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Wellsprings
On this day in history

January 16

HinduBuddhist
Observed on January 16, 2026
  • Isra and Mi'rajIslamic

    Isra and Miʿraj, marking the Prophet Muhammad’s night journey and ascension in Islamic tradition.

    Follows the lunar Hijri calendar; the observed date can vary by a day with the moon sighting.

YahrzeitHebrew-calendar remembrance

The Hebrew anniversary of a passing drifts against the civil calendar; these fall on January 16 this year.

  • R. Shimshon Raphael Hirschd. 1888 CE

    Rabbi in Frankfurt; leader of German neo-Orthodoxy

    Trace this life →
  1. 1936 CEHindu · died

    John Woodroffe, whose translations under the name Arthur Avalon opened Hindu Tantra and the chakra system to English readers, died in 1936.

  2. 1992 CEBuddhist · died

    Ajahn Chah, the Thai forest master whose lineage carried Theravāda meditation to the West, died after a long illness; his funeral drew nearly a million mourners.

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