May 19

Events

• 1535 - French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail for his second voyage to North America with 3 ships, 110 men, and Chief Donnacona[?]'s 2 sons (who Cartier kidnapped during his first voyage).
• 1536 - Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII of England is beheaded for adultery.
• 1568 - Queen Elizabeth I of England arrests Mary Queen of Scots.
• 1643 - Battle of Rocroi: French vicory over the Spanish at Rocroi[?], France.
• 1749 - King George II of Great Britain grants the Ohio Company[?] a charter of land around the forks of the Ohio River.
• 1780 - Never-explained complete darkness falls on Eastern Canada and the New England states at 2 pm.
• 1802 - The Légion d'Honneur is founded by first consul Napoleon Bonaparte.
• 1848 - Mexican-American War: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo - Mexico ratifies the treaty thus ending the war and ceding Texas, California and most of Arizona and New Mexico to the United States for $15 million dollars.
• 1897 - Oscar Wilde is released from prison.
• 1921 - The Emergency Quota Act passes the United States Congress establishing national quotas on immigrantion[?].
• 1961 - Venera program: Venera 1 becomes the first manmade object to fly-by another planet by passing Venus (however the probe had lost contact with earth a month earlier and did not send back any data).
• 1971 - Mars probe program: Mars 2 is launched by the Soviet Union.
• 1991 - Willy T. Ribbs[?] became the first African-American driver to qualify for the Indianapolis 500.
• 1999 - Star Wars: The Phantom Menace is released movie threatres across the United States setting a new record for opening day sales at $28.5 million.
• 2001 - One child policy: Zhonghua Sun is put to death by Chinese government officials because she refused to be sterilized.

Births

• 1762 - Johann Gottlieb Fichte, philosopher (+ 1814)
• 1795 - Johns Hopkins, philanthropist (+ 1873)
• 1827 - Paul Amand Challemel-Lacour, French statesman (+ 1896)
• 1844 - Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (+ 1818)
• 1870 - Albert Fish, serial killer (+ 1936)
• 1882 - Mohammed Mossadegh, Iranian prime minister (+ 1967)
• 1890 - Ho Chi Minh, Vietnamese leader (+ 1969)
• 1891 - Oswald Boelcke, World War I fighter ace (+ 1916)
• 1897 - Frank Luke, World War I fighter ace (+ 1918)
• 1906 - Gerd Bucerius[?], publisher and publicist (+ 1995)
• 1908 - Percy Williams, Canadian athlete (+ 1982)
• 1909 - Bruce Bennett[?], actor
• 1914 - Go Seigen, Go player
• 1914 - Max Perutz, molecular biologist (+ 2002)
• 1921 - Karel van het Reve, Dutch writer (+ 1999)
• 1924 - Sandy Wilson, British composer
• 1925 - Malcolm X, civil rights activist (+ 1965)
• 1925 - Pol Pot, Khmer Rouge leader(+ 1998)
• 1926 - Peter Zadek[?], film and theatre director
• 1930 - Lorraine Hansberry[?], playwright (+ 1965)
• 1934 - James Lehrer[?], journalist, co-anchor
• 1939 - Dick Scobee, astronaut (+ 1986)
• 1941 - Nora Ephron, screenwriter
• 1942 - Gary Kildall, computer programmer (+ 1997)
• 1945 - Pete Townshend, guitarist, lyricist
• 1946 - André the Giant, wrestler) (+ 1993)
• 1948 - Grace Jones[?], singer, actress
• 1952 - Joey Ramone, singer (+ 2001)
• 1953 - Victoria Wood, British comic actress
• 1956 - James Gosling, the "father" of Java programming language

Deaths

• 804 - Alcuin, monk from York, England
• 1102 - Stephen, Count of Blois
• 1296 - Pope Celestine V
• 1536 - Anne Boleyn
• 1645 - Miyamoto Musashi, Japanese swordsman
• 1715 - Charles Montagu, Chancellor of the Exchequer
• 1786 - John Stanley, English composer
• 1795 - Josiah Bartlett, a signatory of the Declaration of Independence
• 1821 - Camille Jordan, French politician
• 1825 - Comte, founder of French socialism
• 1864 - Nathaniel Hawthorne, author
• 1895 - Jose Marti, Cuban independence leader
• 1898 - William Ewart Gladstone, British prime minister
• 1904 - Auguste Molinier, French historian
• 1907 - Benjamin Baker, English engineer
• 1909 - Isaac Albéniz, composer
• 1946 - Booth Tarkington, American novelist
• 1954 - Charles Ives, composer
• 1958 - Ronald Colman, actor
• 1969 - Coleman Hawkins, jazz musician
• 1971 - Ogden Nash, poet
• 1983 - Jean Rey, President of the European Commission
• 1987 - James Tiptree Jr.[?], science fiction author
• 1994 - Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, First Lady of the United States
• 1998 - Uno Sosuke, Japanese prime minister
• 2000 - Yevgeny Khrunov, cosmonaut
• 2002 - Walter Lord[?], writer
• 2002 - John Gorton, prime minister of Australia

Holidays and Observances

• Feast of Saint Dunstan

May 18 - May 20 - April 19 - June 19 -- listing of all days

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