Edited daily
American history, reported as it happened
Made for the 250thOn this day › August 16
What happened on August 16 in American history
August 16 is the 228th day of the year (the 229th in leap years). Patriot Compass has published 6 stories from August 16 spanning 1780 to 1977. Among them: in 1780, Militia flee in the dark; Cornwallis shatters Gates's army near Camden; and in 1812, a white sheet goes up over Detroit; Hull surrenders the fort without a fight.
1780
Militia flee in the dark; Cornwallis shatters Gates's army near Camden
De Kalb falls with eleven wounds while Gates rides sixty miles to safety by nightfall.
1812Member story · 1776 Club
A white sheet goes up over Detroit; Hull surrenders the fort without a fight
Some 2,200 American troops lay down arms to a British force half their size.
1841Member story · 1776 Club
Tyler kills the bank bill; Whigs riot outside the White House
The angriest crowd ever to gather on the executive mansion's grounds came from the president's own party.
1916
In Washington, the U.S. and Britain sign a treaty to save the birds crossing their shared border
Great Britain signs for Canada, binding two nations to one set of hunting rules for birds that recognize neither.
1927
Eight planes race for Honolulu; the fog barely lifts in time
Two aircraft crash before clearing Oakland's runway, and two more vanish over open water before the day is done.
1977Member story · 1776 Club
Elvis Presley is found dead at Graceland, hours before a tour was set to resume
His fiancée found him in a bathroom off his bedroom; he was pronounced dead at Baptist Memorial Hospital that afternoon.
Read the full August 16 edition →
← August 15 · Every date · August 17 →