16 Mar 1914
United States
United States
- The keel of battleship Arizona was laid down at Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York, United States.
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16 Mar 1916
- US military aircraft flew their first reconnaissance mission over foreign territory when the 1st Aero Squadron equipped with Curtiss JN-3s joined Army units retaliating after a raid by Mexican rebel "Pancho" Villa claimed the lives of 19 Americans.
16 Mar 1926
- Dr. Robert H. Goddard launched the first successful liquid-fuelled rocket from Auburn, Massachusetts, United States. Flying for only 2.5 seconds, the rocket travelled 184 feet at around a speed of 60 miles per hour.
16 Mar 1935
- Adolf Hitler announced mandatory military conscription; it was the first of many violations of Versailles Treaty restrictions to be committed by Germany.
- Heinrich Himmler established the SS-Verfügungstruppe (Special Task Troops).
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16 Mar 1936
Photo(s) dated 16 Mar 1936
Photo(s) dated 16 Mar 1936
16 Mar 1937
Photo(s) dated 16 Mar 1937
Photo(s) dated 16 Mar 1937
16 Mar 1938
- Italian aircraft based in Majorca began a three-day around-the-clock bombing campaign on the Spanish city of Barcelona. Meanwhile, Spanish Nationalists forced the Spanish Republicans to retreat up to 60 miles during the offensive toward Aragon and Levante in Spain.
» In-depth article - Benito Mussolini, previously a proponent of Austrian independence, stated his support for the recently affected German occupation of Austria.
» In-depth article
- The full Japanese offensive against Tengxian, Jiangsu Province, China began at 0800 hours with a bombardment by mountain guns and aircraft. Japanese troops attempted multiple times to rush into the town via collapsed portions of the city wall, but most of the attackers were cut down by Chinese troops. The east gate was taken at 1700 hours, but it was recaptured by the Chinese at 2000 hours. Through the night, 1,000 men from the Chinese 370th and 372nd Battalions were able to sneak into the town as reinforcement.
» In-depth article
16 Mar 1939
- In eastern Czechoslovakia, Slovakian leader Jozef Tiso sent a telegram, originally authored by Hermann Göring, to ask for German troops to enter Slovakian borders. In western Czechoslovakia, Germany declared the formation of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, with Konstantin von Neurath as the German Protector, immediately enacting anti-Semitic laws.
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16 Mar 1940
- 32 German Ju 88 dive bombers bombed the Royal Navy Home Fleet base at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. HMS Norfolk was hit with one bomb, blowing a hole below the water line and killing 6. James Isbister became the first British civilian to be killed by a German bomb when his house in the nearby village of Bridge of Waithe.
- Benito Mussolini held peace talks with US envoy Sumner Welles in Rome.
» In-depth article - Yugoslavian steamer Slava hit a mine laid by German submarine U-29 on 2 Mar 1940 and sank in the Bristol Channel, killing 1. 33 were rescued.
16 Mar 1941
- At Keren, Eritrea, Italian East Africa, British 2nd West Yorkshire Regiment climbed up the steep mountain to attack Italian positions at Fort Dologorodoc overnight; to the British troops' advantage, some of the Italian troops had departed from the fort to attack Indian 5th Mahratta Light Infantry Regiment at the base of the mountain, allowing the fort to be captured at 0630 hours after about 2 hours of combat, yielding 400 prisoners of war. In British Somaliland, 2 Indian battalions conducted an amphibious landing at Berbera; the port was defended by only 60 Italian troops, who surrendered without resisting.
» In-depth article - German submarine U-100 became the first submarine to be tracked by radar. It was sunk by HMS Vanoc with depth charges. Only 6 of the 44 crew survived; commanding officer Joachim Scepke went down with U-100. In the same action, U-99 was scuttled after being damaged by HMS Walker; most of the crew survived, including the captain Otto Kretschmer.
- German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau attacked an Allied convoy 950 miles east of Nova Scotia, Canada between 0428 and 1550 hours, sinking or capturing 10 ships. Danish ship Chilean Reefer sent distress signals and returned fire with her deck gun, and was sunk by Gneisenau's 11-inch shells, killing 9. British battleship HMS Rodney received the distress signals, but arrived only after the German ships had already departed the area.
» In-depth article - The Italian Primavera Offensive was called off after 8 days after the Italians had suffered 12,000 casualties.
» In-depth article - German bombers sank British anti-submarine trawler HMT Lady Lilian and damaged HMT Angle 85 miles west of Ireland.
- British submarine HMS Parthian damaged Italian steamer Giovanni Boccaccio 50 miles east of Malta.
- German submarine U-106 sank Dutch ship Almkerk 220 miles off the coast of Gambia, British West Africa. The entire crew of 66 survived the attack and took to 2 lifeboats, and all would survive.
- 162 German bombers attacked Bristol, England, United Kingdom overnight, targeting the docks at Avonmouth and the city center; 257 were killed, 391 were wounded.
» In-depth article
- Adolf Hitler predicted that the United Kingdom would fall by 1942.
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16 Mar 1942
- Italian submarine Morosini sank Dutch tanker Oscilla 145 miles northeast of Antigua; 4 were killed, 51 survived. At 1824 hours, German submarine U-504 sank British ship Stangarth 300 miels north of San Juan, Puerto Rico on her maiden voyage, killing all 46 aboard. German submarine U-332 sank US tanker Australia 20 kilometers off North Carolina, United States at 1955 hours; 4 were killed, 36 survived. To the northeast, U-404 sank British tanker San Demetrio 60 kilometers east of Hampton Roads, Virginia, United States. At 2317 hours, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, U-68 sank British ship Baron Newlands 6 miles south of Cape Palmas, Liberia; 18 were killed, 20 survived.
» In-depth article - Belzec Concentration Camp was established for the purpose of holding and exterminating Jews from Lublin and Galicia.
» In-depth article - Japanese aircraft raided Darwin, Australia.
- HMS Begonia was loaned to the US Navy and was renamed USS Impulse.
- A number of US B-26 Marauder bombers were launched from the US Territory of Hawaii for Brisbane, Australia.
- Shokaku returned to Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement
- USS Permit arrived at Corregidor in the Philippine Islands, delivering ammunition and evacuated code breakers.
» In-depth article - 2 B-17 Flying Fortress bombers (Lieutenant Frank Bostrom and Captain Bill Lewis) flew from Batchelor Field, Darwin, Australia to Mindanao, Philippine Islands to pick up Douglas MacArthur.
» In-depth article - 46 radio intelligence personnel were evacuated from the US Navy Station CAST facility at Corregidor island, Philippine Islands.
» In-depth article
- Soviet ambassador in London, England, United Kingdom expressed wish for a second front in Europe.
16 Mar 1943
- Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru arrived at Saipan, departing later on the same day.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement - 27 Allied ships were destroyed in the Atlantic Ocean on this date, 8 of which were of Allied convoy HX-229.
- Joseph Stalin demanded the western Allies to open a second front in Europe.
» In-depth article - Operational trials of the 37-mm Flak gun-armed German Ju-87G anti-tank aircraft began on the Eastern Front.
» In-depth article - HMS Campobello was abandoned and scuttled after suffering irreparable leaks whilst engaged in escorting convoy SC-122.
- Repair ship Akashi began repairing transport Noshiro Maru at Truk, Caroline Islands.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement
16 Mar 1944
- American aircraft attacked a Japanese convoy near Wewak, New Guinea.
» In-depth article - Captain Yoshi Matsuura was named the commanding officer of light carrier Ryuho.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement - USS Flying Fish sank a Japanese transport and damaged a tanker off Okinawa, Japan, hitting them with 3 of 10 torpedoes fired.
» In-depth article
- Allies troops captured Mawlu, a major rail link in central Burma.
- USS Seahorse departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her fourth war patrol.
» In-depth article
- Allied troops continued the attack on Monte Cassino, Italy.
» In-depth article
- British civilian Oswald Job was hanged at Pentonville Prison in Islington, London, England, United Kingdom for spying.
- USS Tang departed Midway, starting her second war patrol in the waters near Palau Islands, Caroline Islands, and south of the Philippine Islands.
» In-depth article
16 Mar 1945
- Commanding officer Captain William Rassieur of USS Sargent Bay was relieved by Captain Richard Oliver.
» In-depth article - American bombers dropped 300 bombs on Vienna, Austria, many of which landed in the Tiergarten Schönbrunn, which was the world's oldest zoo. 2,000 animals out of 3,500 in the zoo were killed.
- 307 US B-29 bombers devastated a 3-square mile area in Kobe, Japan and caused 15,000 in casualties.
» In-depth article - 12 Lancaster bombers and 12 Halifax bombers conducted minelaying operations off Helgoland, Germany and in the Kattegat.
- Heinrich Himmler, having abandoned his command with Army Group Vistula three days prior, checked himself into a sanatorium at Hohenlychen, Germany so that doctors there could treat his influenza. When Heinz Guderian came to visit him, he would request Guderian to carry his letter of resignation as commanding officer of Army Group Vistula to Adolf Hitler.
» In-depth article - US troops in landed on Basilan in the Philippine Islands.
» In-depth article - Rudolf Heß noted that 2 million Jews were gassed between Jun 1941 and late 1943.
» In-depth article
- Anglo-Indian troops assaulted Fort Dufferin in Mandalay, Burma in failure, suffering heavy casualties.
» In-depth article
- 32 B-24 bombers of the US 14th Air Force escorted by 10 P-51 fighters attacked railyards at Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China.
- German forces began falling back from the front lines at Kolberg, Germany (now Kolobrzeg, Poland).
» In-depth article
- Soviet 3rd Ukrainian Front threw two fresh armies against the German attack towards Budapest, Hungary.
» In-depth article
- Americans declared Iwo Jima, Japan secure, but fighting continued.
» In-depth article
- USS Spot sank a Japanese cargo ship in the East China Sea, hitting her with 1 of 8 torpedoes fired.
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- German V-2 rocket hit at Albert Road in Leyton, London, England, United Kingdom at 0638 hours, killing 23 and seriously injuring 18. Another rocket hit Willesden near Hampstead, London at 0230 hours, damaging 200 houses.
16 Mar 1946
China
China
- Du Yuming underwent a surgery in Beiping, China, removing his left kidney.
» In-depth article
16 Mar 1948
United States
United States
- USS Brill arrived at New London, Connecticut, United States.
» In-depth article
16 Mar 1959
- Crown Prince Euimin suffered from cerebral thrombosis.
» In-depth article
Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis
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"We no longer demand anything, we want war."Joachim von Ribbentrop, German Foreign Minister, Aug 1939