16 June in Indian and World History is celebrated, observed, and remembered for various reasons. 16 June is the birth anniversary of C.M Poonacha, Mahmood Ali Khan, Dr. Brahmdev Sharma, and Mithun Chakraborty.
16 June is also observed as the death anniversary of Chittaranjan Das, and Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray.
Birth Anniversary
16 June in Indian history is celebrated as the birth anniversary of the following personalities:
C.M Poonacha (16 June 1910 – 3 August 1990), an Indian freedom fighter and politician. He was one of the members of the ‘Indian National Congress’ in Coorg. His ancestors were the Diwans of the Coorg kingdom. C. M. Punacha had joined the freedom struggle in 1930. After independence, he became the Chief Minister of Coorg. CM Punacha was the Minister of Industries and Commerce in 1956 after the formation of Mysore State. He had also served in the prestigious post of Governor in Orissa and Madhya Pradesh. Poonacha was born on 16 June 1910 in Coorg, Karnataka.
Mahmood Ali Khan (16 June 1920 – 22 April 2001), one of the famous Indian politicians and former Governor of Madhya Pradesh. He started active participation in political activities from 1943 as a member of Congress. Mahmud Ali Khan was appointed as a member of the ‘Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission’ in 1968 for 6 years. After 1980, he completely kept himself away from active politics and took a keen interest in works of communal harmony and social and cultural activities. He remained a member of the ‘Janata Party’ led by Chandrashekhar. Mahmud Ali Khan was appointed as the Governor of Madhya Pradesh on 6 February 1990. He spent most of his life in the work of creating awareness among the backward villagers and farmers. He was born on 16 June 1920 in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.
Dr. Brahmdev Sharma (16 June 1931 – 6 December 2015), an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer. He did his Ph.D. in mathematics from education, fought for the rights of tribals throughout his life, and got fame due to this. He continued to raise his voice on the issue of the plight and problem of the tribals in India. He played an important role in the formulation of many government policies for the tribals. 1956 batch IAS officer Dr. Brahmdev Sharma was in the news for standing in favor of tribals as the Collector of Bastar district of present Chhattisgarh (at that time Madhya Pradesh). He was born on 16 June 1931 in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh.
Mithun Chakraborty, a Bollywood actor, singer, producer, writer, social worker, entrepreneur, a television presenter who works predominantly in Hindi and Bengali films. He is a former Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament. He is the recipient of two Filmfare Awards and three National Film Awards. He was born on 16 June 1950 in Kolkata to a Bengali family.
Read More: 15 June in Indian and World History
Death Anniversary
16 June in Indian history is observed as the death anniversary of the following personalities:
Chittaranjan Das (5 November 1870 – 16 June 1925), the founder of ‘Swarajya Party’, and a great freedom fighter, whose life was historic in the ‘Indian independence movement’. He was fondly called ‘Deshbandhu’ (Friend of the Country). He was a great nationalist and famous jurist. Chittaranjan Das was the defense lawyer for the defense of Arvind Ghosh, the accused in the ‘Alipore Conspiracy Case’ (1908). During the ‘Non-Cooperation Movement’, he had given up his advocacy. He was the president of the Congress session held in Ahmedabad in 1921. Chittaranjan Das also presided over the ‘All India Trade Union Congress’ at Lahore in 1923 and Ahmedabad in 1924. He died on 16 June 1925 at the age of 55 in Darjeeling, Bengal Presidency, British India (Present Day Darjeeling, West Bengal, India).
Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray (2 August 1861 – 16 June 1944), an eminent Bengali chemist, educationist, historian, industrialist, and philanthropist. He was considered the father of chemistry in India. He was a simple and patriotic scientist, who made tremendous efforts for the country’s self-reliance in chemical technology. Impressed by his multi-faceted personality of ‘simple living, high thinking’ Mahatma Gandhi said, “On seeing this simple man dressed in pure Indian garb, one cannot believe that he can be a great scientist”. Prafulla Chandra Roy’s talent was so remarkable that on the publication of his autobiography “Life and Experiences of Bengali Chemist” (Life and Experience of a Bengali Chemist), the international science magazine “Nature” paid tribute to him and wrote that ” No one else could possibly have a more distinctive life character than Prafullachandra Rai.” He died on 16 June 1944 at the age of 82 in Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India.
Read More: 14 June in Indian and World History
Notable events on 16 June in Indian and World history
16 June 1606 – During the reign of Jahangir, Guru Arjan Dev was executed in Lahore (Pakistan) by torture.
16 June 1779 – Spain started the war against Britain.
16 June 1815 – Napoleon defeated Prussia in the Battle of Ligny in the Netherlands.
16 June 1858 – The Battle of Morar was fought during the First Indian War of Independence.
16 June 1881 – Austria and Hungary signed a military treaty with Serbia.
16 June 1890 – The second Madison Square Garden in America was opened on this day.
16 June 1903 – Roald Amundsen of Norway discovered a sea route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans across the Canadian islands. This route is called the Northwest Passage.
16 June 1911 – The IBM company was founded in New York in 1911. Earlier its name was Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company.
16 June 1915 – Marga Faulstich – a was a German glass chemist – was born.
16 June 1924 – The Whampoa Military Academy in China was established in 1924.
16 June 1924 – In the first Test against England at Edgbaston, the entire team of South Africa was dismissed for just 30 runs in the first innings. England won the match by an innings and 18 runs.
16 June 1963 – Lieutenant Valentina Tereshkova, a 26-year-old Russian woman, was the first woman in the world to fly into space.
16 June 1976 – Ten thousand black school students in Toyota, South Africa, held a nearly half-mile-long demonstration against their poor quality of education and the right to speak their language. In this, more than a hundred students were shot and more than a thousand were injured.
16 June 1983 – Guru Ghasidas University of Chhattisgarh was established.
16 June 2006 – Nepal agreed to join the Maoist Interim Government.
16 June 2007 – Sunita Williams became the longest-serving woman in space.
16 June 2008 – ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, acquired American company Bambu Steel.
16 June 2012 – China launched the spacecraft Shenzhou 9.
16 June 2012 – The United States Air Force’s robotic Boeing X-37B spaceplane completed its mission and returned to Earth.
16 June 2012 – Multinational soft drinks company Coca-Cola started business in Myanmar after 60 years.