On This Day for July 16 - First atomic bomb exploded near Alamogordo, New Mexico, Ginger Rogers is featured, and more

Created: 2020-07-16 10:03 Updated: 2020-07-16 10:03 Notebook: On this Day in History

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July 16

FEATURED BIOGRAPHY

Ginger Rogers

FEATURED EVENT

1945

First atomic bomb exploded near Alamogordo, New Mexico

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MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY

2018: U.S. President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki , and the summit proved highly controversial as Trump questioned the conclusion of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia had meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. [Take our quiz about U.S. presidential elections.]

2017: American filmmaker George A. Romero—who was known for his horror films, notably Night of the Living Dead (1968), which launched a series of related movies—died at age 77. [ Test your knowledge of scary movies.]

2004: Chicago officially opened its Millennium Park, which featured fountains, eye-catching sculptures, and a large outdoor concert facility designed by architect Frank Gehry. [ Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about Chicago architecture.]

2001: Jacques Rogge of Belgium was chosen to replace Juan António Samaranch as the president of the International Olympic Committee. [ Take our quiz about Olympic history.]

1999: American publisher and lawyer John F. Kennedy, Jr., the only son of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, died after the airplane he was piloting crashed off Martha's Vineyard , Massachusetts; also killed were his wife and her sister.

1979: Saddam Hussein became president of Iraq, and his brutal rule, which lasted 24 years, was marked by costly and unsuccessful wars with neighbouring countries as well as atrocities against the Iraqi people. [ Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about the Middle East.]

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ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY

1967

Will Ferrell
American actor and writer

1862

Ida B. Wells-Barnett
American journalist and social reformer

1907

Barbara Stanwyck
American actress

1911

Ginger Rogers
American actress and dancer

1968

Barry Sanders
American football player