A group of American colonists known as the "Sons of Liberty" boarded an East India Company ship carrying tea disguised as Native Americans on December 16, 1773, throwing the cargo overboard in protest of the British Parliament's taxes on tea imported by Americans. The protest would result in five acts of Parliament known as the "Intolerable Acts," including the Boston Port Act, which closed Boston Harbor to all ships. Read an eyewitness account of the Boston Tea Party.

On December 16, 1689, the English "Bill of Rights" went into effect. Review An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Settling the Succession of the Crown.

On December 16, 1950, US President Harry S. Truman proclaimed a national state of emergency during the Korean War in response to Chinese intervention.