Today in History

May 16

1817 - Mississippi River steamboat service begins.

1862 - Frenchman Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir builds the first gasfuelled internal combustion engine.

1932 - Japanese Prime Minister Tsuyoshi Inukai is assassinated in Tokyo

1941 - The Icelandic parliament ends treaty with Denmark, proclaims independence.

1975 - Japan’s Junko Tabei becomes first woman to climb Mount Everest.

1977 - Muhammad Ali beats Alfredo Evangelist in 15 for heavyweight boxing title.

1980 - Japanese Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira calls a snap general election after his government collapses in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence

1989 - Lebanese Grand Mufti Shaikh Hassan Khalid is killed in a car bomb blast.

1991 - Queen Elizabeth II becomes the first British monarch to address the US Congress.

2005 - Kuwaiti women are granted the right to vote and contest elections.

2009 - Kuwait elects four women members of parliament for the first time in the nation’s history.

2011 - The RAK Maritime City is launched in Ras Al Khaimah.

2015 - An Egypt court sentences ex-President Mohammad Mursi to death over allegations he escaped prison in 2011.

2016 - UAE and Saudi Arabia set up a joint council to coordinate efforts and bolster ties between the two countries.