May 19

May 19 in recent years

2024 (Sunday)

2023 (Friday)

2022 (Thursday)

2021 (Wednesday)

2020 (Tuesday)

2019 (Sunday)

2018 (Saturday)

2017 (Friday)

2016 (Thursday)

2015 (Tuesday)

May 19 is the 139th day of the year (140th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 226 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 1499 – Catherine of Aragon is married by proxy to Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales. Catherine is 13 and Arthur is 12.
• 1535 – French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America with three ships, 110 men, and Chief Donnacona's two sons (whom Cartier had kidnapped during his first voyage).
• 1536 – Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII of England, is beheaded for adultery, treason, and incest.
• 1568 – Queen Elizabeth I of England orders the arrest of Mary, Queen of Scots.
• 1643 – Thirty Years' War: French forces under the duc d'Enghien decisively defeat Spanish forces at the Battle of Rocroi, marking the symbolic end of Spain as a dominant land power.
• 1649 – An Act of Parliament declaring England a Commonwealth is passed by the Long Parliament. England would be a republic for the next eleven years.
• 1749 – King George II of Great Britain grants the Ohio Company a charter of land around the forks of the Ohio River.
• 1780 – New England's Dark Day: A combination of thick smoke and heavy cloud cover causes complete darkness to fall on Eastern Canada and the New England area of the United States at 10:30 A.M.
• 1802 – Napoleon Bonaparte founds the Legion of Honour.
• 1828 – U.S. President John Quincy Adams signs the Tariff of 1828 into law, protecting wool manufacturers in the United States.
• 1845 – Captain Sir John Franklin and his ill-fated Arctic expedition depart from Greenhithe, England.
• 1848 – Mexican-American War: Mexico ratifies the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo thus ending the war and ceding California, Nevada, Utah and parts of four other modern-day U.S. states to the United States for US$15 million.
• 1864 – American Civil War: the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House ends.
• 1897 – Oscar Wilde is released from Reading Gaol.
• 1911 – Parks Canada, the world's first national park service, is established as the Dominion Parks Branch under the Department of the Interior.
• 1919 – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk lands at Samsun on the Anatolian Black Sea coast, initiating what is later termed the Turkish War of Independence, and the Greek Genocide.
• 1921 – The U.S. Congress passes the Emergency Quota Act establishing national quotas on immigration.
• 1922 – The Young Pioneer organization of the Soviet Union is established.
• 1934 – Zveno and the Bulgarian Army engineer a coup d'état and install Kimon Georgiev as the new Prime Minister of Bulgaria.
• 1943 – World War II: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt set Monday, May 1, 1944 as the date for the Normandy landings ("D-Day"). It would later be delayed over a month due to bad weather.
• 1950 – A barge containing munitions destined for Pakistan explodes in the harbor at South Amboy, New Jersey, devastating the city.
• 1959 – The North Vietnamese Army establishes Group 559, whose responsibility is to determine how to maintain supply lines to South Vietnam; the resulting route is the Ho Chi Minh trail.
• 1961 – Venera program: Venera 1 becomes the first man-made object to fly-by another planet by passing Venus (the probe had lost contact with Earth a month earlier and did not send back any data).
• 1962 – A birthday salute to U.S. President John F. Kennedy takes place at Madison Square Garden, New York City. The highlight is Marilyn Monroe's rendition of "Happy Birthday".
• 1971 – Mars probe program: Mars 2 is launched by the Soviet Union.
• 1986 – The Firearm Owners Protection Act is signed into law by U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
• 1991 – Croatians vote for independence in a referendum.
• 1997 – The Sierra Gorda Biosphere, the most ecologically diverse region in Mexico, is established as a result of grassroots efforts.
• 2007 – President of Romania Traian Băsescu survives an impeachment referendum and returns to office from suspension.
• 2010 – The Royal Thai Armed Forces concludes its crackdown on protests by forcing the surrender of United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship leaders.

Births

• 1593 – Jacob Jordaens, Flemish painter (d. 1678)
• 1700 – José de Escandón, Spanish colonial governor (d. 1770)
• 1724 – Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol, British admiral and politician (d. 1779)
• 1744 – Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, German-born wife of King George III of the United Kingdom (d. 1818)
• 1762 – Johann Gottlieb Fichte, German philosopher (d. 1814)
• 1773 – Arthur Aikin, English mineralogist (d. 1854)
• 1795 – Johns Hopkins, American philanthropist (d. 1873)
• 1797 – Maria Isabel of Portugal, Queen of Spain (d. 1818)
• 1827 – Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour, French statesman (d. 1896)
• 1861 – Dame Nellie Melba, Australian opera singer (d. 1931)
• 1870 – Albert Fish, American serial killer (d. 1936)
• 1871 – Walter Russell, American polymath (d. 1963)
• 1874 – Gilbert Laird Jessop, English cricketer (d. 1955)
• 1879 – Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, American-born British politician (d. 1964)
• 1880 – Sir Albert Richardson, English architect (d. 1964)
• 1881 – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, 1st President of Turkey (d. 1938)
• 1882 – Mohammed Mosaddeq, Prime Minister of Iran (d. 1967)
• 1890 – Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnamese leader (d. 1969)
• 1891 – Oswald Boelcke, German World War I pilot (d. 1916)
• 1897 – Frank Luke, American World War I pilot (d. 1918)
• 1898 – Julius Evola, Italian philosopher and esotericist (d. 1974)
• 1906 – Bruce Bennett, American athlete and actor (d. 2007)
• 1908 – Percy Williams, Canadian athlete (d. 1982)
• 1908 – Merriam Modell, American author (d. 1994)
• 1909 – Sir Nicholas Winton, British wartime humanitarian
• 1910 – Alan Melville, South African cricketer, Wisden COY 1948, (d. 1983)
• 1910 – Nathuram Godse, Indian assassin of Mahatma Gandhi (d. 1949)
• 1914 – Max Perutz, Austrian-born British molecular biologist, Nobel laureate (d. 2002)
• 1914 – Go Seigen, Japanese Go player
• 1914 – Alex Shibicky, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2005)
• 1918 – Abraham Pais, Dutch-born American physicist (d. 2000)
• 1919 – Mitja Ribičič, Slovenian Communist politician, Prime Minister of Yugoslavia
• 1921 – Yuri Kochiyama, American civil rights activist
• 1921 – Karel van het Reve, Dutch writer (d. 1999)
• 1921 – Daniel Gélin, French actor (d. 2002)
• 1922 – Joe Gilmore, Irish barkeep
• 1924 – Sandy Wilson, British composer
• 1925 – Malcolm X, American civil rights activist (d. 1965)
• 1925 – Pol Pot, Cambodian dictator (d. 1998)
• 1925 – Guy Provost, French Canadian actor (d. 2004)
• 1926 – Swami Kriyananda, Indian teacher and author
• 1926 – Peter Zadek, German theatre director (d. 2009)
• 1928 – Colin Chapman, British car designer (d. 1982)
• 1928 – Dolph Schayes, American basketball player and coach
• 1928 – Gil McDougald, American baseball player (d. 2010)
• 1929 – John Stroger, American politician (d. 2008)
• 1930 – Lorraine Hansberry, American playwright (d. 1965)
• 1931 – Eric Tappy, Swiss tenor
• 1931 – Bob Anderson, British racing driver (d. 1967)
• 1932 – Claude Blanchard, French Canadian comedian and actor (d. 2006)
• 1932 – Alma Cogan, English singer (d. 1966)
• 1932 – Paul Erdman, American economist and author (d. 2007)
• 1934 – Ruskin Bond, Indian author
• 1934 – Bill Fitch, American basketball head coach
• 1934 – Jim Lehrer, American television journalist
• 1935 – David Hartman, American actor and television personality
• 1937 – Pat Roach, English actor and wrestler (d. 2004)
• 1938 – Moisés da Costa Amaral, East Timorese politician (d. 1989)
• 1938 – Madge Hindle, English actress
• 1939 – Livio Berruti, Italian athlete
• 1939 – James Fox, English actor
• 1939 – Nancy Kwan, Hong Kong actress
• 1939 – Dick Scobee, American astronaut (d. 1986)
• 1940 – Jan Janssen, Dutch cyclist
• 1940 – Mickey Newbury, American musician (d. 2002)
• 1941 – Bobby Burgess, American dancer and singer
• 1941 – Nora Ephron, American screenwriter
• 1942 – Gary Kildall, American computer programmer (d. 1994)
• 1942 – Robert Kilroy-Silk, British politician and television presenter
• 1944 – Peter Mayhew, British-American actor
• 1945 – Pete Townshend, English guitarist (The Who)
• 1946 – André the Giant, French professional wrestler (d. 1993)
• 1946 – Claude Lelièvre, Belgian commissioner for children's rights
• 1947 – Paul Brady, Northern Ireland singer/songwriter
• 1947 – David Helfgott, Australian pianist
• 1947 – Michele Placido, Italian actor and director
• 1948 – Grace Jones, Jamaican singer and actress
• 1949 – Dusty Hill, American singer and bassist (ZZ Top)
• 1949 – Archie Manning, American football player
• 1951 – Joey Ramone, American vocalist and songwriter (The Ramones) (d. 2001)
• 1951 – Dick Slater, American professional wrestler
• 1952 – Bert van Marwijk, Dutch footballer
• 1953 – Shavarsh Karapetyan, Armenian finswimmer
• 1953 – Dawud M. Mu'Min, American convicted murderer (d. 1997)
• 1953 – Victoria Wood, English comedian and actress
• 1954 – Phil Rudd, Australian drummer (AC/DC)
• 1955 – James Gosling, Canadian computer programmer
• 1956 – Steven Ford, American actor
• 1956 – Martyn Ware, British musician and music producer
• 1957 – Bill Laimbeer, American basketball player and coach
• 1959 – Nicole Brown Simpson, American murder victim (d. 1994)
• 1961 – Gregory Poirier, American screenwriter and director
• 1963 – Filippo Galli, Italian footballer
• 1963 – Yazz, English singer
• 1964 – Miloslav Mečíř, Slovakian tennis player
• 1964 – Lawrence Ng, Hong Kong actor
• 1964 – Sean Whalen, American actor
• 1965 – Cecilia Bolocco, Chilean television presenter and 1987 Miss Universe
• 1965 – Boris, French singer
• 1965 – Maile Flanagan, American actress
• 1966 – Marc Bureau, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1966 – Sophia Crawford, English actress and martial artist
• 1966 – Jodi Picoult, American writer
• 1966 – Polly Walker, English actress
• 1967 – Massimo Taccon, Italian painter and sculptor
• 1968 – Kyle Eastwood, American jazz musician
• 1970 – Choi Kyung-Ju, South Korean golfer
• 1970 – Mario Dumont, Canadian politician
• 1970 – Jason Gray-Stanford, Canadian actor
• 1971 – Ross Katz, American film producer
• 1971 – Psicosis, Mexican professional wrestler
• 1972 – Jenny Berggren, Swedish singer (Ace of Base)
• 1972 – Claudia Karvan, Australian actress
• 1973 – Dario Franchitti, Scottish race car driver
• 1974 – Andrew Johns, Australian rugby league footballer
• 1975 – Masanobu Ando, Japanese actor
• 1975 – Jonas Renkse, Swedish musician
• 1975 – London Fletcher, American football player
• 1975 – Delma Gonçalves, Brazilian footballer
• 1975 – Josh Paul, American baseball player
• 1976 – Ed Cota, American basketball player
• 1976 – Kevin Garnett, American basketball player
• 1977 – Manuel Almunia, Spanish footballer
• 1977 – Brandon Inge, American baseball player
• 1977 – Natalia Oreiro, Uruguayan singer and actress
• 1977 – Kelly Sheridan, Canadian voice actress
• 1978 – Marcus Bent, English footballer
• 1978 – Kim Zolciak, American reality show star and singer
• 1979 – Diego Forlán, Uruguayan footballer
• 1979 – Barbara Nedeljáková, Slovak actress
• 1979 – Andrea Pirlo, Italian footballer
• 1980 – Drew Fuller, American actor and model
• 1980 – Tony Hackworth, English footballer
• 1981 – Bong Tae-gyu, South Korean actor
• 1981 – Luciano Figueroa, Argentine footballer
• 1981 – Georges St. Pierre, Canadian mixed martial artist
• 1981 – Michael Leighton, Canadian hockey player
• 1982 – Kevin Amankwaah, English footballer
• 1982 – Pål Steffen Andresen, Norwegian footballer
• 1983 – Eve Angel, Hungarian pornographic actress
• 1983 – Jessica Fox, English actress
• 1984 – Marcedes Lewis, American football player
• 1984 – Carla Lynch, British comedienne and model
• 1985 – Chris Loudon, Scottish darts player
• 1986 – Mario Chalmers, American basketball player
• 1986 – Eric Lloyd, American actor
• 1987 – David Edgar, Canadian footballer
• 1987 – Dilpreet Singh, New York
• 1987 – Mariano Torres, Argentine footballer
• 1988 – Lily Cole, English model and actress
• 1989 – Jasmine, Japanese singer
• 1991 – Jordan Pruitt, American singer
• 1992 – Michele Camporese, Italian footballer

Deaths

• 804 – Alcuin, English monk and scholar (b. c.735)
• 988 – Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 909)
• 1102 – Stephen II, Count of Blois (b. c.1045)
• 1125 – Vladimir Monomakh, Russian prince (b. 1053)
• 1296 – Pope Celestine V (b. 1215)
• 1319 – Louis d'Évreux, son of Philip III of France (b. 1276)
• 1389 – Dmitri Donskoi, Grand Prince of Muscovy (b. 1350)
• 1526 – Emperor Go-Kashiwabara of Japan (b. 1464)
• 1531 – Jan Łaski, Polish statesman and diplomat (b. 1456)
• 1536 – Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII of England (b. 1501 or 1507)
• 1601 – Costanzo Porta, Italian composer (b. 1528 or 1529)
• 1610 – Thomas Sanchez, Spanish theologian (b. 1550)
• 1637 – Isaac Beeckman, Dutch scientist and philosopher (b. 1588)
• 1715 – Charles Montagu, English poet and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1661)
• 1786 – John Stanley, English composer (b. 1712)
• 1795 – Josiah Bartlett, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1729)
• 1795 – James Boswell, Scottish biographer (b. 1740)
• 1798 – William Byron, 5th Baron Byron, English nobleman, and duelist (b. 1722)
• 1821 – Camille Jordan, French politician (b. 1771)
• 1825 – Claude Henri de Rouvroy, Comte de Saint-Simon, French political philosopher (b. 1760)
• 1864 – Nathaniel Hawthorne, American author (b. 1804)
• 1865 – Sengge Rinchen, Mongol Qing Dynasty field marshal (b. 1811)
• 1876 – Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer, Dutch politician (b. 1801)
• 1885 – Peter W. Barlow, English engineer (b. 1809)
• 1895 – José Martí, Cuban independence leader (b. 1853)
• 1898 – William Ewart Gladstone, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1809)
• 1903 – Arthur Shrewsbury, English cricketer (b. 1856)
• 1904 – Auguste Molinier, French historian (b. 1851)
• 1907 – Benjamin Baker, English engineer (b. 1840)
• 1912 – Bolesław Prus, Polish writer (b. 1847)
• 1915 – John Simpson Kirkpatrick, stretcher bearer with the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps at Gallipoli during World War I (b. 1892)
• 1918 – Raoul Lufbery, French-American World War I fighter pilot and flying ace (b. 1885)
• 1935 – T. E. Lawrence, English soldier, known as Lawrence of Arabia (b. 1888)
• 1940 – Diego Mazquiarán, Spanish matador (b. 1895)
• 1943 – Kristjan Raud, Estonian painter (b. 1865)
• 1945 – Philipp Bouhler, German Nazi leader (b. 1889)
• 1946 – Booth Tarkington, American novelist (b. 1869)
• 1954 – Charles Ives, American composer (b. 1874)
• 1958 – Archie Scott-Brown, English race car driver (b. 1927)
• 1958 – Ronald Colman, English actor (b. 1891)
• 1963 – Walter Russell, American polymath (b. 1871)
• 1965 – Tu'i Malila, the world's oldest tortoise (b. circa 1777)
• 1969 – Coleman Hawkins, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1901)
• 1971 – Ogden Nash, American poet (b. 1902)
• 1975 – Li Tobler, Swiss actress (b. 1948)
• 1983 – Jean Rey, President of the European Commission (b. 1902)
• 1984 – John Betjeman, English poet and Poet Laureate (b. 1906)
• 1986 – Jimmy Lyons, American musician (b. 1931)
• 1987 – James Tiptree, Jr, American author (b. 1915)
• 1989 – CLR James, West Indian writer and journalist (b. 1901)
• 1994 – Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, First Lady of the United States 1961-1963 (b. 1929)
• 1994 – Luis Ocaña, Spanish cyclist (b. 1945)
• 1998 – Sōsuke Uno, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1922)
• 1999 – James Blades, English percussionist (b. 1901)
• 1999 – Candy Candido, American actor (b. 1913)
• 2000 – Yevgeny Khrunov, Soviet cosmonaut (b. 1933)
• 2001 – Susannah McCorkle, American singer (b. 1946)
• 2002 – John Gorton, 19th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1911)
• 2002 – Walter Lord, American writer (b. 1917)
• 2003 – Camoflauge, American rapper (b. 1981)
• 2004 – Mary Dresselhuys, Dutch actress (b. 1907)
• 2005 – Henry Corden, American actor and voice artist (b. 1921)
• 2006 – Freddie Garrity, English vocalist (Freddie and the Dreamers) (b. 1940)
• 2007 – Dean Eyre, New Zealand politician (b. 1914)
• 2008 – Vijay Tendulkar, Indian playwright (b. 1928)
• 2009 – Velupillai Prabhakaran, Sri Lankan founder and leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (b. 1954)
• 2009 – Robert F. Furchgott, American chemist, Nobel Laureate (b. 1916)
• 2009 – Nicholas Maw, British composer (b. 1935)
• 2009 – Herbert York, American physicist (b. 1921)
• 2011 – Garret Fitzgerald, Irish politician and former Taoiseach (b. 1926)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Calocerus (Eastern Orthodox Church)
  • Dunstan
  • Ivo of Kermartin
  • Joaquina Vedruna de Mas
  • Maria Bernarda Bütler
  • Peter Celestine
  • Pudentiana (Roman Catholic Church)
  • May 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day (Turkey, Northern Cyprus)
• Greek Genocide Remembrance Day (Greece)
• Hồ Chí Minh's Birthday (Vietnam)

External links

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

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