September 19

Events
Up to 1900
1356 In the Battle of Poitiers, the English defeat the French, and capture King John II of France.
1676 Jamestown, Virginia is burned to the ground by forces of Nathaniel Bacon.
1692 Giles Corey is executed in Salem, Massachusetts after not pleading at the Salem Witch Trials.
1777 American Revolutionary War: British forces win a tactically expensive victory over the Continental Army in the First Battle of Saratoga.
1778 The Continental Congress passes the first United States budget.
1796 George Washington's Farewell address is printed across the United States in an open letter to the public.
1799 French Revolutionary Wars: French-Dutch victory against the Russians and British in the Battle of Bergen.
1862 American Civil War: Battle of Iuka - Union troops under William Rosecrans defeat a Confederate force under General Sterling Price.
1863 American Civil War: The Battle of Chickamauga is fought.
1864 American Civil War: Third Battle of Winchester, Virginia - Union troops under General Philip Sheridan defeat a Confederate force commanded by General Jubal Early.
1870 Franco-Prussian War: The Siege of Paris begins, resulting in January 1871 in the surrender of Paris and a decisive Prussian victory.
1870 Having invaded the Papal States a week earlier, the Italian Army lays siege to Rome.
1879 The Blackpool Illuminations are switched on for the first time.
1881 President of the United States James Garfield dies aged 49, after being shot by Charles J. Guiteau on July 2. Chester A. Arthur succeeds him to become the 21st President of the United States.
1893 Women in New Zealand are given the right to vote.
1901 2000
1934 Bruno Hauptmann is arrested for the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh, Jr., the infant son of Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, which occurred in 1932.
1944 World War II: Armistice between Finland and the Soviet Union is signed.
1945 William Joyce (Lord Haw-Haw) is sentenced to death in London for spreading pro-German propaganda.
1946 The Council of Europe is founded.
1946 The first Cannes Film Festival is held in Cannes, France.
1957 The US carries out its first underground nuclear bomb test.
1959 Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, on a visit to the United States, is barred from visiting Disneyland, due to security concerns.
1970 The first Glastonbury Festival is held in Glastonbury, Somerset, England.
1972 A parcel bomb sent to the Israeli Embassy in London kills one diplomat.
1973 Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden has his investiture as king.
1975 The TV show Fawlty Towers premieres in the United Kingdom
1976 A plane crash in Turkey kills 155 people.
1976 The governing Social Democratic Party loses Sweden's parliamentary election.
1978 The Solomon Islands join the UN.
1981 Simon & Garfunkel re-unite for a free concert in New York City's Central Park.
1982 Scott Fahlman posts the first documented emoticons :) and :( on the Carnegie Mellon University Board Systems.
1983 Saint Kitts and Nevis becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
1985 1985 Mexico City earthquake: A magnitude 8 earthquake centred near Acapulco kills thousands, and destroys many buildings, around 400 in Mexico City alone.
1988 Hurricane Gilbert dissolves over Texas.
1989 UTA Flight 772: A terrorist bomb explodes on a plane over Niger, killing 171 people.
1991 German tourists discover Otzi the Iceman near the Austrian-Italian border.
1995 The New York Times and Washington Post publish the Unabomber's manifesto.
1997 The Guelb El-Kebir massacre in Algeria kills 53 people.
From 2001
2006 The Thai military stages a coup in Bangkok, overthrowing Thaksin Shinawatra. The Constitution is revoked, and martial law is instated.
2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill: The leaking oil well is sealed, having leaked oil into the Gulf of Mexico since April 20, when the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded.
2014 Alex Salmond announces his intention to resign as First Minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party after a 55%-45% defeat in the Scottish independence referendum, 2014.
2015 Rugby union World Cup: Japan, as rank outsiders, pull off one of the biggest surprises in the sport's history, by beating two-time champions South Africa 34-32.
2017 Hurricane Maria sweeps across the Eastern Caribbean, including the islands of Dominica, Martinique and Guadeloupe.
2017 2017 Puebla earthquake: A major earthquake strikes central Mexico, including Mexico City, on the 32nd anniversary of the 1985 earthquake, killing at least 220 people. It is Mexico's second earthquake in less than two weeks.
Births
Up to 1900
86 Antoninus Pius, Roman Emperor (d. 161)
866 Leo VI, Byzantine Emperor (d. 912)
1377 Albert IV, Duke of Austria (d. 1404)
1551 King Henry III of France (d. 1589)
1683 Lorenz Heister, German anatomist, surgeon and botanist (d. 1758)
1721 William Robertson, Scottish historian (d. 1793)
1737 Charles Carroll of Carrollton, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (d. 1832)
1749 Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre, French astronomer (d. 1822)
1754 Louis Claude Richard, French botanist (d. 1821)
1774 Giuseppe Caspar Mezzofanti, Italian hyperpolyglot (d. 1849)
1778 Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux, English politician (d. 1868)
1790 Rene Caille, French explorer (d. 1838)
1796 Hartley Coleridge, English poet (d. 1849)
1799 Rene Caillie, French explorer (d. 1838)
1802 Lajos Kossuth, Hungarian lawyer and regent-President, national hero of Hungary (d. 1894)
1803 Maria Anna of Savoy, Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary and Bohemia (d. 1884)
1803 Maria Teresa of Savoy (d. 1879)
1806 William Dyce, Scottish artist (d. 1864)
1813 Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters, German-American astronomer (d. 1890)
1822 Joseph R. West, American general and politician (d. 1898)
1826 Antonio Raimondi, Italian-Peruvian geographer and scientist (d. 1890)
1828 Fridolin Anderwert, Swiss politician (d. 1880)
1840 Galen Spencer, American archer (d. 1904)
1853 Miguel, Duke of Braganza, Portuguese royal (d. 1927)
1862 Arvid Lindman, Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 1936)
1864 Ragna Wettergreen, Norwegian actress (d. 1958)
1869 Ben Turpin, American silent movie comedian (d. 1940)
1883 Hjalmar Bergman, Swedish writer and playwright (d. 1931)
1883 Mabel Vernon, American activist (d. 1975)
1887 Lovie Austin, American jazz pianist (d. 1972)
1888 J. W. Alexander, American mathematician (d. 1971)
1889 Sarah Louise Delany, American physician and author (d. 1999)
1898 Giuseppe Saragat, President of Italy (d. 1988)
1900 Ricardo Cortez, American actor, singer and director (d. 1977)
1901 1950
1901 Joe Pasternak, Hungarian-born movie producer (d. 1991)
1901 Ludwig von Bertalanffy, Austrian biologist (d. 1972)
1905 Theodor Blank, German politician (d. 1972)
1908 Mika Waltari, Finnish writer (d. 1979)
1909 Ferdinand Anton Ernst Porsche, Austrian automobile designer and entrepreneur (d. 1998)
1910 Margaret Lindsay, English actress (d. 1981)
1911 William Golding, English writer (d. 1993)
1912 Kurt Sanderling, German conductor (d. 2011)
1913 Frances Farmer, American actress (d. 1970)
1914 Rogers Morton, American politician (d. 1979)
1915 Johann Hafstein, Prime Minister of Iceland (d. 1980)
1921 Paulo Freire, Brazilian educator and writer (d. 1997)
1922 Dana Zatopkova, Czech athlete
1922 Emil Zatopek, Czech athlete (d. 2000)
1922 Damon Knight, American science fiction writer (d. 2002)
1924 Vern Benson, American baseball player and manager (d. 2014)
1924 Don Harron, Canadian comedian, actor, writer and composer (d. 2015)
1926 Carlo Fruttero, Italian writer, journalist and translator (d. 2012)
1926 Masatoshi Koshiba, Japanese physicist
1926 James Lipton, American actor
1926 Nini Rosso, Italian jazz trumpeter and composer (d. 1994)
1927 Harold Brown, American physicist and politician, former United States Secretary of Defense
1927 William Hickey, American actor (d. 1997)
1928 Adam West, American actor (d. 2017)
1928 Wolfram Siebeck, German food critic and journalist (d. 2016)
1929 Charles Gordon-Lennox, 10th Duke of Richmond, British peer (d. 2017)
1929 Marge Roukema, American politician (d. 2014)
1929 Luigi Taveri, Swiss motorcycle racer (d. 2018)
1929 Gertrude Baniszewski, American murderer (d. 1990)
1930 Antonio Margheriti, Italian movie maker (d. 2002)
1930 Muhal Richard Abrams, American educator, composer and musician
1931 Hiroto Muraoka, Japanese footballer (d. 2017)
1931 Jean-Claude Carriere, French author and screenwriter
1932 Mike Royko, American journalist (d. 1997)
1932 Stefanie Zweig, German writer (d. 2014)
1933 David McCallum, Scottish actor
1934 Brian Epstein, English musical group manager (the Beatles) (d. 1967)
1935 Nick Massi, American musician
1935 Milan Antal, Slovakian astronomer (d. 1999)
1936 Al Oerter, American athlete (d. 2007)
1939 Moshe Weinberg, Israeli weightlifting coach (d. 1972)
1940 Bill Medley, American singer and songwriter (The Righteous Brothers)
1941 Mariangela Melato, Italian actress (d. 2013)
1941 Umberto Bossi, Italian politician
1941 Cass Elliot, American singer (d. 1974)
1944 Edmund Joensen, 9th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands
1944 Anders Bjorck, Swedish politician
1945 Kate Adie, English journalist
1947 Tanith Lee, English writer (d. 2015)
1947 Lol Creme, English musician
1948 Mykhaylo Fomenko, Ukrainian footballer and manager
1948 Mihai Timofti, Moldovan actor, director and composer
1948 Jeremy Irons, English actor
1949 Twiggy, English model
1949 Sally Potter, English movie director and screenwriter
1949 Ernie Sabella, American actor
1950 Michael Proctor, English physicist, mathematician and academic
1950 Erkki Liikanen, Finnish politician
1951 1975
1951 Ian Hudghton, Scottish politician
1952 Gunnar Hokmark, Swedish politician
1952 Nile Rodgers, American musician and composer
1952 Jackie McNamara Sr., Scottish footballer
1954 Mark Drakeford, Welsh politician, First Minister of Wales
1954 Michael Wolff, American jazz pianist, composer, producer and actor
1955 Rex Smith, American singer and actor
1956 Juan Manuel Fangio II, Argentine racing driver
1958 Lita Ford, British rock music singer and guitarist
1958 Kevin Hooks, American actor and director
1960 Mario Batali, American chef and author
1960 Yolanda Saldivar, American murderer
1962 Cheri Oteri, American actress
1963 Jarvis Cocker, English musician
1963 David Seaman, English footballer
1964 Simon Singh, English journalist, author and producer
1965 Sabine Paturel, French singer and actress
1965 Sunita Williams, American captain, pilot and astronaut
1966 Heiko Maas, German politician
1966 Eric Rudolph, American criminal
1967 Aleksandr Karelin, Russian Greco-Roman wrestler
1970 Victor Williams, American actor
1972 Ashot Nadanian, Armenian chess player
1973 Cristiano da Matta, Brazilian racing driver
1974 Jimmy Fallon, American actor and comedian
1974 Victoria Silvstedt, Swedish model, actress and singer
From 1976
1977 Tasha Danvers, British athlete
1978 Mariano Puerta, Argentine tennis player
1980 Dimitri Yachvili, French rugby player
1980 Amber Lancaster, American model and actress
1980 Linda Ikeji, Nigerian blogger, writer, actress and model
1982 Eleni Daniilidou, Greek tennis player
1982 Jordan Parise, American ice hockey player
1982 Columbus Short, American actor, singer, dancer and choreographer
1982 Jesse Blaze Snider, American singer-songwriter, author and illustrator
1983 Eamon, American singer
1984 Kavya Madhavan, Indian actress
1984 Lydia Hearst, American model, actress, blogger and heiress
1984 Amber Rayne, American pornographic actress (d. 2016)
1985 Alun Wyn Jones, Welsh rugby player
1985 Song Soong-ki, South Korean actor, model and television host
1985 Woodrow West, Belizean footballer
1986 Leon Best, English-Irish footballer
1986 Lauren Goodger, English model, singer and television personality
1986 Gerald Ciolek, German cyclist
1987 Danielle Panabaker, American actress
1987 Carlos Quintero, Colombian footballer
1988 Katrina Bowden, American actress
1988 Faye Reagan, American pornographic actress
1989 Tyreke Evans, American basketball player
1990 Sako Fukuda, Japanese singer
1990 Evgeny Novikov, Russian racing driver
1990 Kieran Trippier, English footballer
1991 C. J. McCollum, American basketball player
1992 Deyver Vega, Costa Rican footballer
1992 Diego Antonio Reyes, Mexican footballer
1996 Haruka Kodama, Japanese singer
1996 Pia Mia, American singer, actress and model
Deaths
Up to 1950
643 Goeric of Metz, Frankish bishop
690 Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 602)
1123 Emperor Taizu of Jin of China (b. 1068)
1339 Emperor Go-Daigo of Japan (b. 1288)
1356 Peter I, Duke of Bourbon (b. 1311)
1356 Walter I, Count of Brienne (b. 1304)
1692 Giles Corey, American farmer killed in the Salem Witch Trials (b. 1612)
1693 Janez Vajkard Valvasor, Slovenian polymath (b. 1641)
1710 Ole Romer, Danish astronomer (b. 1644)
1781 Tobias Furneaux, English explorer (b. 1735)
1812 Mayer Amschel Rothschild, German banker (b. 1744)
1833 Mary Jemison, American frontierswoman (b. 1743)
1843 Gaspard-Gustave Coriolis, French mathematician, engineer and scientist (b. 1792)
1868 William Sprague, American minister and politician (b. 1809)
1881 James Garfield, 20th President of the United States (b. 1831)
1893 Alexander Tilloch Galt, Canadian politician (b. 1817)
1902 Masaoka Shiki, Japanese poet, author and critic (b. 1867)
1905 Thomas John Barnardo, Irish philanthropist (b. 1845)
1907 Jacob Morenga, Namibian uprising leader (b. 1875)
1914 Charles de Vendeville, French swimmer (b. 1882)
1927 Michael Peter Ancher, Danish painter (b. 1849)
1935 Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovskii, Russian rocket scientist (b. 1857)
1936 Vishnu Narayan Bhatkande, Indian singer (b. 1860)
1938 Pauline Frederick, American actress (b. 1883)
1949 Will Cuppy, American humorist (b. 1884)
1951 2010
1954 Miles Franklin, Australian writer (b. 1879)
1967 Zinaida Serebriakova, Russian painter (b. 1884)
1968 Chester Carlson, American physicist (b. 1906)
1968 Red Foley, American singer (b. 1910)
1969 Rex Ingram, American actor (b. 1895)
1985 Italo Calvino, Italian writer (b. 1923)
1987 Einar Gerhardsen, Norwegian politician and Prime Minister of Norway (b. 1897)
1989 Willie Steele, American long jumper (b. 1923)
1992 Jacques Pic, French chef (b. 1932)
1995 Orville Redenbacher, American botanist and businessman (b. 1907)
2002 Robert Guei, leader of Ivory Coast (b. 1941)
2003 Slim Dusty, Australian singer (b. 1927)
2004 Skeeter Davis, American singer (b. 1931)
2009 Eduard Zimmermann, German broadcaster (b. 1929)
From 2011
2011 Dolores Hope, American singer and philanthropist (b. 1909)
2011 George Cadle Price, 1st Prime Minister of Belize (b. 1919)
2013 Hiroshi Yamauchi, Japanese businessman (Nintendo) (b. 1927)
2013 Saye Zerbo, Burkina Faso politician (b. 1932)
2013 John D. Vanderhoof, American politician, 37th Governor of Colorado (b. 1922)
2014 Avraham Heffner, Israeli filmmaker (b. 1935)
2014 Elaine Lee, South African-Australian actress (b. 1939)
2014 U. Srinivas, Indian mandolin player (b. 1969)
2014 Francisco Feliciano, Filipino composer and conductor (b. 1941)
2014 Iain MacCormick, Scottish politician (b. 1939)
2014 Audrey Long, American actress (b. 1922)
2015 Mishael Cheshin, Israeli judge (b. 1936)
2015 Masajuro Shiokawa, Japanese politician (b. 1921)
2015 Jackie Collins, English novelist (b. 1937)
2017 Bernie Casey, American actor and football player (b. 1939)
2017 Jake LaMotta, American boxer (b. 1922)
2017 David Shepherd, British artist (b. 1931)
2017 Brian Barder, British diplomat (b. 1934)
2017 Leonid Kharitonov, Russian opera singer (b. 1933)
2017 Jose Salcedo, Spanish film editor (b. 1949)
2018 Jon Burge, American police officer (b. 1947)
2018 Bunny Carr, Irish television presenter (b. 1927)
2018 Kondapalli Koteswaramma, Indian Communist revolutionary and writer (b. 1918)
2018 Marilyn Lloyd, American politician (b. 1929)
2018 Arthur Mitchell, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1934)
2018 Denis Norden, English comedy writer and television presenter (b. 1922)
2018 Gamil Ratib, Egyptian-French actor (b. 1926)
2019 Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, President of Tunisia (b. 1936)
2019 Irina Bogacheva, Russian mezzo-soprano (b. 1939)
2019 Wim Crouwel, Dutch graphic designer (b. 1928)
2019 Marco Feingold, Austrian Holocaust survivor (b. 1913)
2019 Maurice Ferre, American politician (b. 1935)
2019 Charles Gerard, French actor (b. 1922)
2019 Bert Hellinger, German psychotherapist (b. 1925)
2019 Barron Hilton, American businessman (b. 1927)
2019 Sandie Jones, Irish singer (b. 1951)
2019 Harold Mabern, American jazz pianist and composer (b. 1936)
2019 Maria Rivas, Venezuelan Latin jazz singer (b. 1960)
2019 Levente Riz, Hungarian politician (b. 1974)
2019 Larry Wallis, English songwriter and guitarist (b. 1949)
Observances
National holiday in Saint Kitts and Nevis, commemorating independence from the United Kingdom in 1983
International Talk like a Pirate Day
Armed Forces Day (Chile)
Days of the year