Did you know
In 1985, Cold War: In Geneva, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev meet for the first time. This featured entry focuses on the immediate decision and its direct historical impact.
November 19 in History
1985 — Cold War: In Geneva, U
S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev meet for the first time.
November 19 spans 51 recorded events across recorded history, from 461 to 2023. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Historical Events
51 events
461 – 2023
Today in history
More major events on November 19
The featured story and these ranked highlights form a quick summary. Every recorded event remains available in the chronology below.
- 1999 Shenzhou 1: The People's Republic of China launches its first Shenzhou spacecraft. Source
- 1967 The establishment of TVB, the first wireless commercial television station in Hong Kong. Source
- 1794 The United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain sign Jay's Treaty, which attempts to resolve some of the lingering problems left over from the American Revolutionary War. Source
Did you know
Ronald Wilson Reagan was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. This helps explain why the event mattered beyond the initial announcement.
Did you know
A member of the Republican Party, he became an important figure in the American conservative movement. This clarifies the institutional and public response around the event.
Did you know
The period encompassing his presidency is known as the Reagan era. This shows how the event shaped policy and public communication in the same period.
Did you know
In 1985, Cold War: In Geneva, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev meet for the first time had consequences that extended beyond the first headline. The key context is the institutions involved, the policy shift, and how the public response evolved afterward.
461
Libius Severus is declared emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
The real power is in the hands of the magister militum Ricimer.
636
The Rashidun Caliphate defeats the Sasanian Empire at the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah in Iraq.
First Islamic caliphate (632–661)
1646
The current Saint Peter's Basilica is consecrated in Rome, replacing an earlier basilica on the same site.
Roman Catholic basilica and landmark in Vatican City
1794
The United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain sign Jay's Treaty, which attempts to resolve some of the lingering problems left over from the American Revolutionary War.
1794 treaty between the US and Great Britain
1802
The Garinagu arrive at British Honduras (present-day Belize).
Ethnic group in Central America
1808
Finnish War: The Convention of Olkijoki in Raahe ends hostilities in Finland.
1808–1809 war between Russia and Sweden
1847
The second Canadian railway line, the Montreal and Lachine Railroad, is opened.
19th-century railroad in Quebec, Canada
1863
American Civil War: U.S.
President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address at the dedication ceremony for the military cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
1881
A meteorite lands near the village of Grossliebenthal, southwest of Odesa, Ukraine.
Collected meteorite whose fall was observed
1885
Serbo-Bulgarian War: Bulgarian victory in the Battle of Slivnitsa solidifies the unification between the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia.
1885 war between Serbia and Bulgaria
1911
The Doom Bar in Cornwall claims two ships, Island Maid and Angele, the latter killing the entire crew except the captain.
Sandbar in the River Camel, England
1912
First Balkan War: The Serbian Army captures Bitola, ending the five-century-long Ottoman rule of Macedonia.
1912–1913 war between the Balkan League and the Ottoman Empire
1916
Samuel Goldwyn and Edgar Selwyn establish Goldwyn Pictures.
Polish–American film producer (1882–1974)
1941
World War II: Battle between HMAS Sydney and HSK Kormoran.
The two ships sink each other off the coast of Western Australia, with the loss of 645 Australians and about 77 German seamen.
1942
World War II: Battle of Stalingrad: Soviet Union forces under General Georgy Zhukov launch the Operation Uranus counterattacks at Stalingrad, turning the tide of the battle in the USSR's favor.
Major World War II battle from 1942 to 1943
1942
Mutesa II is crowned the 35th and last Kabaka (king) of Buganda, prior to the restoration of the kingdom in 1993.
Monarch of the Kingdom of Buganda from 1939 to 1969
1943
The Holocaust: Nazis liquidate Janowska concentration camp in Lemberg (Lviv), western Ukraine, murdering at least 6,000 Jews after a failed uprising and mass escape attempt.
Genocide of European Jews by Nazi Germany
1944
World War II: U.S.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces the sixth War Loan Drive, aimed at selling US$14 billion in war bonds to help pay for the war effort.
1944
World War II: Thirty members of the Luxembourgish resistance defend the town of Vianden against a larger Waffen-SS attack in the Battle of Vianden.
Nazi control of Luxembourg, 1940–1945
1944
The founding congress of the Communist Party of Transcarpathian Ukraine is held in Mukachevo.
Political party
1946
Afghanistan, Iceland and Sweden join the United Nations.
Country in Central and South Asia
1952
Greek Field Marshal Alexander Papagos becomes the 152nd Prime Minister of Greece.
Greek military leader and politician (1883–1955)
1954
Télé Monte Carlo, Europe's oldest private television channel, is launched by Prince Rainier III.
Franco–Monégasque general entertainment television channel
1967
The establishment of TVB, the first wireless commercial television station in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong television network company
1969
Apollo program: Apollo 12 astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean land at Oceanus Procellarum (the "Ocean of Storms") and become the third and fourth humans to walk on the Moon.
1961–1972 American crewed lunar exploration program
1969
Association football player Pelé scores his 1,000th goal.
Team sport played with a ball
1977
TAP Air Portugal Flight 425 crashes in the Madeira Islands, killing 131.
1977 aviation accident
1979
Iran hostage crisis: Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini orders the release of 13 female and black American hostages being held at the US Embassy in Tehran.
Occupation of Tehran's U.S. embassy (1979–1981)
1984
San Juanico disaster: A series of explosions at the Pemex petroleum storage facility at San Juan Ixhuatepec in Mexico City starts a major fire and kills about 500 people.
1984 industrial accident near Mexico City, Mexico
1985
Pennzoil wins a US$10.53 billion judgment against Texaco, in the largest civil verdict in the history of the United States, stemming from Texaco executing a contract to buy Getty Oil after Pennzoil had entered into an unsigned, yet still binding, buyout contract with Getty.
American motor oil brand owned by Shell plc
1985
Police in Baling, Malaysia, lay siege to houses occupied by an Islamic sect of about 400 people led by Ibrahim Mahmud.
District in Kedah, Malaysia
1988
Serbian communist representative and future Serbian and Yugoslav president Slobodan Milošević publicly declares that Serbia is under attack from Albanian separatists in Kosovo as well as internal treachery within Yugoslavia and a foreign conspiracy to destroy Serbia and Yugoslavia.
Country in Southeast and Central Europe
1993
A factory fire killed 87 and injured 51 in Shenzhen, China.
Industrial disaster in Shenzhen, China
1994
In the United Kingdom, the first National Lottery draw is held.
A £1 ticket gave a one-in-14-million chance of correctly guessing the winning six out of 49 numbers.
1996
Space Shuttle program: Columbia is launched on STS-80, which would become the longest mission in the program at 17 days.
On this mission, astronaut Story Musgrave becomes the only astronaut to fly on all five space shuttles.
1996
A Beechcraft 1900 and a Beechcraft King Air collide at Quincy Regional Airport in Quincy, Illinois, killing 14.
Commuter airliner and light transport aircraft
1997
1998
Clinton–Lewinsky scandal: The United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee begins impeachment hearings into U.S.
President Bill Clinton.
1999
Shenzhou 1: The People's Republic of China launches its first Shenzhou spacecraft.
1999 Chinese uncrewed spaceflight
1999
John Carpenter becomes the first person to win the top prize in the TV game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
American millionaire (born 1967)
2001
The Aviation and Transportation Security Act is enacted by the 107th United States Congress in the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The Act created the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
2002
The Greek oil tanker Prestige splits in half and sinks off the coast of Galicia, releasing over 76,000 m3 (20 million US gal) of oil in the largest environmental disaster in Spanish and Portuguese history.
Ship that carries petroleum
2004
The worst brawl in NBA history results in several players being suspended.
Several players and fans are charged with assault and battery.
2010
The first of four explosions takes place at the Pike River Mine in New Zealand.
Twenty-nine people are killed in the nation's worst mining disaster since 1914.
2013
A double suicide bombing at the Iranian embassy in Beirut kills 23 people and injures 160 others.
Sunni Islamist terror bombing in Lebanon
2022
A gunman kills five and injures 17 at Club Q, a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Mass shooting in Colorado, U.S.
2023
The 2023 Cricket World Cup final takes place at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India, played between host nation India and Australia.
Cricket World Cup final