Events on May 16

• 1165Ramjbam and his family reach Acre Palestine
• 1527Florence becomes a Republic
• 1532Sir Thomas More resigns as English Lord Chancellor
• 1547Protestant German monarch surrenders to Karel in Wittenberg
• 1568Mary Queen of Scotland flees to England
• 1571Johannes Kepler, by his own calculations, is conceived at 4:37 AM
• 15847 Westfriese towns divide monasteries of Egmond / Blokker / St-Pietersdal
• 1605Camillo Borghese elected to succeed Pope Leo XI becomes Paul V
• 16062,000 foreigners murdered in Russia
• 1747Prince Willem V sworn in as admiral-general of Neth
• 1763Samuel Johnson meets his future biographer James Boswell in London
• 1770Marie Antoinette (14) marries future King Louis XVI (15) of France
• 1792Denmark abolishes slave trade
• 1795Hedges Treaty: Bataafse Republic becomes French vassel state
• 1796Lombardije Republic forms
• 1803Peace of Amiens ends
• 1804Senate and Tribune declare Napolean leader of France
• 1811Peninsular War-Allies defeat French at Albuera
• 1817Mississippi River steamboat service begins
• 1861Confederate government offers war volunteers $10 premium
• 1861Kentucky proclaims its neutrality
• 1862Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir builds 1st automobile
• 1864Atlanta Campaign-battle of Resaca, ends (since May 13)
• 1864Battle of Bermuda Hundred, Virginia
• 1866Charles Elmer Hires invents root beer
• 1866Congress authorizes nickel 5 cent piece (replaces silver half-dime)
• 1866US Treasury Department authorizes nickel
• 1868By one vote, Senate fails to impeach President Andrew Johnson
• 1869Cincinnati Reds play their 1st baseball game, win 41-7
• 1872Metropolitan Gas Company lamps lit for 1st time

Born on May 16

• 1558Andreas of Austria: Bohemia Cardinal / gov of the Netherlands (1598-1600)
• 1609Ferdinand: Austria -- Cardinal of Spain / Governor of the Netherlands
• 1641Dudley North: Financier / economist
• 1659Campegius Vitringa: Dutch theologist
• 1748Antonius van Alphen: Apostolic vicar of De Bosch
• 1761John Opie: Artist
• 1763Louis-Nicolas Vauquelin: Chemist (discovered chromium, beryllium)
• 1782John Sell Cotman: Water color artist
• 1801William Henry Seward: Secretary of State (1861-69, buys Alaska at 2 cents / acre)
• 1804Elizabeth Palmer Peabody: Educator / founder (US kindergarten)
• 1806George C Cadwalader: Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1879
• 1816Henry Hopkins Sibley: Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1886
• 1819Daniel Ammen: Captain (Union Navy), died in 1898
• 1822Eduard Hille: Dutch composer / conductor
• 1824Edmund Kirby Smith: Florida, United States -- General (Confederate Army), died in 1893
• 1824Levi Parsons Morton: (R) 22nd US VP (1889-93)
• 1827Petrus J H Cuypers: Architect (Amsterdam Museum, Central station)
• 1831David Edward Hughes: Inventor (microphone, teleprinter)
• 1832Philip Danforth Armour: Founder (Armour Foods)
• 1850Arthur Henry Mann: Organist / composer
• 1857Juan Morel Campos: Composer
• 1858Frank Lynes: Composer
• 1858Hanus Trnecek: Composer
• 1866Ernest Watson Burgess: US sociologist (ecological school)
• 1878Taylor Holmes: Newark, New Jersey -- Actor (Tobor the Great, Beware My Lovely)
• 1880Julian Tannen: New York, United States -- Comedian (Great Moment)
• 1887Bull Montana: Vogliera, Italy -- Actor (Brass Buttons, Victory)
• 1887J van Hoddis: Writer
• 1889Joan Collette: Dutch (male) painter (New Church, Delft)
• 1892Coenraad B van Haeringen: Linguist / etymologist (Dutch Dictionary)

Died on May 16

• 0942Saadiah Gaon: Head of Talmudic Academy of Sura
• 1434Pieter Appelmans: Flemish Architect / master builder, dies at about 60
• 1669Pietro da Cortona [Berrettini]: Painter / architect
• 1669Reyer Anslo: Writer / poet, dies at about 42
• 1691Jacob Leisler: Becomes 1st American colonist hanged for treason
• 1703Charles Perrault: Author / fairy tale writer
• 1754Giovanni Carlo Maria Clari: Composer, dies at 76
• 1762Ernst Chreistian Hesse: Composer, dies at 86
• 1768Cornelis Writer: Fleet supervisor, dies at about 81
• 1777Button Gwinnet: US revolutionary leader, dies from wounds
• 1782Daniuel Charles Solander: Botanist
• 1805Christian Brunings: Hydraulic engineer, dies at 68
• 1819Alexander van Bylandt: Military, dies at 75
• 1830Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier: Mathematician
• 1835Felicia Dorothea Hemans: Poet / hymn writer
• 1847Kaspar Ett: German Organist / composer, dies at 59
• 1863Lloyd Tilghman: Confederate Brigadier General, dies in battle at 47
• 1864Lean Bear: Cheyenne chief, murdered
• 1880Karl August Krebs: Composer, dies at 76
• 1892John Banvard: Painted worlds largest painting (3 mile canvas)
• 1892Theodoor J Canneel: Flemish painter, dies at 74
• 1903Eduard Rappoldi: Composer, dies at 72
• 1904N I Bobrikov: Russian Governor-General in Finland
• 1910Henri E Cross [Delacroix]: French painter, dies at 53
• 1918Eusapia Palladino: Napolitan, dies at 64
• 1926Mehmed VI Vahideddin (Mohammed Osman): Last Sultan of Turkey
• 1928Edmund William Grosse: Poet / author
• 1929Lilli Lehmann: Soprano
• 1932Ki Imukai: Premier of Japan (1931-32), murdered
• 1932William Pember Reeves: Politician / poet

Historical events on May 17

• 0352Liberius begins his reign as Catholic Pope replacing Julius I
• 0884St. Adrian III begins his reign as Catholic Pope
• 1525Battle at Zabern: Duke of Lutherans beats rebels
• 1536Anne Boleyns 4 "lovers" executed
• 1544Scot Earl Matthew van Lennox signs secret treaty with Henry VIII
• 1579Artois / Henegouwen / French-Flanders sign Treaty / Peace of Parma recognizing Spanish Duke van Parma as land guardian
• 16201st merry-go-round seen at a fair (Philippapolis, Turkey)
• 1630Italian Jesuit Niccolo Zucchi, 1st to see 2 belts on Jupiter surface
• 1631Earl Johann Tilly attacks Maagdenburg
• 1648Emperor Ferdinand III defeats Maximilian I of Bavaria
• 1672Frontenac becomes Governor of New France (Canada)
• 1673Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette begin exploring Mississippi
• 1678King Charles II and Louis XIV sign secret treaty
• 1712Maximilian Emanuel of Bavaria honored as "sovereign of the Netherlands"
• 1733England passes Molasses Act, putting high tariffs on rum and molasses imported to the colonies from a country other than British possessions
• 1742Frederick great (Emperor of Prussia) beats Austrians
• 1744French army takes Austrian Netherlands
• 1787English slave ship Sisters, from Africa to Cuba, capsizes
• 179224 merchants form New York Stock Exchange at 70 Wall Street
• 1794Hard frost in southern New England
• 1803John Hawkins and Richard French patent the Reaping Machine
• 1804Lewis and Clark begin exploration of Louisiana Purchase
• 1809Papal States annexed by France
• 1814Denmark cedes Norway to Sweden (National Day)
• 1814Norwegian constitution passed by constitutent assembly at Eidsvoll
• 1837Royal Decides installs the Weapon of Belgium firm (ly)
• 1845Rubber band patents
• 1846Saxophone is patents by Antoine Joseph Sax
• 1848Premier Earl Schimmelpenninck resigns
• 1849Fire destroy Centrum in St. Louis, Missouri

Born on May 17

• 1444Sandro Botticelli: Italian painter (Birth of Venus)
• 1451Engelbert II: Earl of Nassau-Dillenburg-Dietz / Viceroy of Luxembourg
• 1490Albrecht von Hohenzollern: 1st Duke of Prussia
• 1551Martinus A del Rio: Spanish / South Netherlands lawyer / historian / theologist
• 1568Christoph Thomas Walliser: Composer
• 1576Ferdinand van Apshoven [the Older]: Flemish painter
• 1691Antoine Court: French reformed theologist
• 1732Francesco Pasquale Ricci: Composer
• 1749Edward Jenner: England, United Kingdom -- Physician (discovered vaccination)
• 1768Caroline Brunswick: Queen Consort of King George IV
• 1794Anna Brownell Jameson: Dublin, Ireland -- Writer
• 1796Martinus J Niewindt: Bishop of Curacao (christen slaves)
• 1800Carl Friedrich Zollner: Composer
• 1803Robert Smith Surtees: Novelist
• 1804Ottho G Heldring: Dutch vicar / Reformer (Heldring Institutions)
• 1808Charles-Louis-Adolphe Vogel: Composer
• 1812Joseph Warren Revere: Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1880
• 1819Johann Nepomuk Kafka: Composer
• 1823Charlotte Helen Sainton-Dolby: Contralto / composer
• 1836Joseph Norman Lockyer: Discoverer (Helium) / founder (Nature magazine)
• 1846Edmund Bishop: English Secretary of Thomas Carlyle
• 1850Antonio Scontrino: Composer
• 1867Gerrit Mannoury: Dutch mathematician / philosopher
• 1871Henricus P Bremmer: Art historian (Modern Kunstwerken)
• 1873Dorothy Miller Richardson: Abingdon Berkshire, United Kingdom -- Novelist
• 1873Henri Barbusse: Asnieres, France -- Novelist (Le Feu)
• 1876Alban Collignon: Belgian sport journalist
• 1878Conway Tearle: US actor (Klondike Annie, Should Ladies Behave?)
• 1888Selmer Jackson: Iowa, United States -- Actor (Life & Legend of Wyatt Earp)
• 1889Alfonso Reyes: Mexican poet / historian / diplomat (Higenia Cruel)

Died on May 17

• 1050Guido van Arezzo: Italian music theorist
• 1510Alessandro di Botticelli: Painter (Birth of Venus), dies at about 65
• 1510Sandro Botticelli [Alessandro di Mariano del Filpepi]: Painter
• 1575Matthew Parker: Archbishop of Canterbury (1559-75), dies at 68
• 1591Jost / Jobst / Jodocus Amman: Swiss cartoonist / graphic artist, dies at 51
• 1606Forges Dimitri #1: Czar of Russia (1605-06), murdered
• 1695Cornelis de Heem: Painter
• 1727Catherine I: Empress of Russia (1725-27)
• 1729Samuel Clarke: Theologian
• 1796Jacob Wilhelm Lustig: Composer, dies at 89
• 1809Leopold Auenbrugger von Auenbrugg: Physician
• 1840Niccolo Paganini: Composer, dies at 57
• 1851Jean E "Adrian" van Bevervoorde: Journalist (Treason), dies at 31
• 1864N Hawthorne: Writer, dies at 59
• 1866Adolf Bernhard Marx: Composer, dies at 70
• 1872Fryderyk Edward Sobolewski: Composer, dies at 63
• 1883Lydia Estes Pinklham: Patent-medicine manufacturer
• 1884Louis Brassin: Composer, dies at 43
• 1889William Roxby Beverly: Artist
• 1914Peter Leyten: Bishop of Breda (1885-1914), dies at 79
• 1916Gervais Bernard Gaston Salvayre: Composer, dies at 68
• 1919Bohumil Pazdirek: Composer, dies at 80
• 1926Lucien Herr: French leader (Correspondance entre Schiller)
• 1930Herbert David Croly: US founder (New Republic), dies at 61
• 1931Johan [Eliza J] de Master: Art critic / writer
• 1931Timothy Cole: Wood engraver
• 1943Montagu Love: Actor (Wind), dies at 65
• 1945Jan van Geenen: Resistance fighter
• 1945Sasaki Shigetsu Sokei-an: Founder 1st Zen Institute of America
• 1950Eduardo Fabini: Composer, dies at 67

Events on May 18

• 1096Crusaders massacre Jews of Worm
• 1291Sultan of Egypt and his son take last Christian stronghold of Acre
• 1302Trades people assault on French garrison (Brugse Metten)
• 1385Peace of Doornik: Gent and Louis van Thoughts
• 1596Willem Barents leaves Amsterdam for Novaya Zemlya
• 1619Hugo the Great sentenced to life in prison
• 1631English colony Massachusetts Bay grants puritarian voting right
• 1631John Winthrop is elected 1st Governor of Massachusetts
• 1642Montreal Canada founded
• 1652Rhode Island enacts 1st law declaring slavery illegal
• 1703Dutch and English troops occupy Cologne
• 1756England declares war on France
• 17942nd battle of Bouvines (France-Austria)
• 1803Britain declares war on France after Napoleon Bonaparte continues interfering in Italy and Switzerland
• 1804Napoleon Bonaparte proclaimed Emperor of France
• 1828Battle of Las Piedras, ends conflict between Uruguay and Brazil
• 1830Edwin Budding of England signs an agreement for manufacture of his invention, lawn mower. Saturdays are destroyed forever
• 1843United Free Church of Scotland forms
• 1846US troops attack Rio Grande occupying Matamoros
• 1851Amsterdam-Nieuwediep telegraph connection linked
• 1852Massachusetts rules all school-age children must attend school
• 1860Republican Party nominates Abraham Lincoln for President
• 1861Friedrich Hebbels "Kriemhildes Rache, " premieres in Weimar
• 1863Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi
• 1864Battle of Yellow Bayou, LA (Bayou de Glaize, Old Oaks)
• 1866French Government of De Putte resigns
• 1889Jules Massenets opera "Esclarmonde, " premieres in Paris
• 1896US Supreme court affirms race separation (Plessy vs. Ferguson)
• 1897Irish Music Festival 1st held (Dublin)
• 1897New York Giant William Joyce sets record of 4 triples in 1 game

Born on May 18

• 1692Joseph Butler: Wantage Berkshire, United Kingdom -- Theologian
• 1711Ruggiero G Boscovich [Rudzer J Boskovic]: Italian astronomer
• 1744Joseph Beer: Bohemia clarinetist / composer (5th clarinet flap)
• 1759Charles Duquesnoy: Composer
• 1788Hugh Clapperton: Annan, Scotland -- African explorer
• 1797Frederik Augustus II: King of Saxon (1836-54)
• 1798Ethan Allen Hitchcock: Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1870
• 1815Thomas Stanhope Bocock: Rep (Confederacy), died in 1891
• 1817James William Denver: Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1892
• 1819Julius Hopp: Composer
• 1830Karl Goldmark: Keszthely, Hungary -- Composer (Sakuhtala)
• 1836Isidor Vorobchievici: Composer
• 1836Wilhelm Steinitz: Austria -- World chess champion (1866-94)
• 1850Oliver Heaviside: London, England -- Physicist (predicted ionosphere)
• 1854Bernard Zweers: Dutch composer (To my Fatherland)
• 1862Freiherr Albert von Schrenk-Notzing: German para-psychologist
• 1864Jan P Veth: Bayern -- Dutch painter / etcher / lithographer / art historian
• 1865William Heinemann: England, United Kingdom -- Publisher (Chemical Instrumental)
• 1868Nicholas II Aleksandrovitsj: Last tsar of Russia (1894-1917)
• 1869Ruprecht: Crown Prince of Bavaria / General-Field Marshal
• 1871Franiska zu Reventlow: Writer
• 1872Bertrand Russell: England, United Kingdom -- Mathematician / philosopher (Nobel 1950)
• 1875Guido Alberto Fano: Composer
• 1881Georgi Atanasov: Composer
• 1882Eduardo Fabini: Composer
• 1883Walter Gropius: Berlin, Germany -- Architect (Bauhaus school of design)
• 1885Eurico Gaspar Dutra: President of Brazil (1945-50)
• 1886Ole Windingstad: Composer
• 1887Ernst Wiechert: Writer
• 1889G Gunnarson: Writer

Died on May 18

• 0323Alexander III the Great: King of Macedonia / conqueror, dies at 32
• 0526John I: Pope (523-26)
• 1160Erik IX Helgi [The Saint]: King of Sweden
• 1410Ruprecht: Roman Catholics German King
• 1587Felix van Cantalice: Italian saint
• 1675Jacques Marquette: Jesuit / missionaries (Chicago), dies at 37
• 1692Elias Ashmole: Antiquary
• 1724Johann K Amman: Swiss / Dutch doctor for deaf-mutes, dies at 54
• 1733Georg Bohm: German Organist / composer, dies at 71
• 1767Thaddaus Ferdinand Lipowsky: Composer, dies at 28
• 1799Pierre de Beaumarchais: Dramatist
• 1808Jacob Albright [Albrecht]: German / US preacher, dies at 49
• 1829Bernardo Bittoni: Composer, dies at 72
• 1832Bonafacio Asioli: Composer, dies at 62
• 1839Carolina [Maria A] Bonaparte: Countess Lipona, dies at 57
• 1848William A Leidesdorf: Black, dies at 38 in San Francisco
• 1862William H Keim: US Union Brigadier General, dies in battle at 48
• 1864James Byron Gordon: Confederate Brigadier General, dies at 41
• 1909George Meredith: English Poet / writer (Diana of Crossways), dies at 81
• 1910Flor van Duyse: Composer, dies at 66
• 1913Otto Reubke: Composer, dies at 70
• 1918Toivo Kuula: Composer, dies at 34
• 1930Joao Marcellino Arroyo: Composer, dies at 68
• 1936Alick Maclean: Composer, dies at 63
• 1949James T Adams: US Historian (Pulitzer 1921)
• 1952Rossetter Gleason Cole: Composer, dies at 86
• 1955Mary McLeod Bethune: Educator and civil rights leader, dies at 79
• 1965Eduard J Dijksterhuis: Mathematician (Archimedes), dies at 72
• 1966Paul Althaus: German Theologist (That Christian Wahrheit), dies at 78
• 1967Richard Ainley: Actor (I Dood It, Above Suspicion), dies at 56