In 1777 British general John Burgoyne sent 700 men to Bennington, Vermont, where 2,600 colonial troops were guarding a storehouse containing war supplies. American general John Stark met the British; killed their commander, Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich Baum; and killed or imprisoned nearly all the British soldiers. The Bennington battle led to the British surrender at Saratoga, New York, in October.
Daily Calendar for Saturday, August 16, 2025
Born
- Gabriel Lippmann (physicist) –
- Menachem Begin (Prime Minister of Israel) –
- Lesley Ann Warren (actress) –
- Madonna (singer) –
- Angela Bassett (actress) –
- Timothy Hutton (actor) –
- Steve Carell (actor) –
- Vanessa Carlton (singer) –
- Evanna Lynch (actress; plays Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter films) –
Died
- Robert Wilhelm Bunsen (chemist) –
- Babe Ruth (baseball player) –
- Margaret Mitchell (author) –
- Elvis Presley (American entertainer ) –
- Phil Leeds (actor) –
- Emma Didlake (oldest known U.S. veteran at the time of death; she was 110) –
- Aretha Franklin (singer, known as the Queen of Soul) –
Events
- The Battle of Camden fought in South Carolina–
- Siamese twins arrived in Boston, Massachusetts, to start U.S. tour–
- U.S. President John Tyler vetoed a bill calling for the re-establishment of the Second Bank of the United States–
- U.S. President James Buchanan and Queen Victoria exchanged greetings by telegraph to celebrate the laying of the transatlantic cable–
- Trade between Union and Confederate states prohibited–
- Gold is discovered in Rabbit Creek in the Yukon Territory, Canada, starting the Klondike Gold Rush–
- U.S./Canadian Migratory Bird Treaty signed–
- In a pool at Manhattan Beach, New York, Ethelda Bleibtrey swam against Fanny Durack of Australia, winning the race and a place on the United States Olympic team for the 1920 Summer Games in Antwerp, Belgium. She and her teammates were the first American women to swim in the Olympics.–
- First Delaware Memorial bridge opened–
- Volume 1, Issue 1 of Sports Illustrated published–
- From 102,800 feet, Joe Kittinger free-fell 4 minutes, 36 seconds over New Mexico–
- 5-pound 15-ounce Arctic grayling caught in Katseyedie River, Northwest Territories–
- Northern hogsucker weighed in at one pound fifteen ounces, making Minnesota state fishing record–
- Element 110 named “darmstadtium” –
- The Texas Rangers turned a rare 5-4 triple play against the Los Angeles Angels, at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas. It was major league baseball’s first triple play without retiring the batter since June 3, 1912.–
Weather
- Rain delayed the start of the Battle of Bennington–
- A hurricane struck along the northeast coast–
- 106 degrees F in Nashville, Tennessee–
