1568
May 16, Mary Queen of Scotland fled to England.

1770
May 16, Marie Antoinette (14), married the future King Louis XVI of France (15).

1804
May 16, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, founder of the first U.S. kindergarten, was born.

1991
May 16 Queen Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to address the U.S. Congress.

2005
May 16, The Kuwait Parliament extended political rights to women, but religious fundamentalists who opposed women's suffrage succeeded in attaching a clause requiring future female politicians and voters to abide by Islamic law.

2006
May 16, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali-born member of Parliament, said she will resign and leave Holland after the government said she was improperly granted citizenship. She became an internationally known opponent of some violent types of Islam.

2009
May 16, In Maryland Rachel Alexandra won the second leg of the Triple Crown. She joined an impressive list when she became the first filly in 85 years to win the Preakness.

2010
May 16, In Detroit, Michigan, Aiyana Jones (7) was killed by a Detroit police officer during a raid at the girl's home. State police were brought in to investigate the shooting. Detroit police were searching for a homicide suspect when they burst in and an officer's gun went off, fatally striking the girl in the neck. The police were being shadowed by a reality television crew. In Oct 2011 officer Joseph Weekley was indicted for involuntary manslaughter. On Jan 30, 2015, the last charges against Weekly were dismissed after two trials ended without verdicts.

2010
May 16, In NYC 2 off-duty police officers were killed and 4 women injured when their car hit a guardrail in the Bronx.

2011
May 16, An Egyptian military court sentenced the 17-year-old and three other men to be hanged for kidnapping and raping a young woman.

2012
May 16, Mary Kennedy (52), ex-wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was found dead at her Bedford, NY, home. She was Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s second wife. Suicide was suspected.

2012
May 16, Cambodian security forces fatally shot a teenage girl during a clash with villagers in Kratie province. The clashes were a result of violent evictions aimed at clearing land for development.