On This Day in History: March 16

The Babylonian siege of Jerusalem begins, leading to the eventual destruction of the First Temple.

The Babylonian army, led by Nebuchadnezzar II, captures Jerusalem in 597 BCE and deposes King Jehoiachin exiling him to Babylon. In his place, the Babylonians installed Mattaniah, as a puppet king, changing his name to Zedekiah, a vassal king meant to be loyal to Babylon.
Zedekiah would later rebel against Babylon, leading to the final destruction of Jerusalem in 587/586 BCE.

Maginulfo is elected as the Antipope Sylvester IV, challenging Pope Paschal II.

A mob of rioters, driven by religious intolerance against the Jewish community and greed, massacre an estimated one hundred and fifty Jewish people in York, England on March 16, 1190. More

The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa: Christian forces decisively defeat the Almohads in Spain.

Louis X becomes King of France upon the death of his father, King Philip IV.

Edward II of England defeats the rebellious barons at the Battle of Boroughbridge,, on March 16, 1322, capturing his cousin Thomas of Lancaster, who was later executed on the King's orders.

Battle of Castagnaro: Verona is captured by Padua in a battle of the War of the Venetian Succession.

British privateers assault French and Spanish ships in Cartagena, Colombia, in the Battle of Cartagena.

King Gustav III of Sweden is shot by Count Jacob Johan Anckarström during a masked ball at the Opera; he died on March 29'.

The U.S. Military Academy established by Congress at West Point, the site of a Revolutionary-era fort built to protect the Hudson River Valley from British attack.

The "Lancet" publishes an article by Doctor Joseph Lister which outlined the discovery of antiseptic surgery. Lister was a prominent British surgeon and medical scientist who established the study of antisepsis. Applying Louis Pasteur's germ theory of fermentation on wound putrefaction. He promoted the idea of sterilization in surgery using carbolic acid (phenol) as an antiseptic. Lister performed the first antiseptic surgery on August 12, 1865. More

Physicist Robert Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket.

Adolf Hitler orders the rearmament of Germany including military conscription in violation of The Treaty of Versailles. More

Vietnamese villagers including women and children are killed by U.S. soldiers in the village of My Lai by members of an army platoon commanded by Lt. William Calley. On September 5, 1969, he was charged with the premeditated murder in the death of 109 Vietnamese civilians at My Lai.  Expand +

Israel officially withdraws from the Gaza Strip after 38 years of occupation.

A gunman attacks massage parlors in the Atlanta area, killing eight people, including six Asian women