July 16, 1948

1948Rubén Blades, Panamanian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor^[†]

Rubén Blades Bellido de Luna, known professionally as Rubén Blades, is a Panamanian musician, singer, composer, actor, activist, and politician, performing musically most often in the salsa, and Latin jazz genres. As a songwriter, Blades brought the lyrical sophistication of Central American nueva canción and Cuban nueva trova as well as experimental tempos and politically inspired Son Cubano salsa to his music, creating "thinking persons' (salsa) dance music". Blades has written dozens of hit songs, including "Pedro Navaja" and "El Cantante". He has won twelve Grammy Awards out of 20 nominations and twelve Latin Grammy Awards.

1948Lars Lagerbäck, Swedish footballer and manager^[†]

Lars Edvin "Lasse" Lagerbäck is a Swedish football manager and former player who currently serves as an advisor for the Iceland national football team.

1948Kevin McKenzie, South African cricketer^[†]

Kevin Alexander McKenzie is a South African first-class cricketer whose career with Transvaal lasted from his first season in 1966/67 to the final one in 1986/87.

1948Pinchas Zukerman, Israeli violinist and conductor^[†]

Pinchas Zukerman is an Israeli-American violinist, violist and conductor.

1948Following token resistance, the city of Nazareth, revered by Christians as the hometown of Jesus, capitulates to Israeli troops during Operation Dekel in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.^[†]

Nazareth is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. In 2023 its population was 77,208. Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and commercial center for the Arab citizens of Israel. The inhabitants are predominantly Arabs, of whom 69% are Muslim and 31% Christian. The city also commands immense religious significance, deriving from its status as the hometown of Jesus, the central figure of Christianity and a prophet in Islam and the Baháʼí Faith.

1948The storming of the cockpit of the Miss Macao passenger seaplane, operated by a subsidiary of the Cathay Pacific Airways, marks the first aircraft hijacking of a commercial plane.^[†]

Miss Macao (Chinese: 澳門小姐; Sidney Lau: O3 Moon4 Siu2 Je2) was a Catalina seaplane owned by Cathay Pacific and operated by subsidiary Macau Air Transport Company. On 16 July 1948 it was involved in the first hijacking of a commercial aircraft. Piracy for robbery and ransom was the motive. The aircraft crashed after the pilot was shot while resisting the attackers; 25 people died, including three hijackers, but one hijacker survived by jumping out of the airplane before impact.