Today in News History

On June 16, several notable moments in the history of News stand out. In 1811, Survivors of an attack the previous day by Tla-o-qui-aht on board the Pacific Fur Company's ship Tonquin, intentionally detonate a powder magazine on the ship, destroying it and killing about 100 attackers. In 1883, The Victoria Hall theatre panic in Sunderland, England, kills 183 children. In 1906, Alan Fairfax, Australian cricketer (died 1955) was born. In 1954, Matthew Saad Muhammad, American boxer and trainer (died 2014) was born. In 1955, In a futile effort to topple Argentine President Juan Perón, rogue aircraft pilots of the Argentine Navy drop several bombs upon an unarmed crowd demonstrating in favor of Perón in Buenos Aires, killing 364 and injuring at least 800. At the same time on the ground, some soldiers attempt to stage a coup but are suppressed by loyal forces. In 1971, Tupac Shakur, American rapper and producer (died 1996) was born. In 1976, Soweto uprising: A non-violent march by 15,000 students in Soweto, South Africa, turns into days of rioting when police open fire on the crowd. In 1997, Fifty people are killed in the Daïat Labguer (M'sila) massacre in Algeria. In 2013, A multi-day cloudburst, centered on the North Indian state of Uttarakhand, causes devastating floods and landslides, becoming the country's worst natural disaster since the 2004 tsunami. In 2019, Upwards of 2,000,000 people participate in the 2019-20 Hong Kong protests, the largest in Hong Kong's history. Together, these milestones provide historical context for today's news news and ongoing narratives.