This Day in History: May 16

1919 – First Transatlantic Flight

Albert Cushing Read takes off on the first transatlantic flight in history. The crossing from New York State, USA to Lisbon, Portugal on a Curtiss NC-4 flying boat took 19 days.

1920 – Joan of Arc Canonized

Joan of Arc, also known as Jeanne D’arc, is canonized a saint.

1929 – First Academy Awards

The Oscars are awarded for the first time. The first Academy Awards were presented at a private dinner with about 270 attendees. Today, it is the world’s most important entertainment awards ceremony.

1943 – Operation Chastise

No. 617 Squadron RAF begins the famous Dambusters Raid, bombing the Möhne and Eder dams in the Ruhr valley with bouncing bombs.

1944 – Hungarian Jews in Auschwitz

The first of over 180,000 Hungarian Jews reach Auschwitz during the Holocaust.

1960 – Invention of the Laser

Theodore Maiman fires the first functional laser. The American physicist’s invention, an advancement of earlier research by scientists in the U.S. and the Soviet Union, was patented in 1967.

1966 – The Cultural Revolution in China

The publication of the May 16 notification marks the beginning of the Cultural Revolution in China. The political campaign, initiated by Mao Zedong, lasted ten years and aimed to strengthen communism by removing capitalist, traditional, and cultural elements from Chinese society.

1975 – First Woman to Conquer Mount Everest

Junko Tabei becomes the first woman to conquer Mount Everest, 22 years after Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first to reach the summit.

1989 – End of Sino-Soviet Split

Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev and Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping meet in Beijing and formally end a 30-year rift.

2013 – Cloning of Human Stem Cells

Human stem cells are successfully cloned, offering new possibilities for medical research and treatment.