View Historical Events by Day: What Happened on July 16 in History?

The Great Schism occurs: Michael Cerularius, Patriarch of Constantinople (now called Istanbul) was excommunicated from the Christian church based in Rome, Italy. The resulting split divided the European Christian church into two major branches: the Western Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Fr. Junípero Serra founds the Mission San Diego de Alcalá. The first of the California Missions. Fr. Junipero Sierra founded eight more of the 21 California missions: Carmel, San Antonio, San Gabriel, San Luis Obispo, San Francisco (Mission Dolores). San Juan Capistrano, Santa Clara, and San Buenaventura, Serra’s missions helped strengthen Spain’s control of Alta California.

President George Washington signs the Residence Act bill which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River. The bill declared that the exact location was to be selected by President Washington. The initial shape of the federal district was a square from land donated by Maryland and Virginia, measuring 10 miles (16 km) on each side and totaling 100 square miles (259 km2). More

The Russian Romanov dynasty comes to an end when Bolshevik troops executed Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra Feodorovna, and their five children: Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei. Also killed that night were members of the imperial entourage who had accompanied them. The details of the execution and the location of their final resting place remained a Soviet secret for more than six decades. In 1926 the Soviet regime acknowledged the murders of the entire family. 
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 The first atomic bomb “ nicknamed “Gadget,” is successfully tested at the Trinity Site in Alamogordo, New Mexico as part of the Manhattan Project. Gadget detonation was between 15 and 20 kilotons of force, slightly more than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The Atomic Age had begun. More

John F. Kennedy Jr. dies in a plane crash. He was piloting a Piper Saratoga when it crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Martha's Vineyard. His wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and her sister, Lauren Bessette, were also on board and perished in the accident. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined the probable cause was the pilot's failure to maintain control of the aircraft during a descent over water, citing spatial disorientation, as a contributing factor during haze and dark conditions. JFK Jr. was certified to fly under visual flight rules (VFR) and was not instrument rated.