What happened on September 16
All 5 specimens from this file, spanning 1810 to 1987, with the story behind each photograph.
Reveal the full answer key
-
Nations agree to phase out the chemicals eating a hole in the ozone layer
The Montreal Protocol was signed on 16 September 1987, two years after British scientists reported a hole opening over Antarctica each spring. It is the only United Nations treaty every single country has ratified. The ozone layer is now slowly closing again, and is expected to recover by about 2066.
-
A parish priest calls his congregation to revolt and starts a war of independence
Before dawn on 16 September 1810, Father Miguel Hidalgo rang the bells of his church in Dolores and called the town to rise against Spanish rule. Mexico still marks the date as its independence day, and the president repeats the cry each year from the National Palace balcony. Hidalgo was captured and shot within ten months.
-
A hundred thousand people race on horseback to claim free land
At noon on 16 September 1893 a gunshot started the largest land run in American history. Around 100,000 people raced across the Cherokee Outlet in Oklahoma to stake roughly 42,000 claims. Those who slipped across the line early to grab the best plots were called Sooners, which is still Oklahoma's nickname.
-
A cart packed with explosives kills dozens in a financial district
At noon on 16 September 1920 a horse-drawn cart loaded with dynamite and iron sash weights exploded outside the J. P. Morgan bank on Wall Street, killing 38 people. It remained the deadliest attack of its kind in the United States until 1995. Nobody was ever charged, and the scars are still visible in the stonework opposite.
-
A president offers conditional amnesty to those who dodged the draft
On 16 September 1974 Gerald Ford offered clemency to Vietnam draft evaders and deserters in exchange for two years of public service. It came eight days after he had pardoned Richard Nixon, and pleased almost nobody: only about a fifth of those eligible came forward. Jimmy Carter issued a full unconditional pardon on his first day in office.