What Happened Today in History on July 16

The Great Schism, the separation of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church takes place when papal legate Cardinal Humbert, excommunicates the Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularius. The Patriarch and his council responded four days later by excommunicating Cardinal Humbert, formally enacting the split. Expand +

Richard II of England begins his reign as king at the age of 10, following the death of his grandfather, Edward III. Richard was crowned in the Westminster Abbey.

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

Bolshevik troops executed Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra Feodorovna, and their five children: Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei. Bringing the Russian Romanov dynasty to an end.  Expand +

 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.