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May 16
1866 – Charles Elmer Hires invents root beer.
1919 – The first transatlantic flight: a naval Curtiss aircraft NC-4 commanded by Albert Cushing Read leaves Trepassey, Newfoundland, for Lisbon via the Azores.
1920 – In Rome, Pope Benedict XV canonizes Joan of Arc as a saint.
1929 – In Hollywood, California, the first Academy Awards are handed out.
1951 – The first regularly scheduled transatlantic flights 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.
1960 – Theodore Maiman operates the first optical laser, at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California.
1966 – The Communist Party of China issues the 'May 16 Notice', marking the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.
1975 – Junko Tabei becomes the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
1988 – A report by United States' Surgeon General C. Everett Koop states that the addictive properties of nicotine are similar to those of heroin and cocaine.
1991 – Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom addressed a joint session of the United States Congress. She is the first British monarch to address the U.S. Congress.
2005 – Kuwait permits women's suffrage in a 35-23 National Assembly vote.
1953 – Pierce Brosnan, Irish actor, was born today
1966 – Janet Jackson, American singer, was born today
1970 – Gabriela Sabatini, Argentine tennis player, was born today (remember her?)
1974 – Laura Pausini, Italian pop singer wbt
1981 – Jim Sturgess, English actor wbt
1986 – Megan Fox, American actress wbt
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