What happened on 16 August?

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

1. 1888 Born: T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) British army officer and liaison to the Arab Revolt against the Ottomans.
2. 1958 Born: Madonna American singer, songwriter and performer, widely dubbed the 'Queen of Pop'.
3. 1604 Compilation of the Adi Granth Guru Arjan compiles the foundational Sikh scripture.
4. 1946 Direct Action Day Muslim League-called day of protest sparks Calcutta riots.
5. 1819 Peterloo Massacre Yeomanry charge a pro-reform meeting at St Peter's Field, Manchester; 18 dead, hundreds injured; galvanises reform movement.
6. 1924 Dawes Plan American-brokered restructuring of German reparations and stabilisation of the currency; opens the 'golden twenties'.
7. 1858 Transatlantic telegraph cable Cyrus Field's cable from Ireland to Newfoundland links Europe and North America by telegraph; first message sent August 1858.
8. 1717 Siege of Belgrade (1717) Besieged in his own trenches by a huge Ottoman relief army, Eugene attacks out of the fog and routs it; Belgrade surrenders days later and the Treaty of Passarowitz follows.
9. 2009 Bolt's 9.58-second 100 metres In Berlin, Bolt takes his own world record down by more than a tenth of a second — the largest margin of the electronic-timing era.
10. 2008 Bolt's Beijing Olympics Bolt wins the 100 and 200 metres in world records — slowing to celebrate before the line in the 100 — and a third gold in the relay.