What happened on 16 January?

13 events from the Ever-When timeline, ranked by how much they mattered.

1. 27 BCE Reign of Augustus Octavian, having defeated Mark Antony at Actium, is granted the title Augustus by the Senate on 16 Jan 27 BCE — the conventional start of the Roman Empire. Augustus refounds Rome o
2. 27 BCE Augustus becomes first Roman Emperor Octavian takes the title Augustus.
3. 1556 Reign of Philip II of Spain Ruler of Spain and its empire at its height: the Escorial, Lepanto, the annexation of Portugal, the Dutch revolt and the Armada.
4. 1917 Zimmermann Telegram German foreign minister proposes a Mexico-Germany alliance against the US; intercepted by British intelligence.
5. 1913 Ramanujan's letter to G. H. Hardy The unknown Indian clerk sends Hardy a letter of mathematical results that lead to his Cambridge collaboration.
6. 1979 Shah flees Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi leaves Iran amid mass protests; the monarchy falls weeks later.
7. 1969 Jan Palach's torch A 20-year-old history student sets himself alight at the top of Wenceslas Square, in protest not at the occupation but at the resignation settling over his countrymen. Hundreds of
8. 1888 Fauré's Requiem A requiem with no Day of Judgement — Fauré called death 'a happy deliverance' — ending in the weightless In Paradisum.
9. 1547 Ivan IV crowned Tsar At sixteen, Ivan is crowned in the Kremlin's Dormition Cathedral as 'Tsar of all the Russias' — the first Muscovite ruler to take the imperial title.
10. 1919 Eighteenth Amendment ratified The US constitutionally bans alcohol, launching the Prohibition era of bootlegging and organised crime.
11. 1786 Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom Drafted by Jefferson and steered through by Madison, Virginia's law disestablishes the Anglican church and guarantees freedom of conscience — a model for the First Amendment.
12. 378 Teotihuacan conquers Tikal A Teotihuacan-backed coup ('the Entrada') installs a new dynasty at Tikal, projecting central-Mexican power into the Maya world.
13. 2007 Police raid DJ Drama's studio An RIAA-backed raid on the Gangsta Grillz mixtape operation exposes the industry's mixtape double standard.