On This Day - What happened 16 May

The first vote was taken on May 16 for the eleventh article. Prior to the vote, Samuel Pomeroy, the senior senator from Kansas, told the junior Kansas Senator Ross that if Ross voted for acquittal that Ross would become the subject of an investigation for bribery. Afterward, in hopes of persuading at least one senator who voted not guilty to change his vote, the Senate adjourned for 10 days before continuing voting on the other articles.

All republicans voted guilty (35 Votes), the majority of democrats also voted guilty (10 votes) and 9 democrats voted not guilty on Article XI.

The last major building work took place during the reign of King George V when, in 1913, Sir Aston Webb redesigned Blore's 1850 East Front to resemble in part Giacomo Leoni's Lyme Park in Cheshire. This new, refaced principal façade (of Portland stone) was designed to be the backdrop to the Victoria Memorial, a large memorial statue of Queen Victoria, placed outside the main gates.

USS Skate (SSN-578), the third submarine of the United States Navy named for the skate, a type of ray, was the lead ship of the Skate class of nuclear submarines. She was the third nuclear submarine commissioned, the first to make a completely submerged trans-Atlantic crossing, and the second submarine to reach the North Pole and the first to surface there.

On May 16, 1960, Theodore H. Maiman operated the first functioning laser at Hughes Research Laboratories, Malibu, California, ahead of several research teams, including those of Townes, at Columbia University, Arthur Schawlow, at Bell Labs, and Gould, at the TRG (Technical Research Group) company. Maiman's functional laser used a flashlamp-pumped synthetic ruby crystal to produce red laser light at 694 nanometers wavelength. The device was only capable of pulsed operation, due to its three-level pumping design scheme.

On 16 May 1974, the new Constitution was passed, and the 82-year old Tito was named president for life, a status that he would enjoy for the rest of his life.

The 1983–84 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup was won by Juventus in a final against Porto. The next year, the club went on to complete a full complement of European trophies with the European Cup. Universitatea Craiova, winners of the 1983 Romanian Cup Final, were denied entry as the Romanian Football Federation scheduled the final for the week after the closing date for entries. As a result, both the president, Andrei Rădulescu, and secretary, Florin Dumitrescu, of the Romanian FA were sacked.

Large numbers of Shias in the city and surrounding region of Gilgit were killed in a massacre that occurred in response to rumors of a massacre of Sunnis by Shias, in May 1988. Shia civilians were also subjected to rape.

By 16 May, RPF (the Rwandan Patriotic Front) had cut the road between Kigali and Gitarama, the temporary home of the interim government.

Harry was scheduled for deployment in May or June 2007, to patrol the Maysan Governorate. By 16 May, however, Dannatt announced that Harry would not serve in Iraq; concerns included Harry being a high-value target (as several threats by various groups had already been made against him) and the dangers the soldiers around him would face should any attempt be made on his life or if he was captured. Clarence House made public Harry's disappointment with the decision, though he said he would abide by it.

By May 15, Premier Wen Jiabao ordered the deployment of an additional 90 helicopters, of which 60 were to be provided by the PLAAF, and 30 were to be provided by the civil aviation industry, bringing the total number of aircraft deployed in relief operations by the air force, army, and civil aviation to over 150, resulting in the largest non-combat airlifting operation in People's Liberation Army history.

On May 16, rescue groups from South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Russia, and Taiwan arrived to join the rescue effort.

On May 16, China stated it had also received $457 million in donated money and goods for rescue efforts so far, including $83 million from 19 countries and four international organizations. Saudi Arabia was the largest aid donor to China, providing close to €40,000,000 in financial assistance, and an additional €8,000,000 worth of relief materials.

On May 16, 2011, Trump announced he would not run for president in the 2012 election.

On 17 May 2018, the Tatmadaw agreed to "temporarily postpone" their road project and to withdraw troops from the area.

On 16 May 2020, the WHO announced that the number of deaths has surpassed the 300K mark with a total of 302,059 and 4,425,485 infections.

On 16 May, Messi scored his 30th league goal of the campaign in a 1–2 home defeat against Celta Vigo, which later turned out to be his final goal and match in a Barcelona shirt.