1. On February 16, 1865, the Civil War Battle of Columbia took place in South Carolina. Union forces under General William T. Sherman burned down much of the city, leaving it in ruins that lasted for decades.

2. February 16, 1773, marked the founding of the South Carolina Medical Society, one of the oldest medical organizations in the United States. The society still exists today and works to promote and improve healthcare in the state.

3. On February 16, 1822, Denmark Vesey was arrested in Charleston, South Carolina, for his role in planning a major slave uprising. The plot was uncovered before it could be carried out, but Vesey's arrest and subsequent execution helped fuel the abolitionist movement in the United States.

4. In 1929, the first state radio station in South Carolina, WBAQ, began broadcasting from the University of South Carolina in Columbia. The station was later renamed WUSC and is still active today, broadcasting a variety of music and talk programming.

5. On February 16, 1968, famous soul singer James Brown performed a legendary concert at the Apollo Theater in New York City, which was broadcast live nationally. Brown was born in Barnwell, South Carolina, and went on to become one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century.