The Birthday Gazette

Born on April 16

April 16 birthdays & history

If you were born on April 16, you share a birthday with Charlie Chaplin, Pope Benedict XVI and Anatole France. April 16 babies are Aries, with diamond as their birthstone and the daisy as their birth flower. April 16 is the 107th day of the year in leap years (106th in other years).

Famous people born on April 16

  • 1889Charlie Chaplin, English actor, director, producer, screenwriter, and composer
  • 1927Pope Benedict XVI, Head of the Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013
  • 1844Anatole France, French journalist, novelist, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1971Selena, American singer-songwriter, actress, and fashion designer
  • 1867Wilbur Wright, American inventor
  • 1940Margrethe II, Queen of Denmark from 1972 to 2024
  • 1921Peter Ustinov, English actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1973Akon, Senegalese-American singer, rapper and songwriter
  • 1947Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, American basketball player and coach
  • 1965Martin Lawrence, German-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

What happened on April 16

  • 556Emperor Justinian I approved and consecrated Pope Pelagius I.
  • 682Pope Leo II is elected head of the Catholic Church, although he will not be consecrated until 17 August.
  • 1582Spanish conquistador Hernando de Lerma founds the settlement of Salta, Argentina.
  • 1853The Great Indian Peninsula Railway opens the first passenger rail in India, from Bori Bunder to Thane.
  • 1858The Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is dissolved.
  • 1908Natural Bridges National Monument is established in Utah.
  • 1910The oldest indoor ice hockey arena used for the sport in the 21st century, Boston Arena, opens for the first time.
  • 1948The Organisation for European Economic Co-operation, headquartered in Paris, was founded.
  • 1961In a nationally broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declares that he is a Marxist–Leninist and that Cuba is going to adopt Communism.
  • 1972Apollo program: The launch of Apollo 16 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
  • 2003The Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens admitting ten new member states to the European Union.
  • 2012The Pulitzer Prize winners are announced. It was the first time since 1977 that no book won the Fiction Prize.

Also observed on April 16

  • Birthday of JosĂ© de Diego (Puerto Rico, United States)
  • Birthday of Queen Margrethe II (Denmark)
  • Flag Day (Jordan)
  • Emancipation Day (Washington, D.C., United States)
  • National Healthcare Decisions Day (United States)
  • World Voice Day

Questions, answered

What star sign is April 16?

People born on April 16 are Aries. Their birthstone is diamond and their birth flower is the daisy.

Which famous people were born on April 16?

Charlie Chaplin (1889), Pope Benedict XVI (1927), Anatole France (1844), Selena (1971), Wilbur Wright (1867), Margrethe II (1940) were all born on April 16.

What happened on April 16 in history?

Among other things: in 1972, Apollo program: The launch of Apollo 16 from Cape Canaveral, Florida; in 2003, The Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens admitting ten new member states to the European Union; in 2012, The Pulitzer Prize winners are announced. It was the first time since 1977 that no book won the Fiction Prize.

Can I get a newspaper front page from April 16?

Yes. The Birthday Gazette makes a personalised vintage-style front page for any April 16 birth year, with their name in the headline, events, famous birthdays and typical US prices. The preview is free and the print files cost $9.

Events, birthdays and observances are adapted from Wikipedia contributors, “April 16”, English Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0 (shortened and filtered). Ranking uses Wikidata (CC0). Sources.