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May 19: Today in History – Historical Events
Early Centuries – May 19 Historic Events – Before the 1700s
1. 19th May 715: On this day St Gregory II started governing as Catholic Pope.
2. 19th May 1506: Diego Columbus, son of Christopher Columbus was selected as sole heir by Christopher Columbus.
3. 19th May 1515: Friesland was today sold by George van Saksen-Meissen for 100,000 gold guilders to Duke Charles.
4. 19th May 1517: Philip van Bourgondie was made the bishop of Utrecht.
5. 19th May 1535: Jacques Cartier, the French explorer set sail to America today.
6. 19th May 1536: The second wife of English King Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn was beheaded at the Tower of London on charges of adultery, incest, and treason.
7. 19th May 1568: Queen of Scots, Mary, was arrested by Queen Elizabeth I.
8. 19th May 1585: English ships were conquered by Spain.
9. 19th May 1635: Cardinal Richelieu, First Minister of France, declares war against Spain, which came to be known as the Franco-Spanish War 163-59.
10. 19th May 1643: The Spanish army was destroyed by the French army in the battle at Rocroi/Allersheim.
11. 19th May 1643: The United Colonies of New England were formed by Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, New Harbour, and Connecticut.
12. 19th May 1649: An act of the Long Parliament making England a republic for the next 11 years, England was declared a Commonwealth.
13. 19th May 1652: Grevelingen was today occupied by the Spanish troops.
14. 19th May 1662: Today Uniformity Act of England came into effect.
18th Century – What Happened on May 19 – The 1700s
15. 19th May 1780: Almost total darkness descended on New England. It is now known that forest fires in Canada were the cause of it.
16. 19th May 1792: The Russian army advances into Poland today.
17. 19th May 1793: The French island of St Maarten was captured by the Netherlands, which held on to it till 1795.
18. 19th May 1796: Encroachment of whites on hunting grounds in India was restricted by the Game Protection Law passed by the Congress.
19th Century – May 19 This Day That Year – The 1800s
19. 19th May 1802: This day marks the formation of the French Order of Legion d’Honneur.
20. 19th May 1828: To protect the industry in the North, President John Quincy Adams of the US today signed the Tariff of 1828/Tariff of Abomination into Law.
21. 19th May 1848: Mexico, today, awarded Texas to the USA thereby ending the war.
22. 19th May 1856: Senator from Massachusetts, Senator Charles Sumner today spoke out against slavery.
23. 19th May 1857: The Electric Fire Alarm was today patented by William Francis Canning and Moses G Farmer, from America.
24. 19th May 1858: Unarmed Free State men near Marais des Cygnes on the Kansas-Missouri border were executed by a pro-slavery band led by Charles Hampton.
25. 19th May 1862: The Homestead Act, which provides for cheap land for settlement of the west, became a law today.
26. 19th May 1863: The first attack of Union General Ulysses S Grant on Vicksburg, Mississippi was repulsed.
27. 19th May 1878: President Garfield appointed Blanche Kelso Bruce as Registrar of the Treasury.
28. 19th May 1885: Jan Matzeliger started the first mass production of shoes in Lynn, Massachusetts.
29. 19th May 1885: Bismarck, the German Chancellor, took the position of Cameroon and Togoland.
30. 19th May 1891: Rice Institute which later became Rice University was chartered today.
31. 19th May 1892: The day marks the start of the National Society of Colonials Dames of America.
32. 19th May 1892: The pneumatic hammer was invented by Charles Brady King of Detroit.
33. 19th May 1893: 111 people were killed in Norway when heavy rains washed quick clay into a deep valley.
34. 19th May 1896: Automobile Engineer and Inventor Karl Benz arrived in the Netherlands today.
35. 19th May 1898: The Private Mailing Card Act, which allowed private printers to produce postcards, was passed by US Congress today.
20th Century – Important Events On This Day May 19th – The 1900s
36. 19th May 1900: The 12-mile-long Simplon Tunnel linking Italy and Switzerland through the Alps, the world’s longest tunnel was opened today.
37. 19th May 1902: Resumption of peace talks between Great Britain and Boers in Pretoria.
38. 19th May 1906: Joao Franco was today named Premier of Portugal by King Carlos I.
39. 19th May 1906: Federated Boys Club, which is now known as Boys Club of America was organized on this day.
40. 19th May 1910: Near panic was caused today as the earth passed through the tail of Halley’s Comet.
41. 19th May 1913: The Web Alien Land Holding Bill, which forbids the Japanese from owning land, was passed today.
42. 19th May 1919: President of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kamal Ataturk landed at Samsun on the Black Sea coast and began the Turkish War of Independence.
43. 19th May 1921: Immigration was sharply curbed by Congress, setting a national quota system.
44. 19th May 1926: Damascus Syria was bombed by the French air force.
45. 19th May 1928: Out of the 273 miners, 195 miners were killed in the “Firedamp” explosion in Mather Pa Coal mines.
46. 19th May 1929: Two people were crushed to death in the Yankee stadium in a stamp caused by a cloudburst.
47. 19th May 1929: In China, a war was declared against the Chiang Kai-Sheik government by Chinese general Chiang Kai-Xiang.
48. 19th May 1930: In South Africa, white women won the voting rights.
49. 19th May 1939: The British-Russian anti-Nazi pact was signed by Churchill today.
50. 19th May 1940: Amsterdam time became Middle Eastern Time (MET) today.
51. 19th May 1940: General De Gaulle today led the French counterattack at Pronne.
52. 19th May 1941: In Holland, bicycle taxis were forbidden by the German occupiers.
53. 19th May 1943: Churchill today pledges Britain’s full support to the US against Japan.
54. 19th May 1954: In the US, the Postmaster General Summerfield today approved the CIA mail opening project.
55. 19th May 1957: Adone Zoli today formed the government in Italy.
56. 19th May 1958: The North America Air Defence Command (NORAD) was formed today by the US and Canada.
57. 19th May 1959: The first submarine with two nuclear reactors “USS Triton” was completed today.
58. 19th May 1962: Indonesian paratroopers landed in New Guinea today.
59. 19th May 1962: The US today performed an atmospheric nuclear test at Christmas Island.
60. 19th May 1964: In the Embassy in Moscow, US diplomats today found at least 40 secret microphones.
61. 19th May 1967: A treaty banning the use of nuclear weapons in space by the USA and Britain was today ratified by the USSR.
62. 19th May 1971: USSR today launched Mars 2, which crash-landed on Mars. It was the first spacecraft to crash land on Mars.
63. 19th May 1972: A nuclear test was performed by the US at its Nevada test site
64. 19th May 1972: Explosives were set in the bathroom of the US Pentagon by a couple of Weatherman members, Kathy Boudin and Bernardine Dohrn.
65. 19th May 1974: Valeri Giscard d’Estaing wins the French Presidential elections.
66. 19th May 1976: Congressional oversight over the CIA with the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence was today established by the US Congress.
67. 19th May 1977: British talk show host David Frost succeeded in extracting an on-air apology from President Nixon for his role in Watergate.
68. 19th May 1979: General Motors Corporation was today asked to stop doing business with the police and military forces in South Africa by the Regents of the University of California.
69. 19th May 1982: Sofia Loren begins to serve 18 days in an Italian prison for failing to pay her taxes.
70. 19th May 1986: African National Congress centers in Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana were today struck by South African commandos.
71. 19th May 1987: Two days after 37 American sailors were killed when an Iraqi warplane attacked the US frigate Stark, President Nixon today defended American presence in the Persian Gulf.
72. 19th May 1990: Secretary of State James A Baker III and the Soviet Union today agreed to destroy all chemical weapons. The settlement was also reached on longstanding disputes over limits of nuclear-tipped cruise missiles.
73. 19th May 1991: In Kuwait, marshal-law courts began trials of people who were accused of collaborating with Iraqi occupation forces. One person was sentenced to death for wearing Saddam Hussein T-Shirt.
74. 19th May 1993: A Boeing 727 belonging to Columbia SAM regional airline crashed into a jungle in the mountain region near Medellin killing 132 on board.
75. 19th May 1993: The US white house today abruptly sacked the entire staff of its travel office, creating a political storm. Five of the seven staff members were later reinstated but were assigned other duties.
76. 19th May 1995: President Bill Clinton’s spending blueprint was today rejected by the Senate, which voted 99-0 rejecting the bill.
77. 19th May 1995: Indian-born Balamurali Ambatti, at the age of 17 graduated from the Mount Sinai Medical School to become the world’s youngest doctor.
78. 19th May 1996: To quell the army raising and protecting French citizens, French troops moved into Bangui of the Central African Republic.
79. 19th May 1998: In Indonesia, the army mounted a big show of strength in the capital which prompted the calling off of the threatened anti-Suharto demonstration for fear of causing bloodshed.
80. 19th May 1998: In Congo a military court today sentenced the opponents of President Kabila, Masasu Nindanga and Joseph Olenghankoy to 20 years and 15 years jail term respectively with no right to appeal.
81. 19th May 1998: In Afghanistan, Taliban officials citing the refusal of the opposition’s cooperation withdrew from the peace plan.
82. 19th May 1998: The pager service of about 40 million customers was disrupted due to the malfunctioning of the Galaxy 4 communication satellite of Pan Am Sat Corp.
83. 19th May 1999: A former US Army sergeant Ali A Mohamed was indicted for conspiring with Osama Bin Laden for killing Americans abroad.
84. 19th May 1999: In Congo, Emile Ilunga was today named their new leader by the rebel Congolese Democratic Coalition.
21st Century – May 19 This Day In History – The 2000s
85. 19th May 2000: Plans for testing of oral AIDS vaccine in Uganda, which would cost less than $ 1 per dose, was announced by scientists led by Robert Gallo. The test is scheduled to commence in 18 months.
86. 19th May 2000: Beijing’s biggest hurdle to enter the World Trade Organization was cleared today when China and the European Union reached a market-opening trade deal.
87. 19th May 2000: In Fiji, the first ethnic India Prime minister was today toppled by a coup launched by masked gunmen.
88. 19th May 2001: At least 14 people were killed and 15 others injured by an explosion in the weapons market in al-Suwaida in Yemen.
89. 19th May 2002: In the mandatory single-party national election Vietnam claimed a 100% turnout. Fatherland Front had approved all the 759 candidates.
90. 19th May 2003: Angered by the pension reforms by the government, 300,000 protesters marched in anger in France. Students were even prevented by teachers from taking their high school graduation exams.
91. 19th May 2004: The World’s first stem cell bank was opened by Britain today.
92. 19th May 2004: In India, Congress President Sonia Gandhi announced that economist Dr. Manmohan Singh was elected as the next Prime Minister of India.
93. 19th May 2005: “Revenge of the Sith”, the final episode of Star Wars, premiered today.
94. 19th May 2006: In Nepal, the new government, after passing a proclamation stripping King Gyanendra of his powers by the parliament, declared it a public holiday. Thousands of people held a celebration rally.
95. 19th May 2008: A free service, that allowed customers to manage their medical records online, was made available by Google at www.google.com.health.
96. 19th May 2010: After the military stormed a protest camp in the center of the city, red-shirt protesters set buildings on fire across Bangkok.
97. 19th May 2011: After he vowed to continue protesting against the rising cost of living, Uganda’s opposition leader Kizza Besigye was placed under house arrest.
98. 19th May 2012: Retired American psychiatrist Robert Spitzer today claimed that his 2001 study on a guy was fatally flawed. The study, he said, falsely supported the myth that a guy can be cured.
99. 19th May 2013: US Navy Dolphins discovered a rare 19th-century torpedo off the coast of California.
100. 19th May 2014: In the wake of massive floods that resulted in the large-scale destruction of homes and farmlands in Bosnia and Serbia, the United Nations and the European Union have deployed equipment and supplies as relief measures.
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