Today in History – August 19th

Published August 19, 2012 |

43 BC, Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, later known as Augustus, compels the Roman Senate to elect him Consul.
1561, An 18-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots, returns to Scotland after spending 13 years in France.
1662, Blaise Pascal, French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher (b. 1623) died.
1745, Prince Charles Edward Stuart raises his standard in Glenfinnan, start of the Second Jacobite Rebellion, known as “the 45″.
1759, Battle of Lagos Naval battle during the Seven Years’ War between Great Britain and France.
1768, Saint Isaac’s Cathedral is founded in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
1812, War of 1812: American frigate USS Constitution defeats the British frigate HMS Guerriere off coast of Nova Scotia, Canada.
1839, The French government announces that Louis Daguerre’s photographic process is a gift “free to the world”.
1848, New York Herald breaks the news to the East Coast of the US of the gold rush in California (rush started in January).
1871, Orville Wright, American aviation pioneer (d. 1948) was born.
1883, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, French clothing designer (d. 1971) was born.
1895, American Frontier murderer and outlaw, John Wesley Hardin, is killed by an off-duty policeman in a saloon in El Paso, Texas.
1906, Philo Farnsworth, American inventor (d. 1971) was born.
1909, 1st automobile race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway takes place.
1919, Afghanistan gains full independence from the UK.
1921, Gene Roddenberry, American television producer (d. 1991) was born.
1923, Vilfredo Pareto, Italian sociologist and economist (b. 1845) died.
1930, Frank McCourt, Irish-American author (d. 2009) was born.
1934, The 1st All-American Soap Box Derby is held in Dayton, Ohio.
1934, The creation of the position Fuhrer is approved by the German electorate with 89.9% of the popular vote.
1940, 1st flight of the B-25 Mitchell medium bomber.
1942, WWII: Operation Jubilee, 2nd Cdn Infantry leads amphibious assault by allied forces on Dieppe, France and fails.
1944, WWII: Liberation of Paris, Paris, France rises against German occupation with the help of Allied troops.
1945, Vietnam War: Viet Minh led by Ho Chi Minh take power in Hanoi, Vietnam.
1953, CIA and MI6 help to overthrow the government of Mohammad Mosaddegh in Iran and reinstate the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
1955, In the Northeast US, severe flooding] caused by Hurricane Diane, claims 200 lives.
1960, Cold War: in Moscow, downed American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers is sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for espionage.
1965, Japanese prime minister Eisaku Sato becomes the 1st post-WWII sitting prime minister to visit Okinawa Prefecture.
1969, Nate Dogg, American rapper (d. 2011) was born.
1976, Alastair Sim, Scottish actor and rector of Edinburgh University (b. 1900) died.
1977, Groucho Marx, American comedian and actor (b. 1890) died.
1980, Otto Frank, father of Anne Frank (b. 1889) died.
1981, Gulf of Sidra Incident: US fighters intercept and shoot down two Libyan Sukhoi Su-22 fighter jets over the Gulf of Sidra.
1989, Raid on offshore pirate station, Radio Caroline in the North Sea by British and Dutch governments.
1999, In Belgrade, Yugoslavia, thousands of Serbians rally to demand resignation of President Slobodan Milosevic.
2009, Don Hewitt, television news producer & director; creator of 60 Minutes (b. 1922) died.

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Chris Rivait

Chris loves history and hopes that Yesteeyear becomes a place where everyone can share their history knowledge. Chris owns an Internet Marketing company, Arrivait Marketing. He has a wonderful wife and four great children.