May 16th, 1821

Born on May 16th, 1821

Age in days, weeks and months
Wow, over 74,000 days old!

Why not celebrate an alternative birthday? In 106 days, exactly on September 18th, 2026, people who were born on May 16th, 1821 will be 75,000 days old!

... in seconds, minutes and hours

What happened on May 16th?

May 16th, 1977

The first Chuck E. Cheese location, the first family restaurant to integrate food, animated entertainment (example pictured), and an indoor arcade, opened in San Jose, California.

May 16th, 1975

Japanese climber Junko Tabei (pictured) became the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

May 16th, 1961

Led by Park Chung Hee, the Military Revolution Committee carried out a bloodless coup against the government of Yun Po-sun in Seoul, ending the Second Republic of Korea.

May 16th, 1960

American physicist Theodore Maiman operated the first working laser at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu.

May 16th, 1959

The Tritons' Fountain in Valletta, one of Malta's most important Modernist landmarks, was turned on for the first time.

May 16th, 1958

The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, a supersonic interceptor aircraft, set a world flight airspeed record of 1,404.012 mph (2,259.538 km/h).

May 16th, 1943

Second World War: The Royal Air Force's "Dambusters" squadron embarked on an attack on German dams using bouncing bombs designed by Barnes Wallis.

May 16th, 1929

The first Academy Awards ceremony was held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles, California.

May 16th, 1925

The first modern performance of Claudio Monteverdi's opera Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria occurred in Paris.

May 16th, 1918

The Sedition Act was passed in the United States, forbidding Americans from using "disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language" about the government, flag, or armed forces during the ongoing World War I.

May 16th, 1866

The United States Congress authorized the minting of the Shield nickel (example pictured), the country's first five-cent piece to be made of a copper–nickel alloy.

May 16th, 1832

Prospector Juan Godoy discovered a silver outcrop in Chañarcillo, sparking the Chilean silver rush.

May 16th, 1811

Peninsular War: Allied British, Spanish, and Portuguese forces clashed with French troops at the Battle of Albuera (depicted) fought south of Badajoz, Spain.

May 16th, 1605

After a scuffle in which one cardinal had several bones broken, a papal conclave convened in Rome elected Camillo Borghese as Pope Paul V.

May 16th, 1777

Button Gwinnett, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, is wounded in a duel with Continental Army officer Lachlan McIntosh, dying of his injuries several days later.

Birthdays
... of famous people, actors, celebrities and stars on May 16th

Same year
Born in 1821

59

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Russian novelist (1821–1881)

*November 11th, 1821, Mariinsky Hospital for the Poor †January 28th, 1881, Saint Petersburg

73

Hermann von Helmholtz

German physicist and physiologist (1821-1894)

*August 31st, 1821, Potsdam †September 8th, 1894, Charlottenburg

74

Philipp Ludwig von Seidel

German mathematician

*October 24th, 1821, Zweibrücken †August 13th, 1896, Munich

79

Theodor Löbbecke

German pharmacist and malacologist

*March 4th, 1821, Hückeswagen †January 18th, 1901, Düsseldorf

46

Charles Baudelaire

French poet and critic (1821–1867)

*April 9th, 1821, former 11th arrondissement of Paris †August 31st, 1867, Paris

89

Mary Baker Eddy

American founder of Christian Science (1821–1910)

*July 16th, 1821, Bow †December 3rd, 1910, Chestnut Hill

87

Henriëtte Ronner-Knip

Dutch-Belgian painter (1821-1909)

*May 31st, 1821, Amsterdam †February 28th, 1909, Ixelles - Elsene

75

William Jervois

British Army general

*September 10th, 1821, Cowes †August 17th, 1897, Hampshire

55

Alfred Bruyas

French art collector and amateur painter from Montpellier (1821-1877)

*August 15th, 1821, Montpellier †January 1st, 1877, Montpellier

83

Cesare Bonelli

Italian politician (1821-1904)

*January 3rd, 1821, Turin †October 1st, 1904, Orvieto

72

John Abbott

3rd Prime Minister of Canada (1821-1893)

*March 12th, 1821, Saint-André-Est †October 30th, 1893, Montreal

54

John C. Breckinridge

Vice president of the United States from 1857 to 1861

*January 16th, 1821, Lexington †May 17th, 1875, Lexington

56

Nikolay Nekrasov

Russian poet, writer, critic, editor and publisher

*November 28th, 1821, Nemyriv †January 8th, 1878, Saint Petersburg

69

Richard Francis Burton

British explorer, geographer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, cartographer, ethnologist, spy, linguist, poet, fencer, and diplomat (1821–1890)

*March 19th, 1821, Torquay †October 20th, 1890, Trieste

80

Rudolf Virchow

German doctor, anthropologist, public health activist, pathologist, prehistorian, biologist and politician (1821-1902)

*October 13th, 1821, Świdwin †September 5th, 1902, Berlin

89

Elizabeth Blackwell

American physician, abolitionist, women's rights activist (1821-1910)

*February 3rd, 1821, Bristol †May 31st, 1910, Hastings

73

Arthur Cayley

English mathematician (1821-1896)

*August 16th, 1821, Richmond †January 26th, 1895, Cambridge

73

Pafnuty Chebyshev

Russian mathematician (1821–1894)

*May 4th, 1821, Akatovo †November 26th, 1894, Saint Petersburg

59

Auguste Mariette

French archaeologist and egyptologist (1821–1881)

*February 11th, 1821, Boulogne-sur-Mer †January 19th, 1881, Cairo

84

Bartolomé Mitre

President of Argentina (1821-1906)

*June 26th, 1821, Buenos Aires †January 19th, 1906, Buenos Aires

Birthdays of famous people

Public holidays on May 16th

Fixed holidays (Christian feast day) which are celebrated on May 16th.

Date as a Roman numeral / digit

Leap year

No: With 365 days 1821 is a normal year and no leap year.

Calendar
May 1821