📜 This Day in History

January 16

• 27 BCGaius Octavianus was given the titles Augustus and Princeps by the Roman Senate when he became the first Roman emperor.
• 1780American Revolutionary War: The Royal Navy gained their first major naval victory over their European enemies in the war when they defeated a Spanish squadron in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent.
• 1883The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, establishing the United States Civil Service, was enacted by the U.S. Congress.
• 1942TWA Flight 3 crashed into Potosi Mountain in Nevada, killing actress Carole Lombard and all of the other 21 people on board.
• 1964The musical Hello, Dolly! opened at the St. James Theatre on Broadway, and went on to win ten Tony Awards, a record that stood for 37 years.
• 2018In Mrauk U, Myanmar, police fired into a crowd protesting the ban of an event to mark the anniversary of the end of the Kingdom of Mrauk U, resulting in seven deaths and twelve injuries.

Born on this day

• 1901Fulgencio Batista, Cuban colonel and politician, ninth President of Cuba (died 1973)
• 1932Dian Fossey, American zoologist and anthropologist (died 1985)
• 1933Susan Sontag, American novelist, essayist, and critic (died 2004)
• 1996Jennie, South Korean singer