August 19

2024 Calendar

August 19 is the 231st day of the year (232nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 134 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

Up to 1900

43 BC – Octavian, later known as Augustus, compels the Roman Senate to elect him as consul.
1153 – Baldwin III of Jerusalem takes control of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from his mother, Melisende, and also captures Ascalon.
1458 – Pope Pius II is elected.
1493 – Accession to the throne of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor.
1561 – Mary, Queen of Scots returns to Scotland after 13 years in France.
1666 – Second Anglo-Dutch War: Rear Admiral Robert Holmes leads a raid on the Dutch island of Terschelling, destroying 150 merchant ships.
1692 – Salem Witch Trials: Five people are executed after being convicted of witchcraft.
1745 – Charles Edward Stuart raises his standard at Glenfinnan, beginning the second Jacobite rebellion.
1759 – Seven Years' War: Naval Battle of Lagos off Portugal - The Royal Navy defeats a French fleet.
1768 – St. Isaac's Cathedral is founded in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
1772 – Gustav III of Sweden stages a coup, dividing power between the King and the Riksdag (Swedish parliament).
1782 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Blue Licks - Last major engagement of the war.
1812 – War of 1812: American frigate USS Constitution defeats British frigate HMS Guerriere off Nova Scotia.
1839 – The French government announces that Louis Daguerre's photographic process is a gift 'free to the world'.
1848 – The New York Herald reports on the gold found in California.
1854 – The First Sioux War begins when United States Army soldiers kill Lakota chief Conquering Bear and in return are massacred.
1861 – The Weisshorn in the Alps is first climbed, by British scientist John Tyndall.
1889 – Meteorological experiments are carried out on the Eiffel Tower to bring new knowledge of weather patterns to scientists. During this, a lightning bolt strikes the top of the building, something which hardly anyone on the lower deck notices.
1895 – American Frontier murderer and outlaw John Wesley Hardin is killed by an off-duty policeman in a saloon in El Paso, Texas.

1901 – 2000

1909 – The first automobile race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway occurs.
1914 – The alliance between Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire is signed in Sofia.
1919 – Afghanistan gains full independence from the United Kingdom.
1927 – Patriarch Sergius of Moscow proclaims the declaration of loyalty of the Russian Orthodox Church to the Soviet Union.
1934 – The first All-American Soap Box Derby is held in Dayton, Ohio.
1941 – On Alaska's Kodiak Island, the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge is founded.
1942 – World War II: Operation Jubilee - British and Canadian landings at Dieppe, northern France, fail.
1944 – World War II: Paris rises up against German occupation, with help from allied troops.
1945 – The Viet Minh, under Ho Chi Minh, take command in Hanoi, Vietnam.
1953 – The CIA helps to overthrow Iranian leader Mohammed Mossadegh, allowing Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to return to power.
1955 – Hurricane Diane floods the Northeastern United States, killing 200 people.
1960 – The Soviet Union sentences US pilot Francis Gary Powers to ten years in prison.
1960 – Sputnik 5 is launched, with dogs, mice and plants on board. They all return safely back to Earth.
1965 – Eisaku Sato, becomes the first post-World War II Prime Minister of Japan to visit Okinawa.
1966 – An earthquake in Varto, Turkey, kills 2,500 people.
1978 – An attack on the Cinema Rex in Abadan, western Iran, kills over 430 people. It had been carried out by allies of Ayatollah Khomeini in order to damage the Shah, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi.
1980 – A Lockheed L-1011 airplane of the Saudia airline, burns after making an emergency landing at King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killing 301 people. This is Saudi Arabia's worst-ever air disaster.
1981 – Gulf of Sidra Incident: US fighters intercept and shoot down two Libyan Sukhoi Su-22 fighter jets over the Gulf of Sidra.
1987 – In Hungerford, England, a gunman kills 16 people with an assault rifle, before killing himself.
1989 – Wojciech Jaruzelski nominates Tadeusz Mazowiecki as the first non-Communist Prime Minister of Poland in 42 years.
1989 – Several East Germans cross the border between Hungary and Austria during the Pan-European Picnic, part of the events leading up to the Fall of the Berlin Wall later the same year.
1991 – August Coup: Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is placed under house arrest, while on holiday in Foros, Crimea.
1999 – In Belgrade, tens of thousands of people protest against President of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milosevic, demanding his resignation.

From 2001

2002 – A Russian Mil Mir 26 helicopter carrying troops is hit by a Chechen missile, killing 18.
2003 – A car bomb attack on Baghdad's United Nations Headquarters kills 22 people, including Brazilian diplomat Sergio Vieira de Mello.
2003 – A bus bombing attack planned by Hamas in Jerusalem kills 23 people.
2005 – The first ever joint military exercise between Russia and China, called Peace Mission 2005, begins.
2005 – Strong storms hit southern Ontario, bringing tornadoes and flooding.
2007 – Pro-democracy demonstrations begin in Burma, led by Buddhist monks and nuns.
2008 – President of Zambia Levy Mwanawasa dies aged 59. Rupiah Banda is later elected to replace him.
2009 – A series of bombings in Baghdad kills 101 people, and injures 565.
2010 – The last US combat troops leave Iraq.
2012 – A Sudanese Antonov An-26 airliner crashes near Talodi, Sudan, killing over 30 people.
2012 – Movie director Tony Scott commits suicide at the age of 68.
2013 – The Dhamara Ghat train crash in the Indian state of Bihar kills 57 people.

Births

Up to 1900

232 – Marcus Aurelius Robus, Roman Emperor (d. 282).
1342 – Catherine of Bohemia (d. 1395).
1398 – Inigo Lopez de Mendoza, 1st marquis of Santillana, Spanish politician and poet (d. 1458).
1557 – Frederick I, Duke of Württemberg (d. 1608)
1558 – Francois de Bourbon, Prince of Conti (d. 1614)
1570 – Salamone Rossi, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1630).
1596 – Elizabeth of Bohemia (d. 1662).
1621 – Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, Dutch painter (d. 1674).
1631 – John Dryden, English poet (d. 1700).
1646 – John Flamsteed, English astronomer (d. 1719).
1689 – Samuel Richardson, English writer (d. 1761).
1719 – Charlie-François de Broglie, marquis de Ruffec, French soldier and diplomat (d. 1791).
1743 – Madame du Barry, French courtesan (d. 1793).
1750 – Johann Georg August Galletti, German historian and geographer (d. 1828).
1808 – James Nasmyth, Scottish engineer and architect (d. 1890).
1819 – Julius van Zuylen van Nijevelt, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 1894).
1830 – Julius Lothar Meyer, German chemist (d. 1895)
1846 – Luis Martin, Spanish Superior-General of the Society of Jesus (d. 1906).
1848 – Gustave Caillebotte, French painter (d. 1894).
1849 – Joaquim Nabuco, Brazilian writer, statesman and abolitionist (d. 1910).
1853 – Aleksei Brusilov, Russian general (d. 1926).
1870 – Bernard Baruch, American businessman (d. 1965).
1871 – Orville Wright of the Wright brothers, American airplane pioneer (d. 1948).
1873 – Fred Stone, American actor and producer (d. 1959).
1875 – Stepan Seljan, Croatian explorer (d. 1936).
1878 – Manuel L. Quezon, President of the Philippines (d. 1944).
1881 – George Enescu, Romanian composer (d. 1955).
1881 – Kingsley Wood, English politician (d. 1943).
1883 – Coco Chanel, French designer (d. 1971).
1883 – Leonid Kulik, Russian mineralogist (d. 1942).
1883 – Axel Pehrsson-Bramstorp, Swedish politician (d. 1954).
1883 – José Mendes Cabecadas, Portuguese politician (d. 1965).
1883 – Elsie Ferguson, American movie actress (d. 1961).
1888 – Ton Duc Thang, Vietnamese Communist leader (d. 1980).
1889 – Arthur Waley, English orientalist and sinologist (d. 1966).
1890 – Augusta Victoria of Hohenzollern, German-born last Queen Consort of Portugal (d. 1966).
1894 – Luis Padilla Nervo, Mexican politician (d. 1985).
1897 – Roman Vishniac, Russian-American photographer (d. 1990).
1900 – Gilbert Ryle, British philosopher (d. 1976).
1900 – Gontran de Poncins, French author and adventurer (d. 1962).

1901 – 1950

1902 – Ogden Nash, American poet (d. 1971).
1906 – Philo T. Farnsworth, American inventor (d. 1971).
1907 – Thurston B. Morton, American politician (d. 1982).
1908 – Warren P. Knowles, Governor of Wisconsin (d. 1993).
1913 – John Argyris, Greek aeronautical engineer (d. 2004).
1914 – Fumio Hayasaka, Japanese composer (d. 1955).
1914 – Lajos Baroti, Hungarian footballer (d. 2005).
1915 – Ring Lardner, Jr., American journalist and screenwriter (d. 2000).
1918 – Shankar Dayal Sharma, President of India (d. 1999).
1921 – Jonas Algirdas Antanaitis, Lithuanian politician (d. 2018).
1921 – Gene Roddenberry, American television producer (d. 1991).
1924 – Willard Boyle, Canadian physicist (d. 2011).
1928 – Walter Massey, Canadian actor (d. 2014).
1930 – Frank McCourt, Irish-American writer (d. 2009).
1931 – Willie Shoemaker, American jockey (d. 2003).
1932 – Banharn Silpa-archa, former Prime Minister of Thailand (d. 2016).
1932 – Thomas P. Salmon, 75th Governor of Vermont.
1934 – Renée Richards, American tennis player.
1935 – Zahir Raihan, Bangladeshi writer and movie maker (d. 1972).
1935 – Story Musgrave, American astronaut.
1937 – Richard Ingrams, English journalist.
1939 – Ginger Baker, English musician (Cream) (d. 2019).
1940 – Johnny Nash, American singer-songwriter.
1940 – Jill St. John, American actress.
1942 – Jorgelina Aranda, Argentine actress (d. 2015).
1942 – Fred Thompson, American actor and politician (d. 2015).
1944 – Jakob von Uexküll, Swedish writer, philanthropist and political activist.
1945 – Ian Gillan, English singer (Deep Purple).
1946 – Christopher Malcolm, Scottish-English actor and singer (d. 2014).
1946 – Charles Bolden, American astronaut.
1946 – Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States.
1948 – Tipper Gore, former Second Lady of the United States.
1948 – Tommy Söderberg, Swedish football coach.
1950 – Jennie Bond, British journalist.

1951 – 1975

1951 – John Deacon, British musician.
1951 – Jean-Luc Mélenchon, French politician.
1951 – Gustavo Santaolalla, Argentine composer and musician.
1952 – Jonathan Frakes, American actor.
1953 – Nanni Moretti, Italian movie actor, director and producer.
1953 – Lynwood Slim, American singer and harmonica player.
1955 – Peter Gallagher, American actor, singer and writer.
1955 – Manolo García, Spanish musician and composer.
1955 – Patricia Scotland, Baroness Scotland of Asthal, Dominican-born British barrister
1955 – Ned Yost, American baseball player and manager.
1956 – Adam Arkin, American actor.
1956 – Sergio Brio, Italian footballer.
1957 – Cesare Prandelli, Italian footballer and coach.
1957 – Martin Donovan, American actor.
1957 – Gerda Verburg, Dutch diplomat, trade union leader and politician.
1958 – Gordon Brand Jnr, Scottish golfer (d. 2019).
1958 – Brendan Nelson, Australian politician.
1958 – Darryl Sutter, Canadian-born ice hockey coach.
1959 – Ricky Pierce, American basketball player.
1961 – Jonathan Coe, English author.
1962 – Michelangelo Rampulla, Italian footballer.
1962 – Raimonds Vilde, Latvian volleyball player and coach.
1963 – Hector Pieterson, South African student and symbol of the anti-Apartheid movement (d. 1976).
1963 – Joey Tempest, Swedish singer.
1963 – Bonnie Bianco, American actress and singer.
1963 – John Stamos, American actor.
1965 – Maria de Medeiros, Portuguese actress.
1965 – Kyra Sedgwick, American actress.
1965 – Kevin Dillon, American actor.
1966 – Lee Ann Womack, American country music singer.
1967 – Khandro Rinpoche, Indian spiritual leader.
1967 – Satya Nadella, Indian-American businessman, CEO of Microsoft.
1968 – Nikolaos Kaklamanakis, Greek sailor.
1969 – Matthew Perry, American actor.
1969 – Nate Dogg, American rapper (d. 2011).
1970 – Fat Joe, American rapper.
1971 – Mary Joe Fernandez, American tennis player.
1972 – Roberto Abbondanzieri, Argentine footballer.
1973 – Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway.
1973 – Marco Materazzi, Italian footballer.
1973 – Roy Rogers, American basketball player.
1974 – Sarah Burton, British fashion designer.
1975 – Tracie Thoms, American actress.

From 1976

1977 – Sara Martins, Portuguese-French actress
1978 – Walter Baseggio, Belgian footballer.
1980 – Darius Danesh, Scottish singer-songwriter and actor.
1980 – Russell Kane, English comedian.
1982 – Erika Christensen, American actress.
1983 – Missy Higgins, Australian singer-songwriter.
1983 – Reeva Steenkamp, South African model (d. 2013).
1984 – Simon Bird, English actor and comedian.
1984 – Alessandro Matri, Italian footballer.
1985 – Lindsey Jacobellis, American snowboarder.
1986 – Christina Perri, American singer-songwriter.
1987 – Anaïs Lameche, French-Swedish singer.
1987 – Nico Hülkenberg, German racing driver.
1987 – Richard Stearman, English footballer.
1989 – Romeo Miller, American basketball player, rapper and actor.
1989 – Sara Nuru, German model.
1991 – Kendall Marshall, American basketball player.
1994 – Nafissatou Thiam, Belgian pentathlete.
1997 – Joseph Castanon, American actor and singer.

Deaths

Up to 1900

14 – Augustus, Roman Emperor (b. 63 BC).
1186 – Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany (b. 1158).
1245 – Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence (b. 1195).
1297 – Saint Louis of Toulouse, French bishop (b. 1274).
1493 – Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1415).
1580 – Andrea Palladio, Italian architect (b. 1508).
1662 – Blaise Pascal, French mathematician, philosopher and physicist (b. 1623).
1680 – Jean Eudes, French Catholic priest (b. 1601).
1692 – John Proctor, Salem farmer and tavern keeper (b. 1632).
1753 – Johann Balthasar Neumann, German engineer and architect (b. 1687).
1819 – James Watt, Scottish engineer and inventor (b. 1736).
1822 – Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre, French mathematician (b. 1749).
1883 – Jeremiah S. Black, American statesman (b. 1810).
1895 – John Wesley Hardin, American gunfighter (b. 1853).
1900 – Jean Baptiste Accolay, Belgian violinist, composer and conductor (b. 1833).

1901 – 2000

1905 – William-Adolphe Bouguereau, French painter (b. 1825).
1914 – Franz Xavier Wernz, German Superior General of the Society of Jesus (b. 1844).
1915 – Tevfik Fikret, Ottoman poet (b. 1867).
1923 – Vilfredo Pareto, Italian sociologist and economist (b. 1845).
1928 – Stephanos Skouloudis, Greek banker, diplomat and Prime Minister (b. 1838).
1929 – Sergei Diaghilev, Russian ballet impresario (b. 1872).
1936 – Federico García Lorca, Spanish poet (b. 1898).
1942 – Harald Kaarmann, Estonian footballer (b. 1901).
1946 – Bob McKinney, American baseball player (b. 1875).
1950 – Giovanni Giorgi, Italian physicist (b. 1871).
1954 – Alcide De Gasperi, Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1881).
1957 – Carl-Gustaf Rossby, Swedish meteorologist (b. 1898).
1959 – Jacob Epstein, American-born sculptor (b. 1881).
1959 – Blind Willie McTell, American blues singer (b. 1901).
1970 – Pawel Jasienica, Polish historian (b. 1909).
1976 – Alistair Sim, British actor (b. 1900).
1977 – Groucho Marx, American comedian and actor (b. 1890).
1979 – Dorsey Burnette, American singer-songwriter (b. 1932).
1980 – Otto Frank, father of Anne Frank (b. 1889).
1981 – Jessie Matthews, English actress, singer and dancer (b. 1907).
1994 – Linus Pauling, American chemist (b. 1901).
1995 – Pierre Schaeffer, French composer (b. 1910).
2000 – Theodore Trautwein, American judge (b. 1920).
2000 – Bineshwar Brahma, Indian religious figure (b. 1948).

From 2001

2001 – Betty Everett, American singer and pianist (b. 1939).
2001 – Donald Woods, South African anti-Apartheid activist and journalist (b. 1933).
2002 – Eduardo Chillida, Basque sculptor (b. 1924).
2003 – Carlos Roberto Reina, President of Honduras (b. 1926).
2003 – Sérgio Vieira de Mello, Brazilian diplomat (b. 1948) (killed in a car bombing in Baghdad).
2005 – Mo Mowlam, British politician (b. 1949).
2008 – Levy Mwanawasa, President of Zambia (b. 1948).
2009 – Don Hewitt, American television producer (b. 1922).
2010 – Edwin Morgan, Scottish poet (b. 1920).
2011 – Raul Ruiz, Chilean movie director (b. 1941).
2011 – Gun Hägglund, Swedish television journalist (b. 1932).
2012 – Tony Scott, British movie director and producer (b. 1944).
2013 – Jose Sarria, American political activist (b. 1922).
2013 – Lee Thompson Young, American actor (b. 1984).
2013 – Abdul Rahim Hatef, 8th President of Afghanistan (b. 1926).
2013 – Donna Hightower, American singer (b. 1926).
2013 – Cedar Walton, American jazz pianist (b. 1934).
2014 – Simin Behbahani, Iranian poet (b. 1927).
2014 – Brian G. Hutton, American actor and director (b. 1935).
2014 – James Foley, American photographer and journalist (b. 1967).
2014 – Candida Lycett Green, Irish-English journalist and author (b. 1942).
2014 – Odessa Sathyan, Indian documentary filmmaker (b. 1954).
2014 – Samih al-Qasim, Palestinian poet and linguist (b. 1939).
2014 – Deborah Sussman, American graphic designer and artist (b. 1931).
2015 – Suharno, Indonesian footballer (b. 1959).
2015 – Egon Bahr, German politician (b. 1922).
2016 – Lou Pearlman, American record producer, music manager and convicted criminal (b. 1954).
2017 – Brian Aldiss, English science fiction writer (b. 1925).
2017 – Pyotr Deynekin, Russian military personnel (b. 1937).
2017 – Karl Otto Götz, German artist, filmmaker and writer (b. 1914).
2017 – Dick Gregory, American comedian, writer and activist (b. 1932).
2017 – Bea Wain, American singer (b. 1917).
2017 – Gérard Férey, French chemist (b. 1941).
2017 – Alan Sayers, New Zealand journalist, photographer and athlete (b. 1915).
2018 – Bazlur Rahman Badal, Bangladeshi folk dancer (b. 1922)
2018 – Rafael Calventi, Dominican architect and diplomat (b. 1932)
2018 – Margareta Niculescu, Romanian artist and puppeteer (b. 1926)
2018 – Khaira Arby, Malian singer-songwriter (b. 1959)
2019 – Al Jackson, American baseball player (b. 1935)
2019 – Mohammed Zahur Khayyam, Indian music director and film score composer (b. 1927)
2019 – Gina Lopez, Filipino environmentalist and politician (b. 1953)
2019 – Jan Ruff O'Herne, Dutch-Australian comfort women's rights activist (b. 1923)
2019 – Larry Taylor, American guitarist (b. 1942)

Observances

World Humanitarian Day
Independence Day (Afghanistan)
National Aviation Day (United States)
International Photography Day