Did you know
The 2012 South Korean presidential election was held on 19 December 2012 under a first-past-the-post system.
December 19 in History
2012 — Park Geun-hye is elected the first female president of South Korea
December 19 spans 51 recorded events across recorded history, from 653 to 2016. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Historical Events
51 events
653 – 2016
Today in history
More major events on December 19
The featured story and these ranked highlights form a quick summary. Every recorded event remains available in the chronology below.
- 1828 Vice President of the United States John C. Calhoun sparks the Nullification Crisis when he anonymously publishes the South Carolina Exposition and Protest, protesting the Tariff of 1828. Source
- 1929 The Indian National Congress promulgates the Purna Swaraj (the Declaration of the Independence of India). Source
- 1606 The ships Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery depart England carrying settlers who founded, at Jamestown, Virginia, the first of the thirteen colonies that became the United States. Source
Did you know
Park Geun-hye was the candidate of the Saenuri Party, which later became the Liberty Korea Party.
Did you know
The election marked the sixth presidential election since South Korea's democratisation and the establishment of the Sixth Republic.
Did you know
The voter turnout for the 2012 presidential election was approximately 75.8% of the total eligible voters.
Did you know
Park Geun-hye's inauguration as president took place on 25 February 2013, marking the beginning of her five-year term.
653
Pope Martin I, having been abducted by Byzantine authorities from Rome for his opposition to Monothelitism, is tried in Constantinople.
Head of the Catholic Church from 649 to 653/4
1154
Henry II of England is crowned at Westminster Abbey.
King of England from 1154 to 1189
1490
Anne, Duchess of Brittany, is married to Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor by proxy.
Queen of France (1491–1498; 1499–1514) and Duchess of Brittany (1488–1514)
1562
The Battle of Dreux takes place during the French Wars of Religion.
1562 battle in the French Wars of Religion
1606
The ships Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery depart England carrying settlers who founded, at Jamestown, Virginia, the first of the thirteen colonies that became the United States.
Ship of the English Virginia Company
1675
The Great Swamp Fight, a pivotal battle in King Philip's War, gives the English settlers a bitterly won victory.
1675 battle of King Philip's War
1688
Glorious Revolution: Williamite forces defeat Jacobites at Battle of Reading, forcing James II to flee England.
British revolution of 1688
1776
Thomas Paine publishes one of a series of pamphlets in The Pennsylvania Journal entitled "The American Crisis".
English-born philosopher and author (1737–1809)
1777
American Revolutionary War: George Washington's Continental Army goes into winter quarters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
1775–1783 conflict in North America
1783
William Pitt the Younger becomes the youngest Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at 24.
British statesman (1759–1806)
1793
War of the First Coalition: The Siege of Toulon ends when Napoleon's French artillery forces the British to abandon the city, securing southern France from invasion.
1792–1797 wars between France and European powers
1796
French Revolutionary Wars: Two British frigates under Commodore Horatio Nelson and two Spanish frigates under Commodore Don Jacobo Stuart engage in battle off the coast of Murcia.
1792–1802 wars
1828
Vice President of the United States John C.
Calhoun sparks the Nullification Crisis when he anonymously publishes the South Carolina Exposition and Protest, protesting the Tariff of 1828.
1900
Hopetoun Blunder: The first Governor-General of Australia John Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun, appoints Sir William Lyne premier of the new state of New South Wales, but he is unable to persuade other colonial politicians to join his government and is forced to resign.
1900 political event in Australia
1900
French parliament votes amnesty for all involved in scandalous army treason trial known as Dreyfus affair.
1894–1906 political scandal in France
1907
Two hundred thirty-nine coal miners die in the Darr Mine Disaster in Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania.
1907 mining accident in Pennsylvania
1912
William Van Schaick, captain of the steamship General Slocum which caught fire and killed over one thousand people, is pardoned by U.S.
President William Howard Taft after 3+1⁄2 years in Sing Sing prison.
1920
King Constantine I is restored as King of the Hellenes after the death of his son Alexander of Greece and a plebiscite.
King of Greece (1913–17; 1920–22)
1924
The last Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost is sold in London, England.
Luxury car produced from 1906 to 1926
1924
German serial killer Fritz Haarmann is sentenced to death for a series of murders.
German serial killer (1879–1925)
1927
Three Indian revolutionaries, Ram Prasad Bismil, Roshan Singh and Ashfaqulla Khan, are executed by the British Raj for participation in the Kakori conspiracy.
Indian revolutionary, poet & writer (1897–1927)
1929
The Indian National Congress promulgates the Purna Swaraj (the Declaration of the Independence of India).
Political party in India
1932
BBC World Service begins broadcasting as the BBC Empire Service.
International radio division of the BBC
1940
Risto Ryti, the Prime Minister of Finland, is elected President of the Republic of Finland in a presidential election, which is exceptionally held by the 1937 electoral college.
Finnish politician (1889–1956)
1941
World War II: Adolf Hitler appoints himself as head of the Oberkommando des Heeres.
Global conflict (1939–1945)
1941
World War II: Limpet mines placed by Italian divers heavily damage HMS Valiant and HMS Queen Elizabeth in Alexandria harbour.
Naval mine attached to a target by magnets
1945
John Amery, British Fascist, is executed at the age of 33 by the British Government for treason.
British Nazi collaborator (1912–1945)
1956
Irish-born physician John Bodkin Adams is arrested in connection with the suspicious deaths of more than 160 patients.
Eventually he is convicted only of minor charges.
1961
1967
Harold Holt, the Prime Minister of Australia, is officially presumed dead.
Prime Minister of Australia from 1966 to 1967
1972
Apollo program: The last crewed lunar flight, Apollo 17, carrying Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evans, and Harrison Schmitt, returns to Earth.
1961–1972 American crewed lunar exploration program
1974
Nelson Rockefeller is sworn in as Vice President of the United States under President Gerald Ford under the provisions of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Vice President of the United States from 1974 to 1977
1977
The Ms 5.8 Bob–Tangol earthquake strikes Kerman Province in Iran, destroying villages and killing 665 people.
Earthquake sequence in Iran
1981
Sixteen lives are lost when the Penlee lifeboat goes to the aid of the stricken coaster Union Star in heavy seas.
Disaster at sea off Cornwall (1981)
1983
The original FIFA World Cup trophy, the Jules Rimet Trophy, is stolen from the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Football tournament
1984
The Sino-British Joint Declaration, stating that China would resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong and the United Kingdom would restore Hong Kong to China with effect from July 1, 1997, is signed in Beijing by Deng Xiaoping and Margaret Thatcher.
1984 treaty on the transfer of Hong Kong
1985
Aeroflot Flight 101/435 is hijacked to China by its first officer.
1985 Soviet aircraft hijacking
1986
Mikhail Gorbachev, leader of the Soviet Union, releases Andrei Sakharov and his wife from exile in Gorky.
Leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991
1995
The United States Government restores federal recognition to the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Native American tribe.
Federally-recognized Potawatomi tribe in the United States
1997
SilkAir Flight 185 crashes into the Musi River, near Palembang in Indonesia, killing 104.
1997 aircraft crash in Indonesia
1998
President Bill Clinton is impeached by the United States House of Representatives, becoming the second president of the United States to be impeached.
President of the United States from 1993 to 2001
1999
Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-103, the third Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission.
Space Shuttle orbiter (1984–2011)
2001
Argentine economic crisis: December riots: Riots erupt in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Economic disaster
2005
Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101 crashes into the Government Cut channel immediately after takeoff from Miami Seaplane Base, killing 20.
2005 aviation accident in Florida
2005
A passenger train from Sucha Beskidzka to Żywiec in Poland loses its brakes while on a steep downhill part of the route.
It is stopped in a controlled collision in Świnna by a train travelling in opposite direction. 2 drivers and 6 passengers are injured.
2013
Spacecraft Gaia is launched by the European Space Agency.
European space observatory for astrometry (2013–2025)
2016
Russian ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov is assassinated while at an art exhibition in Ankara.
The assassin, Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş, is shot and killed by a Turkish guard.
2016
A vehicular attack in Berlin, Germany, kills 12 and injures 56 people at a Christmas market.
2016 truck attack in Berlin, Germany