April 19
is the 109th day of the year in the
Gregorian calendar (110th in
leap years). There are 256 days remaining.
*
1012 -
Martyrdom of
St. Alphege in
Greenwich, London.
*
1529 - At the
Diet of Speyer, a group of rulers (
German: Fürst) and independent cities (
German: Reichsstadt) protests the reinstatement of the
Edict of Worms, beginning the
Protestant movement.
*
1587 -
Sir Francis Drake sinks the
Spanish fleet in
Cádiz harbor.
*
1692 -
Bridget Bishop goes on trial in
Salem,
Massachusetts for
witchcraft.
*
1713 - With no living male
heirs,
Emperor Charles VI issues the
Pragmatic Sanction to ensure that
Habsburg lands and the
Austrian throne would be
inherited by his daughter,
Maria Theresa (not actually born until
1717).
*
1775 -
American Revolutionary War: The
Battle of Lexington and Concord –
British General Thomas Gage attempts to confiscate
American colonists' firearms.
Captain John Parker orders his band of minutemen to not fire unless fired upon. Random shots rang out among the British soldiers. The minutemen promptly fired back. This was the "
shot heard round the world." The British are driven back to
Boston, Massachusetts, thus beginning the
American Revolutionary War.
*
1809 - The army of
Austria attacks and is defeated by the forces of the
Duchy of Warsaw in the
Battle of Raszyn, part of the struggles of the
Fifth Coalition.
*
1810 -
Venezuela achieves home rule:
Emparan,
Governor of the
Captaincy General is removed by the people of
Caracas and a
Junta is installed.
*
1839 - The
Treaty of London establishes
Belgium as a kingdom.
*
1861 -
American Civil War:
Baltimore riot of 1861, a pro-
Secession mob in
Baltimore, Maryland, attacks
United States Army troops marching through the city.
*
1892 -
Charles Duryea claims to have driven the first
automobile in the
United States, in
Springfield, Massachusetts.
*
1904 - Much of
Toronto, Ontario,
Canada, is destroyed by fire.
*
1909 -
Joan of Arc receives
beatification.
*
1919 -
Leslie Irvin of the
United States makes the first successful
parachute jump and
free-fall.
*
1927 -
Mae West is sentenced to 10 days in jail for
obscenity for her play
Sex.
*
1928 - The 125th and final
fascicle of the
Oxford English Dictionary is published.
*
1933 -
President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces that the
United States will be abandoning the
gold standard.
*
1934 -
Shirley Temple debuts in
Stand Up and Cheer.
*
1936 - First day of the
Great Uprising in
Palestine.
*
1938 -
RCA–
NBC begins regular
television broadcasts.
*
1943 -
World War II: In
Poland,
German troops enter the
Warsaw ghetto to round up the remaining
Jews, beginning the
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
* 1943 -
Bicycle Day –
Swiss chemist
Dr. Albert Hofmann deliberately takes
LSD for the first time.
*
1950 -
Argentina becomes a signatory to the
Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
*
1951 -
General Douglas MacArthur retires from the military.
*
1954 -
Constituent Assembly of Pakistan decides
Urdu and
Bengali to be
national languages of
Pakistan.
*
1956 -
Actress Grace Kelly marries
Rainier III of Monaco.
*
1960 - Students in
South Korea hold a nationwide pro-democracy protest against their
president Syngman Rhee, eventually forcing him to resign.
*
1961 - The
Bay of Pigs invasion of
Cuba ends in failure.
*
1971 -
Sierra Leone becomes a
republic, and
Siaka Stevens the
president.
* 1971 -
Vietnam War:
Vietnam Veterans Against the War begin a five-day demonstration in
Washington, DC.
* 1971 - Launch of
Salyut 1, first human-made
space station.
*
1976 -
Executive Order 9066 is rescinded.
*
1978 -
Lagumot Harris is elected
President of
Nauru.
*
1985 -
U.S.S.R performs
nuclear test at Eastern
Kazakhstan/
Semipalitinsk U.S.S.R.*
1989 - A
gun turret explodes on the
USS Iowa, killing 47 sailors.
*
1993 - The 50-day siege of the
Branch Davidian building outside
Waco, Texas,
USA, ends when a fire breaks out. Eighty-one people die.
*
1995 -
Oklahoma City bombing: The
Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in
Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma,
USA, is bombed, killing 168.
*
1999 - The
German Bundestag returns to
Berlin.
*
2000 - An
Air Philippines Boeing 737-200 crashes near
Davao International Airport, killing 131.
*
2005 - Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger elected
Pope Benedict XVI on the second day of the
Papal conclave.
*
1320 - King
Peter I of Portugal (d.
1367)
*
1452 - King
Ferdinand II of Aragon (d.
1504)
*
1603 -
Michel le Tellier, French statesman (d.
1685)
*
1658 -
Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine (d.
1716)
*
1665 -
Jacques Lelong, French bibliographer (d.
1721)
*
1686 -
Vasily Tatishchev, Russian statesman (d.
1750)
*
1721 -
Thomas McKean, signer of the U.S. Declaration of Independence (d.
1817)
* 1721 -
Roger Sherman, signer of the U.S. Declaration of Independence (d.
1793)
*
1785 -
Alexandre Pierre François Boëly, French composer (d.
1858)
*
1793 - Emperor
Ferdinand I of Austria (d.
1875)
*
1832 -
José Echegaray y Eizaguirre, Spanish writer,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1916)
*
1874 -
Ernst Rüdin, Swiss psychiatrist, geneticist, and eugenicist (d.
1952)
*
1882 -
Getúlio Vargas, President of Brazil (d.
1954)
*
1883 -
Richard von Mises, Austrian-born mathematician (d.
1953)
*
1889 -
Otto Georg Thierack, German jurist and politician (d.
1946)
*
1892 -
Germaine Tailleferre, French composer (d.
1983)
*
1897 -
Peter de Noronha, Indian businessman and philanthropist (d.
1970)
* 1897 -
Constance Talmadge, American actress (d.
1973)
*
1899 -
George O'Brien, American actor (d.
1985)
*
1900 -
Richard Hughes, English novelist (d.
1976)
*
1903 -
Eliot Ness, American lawman (d.
1957)
*
1912 -
Glenn Seaborg, American chemist,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1999)
*
1919 -
Merce Cunningham, American dancer and choreographher
*
1922 -
Erich Hartmann, German pilot (d.
1993)
*
1925 -
Hugh O'Brian, American actor
*
1928 -
Alexis Korner, English musician (d.
1984)
*
1930 -
Dick Sargent, American actor (d.
1994)
*
1931 -
Walter Stewart, Canadian journalist (d.
2004)
*
1932 -
Dickie Goodman, American humorist (d.
1989)
*
1933 -
Dickie Bird, English cricket umpire
* 1933 -
Jayne Mansfield, American actress (d.
1967)
*
1935 -
Dudley Moore, English actor, musician, comedian, composer (d.
2002)
*
1936 -
Wilfried Martens,
Prime Minister of Belgium*
1937 -
Elinor Donahue, American actress
* 1937 -
Joseph Estrada, actor and
President of the Philippines*
1940 -
Genya Ravan, American vocalist (
Goldie & the Gingerbreads,
Ten Wheel Drive)
*
1941 -
Alan Price, English Musician (
The Animals), (The Alan Price Set)
*
1944 -
James Heckman, American economist,
Bank of Sweden Prize* 1944 -
Bernie Worrell, American keyboardist (
P Funk)
*
1946 -
Tim Curry, British actor
*
1947 -
Murray Perahia, American pianist
* 1947 -
Mark Volman, American musician (
The Turtles*
1948 -
Rick Miller, American baseball player
*
1949 -
Larry Walters, American "lawn chair" pilot
*
1951 -
Barry Brown, Amercian actor and writer (d.
1978)
*
1952 -
Alexis Arguello, Nicaraguan boxer
*
1953 -
Rod Morgenstein, American musician (
Winger)
* 1953 -
Ruby Wax, British television personality
*
1960 -
Roger Merrett, Australian footballer
* 1960 -
Frank Viola, baseball player
*
1962 -
Al Unser, Jr., American race car driver
*
1965 -
Suge Knight, American record producer
*
1967 -
Steven H Silver, American science fiction editor
* 1967 -
Greg Ferrara, Independent Filmmaker, writer
* 1967 -
Dar Williams, American musician and songwriter
*
1968 -
Mswati III,
King of Swaziland* 1968 -
Ashley Judd, American actress
*
1970 -
Kelly Holmes, English athlete
* 1970 -
Luis Miguel, Mexican pop-singer
*
1972 -
Rivaldo, Brazilian footballer
*
1975 -
Jason Gillespie, Australian cricketer
* 1975 -
Jussi Jääskeläinen, Finnish footballer (Goalkeeper)
*
1977 -
Lucien Mettomo, Cameroonian footballer
*
1978 -
James Franco, American actor
* 1978 -
Gabriel Heinze, Argentinian footballer
*
1979 -
Kate Hudson, American actress
*
1981 -
Hayden Christensen, Canadian actor
* 1981 -
Martin Havlat, Czech hockey player
* 1981 -
Troy Polamalu, American football player
* 1981 -
Catalina Sandino Moreno, Colombian actress
*
1987 -
Maria Sharapova, Russian tennis player
* 1987 -
Oksana Akinshina, Russian actress
*
1012 -
Alphege,
Archbishop of Canterbury (b.
954)
*
1054 -
Pope Leo IX (b.
1002)
*
1390 - King
Robert II of Scotland (b.
1316)
*
1560 -
Philipp Melanchthon, German humanist and reformer (b.
1497)
*
1578 -
Uesugi Kenshin, Japanese samurai and warlord (b.
1530)
*
1588 -
Paolo Veronese, Italian painter
*
1608 -
Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset, English statesman and poet (b.
1536)
*
1627 -
John Beaumont, English poet (b.
1583)
*
1629 -
Sigismondo d'India, Italian composer
*
1632 - King
Sigismund I of Sweden (b.
1561)
*
1686 -
Antonio de Solís y Ribadeneyra, Spanish writer (b.
1610)
*
1689 - Queen
Christina of Sweden (b.
1626)
*
1733 -
Elizabeth Villiers, mistress of
William III of England*
1739 -
Nicholas Saunderson, English mathematician (b. 1682/3)
*
1751 -
Peter Lacy, Irish-born Russian Field marshal (b.
1678)
*
1768 -
Canaletto, Italian artist (b.
1697)
*
1791 -
Richard Price, Welsh philosopher (b.
1723)
*
1813 -
Benjamin Rush, physician, activist (b.
1745)
*
1824 -
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, English poet (b.
1788)
*
1854 -
Robert Jameson, Scottish naturalist (b.
1774)
*
1881 -
Benjamin Disraeli,
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b.
1804)
*
1882 -
Charles Darwin, English biologist (b.
1809)
*
1892 -
Fr. Thomas Dale SSC,
Anglican clergyman prosecuted for
Ritualist practices in the
1870s (b.
1821)
*
1906 -
Pierre Curie, French physicist,
Nobel Prize laureate (b.
1859)
*
1914 -
Charles Sanders Peirce, American philosopher and mathematician (b.
1839)
*
1916 -
Ephraim Shay, American inventor (b.
1839)
*
1926 -
Alexander Alexandrovich Chuprov, Russian statistician (b.
1874)
*
1930 -
Georges-Casimir Dessaulles, Canadian senator (b.
1827)
*
1937 -
William Martin Conway, British art critic and mountaineer (b.
1856)
*
1949 -
Ulrich Salchow, Swedish figure skater (b.
1877)
*
1950 -
Ernst Robert Curtius, Alsatian philologist (b.
1886)
*
1967 -
Konrad Adenauer,
Chancellor of Germany (b.
1876)
*
1971 -
Russ Hodges, American sports broadcaster (b.
1910)
* 1971 -
Earl Thomson, Canadian athlete (b.
1895)
*
1973 -
Hans Kelsen, Austrian-born legal theorist (b.
1881)
*
1974 -
Ayub Khan,
President of Pakistan (b.
1907)
*
1975 -
Percy L. Julian, American chemist (b.
1899)
*
1987 -
Hugh Brannum, American actor (b.
1910)
* 1987 -
Maxwell D. Taylor, American general and diplomat (b.
1901)
*
1989 -
Daphne du Maurier, English author (b.
1907)
*
1992 -
Frankie Howerd, English comedian and actor (b.
1917)
*
1993 -
David Koresh, American cult leader (b.
1959)
*
1997 -
Eldon Hoke also known as El Duce, American musician (b.
1958)
*
1998 -
Octavio Paz, Mexican diplomat and writer,
Nobel Prize laureate (b.
1914)
*
1999 -
David Sanes, US Navy employee whose death led to Navy's withdrawal from Puerto Rico
*
2002 -
Layne Staley, American musician (b.
1967)
*
2004 -
Norris McWhirter, Scottish co-founder of the
Guinness Book of Records (b.
1925)
* 2004 -
John Maynard Smith, English biologist (b.
1920)
*
2005 -
Ruth Hussey, American actress (b.
1911)
* 2005 -
Bryan Ottoson, American musician (b.
1978)
* 2005 -
Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Danish jazz bassist (b.
1946)
* 2005 -
Blade Icewood, American rapper (b.
1977)
*
2006 -
Scott Crossfield, First man to fly at Mach 2, killed in airplane crash.
* 2006 -
Zola Levitt, messianic Jew of Zola Levitt Ministries Inc. and "Levitt Letter" news.
*
Patriot's Day (
Massachusetts,
Maine, and
Wisconsin,
USA).
*
Declaration of Independence Day (
Venezuela).
*
Landing of the 33 (
Uruguay).
*
Feast day of the following
saints in the
Roman Catholic Church:
**
Saint Emma**
George of Antioch**
Ursmar**
Expeditus*
Primrose Day (
England) –
primroses are placed on the statue of
Benjamin Disraeli in
Parliament Square,
London on the anniversary of his death (
1881).
*The Roman holiday of
Cerealia ends. (
Roman Empire)
*
Bicycle Day.
*
Easter Sunday 1908,
1981,
1987,
1992. In the
Gregorian Calendar Easter Sunday falls on
19 April more often than on any other date.
*
BBC: On This Day*
Today in History: April 19April 18 -
April 20 -
March 19 -
May 19 –
listing of all days
