Today in History: Pakistan surrenders in Dhaka as Bangladesh secures independence in 1971

The following are some of the major notable events that occurred on December 16 throughout history:

1653 – Oliver Cromwell Becomes Lord Protector: On December 16, 1653, after the English Civil War and the execution of King Charles I, Oliver Cromwell assumed power as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland. This marked the beginning of the Commonwealth period (Protectorate), temporarily replacing the monarchy with republican governance under Cromwell’s leadership.

1707 – Last Eruption of Mount Fuji (Japan): Japan’s iconic volcano, Mount Fuji, erupted on December 16, 1707, in what is known as the Hōei eruption. This was Fuji’s most recent confirmed eruption. It spewed massive quantities of ash that blanketed Edo (modern Tokyo) and surrounding provinces, causing building collapses, agricultural ruin, landslides, and ensuing famine across eastern Japan.

1770 – Birth of Ludwig van Beethoven: The great composer Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn on (or about) December 16, 1770. Baptism records from December 17 confirm his birth around this date. Beethoven’s musical genius bridged the Classical and Romantic eras, and his works (symphonies, sonatas, etc.) profoundly influenced Western music and culture worldwide.

1773 – The Boston Tea Party (Colonial America): On the night of December 16, 1773, American colonial protesters with the “Sons of Liberty” boarded British ships in Boston Harbor and dumped hundreds of chests of East India Company tea into the water. This famous act of defiance against the Tea Act – protesting “taxation without representation” – provoked Britain’s punitive response and galvanized the American colonists, pushing them closer to outright rebellion and the Revolutionary War.

1944 – World War II: Battle of the Bulge Begins: In the early hours of December 16, 1944, Nazi Germany launched a surprise winter offensive against Allied forces in the Ardennes Forest, Belgium, beginning the Battle of the Bulge. German armies punched through the front in an attempt to split the Allies. This became the largest and bloodiest battle for U.S. troops in WWII. Although initially successful, the German advance was halted, and the battle – lasting into January 1945 – ended in an Allied victory that exhausted Germany’s remaining military capacity.

1947 – Invention of the Transistor (Electronics Revolution): On December 16, 1947, scientists John Bardeen and Walter Brattain at Bell Labs in New Jersey achieved the first successful operation of a point-contact transistor. That day, they found a configuration that reliably amplified an electrical signal, proving the concept of the transistor. This breakthrough – the transistor – was foundational to modern electronics and computing, replacing bulky vacuum tubes and ushering in the semiconductor age that drives today’s computers, phones, and other devices.

1961 – ANC Launches Umkhonto we Sizwe in South Africa: On December 16, 1961, the African National Congress (ANC) and its allies, led by figures like Nelson Mandela, formed Umkhonto we Sizwe (“Spear of the Nation”) as their armed wing. That night, they issued a manifesto and carried out the first acts of sabotage against the apartheid government. The choice of date was deliberate – December 16 had been celebrated by the white Afrikaner regime as “Day of the Vow” (commemorating an 1838 Boer victory), and the new MK campaign signaled that oppressed Black South Africans would now fight back. This event marked the start of organized armed resistance to apartheid, a significant turning point in the South African freedom struggle.

1971 – Pakistan Surrenders in Dhaka, Bangladesh Wins Independence: On December 16, 1971, the Pakistani Army in East Pakistan (today’s Bangladesh) signed the Instrument of Surrender in Dhaka, ending the Bangladesh Liberation War. This surrender to the joint India-Bangladesh forces concluded a nine-month war of independence. The victory led to the creation of the sovereign nation of Bangladesh on that date – a moment now commemorated annually as Victory Day in Bangladesh (and Vijay Diwas in India). The 1971 war was one of the largest conflicts since WWII and resulted in the largest military surrender since the Second World War.

1989 – Romanian Revolution Begins: December 16, 1989 marked the beginning of the violent revolution that would overthrow Nicolae Ceaușescu’s communist dictatorship in Romania. On that day, protests erupted in the city of Timișoara after authorities attempted to evict a dissident ethnic Hungarian pastor, László Tőkés. The situation escalated as thousands of citizens joined demonstrations calling for freedom. The regime’s attempt to brutally suppress the protests only fueled further uprising – within days the unrest spread nationwide, leading to the collapse of Ceaușescu’s regime (he was executed on December 25). The Romanian Revolution was the bloodiest of Eastern Europe’s 1989 anti-communist uprisings and marked the end of 42 years of communist rule in Romania.

1991 – Kazakhstan Declares Independence (Dissolution of the USSR): On December 16, 1991, Kazakhstan formally declared its independence from the collapsing Soviet Union. By adopting the law on state independence on that day, Kazakhstan became the last of the 15 Soviet republics to secede from the USSR. This act came just days before the Soviet Union officially dissolved (December 26, 1991). Kazakhstan’s Independence on Dec 16 is now a national holiday, and it symbolized the final unraveling of the Soviet state – a major geopolitical turning point that reshaped global politics at the end of the Cold War.