August 16th
Month:
Day:
- 2008
Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt sets a new world record of 9.69 seconds to win the 100m gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics View Post →
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- 1501
Michelangelo is awarded the contract to create his statue of David for the Florence Cathedral
- 1904
Construction begins on Grand Central Station in New York City
- 1948
Babe Ruth dies
- 1954
The first issue of Sports Illustrated hits the newsstands
- 1977
Elvis Presley, American singer, dies at his home, Graceland, in Memphis, Tennessee
- 1989
A solar flare from the Sun creates a geomagnetic storm that affects microchips, halting all trading on Toronto's stock market
- 2005
West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 crashes near Machiques, Venezuela, killing all 160 on board
- 2018
British Columbia, Canada, declares a state of emergency due to 566 wildfires, leading to the evacuation of 3,000 people
- 2021
The first official water shortage is declared at Lake Mead, a major reservoir on the Colorado river supplying 40 million people, primarily affecting Arizona
