Today in
History ~ May 19
Events
0715 - St Gregory II begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1506 - Columbus selects his son Diego as sole heir
1568 - English queen Elizabeth I arrests Scottish queen Mary
1571 - Miguel Lopez de Lagazpi founded Manilla in the Phillipines
1588 - The Spanish Armada Sets Sail for England [H]
1643 - Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut & New Harbor form United Colonies of New England
1715 - The early years of species protection The colony of New York passes a law making it illegal to "gather, rake, take up, or bring to the market, any oysters whatsoever" between the months of May and September.
1749 - George II grants charter to Ohio Company to settle Ohio Valley
1780 - About midday, near-total darkness descends on much of New England -- still unexplained
1796 - Game protection law restricts encroachment on Indian hunting grounds
1802 - French Order of Legion d'Honneur formed by Napoleon
1836 - Cynthia Ann Parker is kidnapped [H]
1848 - 1st department store opens
1848 - Mexico gives Texas to US, ending the war
1863 - First assault on Vicksburg, Mississippi
1864 - Battle of Port Walthall Junction, VA (Bermuda Hundred)
1864 - Last engagement in series of battles known as Spotsylvania
1865 - President Jefferson Davis is captured by Union Cavalry in Georgia
1885 - German chancellor Bismarck takes possession of Cameroon & Togoland
1885 - Jan Matzeliger begins 1st mass production of shoes
1886 - Camille Saint-Saens' 3rd Symphony in C ("Organ"), premieres
1892 - Charles Brady King invents pneumatic hammer
1897 - Oscar Wilde is released from jail after two years of hard labor
1898 - Post Office authorizes use of postcards
1900 - World's longest railroad tunnel (Simplon) links Italy & Switz, opens
1911 - Maurice Ravels opera "L'Heure Espagnole," premieres in Paris
1913 - Webb Alien Land-Holding Bill passes, forbidding Japanese from land ownership
1916 - Escadrille Americaine (Lafayette) transfered to Verdun
1921 - Congress sharply curbs immigration, setting a national quota system
1926 - French air force bombs Damascus Syria
1928 - 51 frogs enter 1st annual "Frog Jumping Jubilee" (Angel's Camp, Cal)
1928 - Explosion in coal mine in Mather, Pennsylvania, 195 die
1934 - Sherlock Holmes crossword puzzle in "Sat Review of Lit" -- Males who solved puzzle became members of Baker Street Irregulars
1941 - Germany occupiers in Holland forbid bicycle taxis
1941 - New nazi battleship Bismarck leaves Gdynia, Poland
1943 - Berlin is declared "Judenrien" (free of Jews)
1943 - Churchill and FDR plot D-Day
1944 - 240 gypsies transported to Auschwitz from Westerbork Neth
1944 - German defense line (Gustav Line) in Italy collapsed
1951 - UN begins counter offensive in Korea
1954 - Postmaster General Summerfield approves CIA mail-opening project
1958 - US & Canada form North American Air Defense Command (NORAD)
1960 - Belgian parliament requires rest day for self employed
1960 - DJ Alan Freed is accused of bribery in radio payola scandal
1962 - Indonesian paratroopers land in New Guinea
1962 - Stan Musial breaks Honus Wagner's NL hit record with 3,431
1964 - Bugging of U.S. Embassy in Moscow Announced
1967 - US bombs Hanoi
1967 - USSR ratifies treaty with England and US banning nuclear weapons in space
1974 - Valeri Giscard d'Estaing wins French presidential election
1975 - Junko Tabei is 1st woman to climb to the top of Mount Everest
1976 - Senate establishes permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
1982 - Sophia Loren jailed in Naples for tax evasion
1988 - Carlos Lehder Rivas, of Colombia's Medellin drug cartel, is convicted in Florida for smuggling more than 3 tons of cocaine into US
1992 - 27th Amendment ratified, prohibits Congress from raising its salary
1992 - Amy Fisher shoots Mary Jo Buttafuoco in Massapequa LI
1992 - VP Dan Quayle cites Murphy Brown as a poor example of family values
1994 - Final Episode of LA Law after 8 year run
1998 - Justice Department sues Microsoft
Birthdays
Today
1469 - Giovanni della Robbia, Italian sculptor
1795 - Johns Hopkins, philanthropist, founded Johns Hopkins University
1879 - Nancy Witcher Langhorne Astor, US/Eng feminist/exec of Waldorf Astoria
1890 - Ho Chi Minh, trail blazer (North Vietnamese leader (1946, 1969): trail and city named after him)
1906 - Bruce Bennett (Herman Brix) (actor: Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Dark Passage, Angels in the Outfield)
1915 - Pol Pot, dictator/mass murderer
1918 - Florence Chadwick, swimmer (1st to swim English Channel both ways)
1918 - Mike (Myron Leon) Wallace
1919 - Georgie Auld (John Altwerger) (musician: saxophones: bandleader; actor: The Rat Race, dubbed soundtrack for Robert DeNero in New York, New York)
1922 - Robert Goldham (hockey)
1925 - Malcolm X (Malcolm Little) (black nationalist and civil rights activist)
1928 - Dolph Schayes (Basketball Hall of Famer: Syracuse Nationals, Philadelphia Warriors; coach: Philadelphia '76ers, Buffalo Braves, NBA Coach of the Year [1966]; NBA's Silver Anniversary Team [1971])
1929 - Curt Simmons (baseball: St. Louis Cardinals pitcher)
1929 - Gil McDougald (baseball: 2nd & 3rd bases & shortstop: NY Yankees; American League Rookie of the Year [1951])
1929 - Harvey Cox, US theologist (Secular City)
1930 - Lorraine Hansberry (playwright: A Raisin in the Sun, To be Young, Gifted and Black)
1934 - James Charles Lehrer, Wichita Ks, news anchor (McNeil-Lehrer Report)
1935 - David Hartman (Emmy Award-winning TV host: ABC's Good Morning America; actor: Hello Dolly, Lucas Tanner, The Bold Ones)
1939 - Francis Scobee (Commander of the ill-fated space shuttle, Challenger)
1939 - Nancy Kwan (actress: The World of Suzie Wong, Flower Drum Song, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story)
1939 - Stephen Young (Levy) (actor: Judd for the Defense, Patton, Scorned, Who's Harry Crumb?, Deadline, Lifeguard)
1941 - Nora Ephron (author: Heartburn, Sleepless in Seattle)
1943 - Rick Cerone (baseball: NY Mets)
1945 - Peter Townshend (musician: group: The Who: My Generation, Happy Jack, I Can See for Miles, Magic Bus, Won't Get Fooled Again; composed rock-opera: Tommy, See Me, Feel Me, Pinball Wizard; solo: Rough Boys, Let My Love Open the Door, Uniforms, Exquisitely Bored, The Sea Refuses No River; The Who: Rock and Roll Hall of Famers [1990])
1949 - Archie Manning (football: New Orleans Saints QB: NFC Player of the Year [1978]; Houston Oilers; Minnesota Vikings)
1952 - Grace Jones (singer: Slave to the Rhythm; actress: A View to a Kill, Conan the Destroyer, Deadly Vengeance)
1952 - Mike Nott (football)
1956 - Steve Ford (actor: When Harry Met Sally, Body Count; son of former U.S. President Gerald R. and Betty Ford)
1959 - Nicole Brown Simpson, Frankford Germany, Mrs OJ Simpson
Famous
deaths
0988 - Dunstan[us], English archbishop of Canterbury, dies
1536 - Anne Boleyn, Queen of England/second wife of
King Henry VIII, was beheaded in the Tower of London.
1536 - Lord Rochford, English brother of Anna Boleyn, beheaded
1786 - John Stanley, composer, dies at 74
1800 - French Bosbeeck, veterinarian/robber, hanged
1864 - Nathaniel Hawthorne, US, writer (Scarlet Letter), dies
1935 - T. E. Lawrence, known to the world
as Lawrence of Arabia, dies from injuries received in a motorcycle crash. [H]
1966 - Tortoise, reportedly given to Tonga's King by Capt Cook (1773), dies
1994 - Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, 1st lady (1961-63), dies of cancer at 64
1997 - Millie, dog of President Bush (Millie's Book), dies at 12
If
you have other Birthdays or events to add for this day please
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