July 16

Today in History
• 1439 - Kissing is banned in England (to stop the Black Death from spreading)
• 1519 - Public debate between Martin Luther and Johann Eck at Pleissenburg Castle
• 1548 - La Paz, Bolivia, is founded
• 1618 - Captain John Gilbert patents 1st dredger in Britain
• 1661 - 1st banknotes in Europe are issued by Bank of Stockholm
• 1769 - Father Junipero Serra founds Mission San Diego the 1st mission in California
• 1790 - Congress declares the city of Washington in D.C., the permanent capital U.S
• 1867 - Joseph Monier patents reinforced concrete


Holidays - Traditional and Obscure
• Harela
• La Paz day
• Lake Superior Day
• Manu’a Cession Day (in lieu)
• National Atomic Veterans Day
• Saune Sankranti
• The Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
• Festival of British Archaeology

Birthdays
• 1704 - John Kay, England, machinist, invented flying shuttle
• 1715 - Charles de Rohan, Prince de Soubise, Marshal of France
• 1722 - Joseph Wilton, English sculptor (Westminster Abbey)
• 1746 - Giuseppe Piazzi, Italian astronomer (found 1st asteroid-Ceres)
• 1821 - Mary Baker Eddy, founded Christian Science, Science and Health
• 1834 - Peter Leyten, Bishop of Breda (1885-1914)
• 1862 - Ida B. Wells, journalist, civil rights activist, and co-founder of the NAACP
• 1872 - Roald Amundsen, born in Norway, explorer, discovered South Pole