Today in History

August 19

1493 Maximilian succeeds his father Frederick III as Holy Roman Emperor.

1587 Sigismund III is chosen to be the king of Poland.

1692 Five women are hanged in Salem, Massachusetts after being convicted of the crime of witchcraft. Fourteen more people are executed that year and 150 others are imprisoned.

1772 Gustavus III of Sweden eliminates the rule of parties and establishes an absolute monarchy.

1779 Americans under Major Henry Lee take the British garrison at Paulus Hook, New Jersey.

1812 The USS Constitution earns the nickname "Old Ironsides" during the battle off Nova Scotia that saw her defeat the HMS Guerriere.

1914 The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) lands in France.

1934 38 million Germans vote to make Adolf Hitler the official successor to President von Hindenburg.

1936 Spanish poet Frederico Garcia Lorca is shot by Franco’s troops after being forced to dig his own grave.

1942 A raid on Dieppe, France by British and Canadian commandos is repulsed by the German Army.

1944 In an effort to prevent a communist uprising in Paris, Charles DeGualle begins attacking German forces all around the city.

1950 Edith Sampson becomes the first African-American representative to the United Nations.

1957 The first balloon flight to exceed 100,000 feet takes off from Crosby, Minnesota.

1965 US forces destroy a Viet Cong stronghold near Van Tuong, in South Vietnam.

1974 US Ambassador to Cyrus Rodger P. Davies assassinated by a sniper of Greek Cypriot paramilitary group EOKA-B during a demonstration outside the embassy in Nicosia.

1976 Gerald R Ford, who had become President of the United States after Richard Nixon resigned, wins Republican Party’s presidential nomination at Kansas City convention.

1987 Hungerford Massacre in the UK; armed with semi-automatic rifles and a handgun Michael Ryan kills 16 people before committing suicide. In response, Parliament passed the Firearms (Amendment) Act of 1988 banning ownership of certain classes of firearms.

1988 Cease fire begins in 8-year war between Iran and Iraq.

1991 Communist hard-liners place President Mikhail Gorbachev under house arrest in an attempted coup that failed two days later.

2002 A Russian Mi-26 helicopter carrying troops is hit by a Chechen missile outside of Grozny, killing 118 soldiers.

2003 Shmuel Hanavi bus bombing: suicide attack on a bus in Jerusalem kills 23 Israelis, some of them children, and wounds 130. Islamist militant group Hamas claims responsibility for the attack.

2004 Google Inc. stock begins selling on the Nasdaq Stock Market, with an initial price of $85; the stock ended the day at $100.34 with more than 22 million shares traded.

2005 Toronto Supercell: A series of thunderstorms spawn several tornadoes and cause flash floods in Southern Ontario. Losses exceed $500 million Canadian dollars, the highest ever in the province.

2010 Operation Iraqi Freedom ends; the last US combat brigade, 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, leaves the country. Six brigades remain to train Iraqi troops.

Born on August 19

1870 Bernard Baruch, U.S. representative to the U.N. Atomic Energy Commission.

1871 Orville Wright, aviation pioneer.

1883 Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, fashion designer.

1902 Ogden Nash, humorist.

1919 Malcolm Forbes, publisher of Forbes magazine.

1921 Gene Roddenberry, television writer and producer, best known for the series Star Trek.

1931 Willie Shoemaker, record-setting jockey (won 8,833 of 40,350 starts); received Mike Venezia Memorial Award for "extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship" in 1990.

1940 Jill St John, (Jill Arlyn Oppenheim), Los Angeles California, actress (Diamonds are Forever).

1942 Fred Thompson, US Senator (R-Tenn); minority counsel on Senate Watergate Committee, lobbyist; actor (Law and Order)).

1945 William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton, 42nd President of the United States (1993-2001); first president from the Baby Boomer generation.

1948 Tipper Gore, wife of US Vice President Al Gore (1993-2001); co-founder, Parents Music Resource Center, which lobbied to have parental advisory labels placed on the packaging of music containing violent, sexual or drug-use lyrics.

1952 Jonathan Frakes, actor (Commander William T Riker, Star Trek: The Next Generation); character given same birthdate but in 2335.

1966 Lee Ann Womack, Grammy-winning singer, songwriter ("I Hope You Dance").

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