Editing May 16 (section)

===1901–present===
*[[1916]] &ndash; The [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]] and the [[French Third Republic]] sign the secret wartime [[Sykes-Picot Agreement]] [[partitioning of the Ottoman Empire|partitioning former Ottoman territories]] such as [[Iraq]] and [[Syria]].
*[[1918]] &ndash; The [[Sedition Act of 1918]] is passed by the U.S. Congress, making criticism of the government during wartime an imprisonable offense. It will be repealed less than two years later.
*[[1919]] &ndash; A naval [[Curtiss NC-4]] aircraft commanded by [[Albert Cushing Read]] leaves [[Trepassey]], [[Newfoundland and Labrador|Newfoundland]], for [[Lisbon]] via the [[Azores]] on the first [[transatlantic flight]].
*[[1920]] &ndash; In Rome, [[Pope Benedict XV]] [[Canonization of Joan of Arc|canonizes Joan of Arc]].
*[[1925]] &ndash; The first modern performance of [[Claudio Monteverdi]]'s opera ''[[Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria]]'' occurred in [[Paris]].<ref>{{cite book|author-link= Michael Kennedy (music critic)|last= Kennedy|first= Michael|title= Oxford Dictionary of Music|publisher= Oxford University Press|location= Oxford|year= 2006|isbn= 0-19-861459-4 |page=732}}</ref>
*[[1929]] &ndash; In [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]], the [[1st Academy Awards|first]] [[Academy Awards]] ceremony takes place. 
*[[1943]] &ndash; [[The Holocaust]]: The [[Warsaw Ghetto Uprising]] ends.
*[[1943]] &ndash; [[Operation Chastise]] is undertaken by RAF Bomber Command with specially equipped [[Avro Lancaster]]s to destroy the Mohne, Sorpe, and Eder dams in the Ruhr valley.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Incredible Story Of The Dambusters Raid |url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-incredible-story-of-the-dambusters-raid |access-date=2022-05-16 |website=Imperial War Museums |language=en}}</ref>
*[[1945]] &ndash; Beginning of the [[Levant Crisis]] between Britain and France in Syria. The latter try to quell nationalist protests but backs down after threat of military action by the British.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Dilks|first1=David|title=Churchill and Company: Allies and Rivals in War and Peace|date=30 January 2015|page= 150|publisher=I B Tauris|isbn=9781780769677}}</ref>
*[[1951]] &ndash; The first regularly scheduled [[transatlantic flight]]s begin between Idlewild Airport (now [[John F Kennedy International Airport]]) in New York City and [[Heathrow Airport]] in London, operated by [[El Al Israel Airlines]].
*[[1954]] &ndash; Beginning of the [[Kengir uprising]] in the [[Gulag]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dunn |first1=Morgan |title=How The Prisoners Behind The Kengir Uprising Fought Back Against The Horrors Of The Gulag |url=https://allthatsinteresting.com/kengir-uprising |website=allthatsinteresting.com |date=15 May 2021 |access-date=1 April 2024}}</ref>
*[[1959]] &ndash; The [[Tritons' Fountain]] in [[Valletta|Valletta, Malta]] is turned on for the first time.<ref>{{cite news|title=A historical perspective on the Triton Fountain restoration|url=http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2015-10-26/local-news/A-historical-perspective-on-the-Triton-Fountain-restoration-6736144156|work=[[The Malta Independent]]|date=25 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217064944/http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2015-10-26/local-news/A-historical-perspective-on-the-Triton-Fountain-restoration-6736144156|archive-date=17 February 2017}}</ref>
*[[1960]] &ndash; [[Theodore Maiman]] operates the first [[optical laser]] (a [[ruby laser]]), at [[Hughes Research Laboratories]] in [[Malibu, California]].
*[[1961]] &ndash; [[Park Chung Hee]] leads a [[May 16 coup|coup d'état]] to overthrow the [[Second Republic of South Korea]].
*[[1966]] &ndash; The [[Chinese Communist Party]] issues the "[[May 16 Notice]]", marking the beginning of the [[Cultural Revolution]].
*[[1969]] &ndash; [[Venera program]]: ''[[Venera 5]]'', a Soviet [[space probe]], lands on [[Venus]].
*[[1972]] &ndash; An [[Antonov An-24]] [[1972 Svetlogorsk An-24 crash|crashes]] into a [[kindergarten]] building in [[Svetlogorsk, Kaliningrad Oblast|Svetlogorsk]], killing 35.<ref name="mk">{{cite news |last=Merkachova |first=Eva |date=2014-05-16 |title=Неизвестные факты о самой трагической авиакатастрофе в истории страны: падении самолёта на детский сад |trans-title=Unknown facts about the most tragic air disaster in the country's history: the plane crash into a kindergarten |url=http://www.mk.ru/social/2014/05/16/neizvestnyie-faktyi-o-samoy-tragicheskoy-aviakatastrofe-v-istorii-stranyi-padenii-samoleta-na-detskiy-sad.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150801110545/http://www.mk.ru/social/2014/05/16/neizvestnyie-faktyi-o-samoy-tragicheskoy-aviakatastrofe-v-istorii-stranyi-padenii-samoleta-na-detskiy-sad.html |archive-date=2015-08-01 |access-date=2015-07-27 |work=[[Moscow Komsomolets|MK.ru]] |language=ru}}</ref> 
*[[1974]] &ndash; [[Josip Broz Tito]] is elected [[president for life]] of [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]]. 
*[[1975]] &ndash; [[Junko Tabei]] from [[Japan]] becomes the first woman to reach the summit of [[Mount Everest]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Otake |first=Tomoko |date=2012-05-27 |title=Junko Tabei : The first woman atop the world |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/05/27/people/junko-tabei-the-first-woman-atop-the-world/ |access-date=2022-05-16 |website=The Japan Times |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-09-25 |title=It's 1975. No woman had scaled Mt Everest yet… |url=https://www.cntraveller.in/story/it-s-1975-no-woman-had-scaled-mt-everest-yet/ |access-date=2022-05-16 |website=Condé Nast Traveller India |language=en-IN}}</ref> 
*[[1988]] &ndash; A report by the [[Surgeon General of the United States]] [[C. Everett Koop]] states that the [[Substance use disorder|addictive]] properties of [[nicotine]] are similar to those of [[heroin]] and [[cocaine]].
*[[1991]] &ndash; Queen [[Elizabeth II]] of the United Kingdom addresses a joint session of the [[United States Congress]]. She is the first British monarch to address the U.S. Congress.
*[[1997]] &ndash; [[Mobutu Sese Seko]], the President of [[Zaire]], flees the country.
*[[2003]] &ndash; In [[Morocco]], 33 civilians are killed and more than 100 people are injured in the [[2003 Casablanca bombings|Casablanca terrorist attacks]].
*[[2005]] &ndash; [[Kuwait]] permits [[Women's suffrage in Kuwait|women's suffrage]] in a 35–23 [[National Assembly (Kuwait)|National Assembly]] vote.
*[[2011]] &ndash; [[STS-134]] ([[ISS assembly sequence|ISS assembly]] flight ULF6), launched from the [[Kennedy Space Center]] on the 25th and final flight for {{OV|105}}.
*[[2014]] &ndash; Twelve people are killed in [[2014 Gikomba bombings|two explosions]] in the [[Gikomba market]] area of [[Nairobi, Kenya]].
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