December 16th:
According to Wikipedia and other sources, on December 16th:
1497 – Vasco da Gama rounds the Cape of Good Hope, the point where Bartolomeu Dias had previously turned back to Portugal.
1770 – Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer born (d. 1827)
1773 – American Revolution: Boston Tea Party – Members of the Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawk Indians dump hundreds of crates of tea into Boston harbor as a protest against the Tea Act.
1775 – Jane Austen, English novelist (d. 1817)
1944 – World War II: The Battle of the Bulge begins with the surprise offensive of three German armies through the Ardennes forest.