August 16

Events

• 963: Nicephorus Phocas is proclaimed co-emperor of Byzantium.
• 1834: Martial law is declared in Greece due to the revolt in Messenia
• 1943: The village of Kommeno, Arta prefecture, is destroyed by the Germans. 317 of its inhabitants are slain.
• 1960: Cyprus is officially proclaimed a republic with Archbishop Makarios III as president and Dr Fazil Kucuk as vice-president.
• 1969: A Greek couple - Dr. Vasilis Tsironis and his wife - hijack an Olympic Airways DC-3, forcing the pilot to land in Vlore, Albania.
• 1974: Morphou is occupied by Turkish troops, its inhabitants flee.
• 1974: Andreas Papandreou returns to Greece.
• 1974: The military base of ELDYK is assaulted and taken by Turkish forces.
• 2010: PM Benjamin Netanyahu visits Greece - the first ever official state visit by an Israeli PM to Greece.

Sports

• 1951: Jason Zirganos swims across the English Channel in 14hrs 1min.
• 1966: Giorgos Koudas debuts with Olympiakos in a pre-season friendly. Koudas will return to PAOK in 1967 without having played a single competitive game for Olympiakos.
• 2004: Nikos Siranidis and Thomas Bimis win the gold medal, the first for Greece in the Athens Olympic Games, in the 3m platform synchronized diving

Births

• 1935: Andreas Stamatiadis, footballer.
• 1935: Apostolos Vasiliadis, footballer
• 1972: Stan Lazaridis, Greek-Australian footballer.
• 1975: Pantelis Konstantinidis, footballer

Deaths

• 1971: Spyros Skouras, Greek-American President of 20th Century Fox.
• 1986: Nikos Syllas, athlete (discus)
• 2005: Viki Moscholiou, music performer
• 2006: Metropolitan Panteleimon (Karanikolas) of Corinth
• 2010: Dimitrios Ioannides, military officer.
• 2011: Pete Pihos, Greek-American National Football League player