# What happened on May 19 in history?

**Date:** May 19  
**Events recorded:** 57  
**Years spanned:** 639 – 2024  
**Full page:** https://thisday.info/events/may/19/

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## Featured Event

**2015** — The Refugio oil spill deposited 142,800 U.S. gallons (3,400 barrels) of crude oil onto an area in California considered one of the most biologically diverse coastlines of the west coast.

[Read more on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refugio_oil_spill)

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## Events on this date

- **639** — Ashina Jiesheshuai and his tribesmen assault Emperor Taizong at Jiucheng Palace. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashina_Jiesheshuai))
- **715** — Pope Gregory II is elected. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Gregory_II))
- **934** — The Byzantine Empire reconquers Melitene under the leadership of John Kourkouas. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Empire))
- **1051** — Henry I of France marries the Rus' princess, Anne of Kiev. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_I_of_France))
- **1445** — John II of Castile defeats the Infantes of Aragon at the First Battle of Olmedo. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_II_of_Castile))
- **1499** — Catherine of Aragon is married by proxy to Arthur, Prince of Wales. Catherine is 13 and Arthur is 12. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_of_Aragon))
- **1535** — French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America with three ships, 110 men, and Chief Donnacona's two sons (whom Cartier had kidnapped during his first voyage). ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Cartier))
- **1536** — Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII of England, is beheaded for adultery, treason, and incest. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Boleyn))
- **1542** — The Prome Kingdom falls to the Taungoo Dynasty in present-day Myanmar. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prome_kingdom))
- **1643** — Thirty Years' War: French forces under the duc d'Enghien decisively defeat Spanish forces at the Battle of Rocroi, marking the symbolic end of Spain as a dominant land power. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Years'_War))
- **1649** — An Act of Parliament declaring England a Commonwealth is passed by the Long Parliament. England would be a republic for the next eleven years. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_of_parliament))
- **1655** — The Invasion of Jamaica begins during the Anglo-Spanish War. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Jamaica))
- **1674** — John III Sobieski becomes king of Poland-Lithuania. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_III_Sobieski))
- **1743** — Jean-Pierre Christin develops the centigrade temperature scale. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Pierre_Christin))
- **1749** — King George II of Great Britain grants the Ohio Company a charter of land around the forks of the Ohio River. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_II_of_Great_Britain))
- **1776** — American Revolutionary War: A Continental Army garrison surrenders in the Battle of The Cedars. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolutionary_War))
- **1780** — New England's Dark Day, an unusual darkening of the day sky, is observed over the New England states and parts of Canada. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England's_Dark_Day))
- **1798** — Napoleon Bonaparte and his expedition force leave France to invade Egypt. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon))
- **1802** — Napoleon Bonaparte founds the Legion of Honour. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon))
- **1828** — U.S. President John Quincy Adams signs the Tariff of 1828 into law, sparking outrage in the South and leading to the Nullification crisis. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Quincy_Adams))
- **1845** — Captain Sir John Franklin and his ill-fated Arctic expedition depart from Greenhithe, England. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Franklin))
- **1848** — Mexican–American War: Mexico ratifies the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thus ending the war and ceding California, Nevada, Utah and parts of four other modern-day U.S. states to the United States for US$15 million. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican%E2%80%93American_War))
- **1883** — Buffalo Bill's first Buffalo Bill's Wild West opens in Omaha, Nebraska. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Bill))
- **1900** — Great Britain annexes Tonga Island. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Britain))
- **1900** — Second Boer War: British troops relieve Mafeking. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Boer_War))
- **1911** — Parks Canada, the world's first national park service, is established as the Dominion Parks Branch under the Department of the Interior. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parks_Canada))
- **1917** — The Norwegian football club Rosenborg BK is founded. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosenborg_BK))
- **1919** — Mustafa Kemal Atatürk lands at Samsun on the Anatolian Black Sea coast, initiating what is later termed the Turkish War of Independence. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustafa_Kemal_Atat%C3%BCrk))
- **1921** — The United States Congress passes the Emergency Quota Act establishing national quotas on immigration. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Congress))
- **1922** — The Young Pioneer Organization of the Soviet Union is established. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Pioneers_(Soviet_Union)))
- **1933** — Finnish cavalry general C. G. E. Mannerheim is appointed the field marshal. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Gustaf_Emil_Mannerheim))
- **1934** — Zveno and the Bulgarian Army engineer a coup d'état and install Kimon Georgiev as the new Prime Minister of Bulgaria. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zveno))
- **1942** — World War II: In the aftermath of the Battle of the Coral Sea, Task Force 16 heads to Pearl Harbor for repairs. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II))
- **1943** — Winston Churchill's second wartime address to the U.S. Congress ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill's_address_to_the_United_States_Congress_(1943)))
- **1945** — Syrian demonstrators in Damascus are fired upon by French troops injuring twelve, leading to the Levant Crisis. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrians))
- **1950** — A barge containing munitions destined for Pakistan explodes in the harbor at South Amboy, New Jersey, devastating the city. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan))
- **1959** — The North Vietnamese Army establishes Group 559, whose responsibility is to determine how to maintain supply lines to South Vietnam; the resulting route is the Ho Chi Minh trail. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People's_Army_of_Vietnam))
- **1961** — Venera program: Venera 1 becomes the first man-made object to fly by another planet by passing Venus (the probe had lost contact with Earth a month earlier and did not send back any data). ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venera_program))
- **1961** — At Silchar Railway Station, Assam, 11 Bengalis die when police open fire on protesters demanding state recognition of Bengali language in the Bengali Language Movement. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silchar))
- **1962** — A birthday salute to U.S. President John F. Kennedy takes place at Madison Square Garden, New York City. The highlight is Marilyn Monroe's rendition of "Happy Birthday". ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy))
- **1963** — The New York Post Sunday Magazine publishes Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Jr.))
- **1971** — Mars probe program: Mars 2 is launched by the Soviet Union. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Mars_program))
- **1986** — The Firearm Owners Protection Act is signed into law by U.S. President Ronald Reagan. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearm_Owners_Protection_Act))
- **1991** — Croatians vote for independence in a referendum. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatia))
- **1993** — SAM Colombia Flight 501 crashes on approach to José María Córdova International Airport in Medellín, Colombia, killing 132. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAM_Colombia_Flight_501))
- **1996** — Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on mission STS-77. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_program))
- **1997** — The Sierra Gorda biosphere, the most ecologically diverse region in Mexico, is established as a result of grassroots efforts. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Gorda))
- **2000** — Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-101 to resupply the International Space Station. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Atlantis))
- **2007** — President of Romania Traian Băsescu survives an impeachment referendum and returns to office from suspension. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Romania))
- **2007** — A mass shooting starts in Moscow, Idaho, which would leave 3 non-shooters dead and 3 more injured, before the shooter committed suicide the next day. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Moscow%2C_Idaho%2C_shooting))
- **2010** — The Royal Thai Armed Forces concludes its crackdown on protests by forcing the surrender of United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship leaders. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Thai_Armed_Forces))
- **2012** — Three gas cylinder bombs explode in front of a vocational school in the Italian city of Brindisi, killing one person and injuring five others. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brindisi_school_bombing))
- **2012** — A car bomb explodes near a military complex in the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor, killing nine people. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Deir_ez-Zor_bombing))
- **2015** — The Refugio oil spill deposited 142,800 U.S. gallons (3,400 barrels) of crude oil onto an area in California considered one of the most biologically diverse coastlines of the west coast. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refugio_oil_spill))
- **2016** — EgyptAir Flight 804 crashes into the Mediterranean Sea while traveling from Paris to Cairo, killing all on board. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EgyptAir_Flight_804))
- **2018** — The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is held at St George's Chapel, Windsor, with an estimated global audience of 1.9 billion. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_of_Prince_Harry_and_Meghan_Markle))
- **2024** — A helicopter crash in Iran leaves 8 people dead, including the country's president Ebrahim Raisi & foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Varzaqan_helicopter_crash))

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## Notable births on May 19

- **2003** — **Jojo Siwa** — American dancer, singer, actress, and YouTube personality ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JoJo_Siwa))
- **2002** — **Riccardo Calafiori** — Italian footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riccardo_Calafiori))
- **2002** — **Rafa Marín** — Spanish footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafa_Mar%C3%ADn))
- **2001** — **Elizabeth Mandlik** — American tennis player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Mandlik))
- **1996** — **Michael Carcone** — Canadian ice hockey player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Carcone))
- **1995** — **Taane Milne** — New Zealand rugby league player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taane_Milne))
- **1994** — **Carlos Guzmán** — Mexican footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Guzm%C3%A1n))
- **1992** — **Michele Camporese** — Italian footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michele_Camporese))
- **1992** — **Ola John** — Dutch footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ola_John))
- **1992** — **Felise Kaufusi** — New Zealand-Tongan rugby league player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felise_Kaufusi))

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## Notable deaths on May 19

- **2024** — **Christian Malanga** — Congolese politician, businessman and military officer (born 1983) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Malanga))
- **2024** — **Victims in the 2024 Varzaqan helicopter crash:** ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hossein_Amir-Abdollahian))
- **2024** — **Victims in the 2024 Varzaqan helicopter crash:** ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebrahim_Raisi))
- **2023** — **Andy Rourke** — English bassist (born 1964) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Rourke))
- **2021** — **Paul Mooney** — American comedian (born 1941) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Mooney_(comedian)))
- **2018** — **Zhengzhang Shangfang** — Chinese linguist (born 1933) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhengzhang_Shangfang))
- **2017** — **Nawshirwan Mustafa** — General coordinator of the Movement for Change (Gorran) (born 1944) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nawshirwan_Mustafa))
- **2017** — **Stanislav Petrov** — Lt. Colonel in Soviet Air Defence Forces (born 1939) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov))
- **2016** — **Alan Young** — English-born Canadian-American actor (born 1919) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Young))
- **2016** — **Morley Safer** — Canadian-born American journalist (born 1931) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morley_Safer))

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## About this page

This is a machine-readable Markdown summary of [thisday.info/events/may/19/](https://thisday.info/events/may/19/).  
Historical data is sourced from [Wikipedia/Wikimedia](https://www.wikipedia.org) under [CC BY-SA](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).  
Editorial framing and site content © thisday.info.