On this day
Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
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Sec Snyder proposes that firms with excess profits cut prices; sees action within a wk
GB restores purchase tax on various appliances
phone strike contribution noted
JERUSALEM, Wednesday, April 16 -- An official announced today that Dov Bela Gruner and three other convicted members of the Irgun Zvai Leumi organization were hanged at Acre Prison at dawn.
1947Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, American basketball player and coach[†]
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is an American former basketball player. He played professionally for 20 seasons for the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins as a center. A member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Abdul-Jabbar won a record six NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards. He was a 19-time NBA All-Star, a 15-time All-NBA Team member, and an 11-time NBA All-Defensive Team selection. He was a member of six NBA championship teams as a player and two more as an assistant coach, and was twice voted the NBA Finals MVP. He was named to three NBA anniversary teams. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Abdul-Jabbar broke the NBA's career scoring record in 1984, and held it until LeBron James surpassed him in 2023.
1947Gerry Rafferty, Scottish singer-songwriter (died 2011)[†]
Gerald Rafferty was a Scottish singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. He was a founding member of Stealers Wheel, whose biggest hit was "Stuck in the Middle with You" in 1973. His solo hits in the late 1970s included "Baker Street", "Right Down the Line" and "Night Owl".
1947Rudolf Höss, German SS officer (born 1900)[†]
Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Höss was a German SS officer and the commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp. After the defeat of Nazi Germany and the end of World War II, he was convicted in Poland and executed for war crimes committed on the prisoners of the Auschwitz concentration camp and for his role in the Holocaust.
1947An explosion on board a freighter in port causes the city of Texas City, Texas, United States, to catch fire, killing almost 600 people.[†]
The Texas City disaster was an industrial accident that occurred on April 16, 1947, in the port of Texas City, Texas, United States, located in Galveston Bay. It was the deadliest industrial accident in U.S. history and one of history's largest non-nuclear explosions.
1947Bernard Baruch first applies the term "Cold War" to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union.[†]
Bernard Mannes Baruch was an American financier and statesman.