August 19

Historic Events

2017

Tens of thousands of farmed non-native Atlantic salmon are accidentally released into the wild in Washington waters in the 2017 Cypress Island Atlantic salmon pen break. ›

2013

The Dhamara Ghat train accident kills at least 37 people in the Indian state of Bihar. ›

2010

Operation Iraqi Freedom ends, with the last of the United States brigade combat teams crossing the border to Kuwait. ›

2009

A series of bombings in Baghdad, Iraq, kills 101 and injures 565 others. ›

2005

The first-ever joint military exercise between Russia and China, called Peace Mission 2005 begins. ›

2004

Google Inc. has its initial public offering on Nasdaq. ›

2003

A truck-bomb attack on United Nations headquarters in Iraq kills the agency's top envoy Sérgio Vieira de Mello and 21 other employees. ›

2003

Shmuel HaNavi bus bombing: A suicide attack on a bus in Jerusalem, planned by Hamas, kills 23 Israelis, seven of them children. ›

2002

Khankala Mi-26 crash: A Russian Mil Mi-26 helicopter carrying troops is hit by a Chechen missile outside Grozny, killing 118 soldiers. ›

1999

In Belgrade, Yugoslavia, tens of thousands of Serbians rally to demand the resignation of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia President Slobodan Milošević. ›

1991

Dissolution of the Soviet Union: The August Coup begins when Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is placed under house arrest while on holiday in the town of Foros, Ukraine. ›

1991

Crown Heights riot in New York City begins. ›

1989

Polish president Wojciech Jaruzelski nominates Solidarity activist Tadeusz Mazowiecki to be the first non-communist prime minister in 42 years. ›

1989

Several hundred East Germans cross the frontier between Hungary and Austria during the Pan-European Picnic, part of the events that began the process of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. ›

1987

Hungerford massacre: In the United Kingdom, Michael Ryan kills sixteen people with a semi-automatic rifle and then commits suicide. ›

1981

Gulf of Sidra Incident: United States F-14A Tomcat fighters intercept and shoot down two Libyan Sukhoi Su-22 fighter jets over the Gulf of Sidra. ›

1981

Silvio Santos launches a new Brazilian television channel in São Paulo, Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão. ›

1980

Saudia Flight 163, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar burns after making an emergency landing at Riyadh International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killing 301 people. ›

1980

Otłoczyn railway accident: In Poland's worst post-war railway accident, 67 people lose their lives and a further 62 are injured. ›

1978

In Iran, the Cinema Rex fire causes more than 300 deaths. ›

1965

Japanese prime minister Eisaku Satō becomes the first post-World War II sitting prime minister to visit Okinawa Prefecture. ›

1964

Syncom 3, the first geostationary communication satellite, is launched. Two months later, it would enable live coverage of the 1964 Summer Olympics. ›

1960

Cold War: In Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union, downed American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers is sentenced to ten years imprisonment by the Soviet Union for espionage. ›

1960

Sputnik program: Korabl-Sputnik 2: The Soviet Union launches the satellite with the dogs Belka and Strelka, 40 mice, two rats and a variety of plants. ›

1955

In the Northeast United States, severe flooding caused by Hurricane Diane, claims 200 lives. ›

1953

Cold War: The CIA and MI6 help to overthrow the government of Mohammad Mosaddegh in Iran and reinstate the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. ›

1945

August Revolution: Viet Minh led by Ho Chi Minh take power in Hanoi, Vietnam. ›

1944

World War II: Liberation of Paris: Paris, France rises against German occupation with the help of Allied troops. ›

1942

World War II: Operation Jubilee (The Dieppe Raid): The 2nd Canadian Infantry Division leads an amphibious assault by allied forces on Dieppe, France and fails. ›

1941

Germany and Romania sign the Tiraspol Agreement, rendering the region of Transnistria under control of the latter. ›

1940

First flight of the B-25 Mitchell medium bomber. ›

1936

The Great Purge of the Soviet Union begins when the first of the Moscow Trials is convened. ›

1934

The first All-American Soap Box Derby is held in Dayton, Ohio. ›

1934

The German referendum of 1934 approves Adolf Hitler's appointment as head of state with the title of Führer. ›

1927

Patriarch Sergius of Moscow proclaims the declaration of loyalty of the Russian Orthodox Church to the Soviet Union. ›

1920

The Tambov Rebellion breaks out, in response to the Bolshevik policy of Prodrazvyorstka. ›

1909

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway opens for automobile racing. William Bourque and his mechanic are killed during the first day's events. ›

1903

The Transfiguration Uprising breaks out in East Thrace, resulting in the establishment of the Strandzha Commune. ›

1862

Dakota War: During an uprising in Minnesota, Lakota warriors decide not to attack heavily defended Fort Ridgely and instead turn to the settlement of New Ulm, killing white settlers along the way. ›

1861

First ascent of Weisshorn, fifth highest summit in the Alps. ›

1854

The First Sioux War begins when United States Army soldiers kill Lakota chief Conquering Bear and in return are massacred. ›

1848

California Gold Rush: The New York Herald breaks the news to the East Coast of the United States of the gold rush in California (although the rush started in January). ›

1839

The French government announces that Louis Daguerre's photographic process is a gift "free to the world". ›

1813

Gervasio Antonio de Posadas joins Argentina's Second Triumvirate. ›

1812

War of 1812: American frigate USS Constitution defeats the British frigate HMS Guerriere off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada earning the nickname "Old Ironsides". ›

1787

Sultan Abdul Hamid I declares war against the Russian Empire in an effort to regain territories lost in previous conflicts, starting the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1792. ›

1782

American Revolutionary War: Battle of Blue Licks: The last major engagement of the war, almost ten months after the surrender of the British commander Charles Cornwallis following the Siege of Yorktown. ›

1772

Gustav III of Sweden stages a coup d'état, in which he assumes power and enacts a new constitution that divides power between the Riksdag and the King. ›

1759

Battle of Lagos: Naval battle during the Seven Years' War between Great Britain and France. ›

1745

Prince Charles Edward Stuart raises his standard in Glenfinnan: The start of the Second Jacobite Rebellion, known as "the 45". ›

1745

Ottoman–Persian War: In the Battle of Kars, the Ottoman army is routed by Persian forces led by Nader Shah. ›

1725

J. S. Bach leads the first performance of Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren, BWV 137, a cantata setting the unchanged text of Neander's hymn. ›

1692

Salem witch trials: In Salem, province of Massachusetts Bay, Martha Carrier, George Jacobs Sr., John Proctor, John Willard, and clergyman George Burroughs are executed after being convicted of witchcraft. ›

1691

An Imperial army under Ludwig of Baden defeats the Ottomans in the battle of Slankamen. ›

1666

Second Anglo-Dutch War: Rear Admiral Robert Holmes leads a raid on the Dutch island of Terschelling, destroying 116 to 160 merchant ships, an act later known as "Holmes's Bonfire". ›

1659

Parliamentarian forces under John Lambert defeat Royalist forces under George Booth in the battle of Winnington Bridge, ending Booth's Uprising. ›

1604

Eighty Years War: a besieging Dutch and English army led by Maurice of Orange forces the Spanish garrison of Sluis to capitulate. ›

1561

Mary, Queen of Scots, aged 18, returns to Scotland after spending 13 years in France. ›

1504

In Ireland, the Hiberno-Norman de Burghs (Burkes) and Cambro-Norman Fitzgeralds fight in the Battle of Knockdoe. ›

1458

Pope Pius II is elected the 211th Pope. ›

1274

Coronation of Edward I of England. ›

1153

After a six-month siege, Baldwin III of Jerusalem captures Ascalon, obtaining a vast amount of plunder and securing the southern border of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. ›

947

Abu Yazid, a Kharijite rebel leader, is defeated and killed in the Hodna Mountains in modern-day Algeria by Fatimid forces. ›

797

Byzantine Emperor Constantine VI is seized by supporters of his mother Irene, deposed and blinded. ›

43 BC

In the wake of the murder of Julius Caesar, his nephew and heir, Octavian, uses the threat of military force to compel the Roman Senate to elect him Consul. ›

295 BC

The first temple to Venus, the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility, is dedicated by Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges during the Third Samnite War. ›