Editing August 16 (section)

===1601–1900===
*[[1652]] &ndash; [[Battle of Plymouth]]: Inconclusive naval action between the fleets of [[Michiel de Ruyter]] and [[George Ayscue]] in the [[First Anglo-Dutch War]].
*[[1777]] &ndash; [[American Revolutionary War]]: The Americans led by General [[John Stark]] rout British and [[Duchy of Brunswick|Brunswick]] troops under [[Friedrich Baum]] at the [[Battle of Bennington]] in [[Walloomsac, New York]].
*[[1780]] &ndash; American Revolutionary War: [[Battle of Camden]]: The British defeat the Americans near [[Camden, South Carolina]].
*[[1792]] &ndash; [[Maximilien de Robespierre]] presents the petition of the [[Paris Commune (French Revolution)|Commune of Paris]] to the [[Legislative Assembly (France)|Legislative Assembly]], which demanded the formation of a [[Revolutionary Tribunal|revolutionary tribunal]].
*[[1793]] &ndash; [[French Revolution]]: A [[levée en masse]] is decreed by the [[National Convention]].
*[[1812]] &ndash; [[War of 1812]]: American General [[William Hull]] surrenders [[Fort Shelby (Michigan)|Fort Detroit]] [[Siege of Detroit|without a fight]] to the British Army.
*[[1819]] &ndash; [[Peterloo Massacre]]: Seventeen people die and over 600 are injured in [[cavalry]] charges at a public meeting at St. Peter's Field, [[Manchester]], England.
*[[1841]] &ndash; [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[John Tyler]] vetoes a bill which called for the re-establishment of the [[Second Bank of the United States]]. Enraged [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig Party]] members riot outside the [[White House]] in the most violent demonstration on White House grounds in U.S. history.
*[[1844]] &ndash; Governor-general of the Philippines [[Narciso Clavería y Zaldúa|Narciso Claveria]], signs a decree to reform the country's calendar by skipping Tuesday, [[December 31]], as a solution to anomalies that had existed since [[Ferdinand Magellan]]'s arrival in [[1521]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thephilippinestoday.com/claverias-reform/|title=Claveria's Reform|publisher=The Philippines Today|author=Berto|date=July 28, 2022|access-date=March 18, 2023}}</ref>
*[[1858]] &ndash; U.S. President [[James Buchanan]] inaugurates the new [[transatlantic telegraph cable]] by exchanging greetings with [[Queen Victoria]] of the United Kingdom. However, a weak signal forces a shutdown of the service in a few weeks.
*[[1859]] &ndash; The [[Grand Duchy of Tuscany]] formally deposes the exiled [[House of Lorraine]].
*[[1863]] &ndash; The [[Dominican Restoration War]] begins when [[Gregorio Luperón]] raises the [[Flag of the Dominican Republic|Dominican flag]] in [[Santo Domingo]] after Spain had recolonized the country.
*[[1869]] &ndash; [[Battle of Acosta Ñu]]: A [[Paraguay]]an battalion largely made up of children is massacred by the [[Brazilian Army]] during the [[Paraguayan War]].<ref>Hooker, T.D., 2008, The Paraguayan War, Nottingham: Foundry Books, {{ISBN|1901543153}} p. 104</ref>
*[[1870]] &ndash; [[Franco-Prussian War]]: The [[Battle of Mars-la-Tour]] is fought, resulting in a [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussian]] victory.
*[[1876]] &ndash; [[Richard Wagner]]'s ''[[Siegfried (opera)|Siegfried]]'', the penultimate opera in his ''[[Der Ring des Nibelungen|Ring]]'' cycle, is premiered at the [[Bayreuth Festspielhaus]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=9 May 2008 |title=Richard Wagner |url=http://opera.stanford.edu/Wagner/main.html |access-date=17 August 2022 |website=OperaGlass}}</ref>
*[[1891]] &ndash; The [[Basilica of San Sebastian, Manila]], the first all-steel church in Asia, is officially inaugurated and blessed.
*[[1896]] &ndash; [[Keish|Skookum Jim Mason]], [[George Carmack]] and [[Dawson Charlie]] discover gold in a tributary of the [[Klondike River]] in Canada, setting off the [[Klondike Gold Rush]].
*[[1900]] &ndash; The [[Battle of Elands River (1900)|Battle of Elands River]] during the Second Boer War ends after a 13-day siege is lifted by the British. The battle had begun when a force of between 2,000 and 3,000 Boers had surrounded a force of 500 Australians, Rhodesians, Canadians and British soldiers at a supply dump at Brakfontein Drift.