This Day In History, March 16th.
Five Historical Events That Happened on March 16th.
According to the Hebrew Bible, Babylonians capture Jerusalem in 597 BC.
Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese navigator, arrives in the Philippines in 1521.
Dutch explorer Jacob Le Maire discovers and names the Samoan Islands in 1616..
1968 - Vietnam War: The My Lai Massacre occurs, in which US soldiers from the Charlie Company kill between 347 and 504 unarmed Vietnamese civilians.
1244 - The Siege of Montségur, a significant event in the Cathar Crusade, ends with the surrender of the last Cathar stronghold in the south of France to the French royal army.
This Day In History, March 16th, 597 - BC - Babylonians capture Jerusalem, according to the Hebrew Bible
The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II captured Jerusalem in 597 BC and took many Jews, including King Jehoiachin, into captivity in Babylon. This event is known as the Babylonian Captivity or Babylonian Exile in the Hebrew Bible. The Babylonian Captivity, which lasted approximately 70 years, had a significant impact on Jewish history and culture.
1521 - Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Philippines.
Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese navigator, arrived on the Philippine island of Homonhon on March 16, 1521. He was in charge of a Spanish expedition tasked with discovering a western route to the Spice Islands in modern-day Indonesia. Magellan's arrival in the Philippines marked the start of the archipelago's Spanish colonization, which would last more than three centuries. Magellan's expedition is also regarded as the first to circumnavigate the globe, despite the fact that Magellan was killed in a battle in the Philippines before the voyage was completed.
1616 - The Samoan Islands are discovered and named by Dutch explorer Jacob Le Maire.
During his journey to the South Pacific in 1616, Dutch explorer Jacob Le Maire discovered the Samoan Islands. Because of the abundance of sandalwood trees on the islands, he named them "Sandalwood Islands." The Samoan Islands are made up of two main islands, Upolu and Savai'i, as well as a number of smaller islands. They are about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand in the South Pacific Ocean. Samoa is now an independent country with a thriving Polynesian culture and a population of approximately 200,000 people.
1968 - Vietnam War: The My Lai Massacre occurs, in which between 347 and 504 unarmed Vietnamese civilians are killed by US soldiers of the Charlie Company.
The My Lai Massacre occurred on March 16, 1968, during the Vietnam War, in the village of My Lai in Quang Ngai Province, South Vietnam. Lieutenant William Calley, Jr. led the US Army's Charlie Company, which killed between 347 and 504 unarmed Vietnamese civilians, including women, children, and the elderly. The massacre was one of the most heinous war crimes committed by US troops during the Vietnam War, and it sparked worldwide outrage and condemnation. The details of the massacre were not made public until a year later, in 1969, sparking a national debate in the United States about the war and the conduct of American soldiers in Vietnam.
The Siege of Montségur, a significant event in the Cathar Crusade, concludes with the surrender of the last Cathar stronghold in southern France to the French royal army in 1244.
For refusing to renounce their beliefs, more than 200 Cathar Perfects (religious leaders) were burned at the stake, and the Cathar movement was effectively eradicated in France. The siege of Montségur is regarded as a watershed moment in the Cathar Crusade, a brutal and protracted conflict in the 12th and 13th centuries between the Catholic Church and Cathar heretics.