On This Day for March 16 - My Lai Massacre, Caroline Herschel is featured, and more

This message contains graphics. If you do not see the graphics, click here to view. March 16 FEATURED BIOGRAPHY Caroline Herschel READ MORE   FEATURED EVENT 1968 My Lai Massacre READ MORE   Advertisement Advertisement   MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY 2014: In a popular referendum, Crimea voted to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation; despite opposition from numerous countries, Russia later annexed the region. [Test your knowledge of Russian history.] 1995: Mississippi ratified the Thirteenth Amendment—which abolished slavery—130 years after it was added to the U.S. Constitution; however, Mississippi's ratification was not made official until 2013, when the state notified the U.S. Archivist. [Take our amendments to the U.S. Constitution quiz.] 1926: American comedian Jerry Lewis, whose unrestrained comic style made him one of the most popular performers of the 1950s and '60s, was born. [Discover how much you know about actors.] 1802: The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York—one of the oldest service academies in the world—was originally founded as a training centre for the U.S. Corps of Engineers. 1751: James Madison, the fourth U.S. president and one of the Founding Fathers, was born in Virginia. [ Watch an overview of the Founding Fathers.] 1521: Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, sailing under the Spanish flag on his circumnavigation of the globe, reached the Philippines, securing the first alliance in the Pacific Islands for Spain . [Test your knowledge of human exploration.] SEE ALL EVENTS ON THIS DAY ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY 1911 Josef Mengele German physician 1926 Jerry Lewis American comedian 1751 James Madison president of United States 1927 Vladimir Mikhaylovich Komarov Soviet cosmonaut 1953 Richard Stallman American computer programmer 1940 Bernardo Bertolucci Italian director SEE ALL BIOS ON THIS DAY   Advertisement   FOLLOW: To unsubscribe from Britannica e-mails, click here. Encyclopædia Britannica 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 Chicago, Illinois 60654 United States © 2021 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. Privacy Policy • Help