On This Day for February 16 - Power in Cuba seized by Fidel Castro, Kim Jong Il is featured, and more

Created: 2020-02-16 11:01 Updated: 2020-02-16 11:01 Notebook: On this Day in History

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February 16

FEATURED BIOGRAPHY

1941

Kim Jong Il

FEATURED EVENT

1959

Power in Cuba seized by Fidel Castro

MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY

2016: Egyptian scholar and statesman Boutros Boutros-Ghali—who, as UN secretary-general (1992–96), vigorously supported UN mediation in post-Cold War strife and oversaw lengthy and difficult peacekeeping operations in several war-torn countries—died at age 93.

2005: The Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty aimed at reducing the emission of gases that contribute to global warming, went into effect. [ What's the difference between global warming and climate change? ]

2005: The NHL became the first North American professional sports league to cancel an entire season; the 2004–05 season was canceled after the collective-bargaining agreement between the owners and the players' union ran out.

1893: Katharine Cornell , one of the most-celebrated American stage actresses from the 1920s to the 1950s, was born in Germany.

1620: Frederick William, the Great Elector of Brandenburg in 1640–88, who restored the Hohenzollern dominions after the devastations of the Thirty Years' War , was born.