October 19

Events
Up to 1900
202 BC - The Battle of Zama results in the defeat of Carthage and Hannibal.
AD 439 - The Vandals, led by King Gaiseric, take Carthage in North Africa.
1216 - King John of England dies. His nine-year-old son takes to the throne, becoming King Henry III of England.
1303 - Siegen, in Westphalia (in present-day Germany) is given city rights.
1386 - First lecture at the University of Heidelberg.
1453 - The French recapture of Bordeaux brings the Hundred Years' War to a close, with the English retaining only Calais on French soil.
1466 - The Thirteen Years' War ended with the Second Treaty of Torun. Gdansk Pomerania and Prussia as a whole was incorporated into Poland; the Teutonic Knights were allowed to rule its eastern part as Polish vassals.
1781 - Major General Lord Charles Cornwallis surrenders to George Washington and Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau at Yorktown, Virginia, ending the American Revolutionary War.
1789 - John Jay is sworn in as the first Chief Justice of the United States.
1805 - Battle of Ulm in the Napoleonic Wars.
1812 - Napoleon I of France retreats from Moscow.
1813 - The Battle of Leipzig concludes, giving Napoleon Bonaparte one of his worst defeats.
1845 - Opera Tannhauser by Richar Wagner is first performed.
1864 - Battle of Cedar Creek - Union Army under Philip Sheridan destroys Confederate Army under Jubal Early.
1864 - Confederate raiders launch an attack on Saint Albans, Vermont from Canada.
1866 - Austria hands over Veneto to France, which immediately gives it to Italy. Mantua also becomes part of Italy.
1873 - Yale, Princeton, Columbia, and Rutgers universities draft the first code of American football rules.
1901 2000
1912 - Italy takes possession of Tripoli, Libya from the Ottoman Empire.
1914 - The First Battle of Ypres begins.
1917 - Love Field in Dallas, Texas is opened.
1921 - Portugal's Prime Minister Antonio Joaquim Granjo is killed in a coup.
1933 - Germany withdraws from the League of Nations.
1935 - Fascist Italy invades Ethiopia.
1943 - Streptomycin, the first antibiotic remedy for tuberculosis, is isolated by researchers at Rutgers University.
1944 - United States forces land in the Philippines.
1950 - The People's Republic of China joins the Korean War.
1954 - First successful climb of Cho Oyu in the Himalayas.
1956 - The Soviet Union and Japan sign a joint declaration, officially ending the state of war between them.
1973 - President Richard Nixon rejects an Appeals Court demand to turn over the Watergate tapes.
1973 - Heavy rain causes floods in south-eastern Spain, killing around 200 people.
1974 - Niue becomes a self-governing territory of New Zealand.
1982 - John De Lorean is arrested for trafficking in cocaine.
1983 - Maurice Bishop, Prime Minister of Grenada, is overthrown and executed in a military coup d'etat led by Bernard Coard.
1985 - The first Blockbuster Video store opens in Dallas, Texas.
1986 - Samora Machel, President of Mozambique and a prominent leader of FRELIMO, and 33 others died when their Tupolev 134 plane crashed into the Lebombo Mountains.
1987 - In retaliation for Iranian attacks on ships in the Persian Gulf, the U.S. Navy disables three of Iran's offshore oil platforms.
1987 - (Black Monday) Dow Jones Industrial Average falls by 22%.
1989 - Guildford Four convictions are quashed by the Court of Appeal - they had spent 15 years in prison through a miscarriage of justice.
1991 - An earthquake in northern India, of magnitude 7, kills 2,000 people.
1992 - German politicians Petra Kelly and Gert Bastian are found dead. It is believed that Bastian killed Kelly on October 1, before killing himself.
1994 - New Zealand's Goodnight Kiwi says good night for the last time.
From 2001
2001 - SIEV-X sinks en route to Christmas Island
2003 - Mother Teresa is beatified by Pope John Paul II.
2004 - Myanmar prime minister Khin Nyunt is ousted and placed under house arrest by the Thai government on charges of corruption.
2005 - The trial of Saddam Hussein, on charges of Crimes against Humanity, begins.
2005 - Hurricane Wilma becomes the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record.
2007 - A bomb explosion occurs at a market in Makati, Philippines, killing 11 people.
2008 - In the US, former Republican United States Secretary of State Colin Powell announces that he intends to vote for Democrat candidate Barack Obama over John McCain in the November 4 Presidential election.
2012 - A bomb attack in Beirut, Lebanon, kills at least 11 people, including the Lebanese army chief. The attack is believed to be linked to the conflict in Syria.
2015 - The Liberal Party of Canada wins an overall majority in Canada's general election, ending over nine years of Stephen Harper's Conservative government. Justin Trudeau is the designated Prime Minister of Canada.
2017 - A stick-shaped object called 'Oumuamua is discovered as it passes through the Solar System.
2018 - A train runs over a crowd celebrating a Hindu festival in Amritsar, India, killing at least 60 people.
2018 - Unmanned European-Japanese spacecraft BepiColombo is launched on a seven-year journey to the planet Mercury.
2018 - Saudi Arabia admits that the missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi died in its consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.
2019 - A dam collapses at a gold mine on the Seiba river in the Krasnoyarsk region of Siberia, Russia, killing 15 people.
2019 - The House of Commons of the United Kingdom holds a Saturday sitting for the first time since 1982 because of the issue of Brexit.
Births
Up to 1900
1276 - Prince Hisaaki, Japanese shogun (d. 1328)
1433 - Marsilio Ficino, Italian philosopher (d. 1499)
1562 - Archbishop George Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1633)
1582 - Dmitry Ivanovich, Tsarevich of Russia (d. 1591)
1605 - Thomas Browne, English writer (d. 1682)
1610 - James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde, English statesman and soldier (d. 1688)
1658 - Adolf Friedrich II of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (d. 1704)
1688 - William Cheselden, English surgeon and anatomist (d. 1752)
1718 - Victor-Francois, 2nd duc de Broglie, Marshal of France (d. 1804)
1720 - John Woolman, American Quaker preacher and anti-Slavery activist (d. 1772)
1748 - Martha Jefferson, wife of Thomas Jefferson (d. 1782)
1774 - Jose de Fabrega, Panamanian military (d. 1844)
1784 - John McLoughlin, Hudson's Bay company trader (d. 1857)
1784 - James Henry Leigh Hunt, English Romantic critic, essayist and poet (d. 1859)
1789 - Theophilos Kairis, Greek priest and revolutionary (d. 1853)
1795 - Pedro Blanco Soto, Bolivian general and politician (d. 1829)
1810 - Cassius Clay, American abolitionist (d. 1903)
1814 - Theodoros Vryzakis, Greek painter (d. 1918)
1827 - Charles Cordier, French sculptor (d. 1902)
1851 - Empress Myeongseong of Korea (d. 1895)
1856 - Edmund Beecher Wilson, American biologist (d. 1939)
1858 - George Albert Boulenger, Belgian naturalist (d. 1937)
1862 - Auguste Lumiere, one of the inventors of cinema (d. 1954)
1868 - Bertha Knight Landes, American politician (d. 1943)
1871 - Luigi Albertini, Italian politician and publicist (d. 1941)
1872 - Jacques E. Brandenberger, Swiss chemist (d. 1954)
1873 - Jaap Eden, Dutch skater and cyclist (d. 1925)
1876 - Mordecai Brown, American baseball player, coach and manager (d. 1945)
1876 - Mihkel Pung, Estonian politician (d. 1941)
1882 - Umberto Boccioni, Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1916)
1884 - Eugen Habermann, Estonian architect (d. 1944)
1885 - Charles Merrill, American investment banker (d. 1956)
1895 - Lewis Mumford, American historian (d. 1990)
1897 - Salimuzzaman Siddiqui, Pakistani scientist and scholar (d. 1994)
1899 - Miguel Angel Asturias, Guatemalan writer (d. 1974)
1900 - Erna Berger, German soprano (d. 1990)
1901 1950
1907 - Roger Wolfe Kahn, band leader (d. 1962)
1908 - Geirr Tveitt, Norwegian composer (d. 1981)
1909 - Stein Grieg Halvorsen, Norwegian theatre actor (d. 2013)
1910 - Jean Genet, French writer (d. 1986)
1910 - Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Indian physicist (d. 1995)
1913 - Vinicius de Moraes, Brazilian poet and songwriter (d. 1980)
1913 - Haxhi Lleshi, Albanian military and politician (d. 1998)
1914 - Juanita Moore, American actress (d. 2014)
1915 - Farid al-Atrash, Syrian composer, musician and actor (d. 1974)
1916 - Emil Gilels, Ukrainian pianist (d. 1994)
1916 - Jean Dausset, French immunologist (d. 2009)
1917 - Walter Munk, Austrian-born American oceanographer (d. 2019)
1918 - Robert Schwarz Strauss, American politician and diplomat (d. 2014)
1920 - Pandurana Shastri, Indian philosopher (d. 2003)
1921 - George Nader, American actor (d. 2002)
1921 - Gunnar Nordahl, Swedish footballer (d. 1995)
1924 - Lubomir Strougal, former Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia
1925 - Czeslaw Kiszczak, former Prime Minister of Poland (d. 2015)
1925 - Bernard Hepton, English actor (d. 2018)
1925 - Emilio Eduardo Massera, Argentine naval officer and member of the Military Junta (d. 2010)
1926 - Arne Bendiksen, Norwegian singer and songwriter (d. 2009)
1926 - Marjorie Tallchief, American ballerina
1927 - Pierre Alechinsky, Belgian artist
1931 - Manolo Escobar, Spanish singer and actor (d. 2013)
1931 - John le Carre, English novelist
1932 - Robert Reed, actor (d. 1992)
1934 - William Frates, American military veteran and radiologist (d. 2019)
1934 - Yakubu Gowon, former President of Nigeria
1935 - Don Ward, Canadian-American ice hockey player (d. 2014)
1935 - Agne Simonsson, Swedish footballer
1936 - Sylvia Browne, American author (d. 2013)
1937 - Peter Max, American pop artist
1938 - Eugenio Montejo, Venezuelan poet (d. 2008)
1940 - Michael Gambon, Irish-British actor
1940 - Rosny Smarth, 8th Prime Minister of Haiti
1941 - Pepetela, Angolan writer, politician and activist
1941 - Simon Ward, English actor (d. 2012)
1942 - Andrew Vachss, writer and attorney
1943 - Takis Ikonomopoulos, Greek footballer
1944 - Pepetela, Angolan writer, politician and activist
1944 - Peter Tosh, Jamaican musician (d. 1987)
1945 - Divine, actor (d. 1988)
1945 - John Lithgow, American actor
1945 - Angus Deaton, Scottish-American economist
1945 - Gloria Jones, American singer and songwriter
1945 - Patricia Ireland, American attorney and feminist
1946 - Bob Holland, Australian cricketer (d. 2017)
1946 - Philip Pullman, English writer
1946 - Jurgen Croy, East German footballer
1947 - Giorgio Cavazzano, comics artist and illustrator
1951 1975
1951 - Demetrios Christodoulou, Greek physicist
1952 - Peter Bone, English politician
1953 - Sylvie Bermann, French diplomat
1953 - Lionel Hollins, American basketball player and coach
1954 - Sam Allardyce, English football manager
1954 - Joe Bryant, American basketball player
1954 - Ken Stott, Scottish actor
1955 - LaSalle Ishii, Japanese television personality, actor and director
1956 - Carlo Urbani, Italian physician (d. 1993)
1956 - Didier Theys, Belgian racing driver
1956 - Sunny Deol, Indian actor and director
1957 - Karl Wallinger, Welsh singer-songwriter, musician and producer
1958 - Lou Briel, Puerto Rican singer-songwriter, pianist, producer and actor
1958 - Michael Steele, American journalist and politician
1959 - Nir Barkat, Israeli politician
1959 - Martin Kusch, German philosopher
1960 - Jennifer Holliday, American actress and singer
1962 - Evander Holyfield, American boxing champion
1962 - Tracy Chevalier, American author
1963 - Prince Laurent of Belgium
1964 - Jorge Luis Gonzalez, Cuban-born American boxer
1965 - Ty Pennington, American TV carpenter
1966 - Jon Favreau, American actor, writer, director
1966 - Sinitta, American-British singer
1967 - Amy Carter, daughter of Jimmy Carter
1969 - DJ Sammy, Spanish DJ
1969 - Erwin Sanchez, Bolivian footballer
1969 - Trey Parker, American cartoonist, comedian, writer, actor
1969 - Dieter Thomas, German ski jumper
1969 - Caroline Catz, English actress
1970 - Nouria Merah-Benida, Algerian runner
1971 - David Wagner, German-American footballer and coach
1972 - Pras, musician
1973 - Joaquin Gage, Canadian ice hockey player
1973 - Hicham Arazi, Moroccan tennis player
From 1976
1976 - Paul Hartley, Scottish footballer
1976 - Desmond Harrington, American actor
1976 - Michael Young, American baseball player
1977 - Habib Beye, Senegalese footballer
1977 - Jason Reitman, American writer and director
1978 - Ruslan Chagaev, Uzbekistani boxer
1979 - Brian Robertson, American trombonist (Suburban Legends)
1979 - Lei Jia, Chinese singer
1981 - Heikki Kovalainen, Finnish racing driver
1982 - Louis Oosthuizen, South African golfer
1982 - Gillian Jacobs, American actress
1982 - Gonzalo Pineda, Mexican footballer
1983 - Vladimir Gabulov, Russian footballer
1983 - Cara Santa Maria, American journalist
1983 - Rebecca Ferguson, Swedish singer
1983 - Adrie Visser, Dutch cyclist
1984 - Saki Fujita, Japanese voice actress
1985 - Kevin O'Connor, Irish footballer
1988 - Dot Rotten, English rapper and musician
1989 - Miroslav Stoch, Slovakian footballer
1990 - Janet Leon, Swedish singer-songwriter and dancer
1990 - Ciara Renee, American actress and singer
1991 - Cotton Dixon, American singer and pianist
1992 - Kim Ji-won, South Korean actress
1993 - Abby Sunderland, American sailor
2004 - Abilass Jeyarajah, Sri Lankan tsunami survivor
Deaths
Up to 1900
727 - Frithuswith, English saint (b. 650)
1187 - Pope Urban III
1216 - King John of England (b. 1167)
1587 - Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1541)
1619 - Fujiwara Seika, Japanese philosopher and educator (b. 1561)
1682 - Thomas Browne, English writer (b. 1605)
1723 - Godfrey Kneller, German-born painter (b. 1646)
1745 - Jonathan Swift, Irish writer (b. 1667)
1790 - Lyman Hall, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1724)
1813 - Jozef Poniatowski, Polish prince and Marshal of France (b. 1763)
1815 - Paolo Mascagni, Italian physician (b. 1755)
1842 - Aleksey Koltsov, Russian poet (b. 1808)
1851 - Marie Therese of France (b. 1778)
1856 - William Sprague, American politician (b. 1799)
1860 - Ang Duong, Cambodian King (b. 1796)
1889 - King Louis of Portugal (b. 1838)
1890 - Richard Francis Burton, British explorer (b. 1821)
1893 - Lucy Stone, American activist (b. 1818)
1897 - George Pullman, American engineer and businessman (b. 1831)
1901 2000
1901 - Carl Frederik Tietgen, Danish financier and industrialist (b. 1829)
1905 - Virgil Earp, American Western figure (b. 1843)
1911 - Eugene Burton Ely, American aviator (b. 1886)
1912 - Julius Maggi, Swiss businessman (b. 1846)
1918 - Harold Lockwood, American actor (b. 1887)
1921 - Antonio Joaquim Granjo, Prime Minister of Portugal
1936 - Lu Xun, Chinese writer (b. 1881)
1937 - Ernest Rutherford, New Zealand physicist (b. 1871)
1940 - Umberto Caligaris, Italian footballer (b. 1901)
1940 - Emilio Comici, Italian climber and cave explorer (b. 1901)
1943 - Camille Claudel, French sculptor (b. 1864)
1945 - Plutarco Elias Calles, President of Mexico (b. 1877)
1950 - Edna St. Vincent Millay, American poet (b. 1892)
1955 - Carlos Davila, Chilean politician, diplomat and journalist (b. 1887)
1956 - Isham Jones, American bandleader, saxophonist, bassist and songwriter (b. 1894)
1964 - Sergey Biryuzov, Marshal of the Soviet Union (b. 1904)
1969 - Lacey Hearn, American sprinter (b. 1881)
1970 - Lazaro Cardenas, President of Mexico (b. 1895)
1978 - Gig Young, American actor (b. 1913)
1983 - Maurice Bishop, Prime Minister of Grenada (b. 1944)
1984 - Jerzy Popieluszko, Polish priest, supported the Solidarity movement (b. 1947)
1986 - Samora Machel, President of Mozambique (b. 1933)
1987 - Jacqueline du Pre, British cellist (b. 1945)
1994 - Martha Raye, American actress (b. 1916)
1995 - Don Cherry, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1936)
1997 - Glen Buxton, American guitarist (b. 1947)
1999 - Nathalie Sarraute, French novelist (b. 1900)
From 2001
2002 - Nikolay Rukavishnikov, Russian physicist and cosmonaut (b. 1932)
2003 - Alija Izetbegovic, President of Bosnia and Herzegovina (b. 1925)
2003 - Road Warrior Hawk, American professional wrestler (b. 1957)
2005 - Ryan Dallas Cook, American trombonist (Suburban Legends) (b. 1982)
2008 - Gianni Raimondi, Italian tenor (b. 1923)
2009 - Joseph Wiseman, Canadian actor (b. 1918)
2009 - Howard Unruh, American murderer (b. 1921)
2010 - Tom Bosley, American actor (b. 1927)
2012 - Fiorenzo Magni, Italian cyclist (b. 1920)
2014 - Lynda Bellingham, Canadian-English actress (b. 1948)
2014 - Etienne Mourrut, French politician (b. 1939)
2014 - John Holt, Jamaican singer (b. 1947)
2014 - Gloria Casarez, American civil rights activist (b. 1971)
2014 - Stephen Paulus, American composer (b. 1949)
2014 - Raphael Ravenscroft, British saxophonist (b. 1954)
2015 - Ali Treki, Libyan diplomat (b. 1938)
2016 - Yvette Chauvire, French ballerina (b. 1917)
2017 - Umberto Lenzi, Italian film director (b. 1931)
2018 - Takanobu Hozumi, Japanese actor (b. 1931)
2018 - Osamu Shimomura, Japanese biochemist, Nobel Prize for Chemistry winner (b. 1928)
2018 - Diana Sowle, American actress (b. 1930)
2019 - Erhard Eppler, German politician (b. 1926)
2019 - Salvador Giner, Spanish sociologist (b. 1934)
2019 - Ishmael Levenston, Saban politician (b. 1940)
2019 - Joseph Lombardo, American mafioso (b. 1929)
2019 - Alexander Volkov, Russian tennis player (b. 1967)
Observances
Constitution Day (Niue)
Mother Teresa Day (Albania)
Days of the year