Historical Events on July 19

Our archives currently hold 77 major historical events, 24 famous births, and 24 notable deaths that took place on July 19. From world-changing treaties to the birth of modern icons, discover the legacy of this day.

Verified Source: Automatically curated and fact-checked via the Wikimedia Foundation Archives.

Jul 19

Events

2024

Neary's, a New York City Irish pub popular with political elites, closed.
2018

The Knesset passes the controversial Nationality Bill, which defines the State of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.
2014

Gunmen ambushed an Egyptian military checkpoint in the Libyan Desert near Farafra, killing 22 soldiers.
2014

Gunmen in Egypt's western desert province of New Valley Governorate attack a military checkpoint, killing at least 21 soldiers. Egypt reportedly declares a state of emergency on its border with Sudan.
2013

The NASA spacecraft Cassini took a photograph of Saturn with Earth in the distance (detail pictured), for which people were invited to "wave at Saturn".
2012

Syrian civil war: The People's Protection Units (YPG) capture the city of Kobanî without resistance, starting the Rojava conflict in Northeast Syria.
2011

Guinean President Alpha Condé survives an attempted assassination and coup d'état at his residence in Conakry.
1997

The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army announced that it would resume its ceasefire, ending its 28-year campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland.
1994

Alas Chiricanas Flight 00901 is destroyed by a bomb after takeoff from Enrique Adolfo Jiménez Airport in Colón, Panama, killing 21.
1992

A car bomb killed the anti-Mafia judge Paolo Borsellino and five policemen in Palermo, Italy, less than two months after the murder of Borsellino's friend and colleague Giovanni Falcone.
1992

A car bomb kills Judge Paolo Borsellino and five members of his escort.
1989

United Airlines Flight 232 crashes in Sioux City, Iowa, killing 111.
1985

The Val di Stava dam collapses killing 268 people in Val di Stava, Italy.
1983

The first three-dimensional reconstruction of a human head in a CT is published.
1982

In one of the first militant attacks by Hezbollah, David S. Dodge, president of the American University of Beirut, is kidnapped.
1981

In a private meeting with U.S. President Ronald Reagan, French President François Mitterrand reveals the existence of the Farewell Dossier, a collection of documents showing the Soviet Union had been stealing American technological research and development.
1980

Opening of the Summer Olympics in Moscow.
1979

The Sandinista rebels overthrow the government of the Somoza family in Nicaragua.
1979

The oil tanker SS Atlantic Empress collides with another oil tanker, causing the largest ever ship-borne oil spill.
1977

The world's first Global Positioning System (GPS) signal was transmitted from Navigation Technology Satellite 2 (NTS-2) and received at Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, at 12:41 a.m. Eastern time (ET).
1976

Environmental activists bombed the port facilities in Bunbury, Western Australia, in an attempt to disrupt the woodchipping industry.
1976

Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal is created.
1972

Dhofar Rebellion: British SAS units help the Omani government against Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman rebels in the Battle of Mirbat.
1969

Chappaquiddick incident: U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy crashes his car into a tidal pond at Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts, killing his passenger Mary Jo Kopechne.
1967

Piedmont Airlines Flight 22, a Piedmont Airlines Boeing 727-22 and a twin-engine Cessna 310 collided over Hendersonville, North Carolina, USA. Both aircraft were destroyed and all passengers and crew were killed, including John T. McNaughton, an advisor to Robert McNamara.
1964

Vietnam War: At a rally in Saigon, South Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyễn Khánh calls for expanding the war into North Vietnam.
1963

Joe Walker flies a North American X-15 to a record altitude of 106,010 meters (347,800 feet) on X-15 Flight 90. Exceeding an altitude of 100 km, this flight qualifies as a human spaceflight under international convention.
1961

Tunisia imposes a blockade on the French naval base at Bizerte; the French would capture the entire town four days later.
1957

The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold, a largely autobiographical novel by Evelyn Waugh, was published.
1957

The largely autobiographical novel The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold by Evelyn Waugh was published.
1952

Opening of the Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland.
1947

Prime Minister of the shadow Burmese government, Bogyoke Aung San and eight others are assassinated.
1947

Korean politician Lyuh Woon-hyung is assassinated.
1943

World War II: Rome is heavily bombed by more than 500 Allied aircraft, inflicting thousands of casualties.
1942

World War II: The Second Happy Time of Hitler's submarines comes to an end, as the increasingly effective American convoy system compels them to return to the central Atlantic.
1940

World War II: Battle of Cape Spada: The Royal Navy and the Regia Marina clash; the Italian light cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni sinks, with 121 casualties.
1940

Field Marshal Ceremony: First occasion in World War II that Adolf Hitler appoints field marshals due to military achievements.
1940

World War II: Army order 112 forms the Intelligence Corps of the British Army.
1936

The July 1936 military uprising in Barcelona begins.
1936

Spanish Civil War: The CNT and UGT call a general strike in Spain – mobilizing workers' militias against the Nationalist forces. People's Olympiad of Barcelona cancelled.
1934

The rigid airship USS Macon surprised the USS Houston near Clipperton Island with a mail delivery for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, demonstrating its potential for tracking ships at sea.
1919

Following Peace Day celebrations marking the end of the First World War, English ex-servicemen unhappy with unemployment and other grievances rioted and burned down Luton Town Hall.
1916

First World War: The "worst 24 hours in Australia's entire history" occurred when Australian forces unsuccessfully attacked German defences at Fromelles, France.
1916

World War I: Battle of Fromelles: British and Australian troops attack German trenches as part of the Battle of the Somme.
1903

French cyclist Maurice Garin won the first edition of the Tour de France.
1903

Maurice Garin wins the first Tour de France.
1900

The first line of the Paris Metro opens for operation.
1870

Franco-Prussian War: France declares war on Prussia.
1864

Taiping Rebellion: Third Battle of Nanking: The Qing dynasty finally defeats the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
1863

American Civil War: Morgan's Raid: At Buffington Island in Ohio, Confederate General John Hunt Morgan's raid into the north is mostly thwarted when a large group of his men are captured while trying to escape across the Ohio River.
1848

The two-day Seneca Falls Convention, the first women's-rights and feminist convention held in the United States, opened in Seneca Falls, New York.
1848

Women's rights: A two-day Women's Rights Convention opens in Seneca Falls, New York.
1845

A fire in Manhattan, New York City, destroyed 345 buildings, killed 30 people, and caused at least $5 million in damage.
1845

Great New York City Fire of 1845: The last great fire to affect Manhattan begins early in the morning and is subdued that afternoon. The fire kills four firefighters and 26 civilians and destroys 345 buildings.
1843

SS Great Britain, the first ocean-going ship with both an iron hull and a screw propeller, was launched (pictured) in Bristol, England.
1843

Brunel's steamship the SS Great Britain is launched, becoming the first ocean-going craft with an iron hull and screw propeller, becoming the largest vessel afloat in the world.
1832

The British Medical Association is founded as the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association by Sir Charles Hastings at a meeting in the Board Room of the Worcester Infirmary.
1821

Coronation of George IV of the United Kingdom.
1817

Georg Anton Schäffer was forced to depart for China after his unsuccessful attempt to seize the Hawaiian Kingdom for the Russian Empire.
1817

Unsuccessful in his attempt to conquer the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi for the Russian-American Company, Georg Anton Schäffer is forced to admit defeat and leave Kauaʻi.
1733

The Ottoman army defeats the Iranian army under Nader Shah in the battle of Baghdad.
1702

Great Northern War: Polish–Saxon forces were defeated by a Swedish army half their size at the Battle of Kliszów.
1701

Representatives of the Iroquois Confederacy sign the Nanfan Treaty, ceding a large territory north of the Ohio River to England.
1588

Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines: The Spanish Armada is sighted in the English Channel.
1553

Mary I was proclaimed Queen of England, deposing Lady Jane Grey after nine days of de facto rule.
1553

The attempt to install Lady Jane Grey as Queen of England collapses after only nine days.
1545

The English warship Mary Rose sank outside Portsmouth during the Battle of the Solent; it was raised from the seabed in 1982.
1545

The Tudor warship Mary Rose sinks off Portsmouth; in 1982 the wreck is salvaged in one of the most complex and expensive projects in the history of maritime archaeology.
1544

Italian War of 1542–46: The first Siege of Boulogne begins.
1333

Second War of Scottish Independence: Scottish forces under Sir Archibald Douglas were heavily defeated by the English at the Battle of Halidon Hill while trying to relieve Berwick-upon-Tweed.
1333

Wars of Scottish Independence: The English win a decisive victory over the Scots in the battle of Halidon Hill.
998

Arab–Byzantine wars: After initial Byzantine gains at the Battle of Apamea, a lone Kurdish rider killed Byzantine commander Damian Dalassenos, allowing Fatimid troops to turn the tide of the battle.
939

Battle of Simancas: King Ramiro II of León defeats the Moorish army under Caliph Abd-al-Rahman III near the city of Simancas.
803

Bardanes Tourkos is proclaimed emperor by rebellious Byzantine troops.
711

Umayyad conquest of Hispania: Battle of Guadalete: Umayyad forces under Tariq ibn Ziyad defeat the Visigoths led by King Roderic.
484

Leontius, Roman usurper, is crowned Eastern emperor at Tarsus (modern Turkey). He is recognized in Antioch and makes it his capital.
64

The Great Fire of Rome causes widespread devastation and rages on for six days, destroying half of the city.

Births

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Deaths

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Historical Events on July 19

Events

Neary's, a New York City Irish pub popular with political elites, closed.

The Knesset passes the controversial Nationality Bill, which defines the State of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.

Gunmen ambushed an Egyptian military checkpoint in the Libyan Desert near Farafra, killing 22 soldiers.

Gunmen in Egypt's western desert province of New Valley Governorate attack a military checkpoint, killing at least 21 soldiers. Egypt reportedly declares a state of emergency on its border with Sudan.

The NASA spacecraft Cassini took a photograph of Saturn with Earth in the distance (detail pictured), for which people were invited to "wave at Saturn".

Syrian civil war: The People's Protection Units (YPG) capture the city of Kobanî without resistance, starting the Rojava conflict in Northeast Syria.

Guinean President Alpha Condé survives an attempted assassination and coup d'état at his residence in Conakry.

The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army announced that it would resume its ceasefire, ending its 28-year campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland.

Alas Chiricanas Flight 00901 is destroyed by a bomb after takeoff from Enrique Adolfo Jiménez Airport in Colón, Panama, killing 21.

A car bomb killed the anti-Mafia judge Paolo Borsellino and five policemen in Palermo, Italy, less than two months after the murder of Borsellino's friend and colleague Giovanni Falcone.

A car bomb kills Judge Paolo Borsellino and five members of his escort.

United Airlines Flight 232 crashes in Sioux City, Iowa, killing 111.

The Val di Stava dam collapses killing 268 people in Val di Stava, Italy.

The first three-dimensional reconstruction of a human head in a CT is published.

In one of the first militant attacks by Hezbollah, David S. Dodge, president of the American University of Beirut, is kidnapped.

In a private meeting with U.S. President Ronald Reagan, French President François Mitterrand reveals the existence of the Farewell Dossier, a collection of documents showing the Soviet Union had been stealing American technological research and development.

Opening of the Summer Olympics in Moscow.

The Sandinista rebels overthrow the government of the Somoza family in Nicaragua.

The oil tanker SS Atlantic Empress collides with another oil tanker, causing the largest ever ship-borne oil spill.

The world's first Global Positioning System (GPS) signal was transmitted from Navigation Technology Satellite 2 (NTS-2) and received at Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, at 12:41 a.m. Eastern time (ET).

Environmental activists bombed the port facilities in Bunbury, Western Australia, in an attempt to disrupt the woodchipping industry.

Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal is created.

Dhofar Rebellion: British SAS units help the Omani government against Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman rebels in the Battle of Mirbat.

Chappaquiddick incident: U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy crashes his car into a tidal pond at Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts, killing his passenger Mary Jo Kopechne.

Piedmont Airlines Flight 22, a Piedmont Airlines Boeing 727-22 and a twin-engine Cessna 310 collided over Hendersonville, North Carolina, USA. Both aircraft were destroyed and all passengers and crew were killed, including John T. McNaughton, an advisor to Robert McNamara.

Vietnam War: At a rally in Saigon, South Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyễn Khánh calls for expanding the war into North Vietnam.

Joe Walker flies a North American X-15 to a record altitude of 106,010 meters (347,800 feet) on X-15 Flight 90. Exceeding an altitude of 100 km, this flight qualifies as a human spaceflight under international convention.

Tunisia imposes a blockade on the French naval base at Bizerte; the French would capture the entire town four days later.

The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold, a largely autobiographical novel by Evelyn Waugh, was published.

The largely autobiographical novel The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold by Evelyn Waugh was published.

Opening of the Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland.

Prime Minister of the shadow Burmese government, Bogyoke Aung San and eight others are assassinated.

Korean politician Lyuh Woon-hyung is assassinated.

World War II: Rome is heavily bombed by more than 500 Allied aircraft, inflicting thousands of casualties.

World War II: The Second Happy Time of Hitler's submarines comes to an end, as the increasingly effective American convoy system compels them to return to the central Atlantic.

World War II: Battle of Cape Spada: The Royal Navy and the Regia Marina clash; the Italian light cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni sinks, with 121 casualties.

Field Marshal Ceremony: First occasion in World War II that Adolf Hitler appoints field marshals due to military achievements.

World War II: Army order 112 forms the Intelligence Corps of the British Army.

The July 1936 military uprising in Barcelona begins.

Spanish Civil War: The CNT and UGT call a general strike in Spain – mobilizing workers' militias against the Nationalist forces. People's Olympiad of Barcelona cancelled.

The rigid airship USS Macon surprised the USS Houston near Clipperton Island with a mail delivery for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, demonstrating its potential for tracking ships at sea.

Following Peace Day celebrations marking the end of the First World War, English ex-servicemen unhappy with unemployment and other grievances rioted and burned down Luton Town Hall.

First World War: The "worst 24 hours in Australia's entire history" occurred when Australian forces unsuccessfully attacked German defences at Fromelles, France.

World War I: Battle of Fromelles: British and Australian troops attack German trenches as part of the Battle of the Somme.

French cyclist Maurice Garin won the first edition of the Tour de France.

Maurice Garin wins the first Tour de France.

The first line of the Paris Metro opens for operation.

Franco-Prussian War: France declares war on Prussia.

Taiping Rebellion: Third Battle of Nanking: The Qing dynasty finally defeats the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

American Civil War: Morgan's Raid: At Buffington Island in Ohio, Confederate General John Hunt Morgan's raid into the north is mostly thwarted when a large group of his men are captured while trying to escape across the Ohio River.

The two-day Seneca Falls Convention, the first women's-rights and feminist convention held in the United States, opened in Seneca Falls, New York.

Women's rights: A two-day Women's Rights Convention opens in Seneca Falls, New York.

A fire in Manhattan, New York City, destroyed 345 buildings, killed 30 people, and caused at least $5 million in damage.

Great New York City Fire of 1845: The last great fire to affect Manhattan begins early in the morning and is subdued that afternoon. The fire kills four firefighters and 26 civilians and destroys 345 buildings.

SS Great Britain, the first ocean-going ship with both an iron hull and a screw propeller, was launched (pictured) in Bristol, England.

Brunel's steamship the SS Great Britain is launched, becoming the first ocean-going craft with an iron hull and screw propeller, becoming the largest vessel afloat in the world.

The British Medical Association is founded as the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association by Sir Charles Hastings at a meeting in the Board Room of the Worcester Infirmary.

Coronation of George IV of the United Kingdom.

Georg Anton Schäffer was forced to depart for China after his unsuccessful attempt to seize the Hawaiian Kingdom for the Russian Empire.

Unsuccessful in his attempt to conquer the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi for the Russian-American Company, Georg Anton Schäffer is forced to admit defeat and leave Kauaʻi.

The Ottoman army defeats the Iranian army under Nader Shah in the battle of Baghdad.

Great Northern War: Polish–Saxon forces were defeated by a Swedish army half their size at the Battle of Kliszów.

Representatives of the Iroquois Confederacy sign the Nanfan Treaty, ceding a large territory north of the Ohio River to England.

Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines: The Spanish Armada is sighted in the English Channel.

Mary I was proclaimed Queen of England, deposing Lady Jane Grey after nine days of de facto rule.

The attempt to install Lady Jane Grey as Queen of England collapses after only nine days.

The English warship Mary Rose sank outside Portsmouth during the Battle of the Solent; it was raised from the seabed in 1982.

The Tudor warship Mary Rose sinks off Portsmouth; in 1982 the wreck is salvaged in one of the most complex and expensive projects in the history of maritime archaeology.

Italian War of 1542–46: The first Siege of Boulogne begins.

Second War of Scottish Independence: Scottish forces under Sir Archibald Douglas were heavily defeated by the English at the Battle of Halidon Hill while trying to relieve Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Wars of Scottish Independence: The English win a decisive victory over the Scots in the battle of Halidon Hill.

Arab–Byzantine wars: After initial Byzantine gains at the Battle of Apamea, a lone Kurdish rider killed Byzantine commander Damian Dalassenos, allowing Fatimid troops to turn the tide of the battle.

Battle of Simancas: King Ramiro II of León defeats the Moorish army under Caliph Abd-al-Rahman III near the city of Simancas.

Bardanes Tourkos is proclaimed emperor by rebellious Byzantine troops.

Umayyad conquest of Hispania: Battle of Guadalete: Umayyad forces under Tariq ibn Ziyad defeat the Visigoths led by King Roderic.

Leontius, Roman usurper, is crowned Eastern emperor at Tarsus (modern Turkey). He is recognized in Antioch and makes it his capital.

The Great Fire of Rome causes widespread devastation and rages on for six days, destroying half of the city.

Births