THE DAY IN HISTORY · AUGUST 16
August 16 in history
What happened on August 16: 4 moments from the Maps of History atlases, in 1819, 1914, 1920 and 1959, each linked to the map that shows it.
— Peterloo Massacre
16 Aug 1819 — Cavalry charge a peaceful reform meeting of 60,000 at Manchester; eighteen die. Britain’s road ran through reform bills instead of barricades — this is what opening it cost. Remember.
READ THIS MOMENT → · SEE IT ON THE AGE OF REVOLUTIONS MAP → · THE FULL STORY →
— Battle of Liège
5-16 Aug 1914 — Belgium’s ring fortress holds the German right wing for ten days until 420mm siege howitzers — the largest guns yet fired in war — smash the forts one by one. The timetable is dented, not broken.
READ THIS MOMENT → · SEE IT ON THE WWI MAP → · THE FULL STORY →
Piłsudski’s counterstroke from the Wieprz breaks the Red Army before Warsaw — the battle that drew Poland’s eastern border.
READ THIS MOMENT → · SEE IT ON THE WWI MAP →
— Lushan Conference
2 Jul–16 Aug 1959 — At the mountain resort, Defence Minister Peng Dehuai sends Mao a private letter warning of “petty-bourgeois fanaticism” in the Leap. Mao circulates it, denounces Peng as leader of an “anti-Party clique” and has him dismissed. A campaign against “right opportunists” follows, and the Leap is pushed harder just as famine spreads.
READ THIS MOMENT → · SEE IT ON THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC UNDER MAO MAP → · THE FULL STORY →
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