Oct
November 2025
Dec
On This Day 5 mins Read

November 16: Facts & Historical Events On This Day

Did you know that on this day, November 16, 2012, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 earned a staggering $500 million within 24 hours of release?

Fact Checked Human Written Verified Sources Regularly Updated

November 16th is Have a Party with Your Bear Day and Button Day.

We are now past the halfway point of November! Today marks day 320 on the calendar, and there are just 45 days remaining in 2025!

You’re in luck today as we have carefully selected some of the most interesting things that ever happened on November 16th in years gone by.

Did you know that on this day, November 16, 2012, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 earned a staggering $500 million within 24 hours of release? The previous game in the franchise, Modern Warfare 3, earned $100 million less within its first 24 hours of release.

Keep reading for more fun & interesting facts about November 16th in history!

Historical Events

What memorable events happened on November 16 in history? Keep reading to find out!

The city of Havana, Cuba, celebrated its 500th birthday.

The celebration included a massive restoration and infrastructure initiative that restored public monuments and many of the city's shops & businesses.

Nineteen countries vowed to gradually phase out coal at the United Nations Summit in Bonn, Germany.

OTD in 2017: Nineteen countries vowed to gradually phase out coal at the United Nations Summit in Bonn

Pollution from coal kills an estimated 800,000 people every year.

The fourth largest diamond was found in Karowe Mine, Botswana.

The diamond was named Lesedi La Rona and is 1.11 carats.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 earned a staggering $500 million within 24 hours of release.

OTD in 2012: Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 earned a staggering $500 million within 24 hours of release.

It was the largest entertainment opening release for that year.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon premiered in Los Angeles.

American singer Mario released his hit single “Let Me Love You.”

The song became Billboard's Song of the Year for 2005.

Rapper Dr. Dre released his second album, “The Chronic 2001.”

OTD in 1999: Rapper Dr. Dre released his second album

Queen Elizabeth II had hip surgery at King Edward VII Hospital.

The Skylab 4 mission was launched by NASA, taking a crew of three astronauts to the US space station.

The Soviet Union’s Venera 3 space probe was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

The probe, which was sterilized before launch, was on a mission to land on the surface of Venus. It missed Venus on its first attempt, and after its course was corrected, contact with the probe was lost. On March 1, 1966, Venera crash-landed onto Venus' surface, making it the first spacecraft to reach another planet's surface.

The Model M Postage Meter was put into commercial use.

OTD in 1920: The Model M Postage Meter was put into commercial use.

American inventor Arthur Pitney and industrialist Walter Bowes teamed together to form Pitney-Bowes Postage Meter Company in April 1920. Together they designed the US's first postage meter.

Oklahoma became the 46th state to join the United States of America.

The first edition of America’s oldest newspaper, The New York Evening Post, was published.

Spanish conquistadors captured Atahualpa, the last Inca emperor.

Atahualpa had only just become the Inca emperor earlier that year after defeating the former emperor, his brother, in battle. His capture marked the downfall of the Inca Empire, as the Spanish invaders used him to control the Inca populace.

Due to mosquito infestations, the city of Havana was relocated to its final location.

This was not the first time the city's location was moved, as it had been relocated twice before, within the first four years of establishing Havana.

Famous Births

Are you celebrating your birthday today? If so, did you know that you share the same birthday as Gus Carr? See what other famous people were born on this day.

1993

Pete Davidson

American Comedian

Age

32 years old

Born IN

New York, USA

1967

Lisa Bonet

American Actress

Age

58 years old

Born IN

California, USA

1983

Gus Carr

American Actor

Age

42 years old

Born IN

Wisconsin, USA

1988

Siva Kaneswaran

Irish Singer

Age

37 years old

Born IN

Dublin, Ireland

Birthday & Zodiac

Those of you who were born on this day share the Scorpio star sign.

Scorpios often don’t connect well with someone who’s dishonest. Honesty is one of a Scorpio’s main characteristics and one of the most important values.

For those of you born in November, you have the Topaz birthstone. Legend has it that an individual who wears topaz jewelry will be blessed with the gifts of intelligence and strength.

For those of you who were born on this day, you were likely conceived the same year on February 23.

The due date for babies conceived on November 16th, 2025, is around August 9th, 2026.

Special Holidays

Looking for a reason to celebrate? Well, here's a few! These unique holidays are sure to bring some enjoyment to your day.

International

Have A Party With Your Bear Day

If you still have your childhood teddy bear tucked away in the closet, or your children still have teddy bears, then it’s time to party! You could have a teddy bear-themed rave or a tea party with your kids and their teddies, all that really matters today is that you party with your bear!

United States

National Button Day

Did you know that the largest collection of unique buttons contains 439,900 buttons? If you love this fact, then you’re going to love National Button Day. Today we celebrate all things buttons, so get your needles out and sew some quirky buttons, or just count how many you have!

Fact Of The Day

Days Until

Your countdown to 2025's upcoming special days!

  • World Children's Day

    4 days

  • Thanksgiving

    11 days

  • Black Friday

    12 days

  • Cyber Monday

    15 days

  • Human Rights Day

    24 days

  • Christmas Day

    39 days

  • New Year's Day

    46 days

Your Reaction

Share This

References

About The Author

Luke Ward
Owner

Luke Ward is the owner of FactstoryHub. He has over 14 years of experience in researching, informative writing, fact-checking, SEO & web design. In his spare time, he loves to explore the world, drink coffee & attend trivia nights.

Our Promise

All the articles on our site are written by humans, using verified sources and human fact checkers.

Fact Checked All our articles are checked for accuracy by our writers, editors, and community of fact-entusiasts.
Human Written Our facts are written by experienced human writers. We do not use AI to generate our facts.
Verified Sources We check each fact against multiple sources and provide links to the most reputable.
Regularly Updated We aim to update articles when new information becomes available or when they become outdated.

Help Us Fact Check

The facts on this page were verified using our rigorous fact-checking process. We work hard to keep every detail accurate and up to date, but information can change, or mistakes can slip through. If you notice anything that does not seem right, we would love your help. Let us know using the form below, and we will review it as soon as possible.

Pinterest