February 16

600 Pope Gregory the Great originated the usage of the phrase "God Bless You", when someone sneezes, at a time when coughing was a mortal symptom because of the plague. It was on February 16, 600, that he declared "God bless you" to be the correct response to a sneeze.

1659 Morris & Clayton was one of the earliest banks in Britain. The earliest surviving English cheque was drawn on this bank on February 16, 1659, for the sum of £400. It was merely a slip of paper with a payment instruction from merchant Nicholas Vanacker to his scrivener (17th century forerunners of bankers).

1786 Future US president 27-year-old James Monroe married 17-year-old Elizabeth Kortright (1768–1830) on February 16, 1786, at her father's home in New York City. After a brief honeymoon on Long Island, New York, the Monroes returned to New York City to live with her father until Congress adjourned. The Monroes were the first to occupy the reconstructed White House, moving there in December 1817. James Monroe had the south portico built in 1824.

1801 William Pitt the Younger resigned as UK prime minister on February 16, 1801 over George III’s opposition to his proposed policy of Catholic emancipation in Ireland. In 1804, Pitt returned as Prime Minister to help co-ordinate a response to the growing threat of Napoleon. Pitt was the British prime minister for 20 out of his 47 years, the highest percentage of lifetime as leader of any British PM.

1859 During historical periods when instrumental music rose in prominence (relative to the voice), there was a continuous tendency for pitch levels to rise. In 1810 a Paris Opera tuning fork gave A = 423 Hz, a and by 1855 it gave A = 449. Singers complained that the upward tendency in pitch was putting a strain on their voices. Because of their protests, the French government passed a law on February 16, 1859. setting the musical note A4 to a frequency of 435 hertz. It was the first attempt to standardize concert pitch and was known as the diapason normal.

1864 The founder of Heineken, Gerard Heineken was 22 years old when he took over De Hooiberg, a brewery that had been around since the 17th century, on February 16, 1864. Gerard Heineken didn’t let his lack of knowledge about the brewing industry, dissuade him from showing interest in purchasing it. Despite his lack of industry knowledge, Gerard went on to create a very successful business.

1895 The current flag of the state of Alabama (the second in Alabama state history) was adopted on February 16, 1895. The legislation stipulates that "[t]he flag of the state of Alabama shall be a crimson cross of St. Andrew on a field of white. The bars forming the cross shall be not less than six inches broad, and must extend diagonally across the flag from side to side."

Alabama flag

1918 The Council of Lithuania consisting of twenty Lithuanian men unanimously adopted the Act of Independence, declaring Lithuania an independent state.on February 16, 1918. After Lithuania lost its independence during World War II, six of the surviving signatories were sent to prison or executed by the Soviet government, and six others went into exile.

1923 George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, employed the British archaeologist Howard Carter to lead the archaeological dig in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt. After Carter's waterboy stumbled across some steps leading under the desert surface. Carter had the steps partially dug out until the top of a mud-plastered doorway was found. On February 16, 1923, Carter opened the sealed doorway and found they led to the burial chamber of the ancient Egyptian Boy King Tutankhamun.

Howard Carter and others  at the top of the steps leading to the newly discovered tomb of Tutankhamun

1932 The first ever patent for a tree was issued to James Markham on February 16, 1932 for a peach tree, which ripens later than other varieties. Markham worked for Stark Bro's Nurseries & Orchards Co, a horticultural company based in Louisiana, Missouri.

1937 On February 16, 1937, the du Pont company patented their synthetic textile fiber calling it nylon. The letters "nyl" were arbitrary and the "on" was copied from the suffixes of other fibers such as cotton and rayon. One of the first products to be made with this new material was a new type of toothbrush- Dr. West's miracle toothbrush with nylon bristles. Other early uses were for fishing lines and surgical sutures.

1942 Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-il was born in Japanese-occupied Korea on February 16, 1942
Official biographers say Kim Jong-il's birth in a cabin on the slopes of Paektu Mountain in Japanese-occupied Korea was foretold by a swallow and heralded by a double rainbow. When he was born, a new star appeared in the night sky. North Korean biographies state that Kim Jong-il learned to walk at just three-weeks-old and he was talking at eight weeks.

1959 Fidel Castro and his brother Raúl led a group of approximately 160 rebels on July 23, 1953 in an unsuccessful attack on the Moncada Barracks, thus beginning the Cuban Revolution. On February 16, 1959 Fidel Castro, wearing army fatigues, was sworn in as prime minister of Cuba after dictator Fulgencio Batista fled the island. He accepted the position on the condition that the Prime Minister’s powers be increased.

1968 The first 911 emergency telephone system in the US went operational in Haleyville, Alabama on February 16, 1968. The first-ever 9-1-1 call was placed by Alabama Speaker of the House Rankin Fite, from Haleyville City Hall, to U.S. Rep. Tom Bevill, at the city's police station.  The number itself, however, did not become widely known until the 1970s, and many municipalities did not have 9-1-1 service until well into the 1980s.

1978 CBBS, the first computer bulletin board system, was created by computer programmer Ward Christensen in Chicago on February 16, 1978. He explained it was conceived to mimic a "cork board and push pin bulletin board" on a computer - thus "Computerized Bulletin Board System."

2005 On February 16, 2005, the National Hockey League (NHL) announced the cancellation of its entire 2004-2005 season. It was due to a labor dispute between the league's owners and the NHL Players' Association (NHLPA) centered on disagreements over the league's revenue-sharing system and the NHL's desire for a salary cap to control player salaries. The NHL eventually resumed play in the 2005-2006 season under a new collective bargaining agreement with the players' union.

2005 Between 1974 and 1991, serial killer Dennis Lynn Rader, known as the BTK Killer or the BTK Strangler killed ten people in Sedgwick County, Kansas. ("BTK" stands for "Bind, Torture, Kill"). Rader was finally caught after sending on February 16, 2005 a 1.44MB diskette to the police - which they told him was untraceable - containing metadata from a deleted MS Word file.