November 19

Events
Up to 1900
461 - Libius Severus is declared Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
1404 - Severe flooding occurs in the Netherlands, as 3000 hectares of land are washed away, with the flood waters also completely wiping out the towns of Ijzendijke and Hugevliet.
1421 - A major flood in the Netherlands kills between 2,000 and 10,000 people.
1493 - Christopher Columbus goes ashore on an island he first saw the day before. He names it San Juan Bautista (later renamed Puerto Rico).
1806 - French troops occupy Hamburg during the Napoleonic Wars.
1816 - In Poland, Warsaw University is founded.
1819 - The Museo del Prado in Madrid opens.
1847 - The second Canadian railway line is opened between Montreal and Lachine.
1850 - Alfred Tennyson is named Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom by Queen Victoria.
1863 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
1869 - The Hudson's Bay Company sells Ruperts Land to Canada.
1881 - A meteorite lands southwest of Odessa, present-day Ukraine.
1885 - Serbo-Bulgarian War: Bulgarian victory in the Battle of Slivnitsa officially unifies the Kingdom of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia.
1887 - In the English Channel, Dutch ocean steamer W. A. Scholten sinks after a collision with a British freighter, killing 132 people.
1901 2000
1911 - The Doom Bar in Cornwall claims two ships, Island Maid and Angele, in which the entire crew, except the captain, is killed.
1912 - The five hundred-year rule of the Ottoman Empire over Macedonia is ended.
1916 - Goldwyn Pictures is founded by Samuel Goldwyn and Edgar Selwyn.
1941 - World War II: The warships HMAS Sydney and HSK Kormoran sink each other off Western Australia, with the loss of 645 Australians and 77 Germans.
1942 - World War II: Battle of Stalingrad - Soviet Union forces under Georgy Zhukov launch Operation Uranus counter-attacks at Stalingrad, turning the battle in the USSR's favour.
1942 - Mutesa II is crowned as the last Kabala (King) of Buganda.
1946 - Afghanistan, Iceland and Sweden join the United Nations.
1950 - Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes Supreme Commander of NATO Europe.
1952 - Alexander Papagos becomes Prime Minister of Greece.
1967 - TVB is founded, as the first wireless commercial television station in Hong Kong.
1969 - Apollo 12 lands on the Moon. Charles Conrad and Alan LaVern Bean become the 3rd and 4th people respectively to walk on the Moon.
1969 - Brazilian footballer Pele scores the 1,000th goal of his career.
1977 - Egyptian President Anwar Sadat becomes the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel, when he meets with Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin seeking a permanent peace settlement.
1979 - Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini orders the release of 13 female and black American hostages being held at the US Embassy in Tehran.
1984 - Oil depot explosions in Mexico City cause a large fire, which kills around 500 people.
1985 - Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev meet.
1990 - Pop group Milli Vanilli are stripped of their Grammy Award because they did not sing at all on the Girl You Know It's True album.
1994 - The United Kingdom's first National Lottery draw is held.
1995 - Aleksander Kwasniewski is elected President of Poland.
1996 - The case of the Port Arthur massacre comes to trial.
1998 - The United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee begins impeachment hearings against U.S. President Bill Clinton.
1998 - Vincent van Gogh's Portrait of the Artist Without Beard sells at auction for $ 71.5 million.
1999 - The People's Republic of China launches the Shenzhou 1 spacecraft.
1999 - Russia withdraws its military from Georgia.
From 2001
2002 - The Prestige oil tanker breaks apart near the coast of Galicia, Spain, causing a large oil spill.
2010 - Twenty-nine miners are trapped after an explosion in the Pike River Mine near Greymouth in New Zealand. They are pronounced dead after a second explosion five days later.
2013 - A storm affecting Sardinia causes heavy rain, flooding and kills 18 people.
2013 - Bomb attacks in Beirut, Lebanon, kill at least 22 people.
2014 - Nicola Sturgeon becomes the 5th, and first female, First Minister of Scotland, succeeding Alex Salmond.
2016 - The German Wikipedia publishes its two-millionth article.
2017 - Talks about forming a governing coalition fail in Germany, after September's election to the Bundestag.
Births
Up to 1900
1464 - Emperor Go-Kashiwabara of Japan (d. 1526)
1503 - Pier Luigi Farnese, Duke of Parma (d. 1547)
1563 - Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester, English statesman (d. 1626)
1597 - Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatine, Electress of Bavaria (d. 1660)
1600 - King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland (d. 1649)
1600 - Leo Aitzema, Dutch historian and statesman (d. 1669)
1616 - Eustache Le Sueur, French painter (d. 1665)
1700 - Jean-Antoine Nollet, French priest and physician (d. 1770)
1711 - Mikhail Lomonosov, Russian writer and polymath (d. 1765)
1722 - Leopold Auenbrugger, Austrian physician (d. 1809)
1770 - Adam Johann von Krusenstern, German-Baltic admiral of the Russian fleet (d. 1846)
1770 - Bertel Thorvaldsen, Danish sculptor (d. 1844)
1779 - Duchess Louise Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (d. 1801)
1797 - Rene Caillie, French explorer (d. 1838)
1802 - Solomon Foot, American politician (d. 1866)
1805 - Ferdinand de Lesseps, French diplomat and businessman (d. 1894)
1805 - Edouard Drouyn de Unuys, French politician (d. 1881)
1808 - Janez Bleiweis, Slovenian journalist and politician (d. 1881)
1814 - Girolamo de Rada, Albanian-Italian writer (d. 1903)
1831 - James A. Garfield, 20th President of the United States (d. 1881)
1831 - Jose Evaristo Uriburu, President of Argentina (d. 1914)
1833 - Wilhelm Dilthey, German theologian, philosopher, psychologist and educator (d. 1911)
1843 - Richard Avenarius, German philosopher (d. 1896)
1859 - Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, Russian composer and conductor (d. 1935)
1873 - Elizabeth McCombs, first female member of the New Zealand parliament (d. 1935)
1875 - Mikhail Kalinin, Soviet politician (d. 1946)
1875 - Hiram Bingham, United States Senator and explorer (d. 1956)
1876 - Tatyana Afanasyeva, Russian-Dutch mathematician (d. 1964)
1877 - Giuseppe Volpi, Italian businessman and politician (d. 1947)
1879 - Mait Metsanurk, Estonian writer (d. 1957)
1887 - James B. Sumner, American chemist (d. 1955)
1888 - Jose Raul Capablanca, Cuban chess player (d. 1942)
1889 - Clifton Webb, American actor (d. 1966)
1893 - Rene Voisin, French classical trumpeter (d. 1952)
1894 - Americo Tomas, 14th President of Portugal (d. 1987)
1898 - Arthur R. von Hippel, German physicist (d. 2003)
1899 - Allen Tate, American poet and literary critic (d. 1979)
1900 - Anna Seghers, German writer (d. 1983)
1901 1950
1902 - Princess Mafalda of Savoy (d. 1944)
1904 - Nancy Carroll, American actress (d. 1965)
1905 - Tommy Dorsey, American musician (d. 1956)
1908 - Alan Baxter, actor (d. 1976)
1909 - Elmo Smith, Governor of Oregon (d. 1968)
1910 - Adrian Conan Doyle, English racing driver and author (d. 1970)
1912 - George Emil Palade, Romanian biologist (d. 2008)
1912 - Bernard Joseph McLaughlin, American bishop (d. 2015)
1912 - Robert Simpson, American meteorologist (d. 2014)
1914 - Mills E. Godwin, Jr., two-time Governor of Virginia (d. 1999)
1915 - Earl Wilbur Sutherland Jr., American physiologist (d. 1974)
1917 - Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India (d. 1984)
1919 - Gillo Pontecorvo, Italian movie director (d. 2006)
1919 - Alan Young, British-born American actor (d. 2016)
1920 - Gene Tierney, American actress (d. 1991)
1921 - Roy Campanella, American baseball player (d. 1993)
1924 - Knut Steen, Norwegian sculptor (d. 2011)
1925 - Zygmunt Bauman, Polish-British sociologist (d. 2017)
1925 - John Gordon, English author (d. 2017)
1926 - Jeane Kirkpatrick, 16th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 2006)
1928 - Dara Singh, Indian actor and bodybuilder (d. 2012)
1930 - Kurt Nielsen, Danish tennis player (d. 2011)
1930 - Christian Schwarz-Schilling, German politician
1932 - Eleanor F. Helin, American astronomer (d. 2009)
1932 - Jerry Sheindlin, American judge and author
1933 - Larry King, American television personality (d. 2021)
1934 - Valentin Kozmich Ivanov, Russian footballer (d. 2011)
1934 - Kurt Hamrin, Swedish footballer
1934 - David Lloyd Jones, English conductor
1935 - Rashad Khalifa, Egyptian biochemist and computer scientist (d. 1990)
1936 - Yuan T. Lee, Taiwanese chemist
1936 - Dick Cavett, American talkshow host
1936 - Wolfgang Jeschke, German science fiction writer (d. 2015)
1937 - Tamara Bunke, German-Argentine revolutionary (d. 1967)
1938 - Warren "Pete" Moore, American singer-songwriter and record producer (d. 2017)
1938 - Hank Medress, American singer (The Tokens) (d. 2007)
1938 - Ted Turner, American businessman
1939 - Emil Constantinescu, 3rd President of Romania
1939 - Tom Harkin, American politician
1939 - Garrick Utley, American broadcast journalist (d. 2014)
1941 - Tommy Thompson, American politician, 42nd Governor of Wisconsin
1941 - Dan Haggerty, American actor (d. 2016)
1942 - Sharon Olds, American poet
1942 - Calvin Klein, American clothing designer
1943 - Aurelio Monteagudo, Cuban baseball player
1943 - Fred Lipsius, American musician
1944 - Klaus Fichtel, German footballer
1944 - Agnes Baltsa, Greek singer
1945 - Hans Monderman, Dutch road traffic engineer (d. 2008)
1947 - Bob Boone, American baseball player and manager
1947 - Anfinn Kallsberg, 10th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands
1947 - Lamar S. Smith, American politician
1949 - Raymond Blanc, French chef
1951 1975
1951 - Charles Falconer, Baron Falconer of Thoroton, British politician
1951 - Mihai Ghimpu, Moldovan politician, former Interim President of Moldova
1953 - Robert Beltran, American actor
1954 - Kathleen Quinlan, American actress
1954 - Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, 6th President of Egypt
1955 - Glynnis O'Connor, American actress
1956 - Eileen Collins, American astronaut
1956 - Ann Curry, American broadcast journalist
1956 - Jim Hodges, former Governor of South Carolina
1956 - Peter Carter, English diplomat (d. 2014)
1957 - Ofra Haza, Israeli singer (d. 2000)
1957 - Joel Goldsmith, American composer (d. 2012)
1957 - Tom Virtue, American actor
1958 - Terrence Carson, American actor
1958 - Algirdas Butkevicius, 12th Prime Minister of Lithuania
1959 - Jo Bonner, American politician
1959 - Allison Janney, American actress
1960 - Matt Sorum, American musician
1960 - Miss Elizabeth, American professional wrestling promoter (d. 2003)
1961 - Meg Ryan, American actress
1962 - Jodie Foster, American actress
1962 - Sean Parnell, American politician, 12th Governor of Alaska
1964 - Petr Necas, 9th Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
1965 - Laurent Blanc, French footballer
1965 - Gary Ablett, English footballer (d. 2012)
1965 - Douglas Henshall, Scottish actor
1966 - Kakhaber Kacharava, Georgian footballer
1966 - Gail Devers, American athlete
1966 - Jason Scott Lee, American actor
1967 - Dhafer Youssef, Tunisian jazz musician
1971 - Naoko Mori, Japanese-English actress and singer
1974 - Arun Vijay, Indian movie actor
1975 - Sushmita Sen, Indian beauty queen and actress
From 1976
1976 - Robin Dunne, Canadian actor
1976 - Jack Dorsey, American founder of Twitter
1977 - Mette Frederiksen, Danish politician, Prime Minister of Denmark
1977 - Kerri Strug, American gymnast
1979 - Ryan Howard, American baseball player
1980 - Adele Silva, English actress
1980 - Vladimir Radmanovic, Serbian basketball player
1980 - Andrew Copson, Chief Executive of the Humanists UK
1980 - Yipsi Moreno, Cuban hammer thrower
1981 - Marcus Banks, American basketball player
1983 - Chandra Crawford, Canadian cross-country skier
1983 - Meseret Defar, Ethiopian runner
1984 - Jorge Fucile, Uruguayan footballer
1984 - Brittany Maynard, American assisted suicide activist (d. 2014)
1985 - Chris Eagles, English footballer
1986 - Milan Smiljanic, Serbian footballer
1986 - Jeannie Ortega, American actress, dancer and songwriter
1986 - Dayron Robles, Cuban athlete
1986 - Hovi Star, Israeli singer
1987 - Feng Zhe, Chinese gymnast
1988 - Xavier Barachet, French handball player
1988 - Patrick Kane, American NHL ice hockey right winger for the Chicago Blackhawks
1989 - Roman Sergeyevich Trofimov, Russian ski jumper
1989 - Tyga, American rapper
1992 - Tove Styrke, Swedish singer-songwriter
1993 - Suso, Spanish footballer
1994 - Ibrahima Mbaye, Senegalese footballer
1997 - McCaughey septuplets
1999 - Evgenia Medvedeva, Russian figure skater
2002 - Gaia Cauchi, Maltese singer
Deaths
Up to 1900
496 - Pope Gelasius I
498 - Pope Anastasius II
1478 - Emperor Baeda Maryam of Ethiopia (b. 1448)
1481 - Anne Mowbray, 8th Countess of Norfolk (b. 1472)
1492 - Jami, Persian poet (b. 1414)
1557 - Bona Sforza, Queen of Poland (b. 1494)
1577 - Matsunaga Hisahide, Japanese Shogun (b. 1510)
1581 - Ivan Ivanovich, son of Ivan IV of Russia (b. 1554)
1665 - Nicolas Poussin, French painter (b. 1594)
1703 - The Man in the Iron Mask, French prisoner whose identity is unknown
1772 - William Nelson, Colonial Governor of Virginia (b. 1711)
1785 - Bernard de Bury, French composer (b. 1720)
1798 - Wolfe Tone, Irish general (b. 1763)
1804 - Pietro Guglielmi, Italian composer (b. 1728)
1822 - Johann Georg Tralles, German mathematician and physicist (b. 1763)
1828 - Franz Schubert, Austrian composer (b. 1797)
1850 - Richard Mentor Johnson, Vice President of the United States (b. 1780)
1863 - John O'Meally, Australian bushranger (b. 1841)
1883 - Carl Wilhelm Siemens, German-English engineer (b. 1823)
1887 - Emma Lazarus, American poet (b. 1849)
1901 2000
1918 - Joseph F. Smith, American Mormon leader (b. 1838)
1924 - Thomas H. Ince, American actor, director, screenwriter and producer (b. 1882)
1931 - Xu Zhimo, Chinese poet (b. 1897)
1938 - Lev Shestov, Russian philosopher (b. 1866)
1943 - Miyagiyama Fukumatsu, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1895)
1958 - Vittorio Ambrosio, Italian general (b. 1879)
1959 - Joseph Charbonneau, Canadian archbishop (b. 1892)
1962 - Grigol Robakidze, Georgian writer (b. 1882)
1963 - Carmen Amaya, Spanish dancer and singer (b. 1918)
1970 - Andrey Yeryomenko, Soviet-Russian military (b. 1892)
1975 - Roger D. Branigan, 42nd Governor of Indiana (b. 1902)
1976 - Basil Spence, English architect (b. 1907)
1983 - Tom Evans, English musician (b. 1947)
1988 - Christina Onassis, American-Greek businesswoman (b. 1950)
1990 - Sun Li-jen, Chinese general (b. 1900)
1992 - Bobby Russell, American songwriter (b. 1941)
1992 - Diane Varsi, American actress (b. 1938)
1998 - Alan J. Pakula, American director, producer and screenwriter (b. 1928)
From 2001
2004 - John Vane, English pharmacologist (b. 1927)
2004 - Piet Esser, Dutch sculptor (b. 1914)
2005 - Erik Balling, Danish movie director (b. 1924)
2011 - Basil D'Oliveira, South African-born English cricketer (b. 1931)
2012 - Pete LaRoca, American jazz musician (b. 1938)
2012 - Boris Strugatsky, Russian author (b. 1923)
2013 - Frederick Sanger, British biochemist, two-time Nobel Prize winner (b. 1918)
2014 - Otieno Kajwang, Kenyan politician (b. 1959)
2014 - Gholam Hossein Mazloumi, Iranian footballer (b. 1950)
2014 - Mike Nichols, German-born American television, stage and movie director (b. 1931)
2014 - Richard A. Jensen, American theologian (b. 1934)
2015 - Armand, Dutch protest singer (b. 1946)
2015 - Allen E. Ertel, American politician (b. 1937)
2017 - Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, Italian cardinal (b. 1925)
2017 - Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme, Vice president of Nigeria (b. 1932)
2017 - Fernando Matthei, Chilean air force general (b. 1925)
2017 - Warren "Pete" Moore, American singer-songwriter and record producer (b. 1938)
2017 - Jana Novotna, Czech tennis player (b. 1968)
2017 - Della Reese, American actress and singer (b. 1931)
2017 - Tai Chen-yao, Taiwanese politician (b. 1948)
2017 - Mel Tillis, American country singer (b. 1932)
2017 - Charles Manson, American cult leader (b. 1934)
2018 - Apisai Ielemia, 10th Prime minister of Tuvalu (b. 1955)
2018 - Ali Rodriguez Araque, Venezuelan politician (b. 1937)
2019 - Jose Mario Branco, Portuguese singer-songwriter, actor and record producer (b. 1942)
2019 - Purita Campos, Spanish cartoonist, illustrator and painter (b. 1937)
2019 - Basil Feldman, Baron Feldman, British politician and businessman (b. 1923)
2019 - D. M. Jayaratne, Sri Lankan politician, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (b. 1931)
2019 - Tom Lyle, American comics artist and illustrator (b. 1953)
2019 - Fazlollah Reza, Iranian politician (b. 1915)
Holidays and observances
Brazil - Flag Day
Mali - Liberation Day
Puerto Rico - Discovery of Puerto Rico (1493)
Norway - The Liberation of the Sami of the coast
Monaco - National holiday
International Men's Day
World Toilet Day (See also: World Toilet Organization)
Days of the year