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 – Roman Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies.
• 1594 – Having already inherited the throne of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth through his mother Catherine Jagellonica of Poland, Sigismund III of the House of Vasa is crowned King of Sweden, succeeding his father John III of Sweden.
• 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 Peace 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.
• 1861 – Serfdom is abolished in Russia.
• 1864 – Knights of Pythias are founded in Washington, D.C. by Justus H. Rathbone.
• 1878 – The phonograph is patented by Thomas Edison.
• 1884 – The Enigma tornado outbreak occurs.
• 1937 – 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.
• 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 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 its independence, which is then formally proclaimed on August 16, 1960.
• 1963 – The publication of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique launches the reawakening of 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 was rescinded by President Gerald R. Ford's Proclamation 4417
• 1978 – Egyptian forces raid Larnaca International Airport, in an attempt to intervene in a hijacking situation, 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, massacre of 80 Tamil farm workers by the Sri Lankan Army in 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 – An 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.
• 2004 – Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal is awarded an honorary knighthood in recognition of a "lifetime of service to humanity".
• 2007 – Three Salvadoran deputies to the Central American Parliament and their driver are murdered in Guatemala.

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)
• 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)
• 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 Brancusi, Romanian sculptor (d. 1957)
• 1877 – Gabriele Münter, German painter (d. 1962)
• 1880 – Alvaro Obregon, Mexican president (d. 1928)
• 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)
• 1902 – Kay Boyle, American writer (d. 1992)
• 1904 – Havank, Dutch writer (d. 1964)
• 1910 – Dorothy Janis, American silent film actress.
• 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)
• 1929 – Jacques Deray, French film director (d. 2003)
• 1930 – John Frankenheimer, American film director (d. 2002)
• 1932 – Joseph P. Kerwin, NASA astronaut
• 1934 – Carole Eastman, American screenwriter (d. 2004)
• 1935 – Dave Niehaus, American sportscaster
• 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 actor, screenwriter of telenovelas and the cinema of Mexico (d. 2000)
• 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
• 1946 – Paul Dean, Canadian guitarist (Loverboy)
• 1946 – Peter Hudson, Australian rules footballer
• 1946 – Karen Silkwood, American activist (d. 1974)
• 1947 – Tim Shadbolt, mayor of Invercargill, New Zealand
• 1948 – Mark Andes, American musician
• 1948 – Pim Fortuyn, Dutch politician (d. 2002)
• 1948 – Big John Studd, American professional wrestler (d. 1995)
• 1948 – Tony Iommi, English guitarist (Black Sabbath)
• 1949 – Dan Bunten, American software developer (d. 1998)
• 1949 – William Messner-Loebs, American comics writer
• 1950 – Andy Powell, British musician
• 1951 – Stephen Nichols, American actor
• 1951 – Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri (Db), Pakistani Islamic Sufi Scholar
• 1952 – Amy Tan, American novelist
• 1952 – Rodolfo Neri Vela, Mexican astronaut
• 1953 – Massimo Troisi, Italian actor (d. 1994)
• 1953 – Cristina Elisabet Fernández – President of Argentina
• 1954 – Socrates (footballer), Brazilian footballer
• 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 – 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 – Hana Mandlíková, Czech tennis player
• 1962 – John Laroche, American orchid poacher
• 1963 – Laurell K. Hamilton, American writer
• 1963 – Seal, English singer
• 1963 – Jessica Tuck, American actress
• 1964 – Dmitri Lipskerov, Russian writer
• 1964 – Sonu Walia, Indian actress
• 1964 – Doug Aldrich, American musician (Whitesnake)
• 1965 – Cathy Lane, English Swimmer
• 1965 – Leroy, American musician (Smash Mouth)
• 1965 – Jon Fishman, American musician (Phish)
• 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
• 1971 – Miguel Batista, Dominican baseball player
• 1971 – Gil Shaham, Israeli-born American violinist
• 1971 – Lisa McCune, Australian actress
• 1972 – Francine, American professional wrestler
• 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-Cypriot footballer
• 1978 – Immortal Technique, American rapper
• 1979 – Mariska, Finnish rapper
• 1979 – Clinton Morrison, Irish footballer
• 1979 – Mariana Ochoa, Mexican singer and actress
• 1979 – Steve Cherundolo, American soccer player
• 1980 – Neleh Dennis, American Survivor contestant
• 1980 – Dwight Freeney, American football player
• 1980 – Mike Miller, American basketball player
• 1980 – Ma Lin, Chinese table tennis player
• 1981 – Ronnie Arniell, Canadian professional wrestler
• 1981 – Beth Ditto, American singer (The Gossip)
• 1981 – Gil Reyes, American boxer
• 1981 – Nicky Shorey, English footballer
• 1981 – Vitas, Russian singer
• 1981 – Kyle Martino, American soccer player
• 1981 – Daniel Letterle, American Actor and Singer
• 1983 – Assunta De Rossi, Filipino actress
• 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 – Reon Kadena, Japanese model/actress
• 1986 – Henri Karjalainen, Finnish racing driver
• 1986 – Maria Mena, Norwegian singer
• 1986 – Jayde Nicole, Canadian model
• 1986 – Marta, Brazilian footballer
• 1986 – Björn Gustafsson, Swedish comedian
• 1988 – Miyu Irino, Japanese voice actor
• 1989 – Luke Pasqualino, English actor
• 1993 – Victoria Justice, American actress
• 1993 – Empress Schuck, Filipino 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)
• 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 – Billy Mitchell, American general and military aviation pioneer (b. 1879)
• 1936 – Charles Harding Firth, British historian (b. 1857)
• 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)
• 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)
• 1972 – John Grierson, Scottish documentary filmmaker (b. 1898)
• 1972 – Tedd Pierce, American animator (b. 1906)
• 1973 – Joseph Szigeti, Hungarian violinist (b. 1892)
• 1973 – Kostas Negrepontis, Greek footballer (b. 1897)
• 1975 – Luigi Dallapiccola, Italian composer (b. 1904)
• 1977 – Mike González, Cuban baseball player (b. 1890)
• 1977 – Anthony Crosland, British politician (b. 1918)
• 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 – Charles O. Finley, American sports entrepreneur (b. 1918)
• 1997 – Deng Xiaoping, Chinese Communist leader and revolutionary (b. 1904)
• 1997 – Leo Rosten, American Yiddish writer and humorist (b. 1908)
• 1998 – Grandpa Jones, American entertainer (b. 1913)
• 1999 – Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr, Iraqi Shiite leader (assassinated)
• 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 – Lydia Shum, Hong Kong comedian and actress (b. 1945)
• 2008 – Yegor Letov, Russian song writer and singer (b. 1964)
• 2009 – Kelly Groucutt, Bass guitarist and singer for the band Electric Light Orchestra (b.1945)
• 2009 – Miika Tenkula, Finnish guitarist for the band Sentenced (b.1974)

Holidays and observances

• Chaoflux (Discordianism)
• Astrology: First day of sun sign Pisces
• Astrology: Can also be last day of sun sign Aquarius depending on the time of birth and the astrologer's viewpoint.
• The hanging of revolutionary leader Vasil Levski is commemorated in Bulgaria
• February 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Roman Catholic saints' feast days: Barbatus of Benevento, Conrad of Piacenza

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: February 19

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