16 February 1950

While on approach to Chiang Kai-shek International Airport, China Airlines Flight 676 crashed due to an over-reliance of the autopilot, which resulted in the deaths of 202 people.

Eleven people died in a train collision in Silver Spring, Maryland, leading to the creation of comprehensive U.S. federal rules for the design of passenger cars.

The Ash Wednesday bushfires burned over half a million acres (over 2,000 km2) each in both South Australia and Victoria, killing 75 people and injuring 2,676 others.

The DuSable Museum, the first museum dedicated to the study and conservation of African American history, culture, and art, was chartered.

Fidel Castro was sworn in as Prime Minister of Cuba, beginning his decades-long rule over the country.

The Popular Front, a coalition of left-wing parties, came to power in the Spanish general election, a factor in the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War five months later.

A landslide in Byblos revealed a sarcophagus in an underground tomb that was later discovered to be part of a large Bronze Age necropolis.

The Council of Lithuania signed the Act of Independence (pictured), proclaiming the restoration of an independent Lithuania.

The Southern Cross Expedition led by Carsten Borchgrevink (pictured) achieved a new Farthest South of 78° 50'S, making the first landing at the Great Ice Barrier.

American Civil War: A Union victory at the Battle of Fort Donelson gave General Ulysses S. Grant the nickname "Unconditional Surrender".

First Barbary War: Lieutenant Stephen Decatur led a U.S. Navy raid to destroy the captured USS Philadelphia in the harbor of Tripoli (depicted), denying her use to the Barbary States.

Livonian Crusade: In the Battle of Karuse, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania achieved a decisive victory over the Livonian Order on the frozen surface of the Baltic Sea.

King Louis IX dispatched André de Longjumeau as the French ambassador to the Mongol Empire.

Five thousand people gathered in the town of Kherrata, Bejaia Province to mark the second anniversary of the Hirak protest movement. Demonstrations had been suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic in Algeria.

The last Mobile army surgical hospital (MASH) is decommissioned by the United States Army.

The Kyoto Protocol comes into force, following its ratification by Russia.

The National Hockey League cancels the entire 2004–05 regular season and playoffs.

Emery Worldwide Airlines Flight 17 crashes near Sacramento Mather Airport in Rancho Cordova, California, killing all three aboard.

China Airlines Flight 676 crashes into a road and residential area near Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in Taiwan, killing all 196 aboard and six more on the ground.

A Chicago-bound Amtrak train, the Capitol Limited, collides with a MARC commuter train bound for Washington, D.C., killing 11 people.

Nicaraguan Contras leader Enrique Bermúdez is assassinated in Managua.

The Soviet liner MS Mikhail Lermontov runs aground in the Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand.

China Airlines Flight 2265 crashes into the Pacific Ocean near Penghu Airport in Taiwan, killing all 13 aboard.

Hezbollah is founded.