On this day in history - July 16

What Happened On This Day – July 16

• 2003 Coup in São Tomé and Príncipe

  Fernando Pereira staged a military coup against the elected government of Fradique de Menezes.

• 1994 Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 collides with Jupiter

  The Jupiter orbiting comet collided with Jupiter. It was the first time in recorded history that astronomers had observed a collision between two celestial objects.

• 1981 Mahathir bin Mohamad takes office for the first time

  Mohmad, took office as the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia and remained in the position until 2003, becoming Malayasia's longest serving prime minister and Asia's longest serving politician.

• 1979 Iraqi president, Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr resigns

  The fourth president of Iraq resigned from his post citing health reasons and promoted his Vice President, Saddam Hussein to the post of President.

• 1951 The Catcher in the Rye is published

  The book, written by J.D. Salinger is considered to be one of the top 100 works of fiction of the 20th century.