Today in History, September 16th
On September 16, 1620, the Mayflower left Plymouth, England, with 102 passengers. Plus Mexico's Grito de Dolores and the Montreal Protocol.
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September 16 is best known for 1620, when the Mayflower left Plymouth, England, for North America with 102 passengers. The date also marks Miguel Hidalgo’s 1810 call for Mexican independence and the 1987 signing of the Montreal Protocol to protect the ozone layer.
The big story: The Mayflower sets sail (1620)
The Pilgrims’ voyage almost ended before it began. They first set out from Southampton in August 1620 with two ships, but the second one, the Speedwell, kept leaking and forced them back to port twice. In the end the Speedwell stayed behind, and on September 16 the Mayflower left Plymouth, England, alone and crowded with 102 passengers. On November 21 the ship reached the tip of Cape Cod, near present-day Provincetown, Massachusetts. That was 66 days of cramped quarters with nowhere to go. Before founding their colony, the men aboard agreed to the Mayflower Compact, an agreement to govern themselves. By late December they had reached the site that became Plymouth Colony, and their story grew into one of the founding tales of the U.S.
More events on September 16
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1810 | Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla issued the “Grito de Dolores,” calling for an end to Spanish rule and starting Mexico’s war of independence. |
| 1893 | More than 100,000 people raced into Oklahoma’s Cherokee Strip at a pistol shot, the largest land run in history. |
| 1908 | Buick chief William Durant incorporated General Motors in New Jersey. |
| 1920 | A bomb exploded on Wall Street in New York City at the start of the lunch hour, killing more than 30 people. The case was never solved. |
| 1940 | President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Burke-Wadsworth Act, creating the first peacetime military draft in U.S. history. |
| 1977 | Opera soprano Maria Callas, born in New York City to Greek parents, died in Paris at 53. |
| 1987 | The Montreal Protocol, the treaty to phase out chemicals that damage the ozone layer, was signed. The UN later made the date International Ozone Day. |
| 2013 | A gunman killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., before police shot him. |
Born on September 16
- 1923: Lee Kuan Yew, prime minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990, born in Singapore.
- 1924: Lauren Bacall, film star of The Big Sleep and Key Largo, born in New York City.
- 1925: B.B. King, blues guitarist and singer of “The Thrill Is Gone,” born near Itta Bena, Mississippi.
- 1927: Peter Falk, actor best known as TV detective Columbo, born in New York City.
Keep reading
Sources
- Mayflower departs England, History.com
- Mayflower, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Mexican War of Independence begins, History.com
- Settlers race to claim land in the Cherokee Strip, History.com
- William Durant creates General Motors, History.com
- Wall Street Bombing 1920, FBI
- Selective Training and Service Act, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, United Nations
- Gunman kills 12 in D.C. Navy Yard, History.com
- B.B. King, Encyclopaedia Britannica
