In History, Today on November 16

Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro captures Inca Emperor Atahualpa at the Battle of Cajamarca.

The Battle of Fort Washington ends in a decisive British victory during the American Revolutionary War.

A Russian court sentences writer Fyodor Dostoevsky to death for anti-government activities linked to a radical intellectual group. His sentence is later commuted to a term of exile in Siberia.

Oklahoma becomes the 46th state of the United States.

The United States and the Soviet Union establish formal diplomatic relations.

Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann first synthesizes LSD at Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, Switzerland, though its psychoactive properties are not discovered until 1943.

UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is founded.

U.S. President Richard Nixon signs the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act into law, authorizing the construction of the Alaska Pipeline.

The Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR declares that Estonia is 'sovereign' but stops short of declaring independence.

The first Harry Potter film, 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' (known as 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' in the United States), was released in theaters, marking the beginning of a highly successful film franchise.

NASA's X-43A scramjet sets a new speed record for aircraft at approximately Mach 9.6.

The United States Senate passes the Food Safety Modernization Act, aiming to ensure the U.S. food supply is safe by shifting the focus from responding to contamination to preventing it.

Xi Jinping was appointed as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, marking the beginning of his leadership in China.

The kilogram was redefined in terms of the Planck constant, changing the way this unit of mass is measured in the International System of Units (SI).