Shrine founded, NYC
1873 06 16 Pres Grant decrees Wallowa Valley for Nez-Percé indians
1879 06 16 Gilbert & Sullivan's HMS Pinafore debuts at Bowery Theater NYC
1880 06 16 Salvation Army forms in Londo
1881 06 16 Austria-Hungary & Serbia sign military treaty
1882 06 16 17 hailstones weighing 1.75 lbs fall in Dubuque Iowa
1883 06 16 First baseball Ladies' Day (NY Gothams beat Cleve Spiders 5-2)
1884 06 16 First roller coaster used (Coney Island NY)
1884 06 16 On Coney Island, the first roller coaster begins operating
1893 06 16 RW Rueckheim invents Cracker Jack
1896 06 16 Temperature hits 127躘 at Fort Mojave, Calif
1898 06 16 China's emperor De Zong (Guang Xu) receives Kang Youwei
1899 06 16 Victor Trumper's first Test Cricket century 135* v England, Lord's
1903 06 16 First Highlander (Yankee) shut-out victory 1-0 over White Sox
1903 06 16 Ford Motors incorporates
1903 06 16 Pepsi Cola company forms
1904 06 16 Bloomsday (date of events in James Joyce's Ulysses)
1909 06 16 First US airplane sold commercially, by Glenn Curtiss for $5,000
1909 06 16 Jim Thorpe makes his pro baseball pitching debut for Rocky Mount (ECL) with 4-2 win, this will cause him to forfeit his Olympic medals
1913 06 16 South-African parliament forbids blacks owning land
1916 06 16 Boston Brave's Tom Hughes 2nd no-hitter beats Pitts, 2-0
1917 06 16 First Congress of Soviets convene in Russia
1917 06 16 49th Belmont: James Butwell aboard Hourless wins in 2:17.8
1922 06 16 Henry Berliner demonstrates his helicopter to US Bureau of Aeronautics
1923 06 16 Sun Yat Sen founds military academy
1924 06 16 South Africa all out 30 v England in 48 minutes, Gilligan 6-7
1927 06 16 31st US Golf Open: Tommy Armour shoots a 301 at Oakmont CC in Pa
1929 06 16 Otto E Funk, 62, ends marathon walk (NY to SF, 4165 miles in 183 days)
1931 06 16 Austrian govt of Ender falls
1932 06 16 Germany forbids SA/SS-gang fights
1932 06 16 Pres Hoover & VP Charles Curtis renominated by Rep Convention
1932 06 16 Sutcliffe & Holmes make 555 opening cricket stand for Yorks v Essex
1933 06 16 National Industrial Recovery Act becomes law (later struck down)
1933 06 16 US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) created
1935 06 16 US Congress accepts FDR's New Deal
1936 06 16 Dutch queen Wilhelmina opens the Waal bridge
1936 06 16 Pope Pius XI receives Anton Mussert (Dutch Nazi collaborator)
1937 06 16 Marx Brothers' A Day At The Races opens in LA
1938 06 16 Jimmie Foxx is walked a record 6 consecutive times by Browns
1938 06 16 St Louis Browns walk Boston Red Sox Jimmy Foxx 6 times in a row
1940 06 16 Communist govt installed in Lithuania
1940 06 16 General De Gaulle arrives in Bordeaux
1941 06 16 First US federally owned airport opened Wash DC
1943 06 16 Race riot in Beaumont Texas (2 die)
1944 06 16 Iceland adopts constitution
1944 06 16 King Edward VI visits Montgomery's HQ in Normandy
1944 06 16 US bombs Kyushu Japan
1945 06 16 71st Preakness: Wayne D Wright aboard Polynesian wins in 1:58.8
1945 06 16 Boo Ferriss loses to Yanks 3-2 after starting his career with 8 wins
1946 06 16 Annie Get Your Gun opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 1147 perfs
1946 06 16 46th US Golf Open: Lloyd Mangrum shoots a 284 at Canterbury GC Cleve
1947 06 16 First network news-Dumont's News from Washington
1947 06 16 Pravda denounces Marshall Plan
1949 06 16 Gas turbine-electric locomotive demonstrated, Erie Pa
1951 06 16 51st US Golf Open: Ben Hogan shoots a 287 at Oakland Hills CC Mich
1951 06 16 83rd Belmont: David Gorman aboard Counterpoint wins in 2:29
1952 06 16 Soviet Fighters shoot Swedish Catalina reconnaissance flight down
1953 06 16 Despite Johnny Mize 2,000th hit, Yanks lose ending 18 game win streak & also ending St Louis Brown 14 game losing streak
1954 06 16 Dutch military conscription shortened from 20 to 18 months
1954 06 16 Ngo Dinh Diem elected president of Vietnam
1955 06 16 Louise Suggs wins LPGA Triangle Round Robin Golf Tournament
1955 06 16 Pope Pius XII ex-communicates Argentine Pres Juan Peron
1956 06 16 56th US Golf Open: Cary Middlecoff shoots a 281 at Oak Hill CC NY
1956 06 16 88th Belmont: David Erb aboard Needles wins in 2:29.8
1957 06 16 French offensive in Algeria
1957 06 16 White Sox reliever Dixie Howell hits 2 HRs to beat Wash Senators 8-6
1958 06 16 Flip Top Box by Dicky Doo & The Don'ts hits #46
1958 06 16 Govt troops land on North-Celebes Indonesia
1960 06 16 Psycho, opens in NY
1960 06 16 Pres Eisenhower cancels trip to Japan
1961 06 16 Dave Garroway is fired as Today Show host
1961 06 16 Discoverer 25 launched
1961 06 16 Soviet ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev defects to West in Paris
1962 06 16 2 US army officers killed in Saigon
1962 06 16 Caspar Weinberger (Sec of Def 1981-87), indicted on Iran-contra charge
1963 06 16 Levi Eshkol replaces David Ben-Gurion as Israeli PM
1963 06 16 Ruth Jessen wins LPGA Cosmopolitan Women's Golf Open
1963 06 16 Valentina Tereshkova (USSR) is first woman in space, aboard Vostok 6
1964 06 16 Amnesty granted to 3,000 political prisoners
1964 06 16 Quake strikes Niigata Japan
1966 06 16 Rowan & Martin Show, debuts on NBC-TV
1966 06 16 20th Tony Awards: Marat/Sade & Man of La Mancha win
1967 06 16 50,000 attend Monterey International Pop Festival
1968 06 16 Mickey Wright wins LPGA 500 Ladies Golf Classic
1968 06 16 68th US Golf Open: Lee Trevino shoots a 275 at Oak Hill CC NY
1968 06 16 Lee Trevino is first to play all 4 rounds of golf's US open under par
1969 06 16 Supreme Court rules suspension of Adam Clayton Powell Jr from House
1970 06 16 Kenneth A Gibson elected first black mayor of Newark, NJ
1970 06 16 Race riots in Miami Florida
1971 06 16 Groningen soccer team forms in Groningen
1971 06 16 Racial disturbance in Jacksonville Florida
1973 06 16 Leonid I Brezhnev visit US
1974 06 16 74th US Golf Open: Hale Irwin shoots a 287 at Winged Foot GC NY
1974 06 16 Homer Simpson & Marge Bouvier wed
1974 06 16 Sandra Haynie wins Lawson's LPGA Golf Open
1975 06 16 Bucks trade Kareem Abdul-Jabber & Walt Wesley to LA for 4 players
1975 06 16 Italy's Communist party PCI, wins
1975 06 16 Randy Farland finds a 14-leaf clover near Sioux Falls, SD
1975 06 16 Supreme Court rules uniform minimum legal fees are a violation
1976 06 16 Student uprisings begin in Soweto, South Africa (Soweto Day)
1977 06 16 Beatlemania opens on Broadway
1977 06 16 Fianna Fail-party wins Irish elections
1977 06 16 Leonid Brezhnev named president of USSR
1977 06 16 Ron Guidry's first complete game, 7-0 over KC Royals
1978 06 16 Cin Red Tom Seaver no-hits St Louis Cards, 4-0
1978 06 16 Ringo releases Bad Boy album; Wings releases I've Had Enough
1979 06 16 Logical Song by Supertramp peaks at #6
1979 06 16 Carl Yastrzemski hits his 1,000th extra base hit
1979 06 16 Moslem Brotherhood kills 62 sheiks in Aleppo Syria
1980 06 16 Blues Brothers, premieres in Chicago
1980 06 16 Supreme Court rules new forms of life created in labs could be patents
1982 06 16 Britain requests Argentina arrange for return of prisoners
1983 06 16 Charlos Vieira completes 191 hr nonstop cycling in Leiria Portugal
1983 06 16 European Space Agency launches European Comm Satellite 1, Oscar 10
1983 06 16 Pope John Paul II visits Poland
1983 06 16 Ringo releases Old Wave album in West Germany
1983 06 16 USSR party leader Yuri Andropov elected president
1984 06 16 Edwin Moses wins his 100th consecutive 400-meter hurdles race
1984 06 16 Matt de Waal finishes 14,290-mi round trip from Salt Lake City (106d)
1985 06 16 85th US Golf Open: Andy North shoots a 279 at Oakland Hills CC Mich
1985 06 16 Pat Bradley wins LPGA Rochester Golf International
1985 06 16 T C Chen, ahead by 4 strokes in final round of US Open
1985 06 16 Willie Banks of USA sets triple jump record (58'11�) in Indianapolis quadruple bogies 5th hole & never recovers
1986 06 16 1 day general strike in South Africa
1987 06 16 Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, opens
1987 06 16 Subway gunman Bernhard Goetz acquitted on all but gun possession charges after shooting 4 black youths who tried to rob him
1988 06 16 Boston Red Sox Barrett steals home
1988 06 16 In Santa Barbara, CA, a team of 32 divers begin cycling underwater on a standard tricycle, to complete 116.66 mi in 75 hrs 20 mins
1989 06 16 Ghostbusters II premieres
1989 06 16 Funeral for Imre Nagg, leader of Hungarian uprising in 1956
1989 06 16 Only 17 hole-in-ones recorded since US open began, today 4 more are made all on 6th hole (Weaver, Wiebe, Pate & Price)
1990 06 16 U Can't Touch This by MC Hammer peaks at #8
1990 06 16 Nelson & Winnie Mandela visit Leidseplein, Amsterdam
1991 06 16 Fiddler on the Roof closes at Gershwin Theater NYC after 241 perfs
1991 06 16 -23] NYC Mayor Dinkins declares Joseph Doherty Week
1991 06 16 91st US Golf Open: Payne Stewart shoots a 282 at Hazeline Natl GC Minn
1991 06 16 Boris Yeltsin elected president of Russian SSR
1991 06 16 Colleen Walker wins LPGA Lady Keystone Golf Open
1991 06 16 Minnesota Twins win a team record 15 games in a row
1991 06 16 Otis Nixon steals NL record 6 bases in 1 day
1991 06 16 With 3 runs in 9th, Balt ends Twins 15 game win streak 6-5
1992 06 16 Colo Rockies first minor league team's (Bend Oregon in Class A) game
1992 06 16 Great Brit postage stamp 350 year battle near Edgehill
1992 06 16 Jeff King is 5th to be thrown out twice trying to steal in an inning
1992 06 16 Red Sox Mark Reardon sets record of 342 saves (vs Yanks 1-0)
1992 06 16 Longest salami is 68'9 & 25 circumference, weighed 1,492lbs/5oz in Flekkefjord, Norway
1993 06 16 Ken Griffey Jr slugs his 100th career home run in Seattle's
1994 06 16 Martin Brodeur becomes first Devil to win Calder Trophy
1995 06 16 Batman Forever opens with a record $528 million weekend
1995 06 16 Marlins outfielder Andre Dawson hits his 400th NL career HR (429)
1995 06 16 Salt Lake City awarded the XIX Winter Olympics in 2002
1996 06 16 First competitive game played on turf in Holland (in third grade)
1996 06 16 50th NBA Championship: Chic Bulls beat Seat Supersonic, 4 games to 2
1996 06 16 96th US Golf Open: Steve Jones shoots a 278 wins at Oakland Hills CC
1996 06 16 Liselotte Neumann wins First Bank Edina Realty LPGA Golf Classic
1997 06 16 31st Music City News Country Awards: Alan Jackson & LeAnn Rimes

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