February 19

February 19 is the 50th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 315 days remaining until the end of the year (316 in leap years).

Events

• 197 – Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies.
• 356 – Emperor Constantius II issues a decree closing all pagan temples in the Roman Empire.
• 1594 – Having already inherited the throne of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth through his mother Catherine Jagellonica of Poland in 1587, Sigismund III of the House of Vasa is crowned King of Sweden, having succeeded his father John III of Sweden in 1592.
• 1600 – The Peruvian stratovolcano Huaynaputina explodes in the most violent eruption in the recorded history of South America.
• 1674 – England and the Netherlands sign the Treaty of Westminster, ending the Third Anglo-Dutch War. A provision of the agreement transfers the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam to England, and it is renamed New York.
• 1807 – In Alabama, former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr is arrested for treason and confined to Fort Stoddert.
• 1819 – British explorer William Smith discovers the South Shetland Islands, and claims them in the name of King George III.
• 1846 – In Austin, Texas the newly formed Texas state government is officially installed. The Republic of Texas government officially transfers power to the State of Texas government following Texas' annexation by the United States.
• 1847 – The first group of rescuers reaches the Donner Party.
• 1852 – The Phi Kappa Psi fraternity is founded at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.
• 1859 – Daniel E. Sickles, a New York Congressman, is acquitted of murder on grounds of temporary insanity. This is the 1st time this defense is successfully used in the United States.
• 1861 – Serfdom is abolished in Russia.
• 1876 – Founding of the National Amateur Press Association (NAPA) in Philadelphia.
• 1878 – Thomas Edison patents the phonograph.
• 1884 – More than sixty tornadoes strike the Southern United States, one of the largest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history.
• 1915 – World War I: The first naval attack on the Dardanelles begins when a strong Anglo-French task force bombards Ottoman artillery along the coast of Gallipoli.
• 1921 – Rezā Shāh takes control of Tehran during a successful coup
• 1937 – Yekatit 12: During a public ceremony at the Viceregal Palace (the former Imperial residence) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, two Eritrean nationalists attempt to kill viceroy Rodolfo Graziani with a number of grenades. Italian authorities exact vicious reprisals on the population.
• 1942 – World War II: nearly 250 Japanese warplanes attack the northern Australian city of Darwin killing 243 people.
• 1942 – World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the executive order 9066, allowing the United States military to relocate Japanese-Americans to Japanese internment camps.
• 1943 – World War II: Battle of the Kasserine Pass in Tunisia begins.
• 1945 – World War II: Battle of Iwo Jima – about 30,000 United States Marines land on the island of Iwo Jima.
• 1949 – Ezra Pound is awarded the first Bollingen Prize in poetry by the Bollingen Foundation and Yale University.
• 1953 – Censorship: Georgia approves the first literature censorship board in the United States.
• 1959 – The United Kingdom grants Cyprus independence, which is then formally proclaimed on August 16, 1960.
• 1960 – China successfully launches the T-7, its first sounding rocket.
• 1963 – The publication of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique reawakens the Feminist Movement in the United States as women's organizations and consciousness raising groups spread.
• 1972 – The Asama-Sansō hostage standoff begins in Japan.
• 1976 – Executive Order 9066, which led to the relocation of Japanese Americans to internment camps, is rescinded by President Gerald R. Ford's Proclamation 4417
• 1978 – Egyptian forces raid Larnaca International Airport in an attempt to intervene in a hijacking, without authorisation from the Republic of Cyprus authorities. The Cypriot National Guard and Police forces kill 15 Egyptian commandos and destroy the Egyptian C-130 transport plane in open combat.
• 1985 – Artificial heart recipient William J. Schroeder becomes the first such patient to leave hospital.
• 1985 – Iberia Airlines Boeing 727 crashes into Mount Oiz in Spain, killing 148.
• 1986 – Akkaraipattu massacre: the Sri Lankan Army massacres 80 Tamil farm workers the eastern province of Sri Lanka.
• 1986 – The Soviet Union launches its Mir spacecraft. Remaining in orbit for 15 years, it is occupied for 10 of those years.
• 1999 – President Bill Clinton issues a posthumous pardon for U.S. Army Lt. Henry Ossian Flipper.
• 2001 – The Oklahoma City bombing museum is dedicated at the Oklahoma City National Memorial.
• 2002 – NASA's Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system.
• 2006 – A methane explosion in coal mine near Nueva Rosita, Mexico, kills 65 miners.

Births

• 1473 – Nicolaus Copernicus, mathematician and astronomer (d. 1543)
• 1526 – Charles de L'Ecluse, Flemish botanist (d. 1609)
• 1552 – Melchior Klesl, Austrian cardinal and statesman (d. 1630)
• 1630 – Shivaji, founder of the Maratha Empire (d. 1680)
• 1660 – Friedrich Hoffmann, German physician and chemist (d. 1742)
• 1671 – Charles-Hubert Gervais, French composer (d. 1744)
• 1717 – David Garrick, British actor (d. 1779)
• 1722 – Tiphaigne de la Roche, French writer (d. 1774)
• 1743 – Luigi Boccherini, Italian composer (d. 1805)
• 1780 – Richard McCarty, American politician (d. 1844)
• 1802 – Wilhelm Matthias Naeff, Swiss Federal Councillor (d. 1881)
• 1804 – Carl Freiherr von Rokitansky, German physician (d. 1878)
• 1804 – David Wark, Canadian politician (d. 1905)
• 1821 – August Schleicher, German linguist (d. 1868)
• 1833 – Élie Ducommun, Swiss journalist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1906)
• 1843 – Adelina Patti, Italian opera singer (d. 1919)
• 1855 – Nishinoumi Kajirō I, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 16th Yokozuna (d. 1908)
• 1859 – Svante Arrhenius, Swedish chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1927)
• 1865 – Sven Hedin, Swedish explorer (d. 1952)
• 1869 – Hovhannes Tumanyan, Armenian poet and writer (d. 1923)
• 1876 – Constantin Brâncuşi, Romanian sculptor (d. 1957)
• 1877 – Gabriele Münter, German painter (d. 1962)
• 1880 – Alvaro Obregon, Mexican president (d. 1928)
• 1886 – José Abad Santos, Filipino jurist and lawyer (d. 1942)
• 1888 – José Eustasio Rivera, Colombian writer (d. 1928)
• 1888 – Aurora Quezon, First Lady of the Philippines (d. 1949)
• 1893 – Sir Cedric Hardwicke, British actor (d. 1964)
• 1895 – Louis Calhern, American actor (d. 1956)
• 1895 – Diego Mazquiarán, Spanish matador ( d. 1940 )
• 1896 – André Breton, French poet (d. 1966)
• 1897 – Alma Rubens, American actress (d. 1931)
• 1899 – Yury Olesha, Russian novelist (d. 1960)
• 1899 – Lucio Fontana, Italian-Argentinian painter and sculptor (d. 1968)
• 1902 – Kay Boyle, American writer (d. 1992)
• 1904 – Muiris Ó Súilleabháin, Irish writer (d. 1950)
• 1904 – Havank, Dutch writer (d. 1964)
• 1906 – Eugene Eisenmann, Panamanian-American ornithologist (d. 1981)
• 1910 – Dorothy Janis, American silent film actress (d. 2010)
• 1911 – Merle Oberon, British actress (d. 1979)
• 1912 – Saul Chaplin, American composer (d. 1997)
• 1913 – Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza, pretender to the Brazilian throne (d. 2007)
• 1914 – Jacques Dufilho, French comedian (d. 2005)
• 1916 – Eddie Arcaro, American jockey (d. 1997)
• 1917 – Carson McCullers, American author (d. 1967)
• 1920 – C. Z. Guest, American socialite (d. 2003)
• 1920 – Jaan Kross, Estonian writer (d. 2007)
• 1920 – George Rose, British music hall entertainer (d. 1988)
• 1924 – David Bronstein, Ukrainian chess player (d. 2006)
• 1924 – Lee Marvin, American actor (d. 1987)
• 1924 – Bruce Norris, American ice hockey executive (d. 1986)
• 1924 – František Vláčil, Czech film director, painter, and graphic artist (d. 1999)
• 1929 – Jacques Deray, French film director (d. 2003)
• 1930 – John Frankenheimer, American film director (d. 2002)
• 1930 – K Viswanath, South Indian film director
• 1932 – Joseph P. Kerwin, NASA astronaut
• 1934 – Carole Eastman, American screenwriter (d. 2004)
• 1935 – Dave Niehaus, American sportscaster (d. 2010)
• 1936 – Sam Myers, American musician and songwriter (d. 2006)
• 1936 – Marin Sorescu, Romanian writer and novelist (d. 1997)
• 1937 – Robert Walker Jr., American blues guitarist
• 1938 – René Muñoz, Cuban-born Mexican actor and screenwriter (d. 2000)
• 1938 – Choekyi Gyaltsen, 10th Panchen Lama, Tibetan religious figure (d. 1989)
• 1939 – Gwen Taylor, English actress
• 1940 – Saparmurat Niyazov, President of Turkmenistan (d. 2006)
• 1940 – Smokey Robinson, American singer
• 1941 – David Gross, American physicist, Nobel laureate
• 1942 – Paul Krause, American football player
• 1943 – Lou Christie, American singer
• 1943 – Homer Hickam, American author and retired NASA engineer
• 1943 – Tim Hunt, British biochemist, Nobel laureate
• 1945 – Michael Nader, American actor
• 1945 – Jürgen Rumor, German footballer
• 1945 – Yuri Antonov, Soviet-Russian rock musician
• 1946 – Paul Dean, Canadian guitarist (Loverboy)
• 1946 – Peter Hudson, Australian rules footballer
• 1946 – Karen Silkwood, American activist (d. 1974)
• 1946 – Hiroshi Fujioka, Japanese actor
• 1947 – Tim Shadbolt, mayor of Invercargill, New Zealand
• 1948 – Mark Andes, American musician
• 1948 – Tony Iommi, English guitarist (Black Sabbath)
• 1948 – Pim Fortuyn, Dutch politician (d. 2002)
• 1948 – Big John Studd, American professional wrestler (d. 1995)
• 1949 – Danielle Bunten Berry, American software developer (d. 1998)
• 1949 – William Messner-Loebs, American comics writer
• 1950 – Juice Leskinen, Finnish songwriter
• 1950 – Andy Powell, British musician
• 1951 – Stephen Nichols, American actor
• 1951 – Tahir-ul-Qadri, Pakistani Islamic Sufi Scholar
• 1952 – Amy Tan, American novelist
• 1952 – Rodolfo Neri Vela, Mexican astronaut
• 1953 – Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, President of Argentina
• 1953 – Bill Kirchenbauer American comedian and actor
• 1953 – Massimo Troisi, Italian actor (d. 1994)
• 1954 – Sócrates, Brazilian footballer (d. 2011)
• 1955 – Jeff Daniels, American actor
• 1956 – Kathleen Beller, American actress
• 1956 – Roderick MacKinnon, American biologist, Nobel laureate
• 1956 – Dave Wakeling, English musician (The (English) Beat, General Public)
• 1957 – Falco, Austrian singer (d. 1998)
• 1957 – Lorianne Crook, Television Personality
• 1957 – Ray Winstone, British actor
• 1958 – Helen Fielding, English writer
• 1960 – Prince Andrew, Duke of York
• 1960 – Leslie Ash, English actress
• 1961 – Benoît Chamoux, French mountaineer (d. 1995)
• 1961 – Justin Fashanu, English footballer (d. 1998)
• 1961 – Andy Wallace, English race car driver
• 1962 – John Laroche, American orchid poacher
• 1962 – Hana Mandlíková, Czech tennis player
• 1963 – Laurell K. Hamilton, American writer
• 1963 – Seal, English singer
• 1963 – Jessica Tuck, American actress
• 1964 –Doug Aldrich, American musician (Whitesnake)
• 1964 – Dmitri Lipskerov, Russian writer
• 1964 – Sonu Walia, Indian actress
• 1965 – Jon Fishman, American musician (Phish)
• 1965 – Cathy Lane, English Swimmer
• 1965 – Leroy, American musician (Smash Mouth)
• 1966 – Justine Bateman, American actress
• 1966 – Paul Haarhuis, Dutch tennis player
• 1966 – Enzo Scifo, Belgian footballer
• 1967 – Benicio del Toro, Puerto Rican actor
• 1969 – Burton C. Bell, American vocalist
• 1970 – Joacim Cans, Swedish singer (HammerFall)
• 1971 – Miguel Batista, Dominican baseball player
• 1971 – Lisa McCune, Australian actress
• 1971 – Gil Shaham, Israeli-born American violinist
• 1972 – Francine, American professional wrestler
• 1973 – Eric Lange, Nickelodeon's Victorious Mr. Sikowitz
• 1974 – Danny Doring, American professional wrestler
• 1975 – Daniel Adair, Canadian Drummer (Nickelback)
• 1975 – Mikko Kavén, Finnish footballer
• 1975 – Katja Schuurman, Dutch actress and singer
• 1975 – Daewon Song, Korean professional skateboarder
• 1976 – Jahidi White, American basketball player
• 1977 – Ola Salo, Swedish singer (The Ark)
• 1977 – Gianluca Zambrotta, Italian footballer
• 1978 – Michalis Konstantinou, Greek-born Cypriot footballer
• 1978 – Immortal Technique, Peruvian-born American rapper
• 1979 – Bassnectar, American Dubstep/Electronica musician
• 1979 – Andrew Buchan, English Actor
• 1979 – Steve Cherundolo, American soccer player
• 1979 – Mariska, Finnish rapper
• 1979 – Mariana Ochoa, Mexican singer and actress
• 1979 – René Renno, German footballer
• 1980 – Neleh Dennis, American reality show contestant
• 1980 – Dwight Freeney, American football player
• 1980 – David Gandy, British model
• 1980 – Ma Lin, Chinese table tennis player
• 1980 – Mike Miller, American basketball player
• 1981 – Ronnie Arniell, Canadian professional wrestler
• 1981 – Beth Ditto, American singer (The Gossip)
• 1981 – Daniel Letterle, American actor and singer
• 1981 – Kyle Martino, American soccer player
• 1981 – Gil Reyes, American boxer
• 1981 – Nicky Shorey, English footballer
• 1981 – Vitas, Russian singer
• 1982 – Camelia Potec, Romanian swimmer
• 1983 – Assunta De Rossi, Filipino actress
• 1983 – Kotoōshū Katsunori, Bulgarian sumo wrestler
• 1983 – Mika Nakashima, Japanese singer/actress
• 1983 – Ryan Whitney, American ice hockey player
• 1984 – Chris Richardson, American Idol finalist
• 1985 – Haylie Duff, American singer/actress
• 1985 – Arielle Kebbel, American actress
• 1986 – Kyle Chipchura, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1986 – Björn Gustafsson, Swedish comedian
• 1986 – Reon Kadena, Japanese model and actress
• 1986 – Henri Karjalainen, Finnish racing driver
• 1986 – Maria Mena, Norwegian singer
• 1986 – Jayde Nicole, Canadian model
• 1986 – Michael Schwimer, American baseball player
• 1986 – Marta Vieira da Silva, Brazilian footballer
• 1988 – Miyu Irino, Japanese voice actor
• 1990 – Luke Pasqualino, English actor
• 1991 – Trevor Bayne, American race car Driver
• 1993 – Victoria Justice, American actress
• 1993 – Empress Schuck, Filipina actress

Deaths

• 197 – Clodius Albinus, Roman governor of Britain
• 1133 – Irene Ducaena, wife of Alexius I Comnenus (b. 1066)
• 1553 – Erasmus Reinhold, German astronomer and mathematician (b. 1511)
• 1589 – Saint Philothei, Orthodox martyr and Patron of Athens (b. 1522)
• 1605 – Orazio Vecchi, Italian composer (b. 1550)
• 1602 – Philippe Emmanuel, Duke of Mercoeur, French soldier (b. 1558)
• 1620 – Roemer Visscher, Dutch writer (b. 1547)
• 1622 – Sir Henry Savile, English educator (b. 1549)
• 1653 – Luigi de Rossi, Italian composer (b. 1597)
• 1663 – Adam Adami, German bishop and diplomat (b. 1603)
• 1670 – King Frederick III of Denmark (b. 1609)
• 1672 – Charles Chauncy, English-born president of Harvard College (b. 1592)
• 1709 – Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, Japanese shogun (b. 1646)
• 1716 – Dorthe Engelbrechtsdatter, Norwegian poet (b. 1634)
• 1789 – Nicholas Van Dyke, American lawyer and President of Delaware (b. 1738)
• 1799 – Jean-Charles de Borda, French mathematician, physicist, political scientist, and sailor (b. 1733)
• 1806 – Elizabeth Carter, English writer (b. 1717)
• 1837 – Georg Büchner, German playwright (b. 1813)
• 1837 – Thomas Burgess, English author, philosopher, Bishop of Saint David's and Bishop of Salisbury (b. 1756)
• 1887 – Multatuli, Dutch writer (b. 1820)
• 1897 – Karl Weierstraß, German mathematician (b. 1815)
• 1916 – Ernst Mach, Austrian-Czech physicist and philosopher (b. 1838)
• 1927 – Robert Fuchs, Austrian composer (b. 1847)
• 1936 – Charles Harding Firth, British historian (b. 1857)
• 1936 – Billy Mitchell, American general and military aviation pioneer (b. 1879)
• 1942 – Frank Abbandando, American gangster (executed) (b. 1910)
• 1951 – André Gide, French writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1869)
• 1952 – Knut Hamsun, Norwegian author, Nobel laureate (b. 1859)
• 1957 – Maurice Garin, French cyclist (b. 1871)
• 1959 – Willard Miller, American sailor (b. 1877)
• 1962 – Georgios Papanikolaou, Greek doctor, inventor of the Pap smear (b. 1883)
• 1968 – Georg Hackenschmidt, Estonian professional wrestler (b. 1878)
• 1969 – Madge Blake, American actress (b. 1899)
• 1970 – Christoforos Nezer, Greek actor (b. 1887)
• 1972 – John Grierson, Scottish documentary filmmaker (b. 1898)
• 1972 – Lee Morgan, American jazz musician (b. 1938)
• 1972 – Tedd Pierce, American animator (b. 1906)
• 1973 – Kostas Negrepontis, Greek footballer (b. 1897)
• 1973 – Joseph Szigeti, Hungarian violinist (b. 1892)
• 1975 – Luigi Dallapiccola, Italian composer (b. 1904)
• 1977 – Anthony Crosland, British politician (b. 1918)
• 1977 – Mike González, Cuban baseball player (b. 1890)
• 1980 – Bon Scott, Australian singer (AC/DC) (b. 1946)
• 1983 – Alice White, American film actress (b. 1904)
• 1986 – Adolfo Celi, Italian actor (b. 1922)
• 1988 – André Frédéric Cournand, French-born physician, Nobel laureate (b. 1895)
• 1992 – Tojo Yamamoto, American professional wrestler (b. 1927)
• 1994 – Derek Jarman, British film director (b. 1942)
• 1996 – Antonio Creus, Spanish racecar driver (b. 1924)
• 1996 – Charlie Finley, American sports entrepreneur (b. 1918)
• 1997 – Leo Rosten, American Yiddish writer and humorist (b. 1908)
• 1997 – Deng Xiaoping, Chinese Communist leader and revolutionary (b. 1904)
• 1998 – Grandpa Jones, American entertainer (b. 1913)
• 1999 – Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr, Iraqi Shiite leader (assassinated) (b. 1943)
• 2000 – Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Austrian artist (b. 1928)
• 2001 – Priscilla Davis, American socialite (b. 1942)
• 2001 – Stanley Kramer, American director (b. 1913)
• 2001 – Charles Trenet, French singer (b. 1913)
• 2003 – Johnny Paycheck, American singer (b. 1938)
• 2007 – Janet Blair, American actress (b. 1921)
• 2007 – Celia Franca, founder of National Ballet of Canada (b. 1921)
• 2008 – Yegor Letov, Russian song writer and singer (b. 1964)
• 2008 – Lydia Shum, Hong Kong comedian and actress (b. 1945)
• 2009 – Kelly Groucutt, Bass guitarist and singer for the band Electric Light Orchestra (b. 1945)
• 2010 – Jamie Gillis, American pornographic actor, director (b. 1943)
• 2010 – Laura Spurr, American chairperson of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi (b. 1945)
• 2011 – Ollie Matson, American Football Running Back (b. 1930)

Holidays and observances

• Armed Forces Day (Mexico)
• Birthday of Shivaji or Shivaji Jayanti (Maharashtra, India)
• Christian Feast Day:
  • Barbatus of Benevento
  • Conrad of Piacenza
  • February 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Commemoration of Bulgaria's Apostle of Freedom Vassil Levski (Bulgaria)
• Flag Day (Turkmenistan)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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