16 June
1948
- Communist Party of Malaya revolutionaries kill three British colonial plantation managers, leading to the declaration of a state of emergency and civil war which would last until 1960.
1963
- During the Vostok 6 mission Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman to travel in space.
1976
- The Soweto Uprising against apartheid in South Africa begins, with 15,000 students marching. By the end of the uprising apartheid forces murder up to 700 protesters.