On This Day, Dec. 16: Taliban kills more than 140 in Pakistani school attack

On This Day, Dec. 16: Taliban kills more than 140 in Pakistani school attack

UPI Staff

Tue, December 16, 2025 at 8:00 AM UTC

3 min read

An injured student is evacuated from a school in Peshawar, Pakistan, after an attack by Taliban gunmen on on December 16, 2014. File Photo by Sajjad Ali Queshi/UPI

Dec. 16 (UPI) -- On this date in history:

In 1773, about 50 American patriots, protesting the British tax on tea, dumped 342 chests of it into Boston harbor in what became known as the "Boston Tea Party."

In 1835, a fire swept New York City, razing 600 buildings and causing $20 million damage.

In 1893, Anton Dvorak's "New World Symphony" premiered at New York's Carnegie Hall.

In 1907, America's "Great White Fleet" set out on its year-long circumnavigation of the globe on the order of President Theodore Roosevelt.

Panzergrenadier-SS Kampfgruppe Hansen in action during clashes in Poteau, Belgium, against Task Force Myers, on December 18, 1944, as part of the Battle of the Bulge. File Photo courtesy the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

In 1913, British actor Charles Chaplin reported to work at Keystone Studios in Hollywood, launching a legendary film career. The entertainer came to be known for his trademark hat and cane.

Re-enactors pour chests of tea into Boston Harbor from a ship at the Boston Tea Party Ship and Museum on December 13, 1998, to celebrate the 225th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. On December 16, 1773, about 50 American patriots, protesting the British tax on tea, dumped 342 chests of it into Boston harbor. File Photo by Lee K. Marriner/UPI

In 1944, Germany launched a counteroffensive in World War II that became known as the Battle of the Bulge.

In 1960, 131 people were killed in the collision of two planes over foggy New York Harbor.

Spectators watching the arrival of the United States Navy's, "Great White Fleet," upon their arrival into Sydney Harbor in 1908. On December 16, 1907, the fleet set out on its year-long circumnavigation of the globe on the order of President Theodore Roosevelt. File Photo courtesy Australian National Maritime Museum

In 1971, Pakistan's military surrendered in a war with India and the Bengali population, which wanted independence. The surrender established Bangladesh as a separate country.

In 1978, Cleveland, Ohio defaulted on its financial obligations, the first American city to do so since the Great Depression.

In 1989, Walter LeRoy Moody sent his first of four pipe bombs in a waves of attacks that killed two people. His first bomb killed federal judge Robert Vance at his home in Alabama.

In 1991, the U.N. General Assembly repealed a resolution equating Zionism with racism. It had been a major stumbling block in achieving peace in the Middle East.

In 1998, U.S. and British jet fighters began a four-night campaign of bombing more than 100 Iraqi military targets in what was called Operation Desert Fox. The long-threatened action came after the allies concluded Iraq wouldn't cooperate with U.N. weapons inspectors.

In 2008, the U.N. Security Council adopted its first resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in five years, calling on both sides to step up efforts for a lasting peace and stating that U.S.-brokered talks were "irreversible."

In 2014, Taliban militants attacked a school in Peshawar, Pakistan, killing more than 140 people, mostly children.

In 2020, a 9-year-old British girl who died of an asthma attack in 2013 became the first person in the world to have air pollution listed as a cause of death on their death certificate.

In 2024, a student and teacher died and several others were injured after a 15-year-old student, Natalie Rupnow, opened fire at a small private Christian school in Wisconsin. Rupnow died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

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