January 16

27 BC – Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus is granted the title Augustus by the Roman Senate, marking the beginning of the Roman Empire. 378 – General Siyaj K'ak' conquers Tikal, enlarging the domain of King Spearthrower Owl of Teotihuacán. 550 – Gothic War: The Ostrogoths, under King Totila, conquer Rome after a long siege, by bribing the Isaurian garrison. 929 – Emir Abd-ar-Rahman III establishes the Caliphate of Córdoba. 1120 – Crusades: The Council of Nablus is held, establishing the earliest surviving written laws of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. 1362 – Saint Marcellus's flood kills at least 25,000 people on the shores of the North Sea. 1537 – Bigod's Rebellion, an armed insurrection attempting to resist the English Reformation, begins. 1547 – Grand Duke Ivan IV of Muscovy becomes the first Tsar of Russia, replacing the 264-year-old Grand Duchy of Moscow with the Tsardom of Russia. 1556 – Philip II becomes King of Spain. 1572 – Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk is tried and found guilty of treason for his part in the Ridolfi plot to restore Catholicism in England. 1605 – The first edition of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (Book One of Don Quixote) by Miguel de Cervantes is published in Madrid, Spain. 1707 – The Scottish Parliament ratifies the Act of Union, paving the way for the creation of Great Britain. 1757 – Forces of the Maratha Empire defeat a 5,000-strong army of the Durrani Empire in the Battle of Narela. 1780 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Cape St. Vincent. 1786 – Virginia enacts the Statute for Religious Freedom authored by Thomas Jefferson. 1809 – Peninsular War: The British defeat the French at the Battle of La Coruña. 1847 – Westward expansion of the United States: John C. Frémont is appointed Governor of the new California Territory. 1862 – Hartley Colliery disaster: Two hundred and four men and boys killed in a mining disaster, prompting a change in UK law which henceforth required all collieries to have at least two independent means of escape.