Date·Lore

On This Day · The 350th day of the year

December 16

December 16's record stretches 290 years, from 1707 to 1997. Its center of gravity is the 20th century, and conflict is a recurring thread.

♐ZodiacSagittarius ◈BirthstoneTurquoise ❀Birth flowerHolly

Sagittarius is the sign for December 16 — read more on the Sagittarius page, or see December's birthstone & birth flower.

Compiled & reviewed by · Last reviewed September 6, 2026

What happened on December 16?

December 16 is the 350th day of the year. It marks 10 notable events in history, dated between 1707 and 1997. Famous people born on December 16 include Ludwig van Beethoven, Leopold I of Belgium and Léon Walras.

Released on December 16

Movies, games, albums & shows

2025

  • Game Pioner
  • Movie The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants

2022

  • Game The Block

2021

  • Game The Gunk

Release data from TMDB & IGDB.

Events

10 notable moments
  1. 1707

    Hōei eruption

  2. 1761

    Seven Years' War

  3. 1773

    American Revolution

  4. 1811

    1811–1812 New Madrid earthquakes

  5. 1914

    World War I

  6. 1920

    1920 Haiyuan earthquake

  7. 1942

    The Holocaust

  8. 1944

    World War II

  9. 1971

    Bahrain

  10. 1997

    Dennō Senshi Porygon

Famous birthday twins

Born on December 16

Ludwig van Beethoven

b. 1770

Leopold I of Belgium

b. 1790

Léon Walras

b. 1834

Bill Hicks

b. 1961

Jane Austen

b. 1775

Arthur C. Clarke

b. 1917

Heike Drechsler

b. 1964

Johann Wilhelm Ritter

b. 1776

Deaths

  • 1922Gabriel Narutowicz
  • 1859Wilhelm Grimm
  • 1774François Quesnay
  • 1598Yi Sun-sin
  • 705Wu Zetian

Holidays & observances

  • —Christian feast day: Adelaide of Italy
  • —Christian feast day: Haggai
  • —Christian feast day: Blessed Marianna Fontanella
  • —Christian feast day: Blessed Philip Siphong Onphitak
  • —Christian feast day: Ralph Adams Cram, Richard Upjohn and John La Farge (Episcopal Church (USA))
  • —Christian feast day: December 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • —Day of Reconciliation, formerly celebrated as Day of the Vow by the Afrikaners (South Africa)
  • —Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Kazakhstan from the Soviet Union in 1991.

The factual record above — event titles, dates, names, and observances — is drawn from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license. DateLore adds curation, structure, and original editorial commentary. DateLore is not affiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation.

About the author

Roman Tailor compiles and reviews every date on DateLore. He's the writer and editor behind the site's editorial essays and the day-by-day almanac. Corrections and questions are welcome — read more about DateLore or get in touch.

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