February 16 is the 47th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 318 days remaining until the end of the year (319 in leap years). This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday (58 in 400 years each) than on Sunday or Monday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Wednesday or Friday (56).
+ 1862 – American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Donelson, Tennessee.
+ 1874 – Silver Dollar becomes legal US tender.
+ 1933 – The Blaine Act ends Prohibition in the United States.
+ 1937 – Wallace H. Carothers receives a United States patent for nylon.
+ 1961 – Explorer program: Explorer 9 (S-56a) is launched.
+ 1968 – In Haleyville, Alabama, the first 9-1-1 emergency telephone system goes into service.
( Births )
+ 1909 – Hugh Beaumont, American actor and director (d. 1982)
+ 1935 – Sonny Bono, American actor, singer, and politician (d. 1998)
+ 1957 – LeVar Burton, German-American actor, director, and producer
+ 1959 – John McEnroe, German-American tennis player and sportscaster
+ 1972 – Jerome Bettis, American football player and sportscaster