August 19Birthdays & History

On this day: August 19 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 295 BCThe first temple to Venus, the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility, is dedicated by Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges during the Third Samnite War.Europe
2. 43 BCIn the wake of the murder of Julius Caesar, his nephew and heir, Octavian, uses the threat of military force to compel the Roman Senate to elect him Consul.Europe
3. 797Byzantine Emperor Constantine VI is seized by supporters of his mother Irene, deposed and blinded.Europe
4. 947Abu Yazid, a Kharijite rebel leader, is defeated and killed in the Hodna Mountains in modern-day Algeria by Fatimid forces.Africa
5. 1153After a six-month siege, Baldwin III of Jerusalem captures Ascalon, obtaining a vast amount of plunder and securing the southern border of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.Middle East
6. 1274Coronation of Edward I of England.Europe
7. 1458Pope Pius II is elected the 211th Pope.Europe
8. 1504In Ireland, the Hiberno-Norman de Burghs (Burkes) and Cambro-Norman Fitzgeralds fight in the Battle of Knockdoe.Europe
9. 1561Mary, Queen of Scots, aged 18, returns to Scotland after spending 13 years in France.Europe
10. 1604Eighty Years War: a besieging Dutch and English army led by Maurice of Orange forces the Spanish garrison of Sluis to capitulate.Europe
11. 1659Parliamentarian forces under John Lambert defeat Royalist forces under George Booth in the battle of Winnington Bridge, ending Booth's Uprising.Europe
12. 1666Second Anglo-Dutch War: Rear Admiral Robert Holmes leads a raid on the Dutch island of Terschelling, destroying 116 to 160 merchant ships, an act later known as "Holmes's Bonfire".Europe
13. 1691An Imperial army under Ludwig of Baden defeats the Ottomans in the battle of Slankamen.Europe
14. 1692Salem witch trials: In Salem, province of Massachusetts Bay, Martha Carrier, George Jacobs Sr., John Proctor, John Willard, and clergyman George Burroughs are executed after being convicted of witchcraft.North America
15. 1725J. S. Bach leads the first performance of Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren, BWV 137, a cantata setting the unchanged text of Neander's hymn.Europe
16. 1745Prince Charles Edward Stuart raises his standard in Glenfinnan: The start of the Second Jacobite Rebellion, known as "the 45".Europe
17. 1745Ottoman–Persian War: In the Battle of Kars, the Ottoman army is routed by Persian forces led by Nader Shah.Middle East
18. 1759Battle of Lagos: Naval battle during the Seven Years' War between Great Britain and France.AfricaEurope
19. 1772Gustav III of Sweden stages a coup d'état, in which he assumes power and enacts a new constitution that divides power between the Riksdag and the King.Europe
20. 1782American Revolutionary War: Battle of Blue Licks: The last major engagement of the war, almost ten months after the surrender of the British commander Charles Cornwallis following the Siege of Yorktown.North AmericaEurope
21. 1787Sultan Abdul Hamid I declares war against the Russian Empire in an effort to regain territories lost in previous conflicts, starting the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1792.EuropeMiddle East
22. 1812War of 1812: American frigate USS Constitution defeats the British frigate HMS Guerriere off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada earning the nickname "Old Ironsides".North AmericaEurope
23. 1813Gervasio Antonio de Posadas joins Argentina's Second Triumvirate.Latin America
24. 1839The French government announces that Louis Daguerre's photographic process is a gift "free to the world".Europe
25. 1848California Gold Rush: The New York Herald breaks the news to the East Coast of the United States of the gold rush in California (although the rush started in January).North America
26. 1854The First Sioux War begins when United States Army soldiers kill Lakota chief Conquering Bear and in return are massacred.North America
27. 1861First ascent of Weisshorn, fifth highest summit in the Alps.Europe
28. 1862Dakota War: 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.North America
29. 1903The Transfiguration Uprising breaks out in East Thrace, resulting in the establishment of the Strandzha Commune.Europe
30. 1909The Indianapolis Motor Speedway opens for automobile racing. William Bourque and his mechanic are killed during the first day's events.North America
31. 1920The Tambov Rebellion breaks out, in response to the Bolshevik policy of Prodrazvyorstka.Europe
32. 1927Patriarch Sergius of Moscow proclaims the declaration of loyalty of the Russian Orthodox Church to the Soviet Union.Europe
33. 1934The German referendum of 1934 approves Adolf Hitler's appointment as head of state with the title of Führer.Europe
34. 1934The first All-American Soap Box Derby is held in Dayton, Ohio.North America
35. 1936The Great Purge of the Soviet Union begins when the first of the Moscow Trials is convened.Europe
36. 1940First flight of the B-25 Mitchell medium bomber.North America
37. 1941Germany and Romania sign the Tiraspol Agreement, rendering the region of Transnistria under control of the latter.Europe
38. 1942World War II: Operation Jubilee (The Dieppe Raid): The 2nd Canadian Infantry Division leads an amphibious assault by allied forces on Dieppe, France and fails.North AmericaEurope
39. 1944World War II: Liberation of Paris: Paris, France rises against German occupation with the help of Allied troops.Europe
40. 1945August Revolution: Viet Minh led by Ho Chi Minh take power in Hanoi, Vietnam.Asia
41. 1953Cold War: The CIA and MI6 help to overthrow the government of Mohammad Mosaddegh in Iran and reinstate the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.Middle East
42. 1955In the Northeast United States, severe flooding caused by Hurricane Diane, claims 200 lives.North America
43. 1960Cold War: In Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union, downed American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers is sentenced to ten years imprisonment by the Soviet Union for espionage.EuropeNorth America
44. 1960Sputnik program: Korabl-Sputnik 2: The Soviet Union launches the satellite with the dogs Belka and Strelka, 40 mice, two rats and a variety of plants.Europe
45. 1964Syncom 3, the first geostationary communication satellite, is launched. Two months later, it would enable live coverage of the 1964 Summer Olympics.World
46. 1965Japanese prime minister Eisaku Satō becomes the first post-World War II sitting prime minister to visit Okinawa Prefecture.Asia
47. 1978In Iran, the Cinema Rex fire causes more than 300 deaths.Middle East
48. 1980Otłoczyn railway accident: In Poland's worst post-war railway accident, 67 people lose their lives and a further 62 are injured.Europe
49. 1980Saudia Flight 163, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar burns after making an emergency landing at Riyadh International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killing 301 people.Middle East
50. 1981Silvio Santos launches a new Brazilian television channel in São Paulo, Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão.Latin America
51. 1981Gulf of Sidra Incident: United States F-14A Tomcat fighters intercept and shoot down two Libyan Sukhoi Su-22 fighter jets over the Gulf of Sidra.North AmericaAfrica
52. 1987Hungerford massacre: In the United Kingdom, Michael Ryan kills sixteen people with a semi-automatic rifle and then commits suicide.Europe
53. 1989Several hundred East Germans cross the frontier between Hungary and Austria during the Pan-European Picnic, part of the events that began the process of the Fall of the Berlin Wall.Europe
54. 1989Polish president Wojciech Jaruzelski nominates Solidarity activist Tadeusz Mazowiecki to be the first non-communist prime minister in 42 years.Europe
55. 1991Crown Heights riot in New York City begins.North America
56. 1991Dissolution of the Soviet Union: The August Coup begins when Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is placed under house arrest while on holiday in the town of Foros, Ukraine.Europe
57. 1999In Belgrade, Yugoslavia, tens of thousands of Serbians rally to demand the resignation of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia President Slobodan Milošević.Europe
58. 2002Khankala Mi-26 crash: A Russian Mil Mi-26 helicopter carrying troops is hit by a Chechen missile outside Grozny, killing 118 soldiers.Europe
59. 2003Shmuel HaNavi bus bombing: A suicide attack on a bus in Jerusalem, planned by Hamas, kills 23 Israelis, seven of them children.Middle East
60. 2003A truck-bomb attack on United Nations headquarters in Iraq kills the agency's top envoy Sérgio Vieira de Mello and 21 other employees.Middle East
61. 2004Google Inc. has its initial public offering on Nasdaq.North America
62. 2005The first-ever joint military exercise between Russia and China, called Peace Mission 2005 begins.EuropeAsia
63. 2009A series of bombings in Baghdad, Iraq, kills 101 and injures 565 others.Middle East
64. 2010Operation Iraqi Freedom ends, with the last of the United States brigade combat teams crossing the border to Kuwait.Middle EastNorth America
65. 2013The Dhamara Ghat train accident kills at least 37 people in the Indian state of Bihar.Asia
66. 2017Tens of thousands of farmed non-native Atlantic salmon are accidentally released into the wild in Washington waters in the 2017 Cypress Island Atlantic salmon pen break.North America

Source: Wikipedia "August 19" / CC BY-SA 4.0