January 19Birthdays & History

On this day: January 19 in history

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

1. 379Emperor Gratian elevates Flavius Theodosius at Sirmium to Augustus, and gives him authority over all the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire.Europe
2. 649Conquest of Kucha: The forces of Kucha surrender after a forty-day siege led by Tang dynasty general Ashina She'er, establishing Tang control over the northern Tarim Basin in Xinjiang.Asia
3. 1419Hundred Years' War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England, completing his reconquest of Normandy.Europe
4. 1421John VIII Palaiologos marries Sophia of Montferrat and is then crowned Byzantine co-emperor to his father Manuel II Palaiologos.Europe
5. 1511The Italian Duchy of Mirandola surrenders to the Pope.Europe
6. 1520Sten Sture the Younger, the Regent of Sweden, is mortally wounded at the Battle of Bogesund and dies on February 3.Europe
7. 1607San Agustin Church in Manila is officially completed; it is the oldest church still standing in the Philippines.Asia
8. 1639Hämeenlinna (Swedish: Tavastehus) is granted privileges after it separated from the Vanaja parish as its own city in Tavastia.Europe
9. 1764John Wilkes is expelled from the British House of Commons for seditious libel.Europe
10. 1764Bolle Willum Luxdorph records in his diary that a mail bomb, possibly the world's first, has severely injured the Danish Colonel Poulsen, residing at Børglum Abbey.Europe
11. 1788The second group of ships of the First Fleet arrive at Botany Bay.Oceania
12. 1795The Batavian Republic is proclaimed in the Netherlands, replacing the Dutch Republic.Europe
13. 1817An army of 5,423 soldiers, led by General José de San Martín, crosses the Andes from Argentina to liberate Chile and then Peru.Latin America
14. 1829Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust: The First Part of the Tragedy receives its premiere performance.Europe
15. 1839The British East India Company captures Aden.EuropeAsia
16. 1853Giuseppe Verdi's opera Il trovatore receives its premiere performance in Rome.Europe
17. 1861American Civil War: Georgia joins South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama in declaring secession from the United States.North America
18. 1862American Civil War: Battle of Mill Springs: The Confederacy suffers its first significant defeat in the conflict.North America
19. 1871Franco-Prussian War: In the Siege of Paris, Prussia wins the Battle of St. Quentin. Meanwhile, the French attempt to break the siege in the Battle of Buzenval will end unsuccessfully the following day.Europe
20. 1883The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires, built by Thomas Edison, begins service at Roselle, New Jersey.North America
21. 1899Anglo-Egyptian Sudan is formed.Middle EastAfrica
22. 1901Queen Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom, is stricken with paralysis. She dies three days later at the age of 81.Europe
23. 1915Georges Claude patents the neon discharge tube for use in advertising.Europe
24. 1915German strategic bombing during World War I: German zeppelins bomb the towns of Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn in the United Kingdom killing at least 20 people, in the first major aerial bombardment of a civilian target.Europe
25. 1917Silvertown explosion: A blast at a munitions factory in London kills 73 and injures over 400. The resulting fire causes over £2,000,000 worth of damage.Europe
26. 1920The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is founded.North America
27. 1920The United States Senate votes against joining the League of Nations.North America
28. 1937Howard Hughes sets a new air record by flying from Los Angeles to New York City in seven hours, 28 minutes, 25 seconds.North America
29. 1941World War II: HMS Greyhound and other escorts of convoy AS-12 sink Italian submarine Neghelli with all hands 64 kilometres (40 mi) northeast of Falkonera.Europe
30. 1942World War II: The Japanese conquest of Burma begins.AsiaAsia
31. 1945World War II: Soviet forces liberate the Łódź Ghetto. Of more than 200,000 inhabitants in 1940, fewer than 900 had survived the Nazi occupation.Europe
32. 1946General Douglas MacArthur establishes the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo to try Japanese war criminals.Asia
33. 1953Almost 72 percent of all television sets in the United States are tuned into I Love Lucy to watch Lucy give birth.North America
34. 1960Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 871 crashes near Ankara Esenboğa Airport in Turkey, killing all 42 aboard.Middle East
35. 1960Japan and the United States sign the US–Japan Mutual Security TreatyAsiaNorth America
36. 1966Indira Gandhi becomes India's first female prime minister.Asia
37. 1969Student Jan Palach dies after setting himself on fire three days earlier in Prague's Wenceslas Square to protest about the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union in 1968. His funeral turns into another major protest.Europe
38. 1977President Gerald Ford pardons Iva Toguri D'Aquino (a.k.a. "Tokyo Rose").Asia
39. 1978The last Volkswagen Beetle made in Germany leaves VW's plant in Emden. Beetle production in Latin America continues until 2003.EuropeLatin AmericaNorth America
40. 1981Iran hostage crisis: United States and Iranian officials sign an agreement to release 52 American hostages after 14 months of captivity.Middle EastNorth America
41. 1988Trans-Colorado Airlines Flight 2286 crashes in Bayfield, Colorado, killing nine.North America
42. 1990Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir Valley in Indian-administered Kashmir due to an insurgency.Asia
43. 1991Gulf War: Iraq fires a second Scud missile into Israel, causing 15 injuries.Middle East
44. 1993Czech Republic and Slovakia join the United Nations.Europe
45. 1995After being struck by lightning the crew of Bristow Helicopters Flight 56C are forced to ditch. All 18 aboard are later rescued.Europe
46. 1996The barge North Cape oil spill occurs as an engine fire forces the tugboat Scandia ashore on Moonstone Beach in South Kingstown, Rhode Island.North America
47. 1997Yasser Arafat returns to Hebron after more than 30 years and joins celebrations over the handover of the last Israeli-controlled West Bank city.Middle East
48. 1999British Aerospace agrees to acquire the defence subsidiary of the General Electric Company, forming BAE Systems in November 1999.Europe
49. 2006A Slovak Air Force Antonov An-24 crashes near Hejce, Hungary, killing 42.Europe
50. 2007Four-man Team N2i, using only skis and kites, completes a 1,093-mile (1,759 km) trek to reach the Antarctic pole of inaccessibility for the first time since 1965 and for the first time ever without mechanical assistance.World
51. 2007Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink is assassinated in front of his newspaper's Istanbul office by 17-year-old Turkish ultra-nationalist Ogün Samast.Middle EastEurope
52. 2012The Hong Kong-based file-sharing website Megaupload is shut down by the FBI.Asia
53. 2014A bomb attack on an army convoy in the city of Bannu kills at least 26 Pakistani soldiers and injures 38 others.Asia
54. 2024The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's probe lands on the moon, making Japan the 5th country to land a spacecraft on the moon.Asia
55. 2025Bytedance and sister companies are banned from the United States for "security concerns".North America

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