August 19



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

Days of the year