On this day in 1819, seventeen demonstrators were killed and hundreds injured in what became known as the Peterloo Massacre.

On this day in 1869, a Paraguayan battalion of children was massacred by the Brazilian army.

On this day in 1929, riots began in Palestine, ending in the massacre of roughly equal numbers of Arabs and Jews.

On this day in 1946, massacres began in Calcutta that would leave thousands dead.

On this day in 2012, South African police killed thirty-four striking miners in the Marikana Massacre.

Historians are still divided on the question of why the date August 16 is so unusually light on famous massacres.