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THE DAY IN HISTORY · DECEMBER 16

December 16 in history

What happened on December 16: 4 moments from the Maps of History atlases, in 1773, 1864, 1944 and 1972, each linked to the map that shows it.

— Boston Tea Party

16 Dec 1773 — Three shiploads of taxed tea go into the harbor. Parliament answers with the Coercive Acts; the colonies answer with a Congress.

READ THIS MOMENT → · SEE IT ON THE AGE OF REVOLUTIONS MAP → · THE FULL STORY →

— Battle of Nashville

15–16 Dec 1864 — Thomas comes out of his works and annihilates what Franklin left. The Confederacy’s second great army effectively ceases to exist; the West is decided.

READ THIS MOMENT → · SEE IT ON THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR MAP → · THE FULL STORY →

Out of the fog of the Ardennes, Hitler’s last reserves strike west. The Bulge will consume them within a month.

READ THIS MOMENT → · SEE IT ON THE WW2 MAP →

— Wiriyamu massacre

16 Dec 1972 — Portuguese troops massacre the villagers of Wiriyamu in Mozambique; the killing, exposed by missionaries, shames Lisbon before the world on the eve of its own revolution. Remember them.

READ THIS MOMENT → · SEE IT ON THE DECOLONIZATION OF AFRICA MAP → · THE FULL STORY →

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