March 19Birthdays & History

On this day: March 19 in history

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

1. 1205Latin forces under Henry of Flanders defeat a Nicaean army under Constantine Laskaris in the Battle of Adramyttion.Middle East
2. 1227Election of Ugolino di Conti as Pope Gregory IX following the death of Pope Honorius III.Europe
3. 1277The Byzantine–Venetian treaty of 1277 is concluded, stipulating a two-year truce and renewing Venetian commercial privileges in the Byzantine Empire.Europe
4. 1279A Mongol victory at the Battle of Yamen ends the Song dynasty in China.Asia
5. 1284The Statute of Rhuddlan incorporates the Principality of Wales into England.Europe
6. 1452Frederick III of Habsburg is the last Holy Roman Emperor crowned by medieval tradition in Rome by Pope Nicholas V.Europe
7. 1563The Edict of Amboise is signed, ending the first phase of the French Wars of Religion and granting certain freedoms to the Huguenots.Europe
8. 1649The House of Commons of England passes an act abolishing the House of Lords, declaring it "useless and dangerous to the people of England".Europe
9. 1687Explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle, searching for the mouth of the Mississippi River, is murdered by his own men.North America
10. 1808Charles IV, king of Spain, abdicates after riots and a popular revolt at the winter palace Aranjuez. His son, Ferdinand VII, takes the throne.Europe
11. 1812The Cortes of Cádiz promulgates the Spanish Constitution of 1812.Europe
12. 1824American explorer Benjamin Morrell departs Antarctica after a voyage later plagued by claims of fraud.North America
13. 1831First documented bank heist in U.S. history, when burglars steal $245,000 (1831 values) from the City Bank (now Citibank) on Wall Street. Most of the money was recovered.North America
14. 1865American Civil War: The Battle of Bentonville begins. By the end of the battle two days later, Confederate forces had retreated from Four Oaks, North Carolina.North America
15. 1885Louis Riel declares a provisional government in Saskatchewan, beginning the North-West Rebellion.North America
16. 1918The US Congress establishes time zones and approves daylight saving time.North America
17. 1920The United States Senate rejects the Treaty of Versailles for the second time (the first time was on November 19, 1919).North America
18. 1921Irish War of Independence: One of the biggest engagements of the war takes place at Crossbarry, County Cork. About 100 Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteers escape an attempt by over 1,300 British forces to encircle them.Europe
19. 1932The Sydney Harbour Bridge is opened.Oceania
20. 1943Frank Nitti, the Chicago Outfit Boss after Al Capone, commits suicide at the Chicago Central Railyard.North America
21. 1944World War II: The German army occupies Hungary.Europe
22. 1945World War II: Off the coast of Japan, a dive bomber hits the aircraft carrier USS Franklin, killing 724 of her crew. Badly damaged, the ship is able to return to the US under her own power.AsiaNorth America
23. 1945World War II: Adolf Hitler issues his "Nero Decree" ordering all industries, military installations, shops, transportation facilities, and communications facilities in Germany to be destroyed.Europe
24. 1946French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Réunion become overseas départements of France.Europe
25. 1958The Monarch Underwear Company fire leaves 24 dead and 15 injured.North America
26. 1962The Algerian War of Independence ends.Africa
27. 1964Over 500,000 Brazilians attend the March of the Family with God for Liberty, in protest against the government of João Goulart and against communism.Latin America
28. 1965The wreck of the SS Georgiana, valued at over $50,000,000 and said to have been the most powerful Confederate cruiser, is discovered by teenage diver and pioneer underwater archaeologist E. Lee Spence, exactly 102 years after its destruction.North America
29. 1969The 385-metre-tall (1,263 ft) TV-mast at Emley Moor transmitting station, United Kingdom, collapses due to ice build-up.Europe
30. 1979The United States House of Representatives begins broadcasting its day-to-day business via the cable television network C-SPAN.North America
31. 1982Falklands War: Argentinian forces land on South Georgia Island, precipitating war with the United Kingdom.Latin AmericaEurope
32. 1989The Egyptian flag is raised at Taba, marking the end of Israeli occupation since the Six Days War in 1967 and the Egypt–Israel peace treaty in 1979.Middle East
33. 1990The ethnic clashes of Târgu Mureș begin four days after the anniversary of the Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire.Europe
34. 1998An Ariana Afghan Airlines Boeing 727 crashes on approach to Kabul International Airport, killing all 45 on board.Asia
35. 2003United States President George W. Bush addresses the nation, announcing the invasion of Iraq.North AmericaMiddle East
36. 2004Catalina affair: A Swedish DC-3 shot down by a Soviet MiG-15 in 1952 over the Baltic Sea is finally recovered after years of work.Europe
37. 2004March 19 Shooting Incident: The Republic of China (Taiwan) president Chen Shui-bian is shot just before the country's presidential election on March 20.Asia
38. 2004The Konginkangas bus disaster kills 23 and injures 14 people in Äänekoski, Finland.Europe
39. 2008GRB 080319B: A cosmic burst that is the farthest object visible to the naked eye is briefly observed.World
40. 2011Libyan Civil War: After the failure of Muammar Gaddafi's forces to take Benghazi, the French Air Force launches Opération Harmattan, beginning foreign military intervention in Libya.AfricaEurope
41. 2013A series of bombings and shootings kills at least 98 people and injures 240 others across Iraq.Middle East
42. 2016An explosion occurs in Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey, killing five people and injuring 36.Middle East
43. 2016Flydubai Flight 981 crashes while attempting to land at Rostov-on-Don international airport, killing all 62 on board.EuropeMiddle East
44. 2019The 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.Asia
45. 2023The Swiss Government brokers a deal for UBS to buy out rival Credit Suisse in an attempt to calm the 2023 banking crisis.Europe

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