What happened on November 16: Harry Potter hit the big screens, UNESCO was born and Pakistan elected its first woman PM 

Who doesn't love the Harry Potter series written by JK Rowling! While the books and the movies first came into existence in the late 90s to early 2000s, the characters and the stories are still a hit across generations. It was on November 16, 2001, that the film version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone — the first book —was released, marking the start of an ever-growing fandom. The film starred Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, Emma Watson as Hermione Granger and Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, not to mention the rest of the stellar cast across 8 movies. 

Also on this day in 1945, it was after World War II that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) was formed. The aim behind forming this organisation was to advance peace, sustainable development and human rights by facilitating collaboration and dialogue among nations through Education, Science and Culture. India has been a member of UNESCO since its inception.

READ ALSO : #ThrowBackToday: Four years ago today, Battle of Hogwarts was waged and Harry Potter emerged victorious!

It was on November 16, 1988, that open elections were held in our neighbouring country, Pakistan, and the Muslim-majority country voted their first woman leader, Benazir Bhutto, into power as Prime Minister. She not only served as the country's 11th Prime Minister from 1988-1990, she was re-elected as the 13th PM and served from 1993-1996.