WORLD HISTORY · 2019 日本語
Events of 2019Heisei 31 / Reiwa 1 (Japan) · Year of the Pig
What happened in 2019?
On May 1, 2019, a new emperor took the throne and Japan's era name changed to Reiwa. The Rugby World Cup opened in Japan in September, the consumption tax rose to 10% in October, and Typhoon Hagibis prompted emergency heavy rain warnings.
- Guaido declares himself interim presidentLatin America
- Mass shooting at New Zealand mosquesOceania
- Serial bombings in Sri LankaAsia
- New emperor enthroned; era renamed ReiwaAsia
- Rugby World Cup opens in JapanAsia
- Speaker Pelosi announces impeachment inquiryNorth America
- Consumption tax raised to 10%Asia
- Typhoon Hagibis prompts emergency heavy rain warningsAsia
Tap an event to jump to it in the timeline below.
2019 at a glance
| Japanese era | Heisei 31 / Reiwa 1 |
|---|---|
| Chinese zodiac | Year of the Pig |
| Age of people born in 2019 | Turn 7 in 2026 |
| Previous / next year | 2018 (Heisei 30) ／ 2020 (Reiwa 2) |
| Events | 114 |
| AP World History | Unit 9 (Globalization) |
| AP U.S. History | Period 9 |
Famous people born in 2019
Our birthday pages list 1 people born in 2019. Here are some of them.
- Prince Archie of SussexBorn May 6 · turns 7 this year
Events of 2019 (timeline · 114)
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On a computer, each region has its own vertical line, so you can follow the flow of events and see what was happening in different parts of the world at the same time.
Chang'e 4 makes the first soft landing on the far side of the Moon, deploying the Yutu-2 lunar rover.
A fire in an escape room in Koszalin, Poland, kills five teenagers through carbon monoxide poisoning.
Muhammad V of Kelantan resigns as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, becoming the first monarch to do so.
A 13-year-old American girl, Jayme Closs, is found alive in Gordon, Wisconsin, having been kidnapped 88 days earlier from her parents' home whilst they were murdered.
A Saha Airlines Boeing 707 crashes at Fath Air Base near Karaj in Alborz Province, Iran, killing 15 people.
Somali militants attack the DusitD2 hotel in Nairobi, Kenya killing at least 21 people and injuring 19.
Theresa May's UK government suffers the biggest government defeat in modern times, when 432 MPs voting against the proposed European Union withdrawal agreement, giving her opponents a majority of 230.
An oil pipeline explosion near Tlahuelilpan, Hidalgo, Mexico, kills 137 people.
A mining company's dam collapses in Brumadinho, Brazil, a south-eastern city, killing 270 people.
Abdullah of Pahang is sworn in as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
Pope Francis becomes the first Pope in history to visit and perform papal mass in the Arabian Peninsula during his visit to Abu Dhabi.
The country known as the Republic of Macedonia renames itself the Republic of North Macedonia in accordance with the Prespa agreement, settling a long-standing naming dispute with Greece.
Pulwama attack takes place in Lethpora in Pulwama district, Jammu and Kashmir, India in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel and a suicide bomber were killed and 35 were injured.
Atlas Air Flight 3591, a Boeing 767 freighter, crashes into Trinity Bay near Anahuac, Texas, killing all three people on board.
Indian Air Force fighter-jets target Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camps in Balakot, Pakistan.
Pakistan Air Force JF-17 Thunder downs Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman's Mig-21 in an aerial dogfight and captures him after conducting airstrikes in Jammu and Kashmir.
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 MAX, crashes shortly after takeoff, killing all 157 passengers and crew. This and the prior Lion Air Flight 610 led to all 387 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft being grounded worldwide.
In the House of Commons, the revised EU Withdrawal Bill was rejected by a margin of 149 votes.
Cyclone Idai makes landfall near Beira, Mozambique, causing devastating floods and over 1,000 deaths.
Approximately 1.4 million young people in 123 countries go on strike to protest climate change.
Fifty-one people are killed in the Christchurch mosque shootings, which remains the deadliest terror attack in New Zealand history.
The first President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, resigns from office after nearly three decades, leaving Senate Chairman Kassym-Jomart Tokayev as the acting President and successor.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is sworn in as acting president of Kazakhstan, following the resignation of long-time president Nursultan Nazarbayev.
The 2019 Xiangshui chemical plant explosion occurs, killing at least 47 people and injuring 640 others.
Two buses crash in Kitampo, a town north of Ghana's capital Accra, killing at least 50 people.
The Special Counsel investigation on the 2016 United States presidential election concludes when Robert Mueller submits his report to the United States Attorney General.
The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces capture the town of Baghuz in Eastern Syria, declaring military victory over the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant after four years of fighting, although the group maintains a scattered presence and sleeper cells across Syria and Iraq.
The cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris in France is seriously damaged by a large fire.
A redacted version of the Mueller report is released to the United States Congress and the public.
Eight bombs explode at churches, hotels, and other locations in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, killing at least 269.
The April 2019 Hpakant jade mine collapse in Myanmar kills four miners and two rescuers, with at least 50 others missing and presumed dead.
Naruhito ascends to the throne of Japan succeeding his father Akihito, beginning the Reiwa period.
Naxalite attack in Gadchiroli district of India: Sixteen army soldiers, including a driver, killed in an IED blast. Naxals targeted an anti-Naxal operations team.
The inaugural all-female motorsport series, W Series, takes place at Hockenheimring. The race was won by Jamie Chadwick, who would go on to become the inaugural series champion.
British 17-year-old Isabelle Holdaway is reported to be the first patient ever to receive a genetically modified phage therapy to treat a drug-resistant infection.
United States presidential election: Joe Biden launches his presidential campaign.
The International System of Units (SI): The base units are redefined, making the international prototype of the kilogram obsolete.
Under pressure over her handling of Brexit, British Prime Minister Theresa May announces her resignation as Leader of the Conservative Party, effective as of June 7.
A shooting occurs inside a municipal building at Virginia Beach, Virginia, leaving 13 people dead, including the shooter, and four others injured.
Khartoum massacre: In Sudan, over 100 people are killed when security forces accompanied by Janjaweed militiamen storm and open fire on a sit-in protest.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is inaugurated as the second president of Kazakhstan.
Upwards of 2,000,000 people participate in the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, the largest in Hong Kong's history.
Iran's Air Defense Forces shoot down an American surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz amid rising tensions between the two countries.
Donald Trump becomes the first sitting US President to visit the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea).
The United States defeated the Netherlands 2–0 at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup final in Lyon, France.
The final Volkswagen Beetle rolls off the line in Puebla, Mexico; the last of 5,961 "Special Edition" cars will be exhibited in a museum.
A GippsAero GA8 Airvan crashes in Umeå, Sweden, killing all nine aboard.
A 100-year-old building in Mumbai, India, collapses, killing at least 10 people and leaving many others trapped.
A man sets fire to an anime studio in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Japan, killing 36 people and injuring dozens of others.
Soyuz MS-13 is launched to the International Space Station on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
Yuen Long attack or "721 incident" in Hong Kong. Triad members indiscriminately beat civilians returning from protests while police failed to take action.
Chandrayaan-2, the second lunar exploration mission developed by Indian Space Research Organisation after Chandrayaan-1 is launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in a GSLV Mark III M1. It consists of a lunar orbiter, and also included the Vikram lander, and the Pragyan lunar rover.
Boris Johnson becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after defeating Jeremy Hunt in a leadership contest, succeeding Theresa May.
National extreme heat records set this day in the UK, Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany during the July 2019 European heat wave.
The 2019 Altamira prison riot between rival Brazilian drug gangs leaves 62 dead.
Twenty-three people are killed and 22 injured in a mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas.
Six hundred protesters, including opposition leader Lyubov Sobol, are arrested in an election protest in Moscow, Russia.
Nine people are killed and 26 injured in a shooting in Dayton, Ohio. This comes only 13 hours after another mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, where 23 people were killed.
The revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir (state) occurred and the state was bifurcated into two union territories (Jammu and Kashmir (union territory) and Ladakh).
An explosion at the State Central Navy Testing Range in Nyonoksa, Russia, kills five people.
Philip Manshaus shoots his stepsister and attacks a mosque in the Bærum mosque shooting.
Thirty-two are killed and one million are evacuated as Typhoon Lekima makes landfall in Zhejiang, China. Earlier it had caused flooding in the Philippines.
A bomb explodes at a wedding in Kabul killing 63 people and leaving 182 injured.
One hundred activists, officials, and other concerned citizens in Iceland hold a funeral for Okjökull glacier, which has completely melted after having once covered six square miles (15.5 km2).
A sightseeing helicopter crashes in the mountains of Skoddevarre in Alta, Norway, killing all six people on board.
Hurricane Dorian, a category 5 hurricane, devastates the Bahamas, killing at least five.
The dive boat MV Conception catches fire and sinks near Santa Cruz Island, killing 34.
Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov and 66 others are released in a prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia.
Yemen's Houthi rebels claim responsibility for an attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities.
Roughly four million people, mostly students, demonstrate across the world to address climate change. Sixteen-year-old Greta Thunberg from Sweden leads the demonstration in New York City.
A 5.6 Mw earthquake shakes the Albanian port of Durrës. Forty-nine people are injured in the capital, Tirana.
Twenty people die on the first of two days of rioting in Papua and West Papua over an alleged racist incident.
Over two million people participated in worldwide strikes to protest climate change across 2,400 locations worldwide.
Kuopio school stabbing: One dies and ten are injured when Joel Marin, armed with a sabre, attacks a school class at Savo Vocational College in Kuopio, Finland.
A privately owned Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress conducting a living history exhibition flight crashes shortly after takeoff from Windsor Locks, Connecticut, killing seven.
About 200 Extinction Rebellion activists block the gates of Leinster House (parliament) in the Republic of Ireland.
The Hard Rock Hotel in New Orleans, which is under construction, collapses, killing three workers and injuring 30 others.
Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya becomes the first person to run a marathon in less than two hours with a time of 1:59:40 in Vienna.
Typhoon Hagibis makes landfall in Japan, killing 10 and forcing the evacuation of one million people.
Kenyan Brigid Kosgei sets a new world record for a woman runner with a time of 2:14:04 at the 2019 Chicago Marathon.
Drug dealers in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico force the government to back down on an arrest.
NASA Astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch take part in the first all-female spacewalk when they venture out of the International Space Station to replace a power controller.
Riots in Chile's capital Santiago escalate into open battles, with attacks reported at nearly all of the city's 164 Metro stations. President Sebastián Piñera later announces a 15-day state of emergency in the capital.
Members of Parliament met at the House of Lords to discuss the United Kingdom's Brexit deal, this was the first Saturday sitting in Parliament since 3 April 1982 during the Falklands War.
In Canada, the 2019 Canadian federal election ends, resulting in incumbent Prime Minister Justin Trudeau remaining in office, albeit with the Liberal Party in a minority government.
Thirty people are killed in a fiery bus crash in western Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Same-sex marriage is legalised, and abortion is decriminalised in Northern Ireland as a result of the Northern Ireland Assembly not being restored.
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant founder and leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi kills himself and three children by detonating a suicide vest during the U.S. military Barisha raid in northwestern Syria.
President of Bolivia Evo Morales and several of his government resign after 19 days of civil protests and a recommendation from the military.
A mass shooting occurs at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California, resulting in three deaths, including that of the perpetrator, and three injuries.
The first known case of COVID-19 is traced to a 55-year-old man who had visited a market in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is indicted on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.
Tesla launches the SUV Cybertruck. A gaffe occurs during the launch event when its "unbreakable" windows shatter during demonstration.
The last Sumatran rhinoceros in Malaysia, Imam, dies, making the species officially extinct in the country.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake strikes western Albania leaving at least 52 people dead and over 1,000 injured. This was the world's deadliest earthquake of 2019, and the deadliest to strike the country in 99 years.
Arsenal Women 11–1 Bristol City Women breaks the record for most goals scored in a FA Women's Super League match, with Vivianne Miedema involved in ten of the eleven Arsenal goals.
A volcano on Whakaari / White Island, New Zealand, kills 22 people after it erupts.
The Ostrava hospital attack in the Czech Republic results in eight deaths, including the perpetrator.
The results of the 2019 Bougainvillean independence referendum are announced. The results are overwhelmingly one-sided. Over 98% of voters vote for Bougainville's independence.
The United States House of Representatives impeaches Donald Trump for the first time.
The United States Space Force becomes the first new branch of the United States Armed Forces since 1947.
Twenty people are killed and thousands are left homeless by Typhoon Phanfone in the Philippines.
Bek Air Flight 2100 crashes during takeoff from Almaty International Airport in Almaty, Kazakhstan, killing 13.
A truck bomb is detonated in Mogadishu, Somalia, killing at least 85 people and injuring over 140 more. The militant group Al-Shabaab claims responsibility.
The World Health Organization is informed of cases of pneumonia with an unknown cause, detected in Wuhan. This later turned out to be COVID-19, the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Source: Wikipedia date pages ("January 1" … "December 31") / CC BY-SA 4.0. Regions are assigned by the site editors.
FAQ
What year was 2019 in the Japanese calendar?
2019 was Heisei 31 / Reiwa 1 in the Japanese era system.
What Chinese zodiac animal is 2019?
2019 is the Year of the Pig.
How old is someone born in 2019?
They turn 7 on their birthday in 2026.
What happened in 2019?
On May 1, 2019, a new emperor took the throne and Japan's era name changed to Reiwa. The Rugby World Cup opened in Japan in September, the consumption tax rose to 10% in October, and Typhoon Hagibis prompted emergency heavy rain warnings.
Dates and events are based on Wikipedia and other references. Summaries and regions are written by the site editors.