September 16

Events

307 – Emperor Severus II is captured and imprisoned at Tres Tabernae. He is later executed (or forced to commit suicide) after Galerius unsuccessfully invades Italy.

1400 – Owain Glyndŵr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers.

1620 – Pilgrims set sail from England on the Mayflower.

1701 – James Francis Edward Stuart, sometimes called the "Old Pretender", becomes the Jacobite claimant to the thrones of England and Scotland.

1732– In Campo Maior, Portugal, a storm hits the Armory and a violent explosion ensues, killing two thirds of its inhabitants.

1776 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Harlem Heights is fought.

1779 – American Revolutionary War: The Franco-American Siege of Savannah begins.

1810 – With the Grito de Dolores, Father Miguel Hidalgo begins Mexico's fight for independence from Spain.

1814 – Francis Scott Key completes his poem, "The Star-Spangled Banner", which would become the official national anthem of the United States on March 3, 1931.

1863 – Robert College, in Istanbul, the first American educational institution outside the United States, is founded by Christopher Robert, an American philanthropist.

1880 – The Cornell Daily Sun prints its first issue in Ithaca, New York. The Sun is the nation's oldest, continuously-independent college daily.

1893 – Settlers make a land run for prime land in the Cherokee Strip in Oklahoma.

1908 – The General Motors Corporation is founded.

1919 – The American Legion is incorporated.

1920 – The Wall Street bombing: A bomb in a horse wagon explodes in front of the J. P. Morgan building in New York City killing 38 and injuring 400.

1940 – World War II: Italian troops conquer Sidi Barrani.

1943 – World War II: The German Tenth Army reports that it can no longer contain the Allied bridgehead around Salerno.

1945 – World War II: The surrender of the Japanese troops in Hong Kong is accepted by Royal Navy Admiral Sir Cecil Harcourt.

1947 – Typhoon Kathleen hits Saitama, Tokyo and Tone River area, at least 1,930 killed.

1955 – The military coup to unseat President Juan Perón of Argentina is launched at midnight.

1955 – A Soviet Navy Zulu-class submarine becomes the first to launch a ballistic missile.

1956 – TCN-9 Sydney is the first Australian television station to commence regular broadcasts.

1959 – The first successful photocopier, the Xerox 914, is introduced in a demonstration on live television from New York City.

1961 – The United States National Hurricane Research Project drops eight cylinders of silver iodide into the eyewall of Hurricane Esther. Wind speed reduces by 10%, giving rise to Project Stormfury.

1961 – Typhoon Nancy, with possibly the strongest winds ever measured in a tropical cyclone, makes landfall in Osaka, Japan, killing 173 people.

1961 – Pakistan establishes its Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission with Abdus Salam as its head.

1963 – Malaysia is formed from the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak. However, Singapore soon leaves this new country.

1966 – The Metropolitan Opera House opens at Lincoln Center in New York City with the world premiere of Samuel Barber's opera Antony and Cleopatra.

1970 – King Hussein of Jordan declares military rule following the hijacking of four civilian airliners by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). This results in the formation of the Black September Palestinian paramilitary unit.

1975 – Papua New Guinea gains independence from Australia.

1975 – Cape Verde, Mozambique, and São Tomé and Príncipe join the United Nations.

1975 – The first prototype of the Mikoyan MiG-31 interceptor makes its maiden flight.

1976 – Armenian champion swimmer Shavarsh Karapetyan saves 20 people from a trolleybus that had fallen into a Yerevan reservoir.

1978 – The 7.4 Mw Tabas earthquake affects the city of Tabas, Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). At least 15,000 people were killed.

1980 – Saint Vincent and the Grenadines join the United Nations.

1982 – Lebanon War: The Sabra and Shatila massacre in Lebanon takes place.

1987 – The Montreal Protocol is signed to protect the ozone layer from depletion.

1990 – The railroad between the People's Republic of China and Kazakhstan is completed at Dostyk, adding a sizable link to the concept of the Eurasian Land Bridge.

1992 – The trial of the deposed Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega ends in the United States with a 40-year sentence for drug trafficking and money laundering.

1992 – Black Wednesday: The pound is forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism by currency speculators and is forced to devalue against the German mark.

1994 – The British government lifts the broadcasting ban imposed against members of Sinn Féin and Irish paramilitary groups in 1988.

2004 – Hurricane Ivan makes landfall in Gulf Shores, Alabama as a Category 3 hurricane.

2005 – The Camorra organized crime boss Paolo Di Lauro is arrested in Naples, Italy.

2007 – One-Two-GO Airlines Flight 269 carrying 128 crew and passengers crashes in Thailand killing 89 people.

2007 – Mercenaries working for Blackwater Worldwide shoot and kill 17 Iraqis in Nisour Square, Baghdad

2011 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 2008 and 2009 are adopted.

2013 – A gunman kills twelve people at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C.

2014 – The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant launches its Kobani offensive against Syrian–Kurdish forces.

Births

AD 16 – Julia Drusilla, Roman daughter of Germanicus (d. 38)

508 – Yuan Di, emperor of the Liang dynasty (d. 555)

1295 – Elizabeth de Clare, English noblewoman (d. 1360)

1462 – Pietro Pomponazzi, Italian philosopher (d. 1525)

1507 – Jiajing Emperor of China (d. 1567)

1557 – Jacques Mauduit, French composer (d. 1627)

1615 – Heinrich Bach, German organist and composer (d. 1692)

1651 – Engelbert Kaempfer, German physician and botanist (d. 1716)

1666 – Antoine Parent, French mathematician and theorist (d. 1716)

1678 – Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, English philosopher and politician, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (d. 1751)

1716 – Angelo Maria Amorevoli, Italian tenor and actor (d. 1798)

1722 – Gabriel Christie, Scottish-Canadian general (d. 1799)

1725 – Nicolas Desmarest, French geologist, zoologist, and author (d. 1815)

1745 – Mikhail Kutuzov, Russian field marshal (d. 1813)

1777 – Nathan Mayer Rothschild, German-English banker and financier (d. 1836)

1782 – Daoguang Emperor of China (d. 1850)

1823 – Francis Parkman, American historian and author (d. 1893)

1827 – Jean Albert Gaudry, French geologist and paleontologist (d. 1908)

1828 – Per Pålsson, Swedish murderer (d. 1914)

1830 – Patrick Francis Moran, Irish-Australian cardinal (d. 1911)

1837 – Pedro V of Portugal (d. 1861)

1838 – James J. Hill, Canadian-American railroad executive (d. 1916)

1844 – Paul Taffanel, French flute player and conductor (d. 1908)

1846 – Anna Kingsford, English author, poet, and activist (d. 1888)

1853 – Albrecht Kossel, German physician and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1927)

1858 – Edward Marshall Hall, English lawyer and politician (d. 1927)

1858 – Bonar Law, Canadian-Scottish banker and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1923)

1859 – Yuan Shikai, Chinese general and politician, President of the Republic of China (d. 1916)

1866 – Georg Voigt, German lawyer and politician, Mayor of Marburg (d. 1927)

1870 – John Pius Boland, Irish tennis player and politician (d. 1958)

1875 – James Cash Penney, American businessman and philanthropist, founded J. C. Penney (d. 1971)

1876 – Marvin Hart, American boxer (d. 1931)

1877 – Jacob Schick, American-Canadian inventor and businessman, founded Schick Razors (d. 1937)

1878 – Karl Albiker, German sculptor, lithographer, and educator (d. 1961)

1880 – Alfred Noyes, English author, poet, and playwright (d. 1958)

1881 – Clive Bell, English philosopher and critic (d. 1964)

1883 – T. E. Hulme, English poet and critic (d. 1917)

1886 – Jean Arp, Alsatian sculptor and painter (d. 1966)

1887 – Nadia Boulanger, French composer and educator (d. 1979)

1888 – W. O. Bentley, English race car driver and engineer, founded Bentley Motors Limited (d. 1971)

1888 – Frans Eemil Sillanpää, Finnish author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1964)

1891 – Karl Dönitz, German admiral and politician, President of Germany (d. 1980)

1891 – Stephanie von Hohenlohe, Austrian-German spy (d. 1972)

1893 – Alexander Korda, Hungarian-English director, producer, and screenwiter (d. 1956)

1893 – Albert Szent-Györgyi, Hungarian-American physiologist and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)

1895 – Zainal Abidin Ahmad, Malaysian author and scholar (d. 1973)

1897 – Milt Franklyn, American composer (d. 1962)

1898 – H. A. Rey, American author and illustrator, co-created Curious George (d. 1977)

1899 – Hans Swarowsky, Hungarian-Austrian conductor and educator (d. 1975)

1901 – Josef Schächter, Austrian rabbi and philosopher from the Vienna Circle (d. 1994)

1905 – Vladimír Holan, Czech poet and author (d. 1980)

1906 – Jack Churchill, Sri Lankan-English colonel (d. 1996)

1910 – Erich Kempka, German colonel and chauffeur (d. 1975)

1910 – Karl Kling, German race car driver and manager (d. 2003)

1911 – Wilfred Burchett, Australian journalist and author (d. 1983)

1911 – Paul Henning, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2005)

1914 – Allen Funt, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1999)

1915 – Cy Walter, American pianist (d. 1968)

1916 – Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw, Caribbean politician, 1st Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis (d. 1978)

1916 – Frank Farrell, Australian rugby league player and policeman (d. 1985)

1916 – M. S. Subbulakshmi, an Indian Carnatic Vocalist (d. 2004)

1916 – Frank Leslie Walcott, Barbadian cricketer, umpire, and politician (d. 1999)

1918 – Władysław Kędra, Polish pianist (d. 1968)

1919 – Bill Daley, American football player and sportscaster (d. 2015)

1919 – Laurence J. Peter, Canadian-American hierarchiologist and educator (d. 1990)

1919 – Andy Russell, American singer and actor (d. 1992)

1920 – Staryl C. Austin, American air force general (d. 2015)

1920 – Sheila Quinn, English nurse and educator

1920 – Art Sansom, American cartoonist (d. 1991)

1921 – Ursula Franklin, German-Canadian metallurgist (d. 2016)

1921 – Jon Hendricks, American singer-songwriter

1921 – Korla Pandit, American pianist and composer (d. 1998)

1922 – Guy Hamilton, French-English director and screenwriter (d. 2016)

1922 – Janis Paige, American actress and singer

1923 – Lee Kuan Yew, Singaporean lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Singapore (d. 2015)

1924 – Lauren Bacall, American actress (d. 2014)

1925 – Charlie Byrd, American singer and guitarist (d. 1999)

1925 – Charles Haughey, Irish accountant, lawyer, and politician, 7th Taoiseach of Ireland (d. 2006)

1925 – B.B. King, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2015)

1926 – Eric Gross, Austrian-Australian pianist and composer (d. 2011)

1926 – John Knowles, American novelist (d. 2001)

1926 – Rogers McKee, American baseball player (d. 2014)

1926 – Robert H. Schuller, American pastor and author (d. 2015)

1927 – Peter Falk, American actor (d. 2011)

1927 – Jack Kelly, American actor and politician (d. 1992)

1927 – Sadako Ogata, Japanese academic and diplomat, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

1928 – Rex Trailer, American television host, actor, and singer (d. 2013)

1928 – Lady Gwen Thompson, English author and educator (d. 1986)

1929 – Stan Stephens, American politician, 20th Governor of Montana

1930 – Anne Francis, American actress (d. 2011)

1931 – K. D. Arulpragasam, Sri Lankan zoologist and academic (d. 2003)

1931 – Little Willie Littlefield, American-Dutch singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2013)

1932 – Micky Stewart, English cricketer and coach

1933 – Steve Shirley, German-English businesswoman and philanthropist, founded Xansa

1934 – Elgin Baylor, American basketball player and coach

1934 – George Chakiris, American actor, singer, and dancer

1934 – Ronnie Drew, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2008)

1934 – Dick Heckstall-Smith, English saxophonist (d. 2004)

1935 – Carl Andre, American sculptor

1935 – Billy Boy Arnold, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1935 – Jules Bass, American director, producer, composer, and author

1935 – Bob Kiley, American-English businessman

1935 – Esther Vilar, Argentinian-German author and playwright

1937 – Aleksandr Medved, Russian wrestler

1937 – Vince Naimoli, American businessman and philanthropist

1939 – Breyten Breytenbach, South African-French poet and painter

1939 – Bill McGill, American basketball player (d. 2014)

1940 – Hamiet Bluiett, American saxophonist and composer

1940 – Butch Buchholz, American tennis player

1941 – Joe Butler, American singer, autoharp player, and drummer

1941 – Richard Perle, American political scientist and politician

1942 – Bernie Calvert, English bass player and keyboard player

1942 – Susan L. Graham, American computer scientist and academic

1943 – Wang Houjun, Chinese footballer and manager (d. 2012)

1943 – James Alan McPherson, American short story writer and essayist (d. 2016)

1946 – Mike Reynolds, Australian lawyer and politician

1946 – Camilo Sesto, Spanish singer-songwriter and producer

1947 – Dusty Hughes, English director and playwright

1947 – Enrique Krauze, Mexican historian, critic, and publisher

1948 – Ron Blair, American bass player

1948 – Rosemary Casals, American tennis player and sportscaster

1948 – Julia Donaldson, English author and playwright

1948 – Susan Ruttan, American actress

1949 – Ed Begley Jr., American actor and environmental activist

1950 – David Bellamy, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1950 – Henry Louis Gates Jr., American historian, scholar, and journalist

1950 – Loyd Grossman, American-English singer, guitarist, and television host

1951 – Vince Bell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1951 – Andy Irvine, Scottish rugby player and coach

1952 – Tony Cunningham, English educator and politician

1952 – Česlovas Laurinavičius, Lithuanian historian

1952 – Karen Muir, South African swimmer and physician (d. 2013)

1952 – Mickey Rourke, American boxer and actor

1953 – Alan Barton, English singer and guitarist (d. 1995)

1953 – Nancy Huston, Canadian-American author and translator

1953 – Mark Malloch Brown, Baron Malloch-Brown, English journalist and politician, 2nd Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations

1953 – Jerry Pate, American golfer and sportscaster

1953 – Eric Vail, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster

1954 – Sanjoy Bandopadhyay, Indian sitar player and composer

1954 – Earl Klugh, American guitarist and composer

1954 – William McKeen, American author and academic

1954 – Colin Newman, English singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer

1954 – Frank Reed, American singer-songwriter (d. 2014)

1954 – Roger Woolley, Australian cricketer

1955 – Ron Brewer, American basketball player

1955 – Robin Yount, American baseball player and coach

1956 – Maggie Atkinson, English educator and civil servant

1956 – David Copperfield, American magician and actor

1956 – Ross Greenberg, American journalist and antivirus pioneer (d. 2017)

1956 – Dave Schulthise, American bass player (d. 2004)

1957 – Clara Furse, English businesswoman

1957 – Norman Lamb, English lawyer and politician

1957 – David McCreery, Northern Irish footballer and manager

1957 – Anca Parghel, Romanian singer and pianist (d. 2008)

1958 – Orel Hershiser, American baseball player, coach, and manager

1958 – Neville Southall, Welsh footballer and manager

1958 – Jennifer Tilly, American actress and poker player

1959 – Peter Keleghan, Canadian actor and screenwriter

1959 – Tim Raines, American baseball player, coach, and manager

1959 – Dave Richardson, South African cricketer, manager, and lawyer

1959 – Victory Tischler-Blue, American bass player, director, and producer

1960 – Graham Haynes, American trumpet player and composer

1960 – Mike Mignola, American author and illustrator

1961 – Bilinda Butcher, English singer-songwriter and guitarist

1961 – Annamária Szalai, Hungarian journalist, economist, and politician (d. 2013)

1962 – Seth, Canadian author and illustrator

1963 – Richard Marx, American singer-songwriter and producer

1964 – Mary Coustas, Australian actress and screenwriter

1964 – Rossy de Palma, Spanish-French model and actress

1964 – Dave Sabo, American guitarist and songwriter

1964 – Molly Shannon, American actress, comedian and producer

1965 – Katy Kurtzman, American actress and producer

1965 – Karl-Heinz Riedle, German footballer and manager

1966 – Asanka Gurusinha, Sri Lankan cricketer

1966 – John Bel Edwards, American attorney and politician

1966 – Wil McCarthy, American author and playwright

1966 – Scott Workman, American stuntman and actor (d. 2013)

1966 – Kevin Young, American hurdler

1967 – Hiroya Oku, Japanese author and illustrator

1968 – Marc Anthony, American singer-songwriter, actor, and producer

1968 – Walt Becker, American director, producer, and screenwriter

1968 – Tommy Keane, Irish footballer (d. 2012)

1969 – Justine Frischmann, English singer-songwriter and guitarist

1969 – Janno Gibbs, Filipino singer-songwriter and actor

1970 – Mark Schultz, American singer-songwriter

1971 – Joel Heyman, American actor, producer, and screenwriter

1971 – Amy Poehler, American actress, comedian, and producer

1972 – Mark Bruener, American football player

1972 – Mike Doyle, American actor and producer

1972 – Alessandro Nunziati, Italian singer-songwriter and producer

1973 – George Corrie, English footballer

1973 – Justin Haythe, American author and screenwriter

1973 – Alexander Vinokourov, Kazakh cyclist and manager

1974 – Loona, Dutch singer-songwriter and dancer

1974 – Monique Brumby, Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

1974 – Joaquín Castro, American lawyer and politician

1974 – Julian Castro, American lawyer and politician, 16th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

1975 – Jason Leffler, American race car driver (d. 2013)

1975 – Shannon Noll, Australian singer-songwriter

1976 – Elīna Garanča, Latvian soprano

1976 – Tina Barrett, English singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress

1976 – Greg Buckner, American basketball player and coach

1977 – Gregory Ball, American captain and politician

1977 – Musiq Soulchild, American singer-songwriter

1978 – Dan Dickau, American basketball player and coach

1978 – Claudia Marx, German runner

1979 – Fanny, French singer

1979 – Bobby Korecky, American baseball player

1979 – Flo Rida, American rapper

1980 – Patrik Štefan, Czech ice hockey player

1980 – Kenny van Weeghel, Dutch wheelchair racer

1981 – Fan Bingbing, Chinese actress, singer, and producer

1981 – Alexis Bledel, American actress

1981 – LaVerne Jones-Ferrette, Virgin Islander sprinter

1982 – Leon Knight, English footballer

1982 – Michele Rizzo, Italian rugby player

1982 – Fiete Sykora, German footballer

1982 – Ryan Thomson, Scottish footballer

1983 – John Afoa, New Zealand rugby player

1983 – Katerine Avgoustakis, Belgian singer and pianist

1983 – Kirsty Coventry, Zimbabwean swimmer

1983 – Brandon Moss, American baseball player

1983 – Legedu Naanee, American football player

1984 – Sabrina Bryan, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress

1984 – Serginho Catarinense, Brazilian footballer

1984 – Katie Melua, Georgian-English singer-songwriter and guitarist

1985 – Max Minghella, English actor

1986 – Gordon Beckham, American baseball player

1986 – Kyla Pratt, American actress and singer

1987 – Merve Boluğur, Turkish actress

1987 – Kyle Lafferty, Irish footballer

1987 – Louis Ngwat-Mahop, Cameroonian footballer

1987 – Burry Stander, South African cyclist (d. 2013)

1987 – Travis Wall, American dancer and choreographer

1988 – Teddy Geiger, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor

1989 – Braden Holtby, Canadian ice hockey player

1989 – José Salomón Rondón, Venezuelan footballer

1989 – Dustin Tokarski, Canadian ice hockey player

1991 – Diāna Bukājeva, Latvian tennis player

1991 – Alexandra Paul, Canadian figure skater

1991 – Kyle Smith, English motorcycle racer

1992 – Vytenis Čižauskas, Lithuanian basketball player

1992 – Nick Jonas, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1992 – Jake Roche, English singer-songwriter and actor

1993 – Sam Byram, English footballer

1994 – Mitchell Moses, Australian rugby league player

Deaths

307 – Flavius Valerius Severus, Roman emperor

655 – Pope Martin I

1087 – Pope Victor III (b. 1026)

1100 – Bernold of Constance, German priest and historian (b. 1054)

1226 – Pandulf Verraccio, Roman ecclesiastical politician

1343 – Philip III of Navarre (b. 1306)

1345 – John IV, Duke of Brittany (b. 1295)

1360 – William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton (b. 1319)

1380 – Charles V of France (b. 1338)

1394 – Antipope Clement VII (b. 1342)

1406 – Cyprian, Metropolitan of Moscow (b. 1336)

1498 – Tomás de Torquemada, Spanish friar (b. 1420)

1589 – Michael Baius, Belgian theologian and academic (b. 1513)

1672 – Anne Bradstreet, English poet (b. 1612)

1701 – James II of England (b. 1633)

1736 – Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, Polish-Dutch physicist and engineer, invented the thermometer (b. 1686)

1792 – Nguyễn Huệ, Vietnamese emperor (b. 1753)

1803 – Nicolas Baudin, French explorer, hydrographer, and cartographer (b. 1754)

1819 – John Jeffries, American physician and surgeon (b. 1744)

1824 – Louis XVIII of France (b. 1755)

1843 – Ezekiel Hart, Canadian businessman and politician (b. 1770)

1845 – Thomas Davis, Irish poet and publisher (b. 1814)

1865 – Christian de Meza, Danish general (b. 1792)

1887 – Sakaigawa Namiemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 14th Yokozuna (b. 1841)

1896 – Antônio Carlos Gomes, Brazilian composer (b. 1836)

1896 – Pavlos Kalligas, Greek jurist and politician, Foreign Minister of Greece (b. 1814)

1898 – Ramón Emeterio Betances, Puerto Rican surgeon and politician (b. 1827)

1911 – Edward Whymper, English-French mountaineer, explorer, and author (b. 1840)

1914 – C. X. Larrabee, American businessman (b. 1843)

1925 – Leo Fall, Czech-Austrian composer (b. 1873)

1925 – Alexander Friedmann, Russian physicist and mathematician (b. 1888)

1931 – Omar Mukhtar, Libyan theorist and educator (b. 1862)

1932 – Ronald Ross, Indian-English physician and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1857)

1933 – George Gore, American baseball player and manager (b. 1857)

1936 – Jean-Baptiste Charcot, French physician and explorer (b. 1867)

1940 – Charles Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington, English-Scottish politician, 8th Governor of Queensland (b. 1860)

1944 – Gustav Bauer, German journalist and politician, 11th Chancellor of Germany (b. 1870)

1945 – John McCormack, Irish tenor and actor (b. 1884)

1946 – James Hopwood Jeans, English physicist, astronomer, and mathematician (b. 1877)

1950 – Pedro de Cordoba, American actor (b. 1881)

1955 – Leo Amery, Indian-English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (b. 1873)

1961 – Hasan Polatkan, Turkish politician, 15th Turkish Minister of Finance (b. 1915)

1961 – Fatin Rüştü Zorlu, Turkish diplomat and politician, 21st Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1910)

1965 – Ahn Eak-tai, North Korean composer and conductor (b. 1906)

1965 – Fred Quimby, American animator and producer (b. 1886)

1973 – Víctor Jara, Chilean singer-songwriter, teacher and theatre director (b. 1932)

1977 – Marc Bolan, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1947)

1977 – Maria Callas, Greek operatic soprano (b. 1923)

1980 – Jean Piaget, Swiss psychologist and philosopher (b. 1896)

1984 – Louis Réard, French engineer and fashion designer, created the bikini (b. 1897)

1984 – Richard Brautigan, American novelist, poet, and short story writer (b. 1935)

1987 – Christopher Soames, English soldier and politician, Governor of Southern Rhodesia (b. 1920)

1991 – Olga Spessivtseva, Russian-American ballerina (b. 1895)

1992 – Millicent Fenwick, American journalist and politician (b. 1910)

1993 – František Jílek, Czech conductor (b. 1913)

1993 – Oodgeroo Noonuccal, Australian poet and activist (b. 1920)

1996 – McGeorge Bundy, American intelligence officer and diplomat, 6th United States National Security Advisor (b. 1919)

1996 – Gene Nelson, American actor, dancer, and director (b. 1920)

2000 – Georgiy Gongadze, Georgian-Ukrainian journalist and director (b. 1969)

2001 – Samuel Z. Arkoff, American producer (b. 1918)

2002 – James Gregory, American actor (b. 1911)

2003 – Sheb Wooley, American singer-songwriter (b. 1921)

2004 – Michael Donaghy American-English poet and author (b. 1954)

2005 – Harry Freedman, Canadian horn player, composer, and educator (b. 1922)

2005 – Gordon Gould, American physicist and academic, invented the laser (b. 1920)

2006 – Floyd Curry, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1925)

2007 – Robert Jordan, American engineer and author (b. 1948)

2008 – Norman Whitfield, American songwriter and producer (b. 1940)

2009 – Myles Brand, American philosopher and academic (b. 1942)

2009 – Ernst Märzendorfer, Austrian conductor (b. 1921)

2009 – Mary Travers, American singer-songwriter (b. 1936)

2010 – George N. Parks, American educator and bandleader (b. 1953)

2010 – Jim Towers, English footballer (b. 1933)

2011 – Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, American singer-songwriter, harmonica player, and drummer (b. 1936)

2012 – Roman Kroitor, Canadian director and producer, co-founded IMAX (b. 1926)

2012 – Julien J. LeBourgeois, American admiral (b. 1923)

2012 – Friedrich Zimmermann, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of the Interior (b. 1925)

2013 – Scott Adams, American football player (b. 1966)

2013 – Ratiba El-Hefny, Egyptian soprano and director (b. 1931)

2014 – H. M. Fowler American sergeant and politician (b. 1918)

2015 – Guy Béart, Egyptian-French singer-songwriter (b. 1930)

2015 – Julio Brady, Virgin Islander lawyer, judge, and politician, 5th Lieutenant Governor of the United States Virgin Islands (b. 1942)

2015 – Kurt Oppelt, Austrian figure skater and coach (b. 1932)

2015 – Allan Wright, English captain and pilot (b. 1920)

2016 – Edward Albee, American director and playwright (b. 1928)

2016 – Gabriele Amorth, Italian priest and exorcist (b. 1925)

2016 – Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Italian economist and politician, 10th President of Italy and 49th Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1920)

2016 – W. P. Kinsella, American novelist (b. 1935)

2016 – António Mascarenhas Monteiro, Cabo Verdean politician, 2nd President of Cape Verde (b. 1944)

2016 – Gérard Louis-Dreyfus, French-born American businessman

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day:

Andrew Kim Taegon (one of The Korean Martyrs)

Curcodomus

Cyprian (Catholic Church)

Edith of Wilton

Euphemia

Ludmila

Ninian

Pope Cornelius

September 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics).

Owain Glyndŵr Day, celebrates the life of Owain Glyndŵr who became Prince of Wales on this day in 1400.

Cry of Dolores, celebrates the declaration of independence of Mexico from Spain in 1810. See Fiestas Patrias

Independence Day (Papua New Guinea), celebrates the independence of Papua New Guinea from Australia in 1975.

International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer

Malaysian Armed Forces Day (Malaysia)

Malaysia Day (Malaysia, Singapore)

Martyrs' Day (Libya)

National Heroes Day (Saint Kitts and Nevis)

National Guacamole Day (United States)

Stay Away from Seattle Day (Chase's Calendar of Events)