October 19Birthdays & History

On this day: October 19 in history

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

1. 202 BCSecond Punic War: At the Battle of Zama, Roman legions under Scipio Africanus defeat Hannibal Barca, leader of the army defending Carthage.EuropeAfrica
2. 439The Vandals, led by King Gaiseric, take Carthage in North Africa.Africa
3. 1386The Universität Heidelberg holds its first lecture, making it the oldest German university.Europe
4. 1453Hundred Years' War: Three months after the Battle of Castillon, England loses its last possessions in southern France.Europe
5. 1466The Thirteen Years' War between Poland and the Teutonic Order ends with the Second Treaty of Thorn.Europe
6. 1469Ferdinand II of Aragon marries Isabella I of Castile, a marriage that paves the way to the unification of Aragon and Castile into a single country, Spain.Europe
7. 1512Martin Luther becomes a doctor of theology.Europe
8. 1579James VI of Scotland is celebrated as an adult ruler by a festival in Edinburgh.Europe
9. 1596The Spanish ship San Felipe runs aground on the coast of Japan and its cargo is confiscated by local authorities.EuropeAsia
10. 1649New Ross town in Ireland surrenders to Oliver Cromwell.Europe
11. 1662An English Buccaneer force led by Royal Navy commodore Christopher Myngs launches an attack on Santiago de Cuba which is subsequently sacked.EuropeLatin America
12. 1781American Revolutionary War: The siege of Yorktown comes to an end.North America
13. 1789John Jay is sworn in as the first Chief Justice of the United States.North America
14. 1791Treaty of Drottningholm, between Sweden and RussiaEurope
15. 1805War of the Third Coalition: Austrian General Mack surrenders his army to Napoleon at the Battle of Ulm.Europe
16. 1812The French invasion of Russia fails when Napoleon begins his retreat from Moscow.Europe
17. 1813War of the Sixth Coalition: Napoleon is forced to retreat from Germany after the Battle of Leipzig.Europe
18. 1847The novel Jane Eyre is published in London.Europe
19. 1864American Civil War: Confederate agents based in Canada rob three banks in Saint Albans, Vermont.North America
20. 1864American Civil War: The Battle of Cedar Creek ends the last Confederate threat to Washington, DC.North America
21. 1866In accordance with the Treaty of Vienna, Austria cedes Veneto and Mantua to France, which immediately awards them to Italy in exchange for the earlier Italian acquiescence to the French annexation of Savoy and Nice.Europe
22. 1900Max Planck discovers Planck's law of black-body radiation.Europe
23. 1912Italo-Turkish War: Italy takes possession of what is now Libya from the Ottoman Empire.Middle EastEuropeAfrica
24. 1914World War I: The First Battle of Ypres begins.Europe
25. 1921The Portuguese Prime Minister and several officials are murdered in the Bloody Night coup.Europe
26. 1922British Conservative MPs vote to terminate the coalition government with the Liberal Party.Europe
27. 1935The League of Nations places economic sanctions on Italy for its invasion of Ethiopia.EuropeAfrica
28. 1936New York World-Telegram reporter Herbert Ekins won a race against two other New York newspaper journalists to travel around the world on commercial airline flights. He accomplished the feat in 18 ½ days. His opponents were New York Evening Journal reporter Dorothy Kilgallen, who finished in second place, and New York Times reporter Leo Kieran.North America
29. 1943The cargo vessel Sinfra is attacked by Allied aircraft at Crete and sunk. Two thousand and ninety-eight Italian prisoners of war drown with it.Europe
30. 1943Streptomycin, the first antibiotic remedy for tuberculosis, is isolated by researchers at Rutgers University.North America
31. 1944United States forces land in the Philippines.North AmericaAsia
32. 1944A coup is launched against Juan Federico Ponce Vaides, beginning the ten-year Guatemalan Revolution.Latin America
33. 1948Presidents North Carolina Gave the Nation, a monument honoring three presidents of the United States, was dedicated at the North Carolina State Capitol in Raleigh, North Carolina.North America
34. 1950Korean War: The Battle of Pyongyang ends in a United Nations victory. Hours later, the Chinese Army begins crossing the border into Korea.Asia
35. 1950Iran becomes the first country to accept technical assistance from the United States under the Point Four Program.Middle EastNorth America
36. 1950China defeats the Tibetan Army at Chambo.Asia
37. 1953Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is published.North America
38. 1955The General Assembly of the European Broadcasting Union approves the staging of the first Eurovision Song Contest.Europe
39. 1956The Soviet Union and Japan sign a Joint Declaration, officially ending the state of war between the two countries that had existed since August 1945.EuropeAsia
40. 1960The United States imposes a near-total trade embargo against Cuba.North AmericaLatin America
41. 1973President Nixon rejects an Appeals Court decision that he turn over the Watergate tapes.North America
42. 1974Niue becomes a self-governing colony of New Zealand.Oceania
43. 1986The president of Mozambique and a prominent leader of FRELIMO, along with 33 others, die when their aircraft crashes into the Lebombo Mountains.Africa
44. 1987The United States Navy conducts Operation Nimble Archer, an attack on two Iranian oil platforms in the Persian Gulf.North AmericaMiddle East
45. 1987Black Monday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls by 22%, 508 points.North America
46. 1988The British government imposes a broadcasting ban on television and radio interviews with members of Sinn Féin and eleven Irish republican and Ulster loyalist paramilitary groups.Europe
47. 1989The convictions of the Guildford Four are quashed by the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, after they had spent 15 years in prison.Europe
48. 2001SIEV X, an Indonesian fishing boat en route to Christmas Island, carrying over 400 migrants, sinks in international waters with the loss of 353 people.Asia
49. 2003Mother Teresa is beatified by Pope John Paul II.Europe
50. 2004Thirteen people are killed when Corporate Airlines Flight 5966 crashes in Adair County, Missouri, while on approach to Kirksville Regional Airport.North America
51. 2005Saddam Hussein goes on trial in Baghdad for crimes against humanity.Middle East
52. 2005Hurricane Wilma becomes the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record with a minimum pressure of 882 mb.Latin AmericaNorth America
53. 2012A bomb explosion kills eight people and injures 110 more in Lebanon.Middle East
54. 2013One hundred and five people are injured in a train crash in Buenos Aires.Latin America
55. 2019Members 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.EuropeLatin America
56. 2025Pieces of the French Crown Jewels are successfully stolen during a heist on the Louvre Museum in Paris..Europe

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