16 December It Happened Today

1653  Oliver Cromwell made Lord Protector of England.

1773  Boston Tea Party takes place as a protest against a tea tax.

1775  Birth of English novelist Jane Austen.

1889  Birth of English playwright Noel Coward.

1944  American bandleader Glenn Miller’s plane goes missing over English Channel.

1965  Death of British novelist William Somerset Maugham at the age of 91.