On the occasion of the Solemnity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, we can look back at the major events throughout History that took place on July 16th:
622: The Prophet Muhammad migrated from Mecca to Medina in an event known as the Hijra. This migration marked the beginning of the Islamic calendar and laid the foundation for the spread of Islam.
1054: Humbert of Silva Candida, cardinal and papal legate, excommunicated Michael Cerularius, patriarch of Constantinople, who retaliated by excommunicating the cardinal. This led to the schism between the churches of Rome and Constantinople.
1099: Crusaders herd Jews of Jerusalem into a synagogue and set it on fire.
1212: At the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (Battle of Al-Uqab), the combined Christian army defeats the Almohad Muslim force in a turning point for Muslim power on the Iberian peninsula.
1251: According to legend, the Virgin Mary gives Simon Stock the Brown Scapular.
1429: Joan of Arc and the French army enter the city of Rheims.
1519: A public debate takes place between Martin Luther and Johann Eck in Liepzig. Luther denies the divine right of the pope.
15th century: July 16th gradually becomes accepted as the patronal feast day, celebrating Mary.
1606: Pope Paul V enriched the confraternities of Our Lady of Mount Carmel with many indulgences and placed it patronal feast on July 16.
1609: The General Chapter of the Order establishes July 16 as the principal feast of the Order.
1661: The first banknotes in Europe are issued by the Bank of Stockholm.
1790: Washington, DC Established as the Capitol of the United States of America.
1794: The Carmelite Severinus of St. Valentine died aboard the French Revolution prison ship “Deux Associés.”
1801: Pope Pius VII and 1st Consul Napoleon Bonaparte sign a concord.
1901: The Fawcett Commission, headed by Millicent Fawcett, is established as a result of an outcry against the treatment of Afrikaners in concentration camps during the South African War.
1918: Czar Nicholas II of Russia and his family are executed by the Bolsheviks.
1936: First x-ray of arterial circulation produced in Rochester, New York.
1940: Adolf Hitler issued Directive No. 16, calling for preparations to be made for Operation Sealion—the invasion of Britain.
1942: French police arrest 13,152 Jews in Paris. Jews from the Netherlands were transported to extermination camps.
1945: The first Atomic Bomb was successfully tested.
1946: A United States of America court sentences 46 members of the Nazi SS troops to death in Dachau.
1965: The Mont Blanc Tunnel officially opened, linking France and Italy. The tunnel was the world’s longest at 7.3 miles/11.7 km.
1969: Apollo 11 was launched, carrying three astronauts into space. It would land on the moon’s surface on July 20, the Solemnity of the Prophet Elijah.
1950-1951: From July 16 until July 16 the following year, the Church celebrated the Seventh Centenary of the Granting of the Scapular.
1973: Dionysius Hadisumarta is consecrated bishop and ordinary of the Diocese of Malang, Indonesia.
1984: President Ferdinand Marcos, wearing full battle fatigues, led troops to battle communist rebels in forested mountains.
1990: A 7.7 magnitude earthquake strikes Luzon Island in the Philippines with Baguio City suffering the worst effects with more than 1,000 people killed.
1990: The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic’s Parliament declared sovereignty over Ukrainian territories.
1995: Amazon officially opened for business as an online bookstore. Within the first month, Amazon has shipped books to 46 countries.
2018: Twelve new moons were discovered in the planet Jupiter’s orbit, bringing the planet’s total number of moons to 79.
