August 19
August 19 is the 231st day of the year (232nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 134 days remaining.
Events
- 293 BC - Oldest known Roman temple to Venus Libitina founded on the Esquiline Hill; institution of Vinalia Rustica begins.
- 1561 - Queen Mary Stuart returns to Scotland.
- 1692 - Salem Witch Trials: In Salem, Massachusetts five women and a clergyman are executed after being convicted of witchcraft.
- 1745 - Jacobite Rising, Prince Charles Edward Stuart lands from a French warship in Glenfinnan, raises his standard and marches on London - the start of the Second Jacobite Rebellion known as "the 45"
- 1768 - Foundation of Saint Isaac's Cathedral in Saint Petersburg, Russia
- 1782 - Battle of Blue Licks: the last major battle of the American Revolutionary War, almost ten months after the surrender of the British commander Lord Cornwallis following the Battle of Yorktown.
- 1812 - War of 1812: American frigate USS Constitution defeats the British frigate HMS Guerrière off the coast of Nova Scotia.
- 1813 - Gervasio Antonio de Posadas joins Argentina's second triumvirate.
- 1839 - Presentation of Jacque Daguerre's new photographic process to the French Academy of Sciences.
- 1848 - California Gold Rush: The New York Herald breaks the news to the East Coast of the United States, that there is a gold rush in California (although the rush started in January).
- 1862 - Indian Wars: During an uprising in Minnesota, Lakota warriors decide not to attack heavily-defended Fort Ridgely and instead turn to the settlement of New Ulm, killing white settlers along the way.
- 1895 - American frontier murderer and outlaw, John Wesley Hardin, is killed by an off-duty policeman in a saloon in El Paso, Texas.
- 1919 - Afghanistan gains independence from the United Kingdom.
- 1929 - The radio comedy show Amos and Andy makes its NBC debut starring Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll.
- 1934 - The first All-American Soap Box Derby is held in Dayton, Ohio.
- 1934 - The creation of the position Führer approved by the German electorate with 89.9% of the popular vote.
- 1942 - World War II: Operation Jubilee - The 2nd Canadian Infantry Division leads an allied forces amphibious assault on Dieppe, France.
- 1944 - World War II: Liberation of Paris - Paris rises against German occupation with the help of Allied troops.
- 1945 - Vietnam War: Viet Minh led by Ho Chi Minh take power in Hanoi, Vietnam.
- 1953 - Cold War: The CIA helps to overthrow the government of Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran and reinstate the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
- 1955 - In the Northeast United States, severe flooding caused by Hurricane Diane, claims 200 lives.
- 1960 - Cold War: In Moscow, downed American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers is sentenced to ten years imprisonment by the Soviet Union for espionage.
- 1960 - Sputnik program: The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 5 with the dogs Belka and Strelka, 40 mice, 2 rats and a variety of plants.
- 1965 - Japanese prime minister Eisaku Sato becomes the first post-World War II sitting prime minister to visit Okinawa.
- 1975 - The cricket test match between England and Australia is called off after the pitch is vandalised by supporters of George Davis.
- 1980 - Saudia Flight 163, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar burns after making an emergency landing at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killing 301 people.
- 1981 - Gulf of Sidra Incident: Two Libyan Sukhoi Su-22 fighter jets intercept United States fighters over the Gulf of Sidra and are destroyed by them.
- 1987 - Hungerford Massacre: In the United Kingdom, Michael Ryan kills sixteen people with an assault rifle and then commits suicide.
- 1989 - Polish president Wojciech Jaruzelski nominates Solidarity activist Tadeusz Mazowiecki to be the first non-communist Prime Minister in 42 years.
- 1990 - Leonard Bernstein conducts his final concert, ending with Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 7.
- 1999 - In Belgrade, tens of thousands of Serbians rally to demand the resignation of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia President Slobodan Milošević.
- 2002 - A Russian Mi-26 helicopter carrying troops is hit by a Chechen missile outside of Grozny killing 118 soldiers.
- 2003 - A car-bomb attack on UN headquarters in Iraq kills the agency's top envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello and 21 other employers.
- 2005 - The first ever joint military exercise between Russia and China called Peace Mission 2005
Births
- 1398 - Marqués de Santillana, Spanish poet (d. 1458)
- 1621 - Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, Dutch painter (d. 1674)
- 1631 - John Dryden, English poet (d. 1700)
- 1646 - John Flamsteed, English astronomer (d. 1719)
- 1686 - Eustace Budgell, English writer (d. 1737)
- 1686 - Nicola Porpora, Italian composer (d. 1768)
- 1689 - Samuel Richardson, English writer (d. 1761)
- 1743 - Madame du Barry, French courtesan (d. 1793)
- 1870 - Bernard Baruch, American financier (d. 1965)
- 1871 - Orville Wright, American aviation pioneer (d. 1948)
- 1875 - Stjepan Seljan, Croatian explorer (d. 1936)
- 1881 - Georges Enescu, Romanian composer (d. 1955)
- 1883 - Coco Chanel, French clothing designer (d. 1971)
- 1883 - Elsie Ferguson, American film actress (d. 1961)
- 1892 - Alfred Lunt, American actor (d. 1977)
- 1902 - Ogden Nash, American poet (d. 1971)
- 1906 - Philo T. Farnsworth, American inventor and television pioneer (d. 1971)
- 1907 - Thurston B. Morton, American politician (d. 1982)
- 1913 - Richard Simmons, American actor (d. 2003)
- 1915 - Ring Lardner, Jr., American actor and screenwriter (d. 2000)
- 1919 - Malcolm Forbes, American publisher (d. 1990)
- 1921 - Gene Roddenberry, American television producer (d. 1991)
- 1925 - Claude Gauvreau, Canadian playwright, poet, and polemicist (d. 1971)
- 1926 - Arthur Rock, American venture capitalist
- 1930 - Frank McCourt, Irish-born author
- 1931 - Willie Shoemaker, American jockey (d. 2003)
- 1935 - Bobby Richardson, baseball player
- 1938 - Diana Muldaur, American actress, dog breeder, and dog judge
- 1939 - Ginger Baker, English musician
- 1944 - Charles B. Wang, Chinese-born philanthropist
- 1940 - Johnny Nash, American singer
- 1940 - Jill St. John, American actress
- 1942 - Fred Thompson, U.S. Senator from Tennessee and actor
- 1945 - Ian Gillan, English singer
- 1946 - Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States
- 1946 - Beat Raaflaub, Swiss conductor
- 1947 - Gerard Schwarz, American conductor
- 1950 - Jennie Bond, British journalist
- 1951 - John Deacon, English musician (Queen)
- 1952 - Jonathan Frakes, American actor and director
- 1955 - Peter Gallagher, American actor
- 1956 - Adam Arkin, American actor
- 1958 - Anthony Muñoz, American football player
- 1960 - Morten Andersen, American football player
- 1963 - John Stamos, American actor
- 1965 - Kyra Sedgwick, American actress
- 1966 - Lee Ann Womack, musician
- 1969 - Matthew Perry, American actor
- 1973 - Crown Princess Mette Marit of Norway
- 1973 - Callum Blue, British actor
- 1980 - Darius Danesh, Scottish singer
- 1983 - Tammin Sursok, Australian actress
Deaths
- 14 - Augustus, Roman emperor
- 1186 - Geoffrey Plantagenet, Duke of Brittany, stamped by a horse in a tournament
- 1245 - Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence (b. 1195)
- 1493 - Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor
- 1580 - Andrea Palladio, Italian architect (b. 1508)
- 1662 - Blaise Pascal, French mathematician, physicist, and religious philosopher (b. 1623)
- 1753 - Balthasar Neumann, German architect (b. 1687)
- 1819 - James Watt, Scottish inventor (b. 1736)
- 1872 - King Charles XV / Carl IV of Sweden and Norway (b. 1826)
- 1889 - Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, French writer (b. 1838)
- 1895 - John Wesley Hardin, gunfighter
- 1936 - Federico García Lorca, Spanish author (b. 1898)
- 1936 - John M.S. Pearce, neurologist and author
- 1954 - Alcide De Gasperi, Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1881)
- 1957 - David Bomberg, painter
- 1959 - Jacob Epstein, American-born sculptor (b. 1880)
- 1967 - Hugo Gernsback, editor and publisher
- 1968 - George Gamow, Ukrainian-born physicist (b. 1904)
- 1970 - Paweł Jasienica, Polish historian (b. 1909)
- 1977 - Groucho Marx, American comedian and actor (b. 1890)
- 1980 - Otto Frank, father of Anne Frank
- 1994 - Linus Pauling, American chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and Peace (b. 1901)
- 1995 - Pierre Schaeffer, French composer
- 2003 - Carlos Roberto Reina, President of Honduras (b. 1926)
- 2003 - Sérgio Vieira de Mello, Brazilian diplomat (b. 1948)
- 2005 - Bueno de Mesquita, Dutch comedian and actor (b. 1918)
- 2005 - Mo Mowlam, British politician, (b. 1949)
Holidays and observances
- Roman Empire - Vinalia Rustica celebrated in honor of Venus Libitina commemorating the founding of the oldest known temple to her, on the Esquiline Hill, in 293 BC on this date.
- RC saints - Saint Sebald, Saint Louis of Toulouse, Jean-Eudes de Mézeray
- Afghanistan - Afghan Independence Day see above: 1919
- National Aviation Day
- Ghost Festival, the 14th day in the 7th lunar month in the Chinese calendar (2005)
External links
August 18 - August 20 - July 19 - September 19 -- listing of all days