Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/June 16
June 16: Bloomsday in Dublin, Ireland; Youth Day in South Africa
- 1487 - The Battle of Stoke Field, the final battle of the Wars of the Roses, was fought.
- 1745 - During King George's War, British colonial forces led by William Pepperrell captured the French stronghold at Fortress Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island after a six-week siege.
- 1846 - Pius IX was elected pope, beginning the longest reign of all popes since the days of the apostles.
- 1963 - Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova (pictured) became the first woman in space.
- 1976 - Police in Soweto, South Africa opened fire on schoolchildren protesting against the imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in township schools, triggering a series of nationwide demonstrations, strikes, riots and violence.