September 16
Activity of the day
Today is . . .
- National Day of Mexico
- International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer
- Independence Day in Papua New Guinea
On this day . . .
- The song Jingle Bells is copyrighted (1857)
- General Motors is founded in the U.S. (1906)
- Cinemascope is first demonstrated by 20th Century Fox in New York (1953)
- Malaysia becomes independent (1963)
- The Metropolitan Opera opens its new opera house at New York’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (1966)
- Biba, considered London’s trendiest store in the ‘swinging 60s’, opens (1969)
- For the first time in South Africa, Othello is performed with a black actor (1987)
Births
- King Henry V of England (1387)
- King Louis XIV of France (1638)
- John Gay, English poet and playwright (1685)
- Alexander Korda, British film producer, born in Hungary (1893)
- Lauren Bacall (Betty Joan Perske), American actress (1924)
- BB King, American blues guitarist (1925)
- Peter Falk, American actor (1927)
- Mickey Rourke, American actor (1956)
- David Copperfield, American magician (1956)
- Marc Anthony, American singer (1968)
- Nick Jonas, American singer (1992)
Deaths
- Tomás de Torquemada, Spanish Inquisitor-General (1498)
- Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit, German physicist (1736)
- Louis XVIII, King of France (1824)
- Maria Callas, American opera singer (1977)
- Marc Bolan, English rock star (1977)