May 16 birthdays, facts & history
Everything about being born on May 16, from your sign and birth stone to who shares your birthday.
Zodiac sign
♉︎ Taurus
Apr 20 – May 20
Birth stone
Emerald
Birth flower
Lily of the valley
How common
#100 of 366
by US birth counts
Famous May 16 birthdays
William H. Seward · American lawyer and politician1801
Celâl Bayar · 3rd President of the Republic of Turkey1883
Henry Fonda · American actor1905
Margaret Sullavan · American actress1909
Liberace · American pianist1919
Merton Miller · American economist1923
Adrienne Rich · American poet, essayist and feminist1929
Robert B. Wilson · American economist and Nobel laureate1937
Danny Trejo · Native Mexican-American character actor1944
Georg Bednorz · physicist1950
Pierce Brosnan · Irish actor1953
Debra Winger · American actress1955
Krist Novoselic · American rock musician1965
Janet Jackson · American singer, songwriter, dancer and actress1966
Tucker Carlson · American conservative political commentator1969
David Boreanaz · American actor1969
Andrzej Duda · politician and lawyer1972
Laura Pausini · Italian singer1974
Megan Fox · American actress and model1986
IU · South Korean singer, songwriter and actress1993
On this day in history
1866The United States Congress authorized the minting of the Shield nickel (example pictured), the country's first five-cent piece to be made of a copper–nickel alloy.
1929The first Academy Awards ceremony was held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles, California.
1960American physicist Theodore Maiman operated the first working laser at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu.
1977The first Chuck E. Cheese location, the first family restaurant to integrate food, animated entertainment (example pictured), and an indoor arcade, opened in San Jose, California.
1975Based on the results of a referendum held about one month earlier, the Kingdom of Sikkim (flag pictured) abolished its monarchy and was annexed to become the 22nd state of India.
1988A report by the Surgeon General of the United States C. Everett Koop states that the addictive properties of nicotine are similar to those of heroin and cocaine.
1991Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom addresses a joint session of the United States Congress. She is the first British monarch to address the U.S. Congress.
1997Mobutu Sese Seko, the President of Zaire, flees the country.
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