January 16:
A.D. 550: The Ostrogoths conquer Rome after a long siege.
A.D. 1412: The Medici family is appointed official bankers for the Papacy.
A.D. 1493: Columbo (Columbus) leaves the New World to return to Spain.
A.D. 1547: Ivan the IV (the Terrible) crowns himself the first Czar of Moscow.