January 16: What Happened on This Day in History (High_school Level)?

(Page last edited 10/12/2017)

1. 1492 - The first grammar of the Spanish language is presented to Queen Isabella I.
2. 1581 - The English Parliament outlaws Roman Catholicism.
3. 1605 - The first edition of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (Book One of Don Quixote) by Miguel de Cervantes is published in Madrid, Spain.
4. 1707 - The Scottish Parliament ratifies the Act of Union, paving the way for the creation of Great Britain.
5. 1786 - Virginia enacted the Statute for Religious Freedom authored by Thomas Jefferson.
6. 1909 - Ernest Shackleton's expedition finds the magnetic South Pole.
7. 1920 - The League of Nations holds its first council meeting in Paris, France.
8. 1969 - Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 perform the first-ever docking of manned spacecraft in orbit, the first-ever transfer of crew from one space vehicle to another, and the only time such a transfer was accomplished with a space walk.
9. 2003 - The Space Shuttle Columbia takes off for mission STS-107 which would be its final one. Columbia disintegrated 16 days later on re-entry.
10. 2006 - Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is sworn in as Liberia's new president. She becomes Africa's first female elected head of state.
11. Famous Birthdays: Johannes Schöner (German astronomer and cartographer), André Michelin (French businessman, co-founded the Michelin Tyre Company), Frank Zamboni (American inventor and businessman, invented the Ice resurfacer), Jerome Horwitz (American scientist), Robert L. Park (American physicist)

For famous birthdays and other daily events in history, visit our Daily Dose Activities.

Click Here for Yesterday in History: January 15

Click Here for Tomorrow in History: January 17

For more history resources on Internet 4 Classrooms, visit our Social Studies and History index. For Pre K-8th Grade Level History and Social Studies Resources, visit our Grade Level Index.