16 February in Indian and World History is celebrated, observed, and remembered for various reasons. 16 February is the birth anniversary of Rajendralal Mitra, Ghulam Mohammed Sheikh, and Wasim Jaffer.
16 February is also observed as the death anniversary of Dadasaheb Phalke, and Meghnad Saha.
Birth Anniversary
16 February in Indian history is celebrated as the birth anniversary of the following personalities:
Rajendralal Mitra (16 February 1822 – 27 July 1891), an eminent scholar of Indology. He was proficient in Sanskrit, Persian, Bengali, and English languages. Had it. He has edited many books and works. Rajendralal Mitra was the director of ‘Wadia Institute’ for 25 years. He was born on 16 February 1822 in Kolkata.
Ghulam Mohammed Sheikh, an internationally renowned painter, writer, and art critic. He was honored with the prestigious ‘Padma Shri’ award in 1983 for his contribution to the arts. The specialty of Ghulam Mohammad Sheikh, known as ‘Sheikh Sahab’ in Baroda’s art world, is that he is an internationally renowned painter, also Gujarati literature is also considered incomplete without the mention of his name. He was born on 16 February 1937 in Gujarat.
Wasim Jaffer, an Indian retired professional cricketer. He was a right-handed opening batsman and an occasional right-arm off-break bowler. He is currently the highest run-scorer in Ranji Trophy cricket, surpassing Amol Muzumdar. He was born on 16 February 1978.
Read More: 15 February in Indian and World History
Death Anniversary
16 February in Indian history is observed as the death anniversary of the following personalities:
Dadasaheb Phalke (30 April 1870 – 16 February 1944), a famous film producer-director and screenwriter who is regarded as the father of Indian cinema. The Dadasaheb Phalke Award was instituted in the year 1969 on the 100th birth anniversary of Dadasaheb Phalke. Dadasaheb Phalke Award is the highest award in Indian cinema, given by the Central Government of India for lifetime contribution. He died on 16 February 1944.
Meghnad Saha (6 October 1893 – 16 February 1956), an Indian astrophysicist was a professor at Allahabad University from 1923 to 1938. After this, he remained Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Kolkata till his death in 1956. In 1927 he became a member of the Royal Society. He was the President of the Indian Science Congress of 1934. He died on 16 February 1956.
Read More: 14 February in Indian and World History
Notable events on 16 February in Indian and World history
16 February 1907 – Giosue Carducci an Italian poet, writer, literary critic, teacher, and Nobel Prize Laureate, died.
16 February 1914 – The first plane took off between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
16 February 1932 – Ferdinand Buisson a French statesman, pacifist, educational reformer, and Nobel Prize Laureate, died.
16 February 1944 – Dadasaheb Phalke an Indian film producer, director, and screenwriter, died.
16 February 1945 – Yun Dong-ju, a Korean poet and independence activist, died under Japanese occupation.
16 February 1959 – President Fidel Castro took power in Cuba, defeating Fulgencio Batista.
16 February 1970 – Francis Peyton Rous, an American pathologist, and Nobel Prize Laureate, died.
16 February 1982 – The Jawaharlal Nehru International Gold Cup football tournament was organized for the first time in Calcutta.
16 February 1985 – Paulette Nardal – a French writer from Martinique, a journalist – died.
16 February 1986 – Mário Soares was elected the first civilian president of Portugal.
16 February 1987 – The submarine-to-submarine missile was inducted into the Indian Navy.
16 February 1990 – Sam Nujoma was elected the first President of Namibia.
16 February 1990 – Keith Haring – an American artist whose pop art emerged from the New York City graffiti subculture of the 1980s – died.
16 February 2001 – US and British aircraft attack on Iraq.
16 February 2003 – Doli, the world’s first cloned sheep, was put to death.
16 February 2008 – Tata Motors launched a vehicle for the Army called Light Specialty Vehicle to give an opportunity to the Army to showcase its potential.
16 February 2008 – a Miraj plane crashed in Pakistan’s Punjab province.
16 February 2008 – Lata Mangeshkar Award was presented to playback singer Nitin Mukesh by the Madhya Pradesh government.
16 February 2008 – Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has launched ‘Mukhyamantri Kanya Vivah Yojana’ in the state from 2008.
16 February 2009 – former President Pranab Mukherjee presented the interim budget for the year 2009-2010.
16 February 2013 – a bomb exploded in the Pakistani town of Hazara, killing 84 people and injuring 190 others.