TODAY IN HISTORY – 16th Sept, 2026 – ORBITS NEWS

TODAY IN HISTORY – 16th Sept, 2026 – ORBITS NEWS

By Valentine Uchechukwu Ndukwu.

Today in History

I wonder what was the inspiration behind the priceless quote from Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914), the notable American writer when he rendered the concept of history as, “An account, mostly false, of events, mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers, mostly knaves, and soldiers, mostly fools.”

Whatever this means to you, Today in History has outlined a couple of events that went down on this day in the past

On this day in 1732, exactly in Campo Maior, Portugal, a storm hits the Armory and a violent explosion ensues, killing two-thirds of its inhabitants.

Still on this day in 1810, with the Grito de Dolores, Father Miguel Hidalgo begins Mexico’s fight for independence from Spain.

Today in history reveals that on this day in 1822, French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel, in a “note” read to the Academy of Sciences, reports a direct refraction experiment verifying David Brewster’s hypothesis that photoelasticity (as it is now known) is stress-induced birefringence.

It was on this day in 1908 that the General Motors Corporation is founded.

Again on this day in 1955, a Soviet Zulu-class submarine becomes the first to launch a ballistic missile.

On this day in 1959, the first successful photocopier, the Xerox 914, is introduced in a demonstration on live television from New York City.

Still on this day in 1961, Typhoon Nancy, with possibly the strongest winds ever measured in a tropical cyclone, makes landfall in Osaka, Japan, killing 173 people.

Amazingly, on this day in 1975, Papua New Guinea gains independence from Australia.

Interestingly, on the day in 1975, the first prototype of the Mikoyan MiG-31 interceptor makes its maiden flight.

Most remarkably, on this day in 1976, Armenian champion swimmer Shavarsh Karapetyan saves 20 people from a trolleybus that had fallen into a Yerevan reservoir.

Regrettably on this day in 1976, we recorded the Night of the Pencils: In the city of La Plata, Argentina, a group of high-school students were kidnapped and later tortured, raped and murdered during the Argentinian military dictatorship.

Sadly, on this day in 1968, we recorded the Fall of Owerri. During the Nigerian Civil War, federal troops captured the key city of Owerri on September 16, 1968, which was a major turning point before Biafran forces temporarily recaptured it later in the war.

Today, Cry of Dolores, celebrates the declaration of independence of Mexico from Spain in 1810. See Fiestas Patrias

Today is International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer

Today is National Heroes Day (Saint Kitts and Nevis)

Part of the reason for which they say, value always returns to its source is, you run the show, you’re the point man ~ keep pointing in the right direction.

Today in history