August 16

August 16 is the 229th day of the year, and the American record for it runs from 1777 to 1977 — a span of 200 years. The entry that anchors it: U.S. President John Tyler vetoes a bill which called for the re-establishment of the Second Bank of the United States. Enraged Whig Party members riot outside the White House in the most violent demonstration on White House grounds in U.S. history, 1841.

The revolutionary generation left its own mark on the date. In 1777, American Revolutionary War — American forces routed British and German troops at the Battle of Bennington in Walloomsac, New York.

The antebellum decades brought the date closer to the country’s central argument. In 1812, War of 1812 — American General William Hull surrenders Fort Detroit without a fight to the British Army. Then, in 1841, U.S. President John Tyler vetoes a bill which called for the re-establishment of the Second Bank of the United States. Enraged Whig Party members riot outside the White House in the most violent demonstration on White House grounds in U.S. history. Then, in 1858, U.S. President James Buchanan inaugurates the new transatlantic telegraph cable by exchanging greetings with Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. However, a weak signal forces a shutdown of the service in a few weeks.

The early twentieth century brought industry, air travel and war to the date. In 1916, the Migratory Bird Treaty between Canada and the United States is signed.

After 1945 the date reflects a country operating at global scale. In 1960, Joseph Kittinger parachutes from a balloon over New Mexico, United States, at 102,800 feet (31,300 m), setting three records that held until 2012: High-altitude jump, free fall, and highest speed by a human without an aircraft. Four years on, in 1964, Vietnam War — a coup d'état replaces Dương Văn Minh with General Nguyễn Khánh as President of South Vietnam. A new constitution is established with aid from the U.S. Embassy. Then, in 1977, American singer and actor Elvis Presley, often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", was found dead in his home in Memphis, Tennessee.

The date is also a birthday. Among the Americans born on August 16: John Chisum (1824), American cattle baron; Amos Alonzo Stagg (1862), American baseball player and coach; Bernarr Macfadden (1868), American bodybuilder and publisher, founded Macfadden Publications; Hugo Gernsback (1884), Luxembourger-American author and publisher; and Armand J. Piron (1888), American violinist, composer, and bandleader.

August 16 is also a date of endings. Among the Americans who died on it: Richard Upjohn (1878), English-American architect; John Pemberton (1888), American pharmacist and chemist, invented Coca-Cola; Prentiss Ingraham (1904), American soldier and author; and Robert Johnson (1938), American singer-songwriter and guitarist.

The date carries formal observance as well — Bennington Battle Day (Vermont, United States) and National Airborne Day (United States). What holds these 8 entries together is nothing more than the calendar, and nothing less. 200 years separate the earliest from the latest, and each was once simply the present day.