On this day: April 19

Events on April 19

• 531 Battle of Callinicum: A Byzantine army under Belisarius is defeated by the Persians at Raqqa (northern Syria). Wikipedia
• 1529 Beginning of the Protestant Reformation: After the Second Diet of Speyer bans Lutheranism, a group of rulers (German: Fürst) and independent cities protest the reinstatement of the Edict of Worms. Wikipedia
• 1770 Captain James Cook, still holding the rank of lieutenant, sights the eastern coast of what is now Australia. Wikipedia
• 1782 The States General of the Dutch Republic received John Adams, and the house he had purchased in The Hague became the first United States embassy. Wikipedia
• 1782 John Adams secures Dutch recognition of the United States as an independent government. The house which he had purchased in The Hague becomes the first American embassy. Wikipedia
• 1810 Venezuela achieves home rule: Vicente Emparán, Governor of the Captaincy General is removed by the people of Caracas and a junta is installed. Wikipedia
• 1861 The first bloodshed of the American Civil War took place when Confederate sympathizers in Baltimore, Maryland, attacked members of the Massachusetts militia en route to Washington, D.C. Wikipedia
• 1861 American Civil War: Baltimore riot of 1861: A pro-Secession mob in Baltimore attacks United States Army troops marching through the city. Wikipedia
• 1903 Anti-Jewish riots broke out in Kishinev, the capital of Bessarabia Governorate, causing the death of nearly 50 Jews and focusing worldwide attention on the persecution of Jews in Russia. Wikipedia
• 1903 The Kishinev pogrom in Kishinev (Bessarabia) begins, forcing tens of thousands of Jews to later seek refuge in Palestine and the Western world. Wikipedia
• 1925 Colo-Colo, the most successful and popular soccer football team in the South American nation of Chile, was founded at the El Llano Stadium in San Miguel, Santiago, by footballer David Arellano and some of his teammates who had also left the Deportes Magallanes club. Wikipedia
• 1942 World War II: In German-occupied Poland, the Majdan-Tatarski ghetto is established, situated between the Lublin Ghetto and a Majdanek subcamp. Wikipedia
• 1943 World War II: In German-occupied Poland, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising begins, after German troops enter the Warsaw Ghetto to round up the remaining Jews. Wikipedia
• 1971 Sierra Leone becomes a republic, and Siaka Stevens the president. Wikipedia
• 1971 The Doors released L.A. Woman, their final album during their lead vocalist Jim Morrison's lifetime. Wikipedia
• 1975 India's first satellite Aryabhata launched in orbit from Kapustin Yar, Russia. Wikipedia
• 1975 South Vietnamese forces withdraw from the town of Xuan Loc in the last major battle of the Vietnam War. Wikipedia
• 1975 Aryabhata, India's first satellite, was launched from Kapustin Yar in the Soviet Union. Wikipedia
• 1995 A truck bombing destroyed much of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building (aftermath pictured) in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people and injuring more than 680 others. Wikipedia
• 1995 Oklahoma City bombing: The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, US, is bombed, killing 168 people including 19 children under the age of six. Wikipedia
• 2005 Joseph Alois Ratzinger was elected Pope Benedict XVI on the second day of the papal conclave. Wikipedia
• 2005 Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is elected to the papacy and becomes Pope Benedict XVI. Wikipedia
• 2008 The Quito Ultratumba nightclub fire in Quito, Ecuador, kills 19 people and injures at least 24 more. Wikipedia
• 2011 Fidel Castro resigns as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba after holding the title since July 1961. Wikipedia
• 2020 A series of attacks in Nova Scotia, Canada, ended when the perpetrator was killed by police, leaving 22 victims dead. Wikipedia
• 2020 A killing spree in Nova Scotia, Canada, leaves 22 people and the perpetrator dead, making it the deadliest rampage in the country's history. Wikipedia

Born on April 19

• 1793 Ferdinand I of Austria (died 1875) Wikipedia
• 1832 José Echegaray, Spanish poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1916) Wikipedia
• 1882 Getúlio Vargas, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 14th President of Brazil (died 1954) Wikipedia
• 1912 Glenn T. Seaborg, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1999) Wikipedia
• 1922 Erich Hartmann, German colonel and pilot (died 1993) Wikipedia
• 1932 Fernando Botero, Colombian painter and sculptor (died 2023) Wikipedia
• 1933 Jayne Mansfield, American model and actress (died 1967) Wikipedia
• 1935 Dudley Moore, English actor, comedian, and pianist (died 2002) Wikipedia
• 1937 Joseph Estrada, Filipino politician, 13th President of the Philippines Wikipedia
• 1939 Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran (died 2026) Wikipedia
• 1944 James Heckman, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1946 Tim Curry, English actor and singer (died 2026) Wikipedia
• 1957 Mukesh Ambani, Indian businessman, chairman of Reliance Industries Wikipedia
• 1960 Gustavo Petro, Colombian politician, 34th and current President of Colombia Wikipedia
• 1968 Mswati III, King (Ngwenyama) of Eswatini (Swaziland) Wikipedia
• 1968 Ashley Judd, American actress Wikipedia
• 1972 Rivaldo Vitor Borba Ferreira, Brazilian footballer Wikipedia
• 1978 James Franco, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1979 Kate Hudson, American actress Wikipedia
• 1981 Hayden Christensen, Canadian actor Wikipedia
• 1987 Maria Sharapova, Russian tennis player Wikipedia
• 1987 Joe Hart, English footballer Wikipedia

Died on April 19

• 1560 Philip Melanchthon, German theologian and reformer (born 1497) Wikipedia
• 1588 Paolo Veronese, Italian painter (born 1528) Wikipedia
• 1689 Christina, queen of Sweden (born 1626) Wikipedia
• 1824 Lord Byron, English-Scottish poet and playwright (born 1788) Wikipedia
• 1881 Benjamin Disraeli, English journalist and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1804) Wikipedia
• 1882 Charles Darwin, English biologist and theorist (born 1809) Wikipedia
• 1906 Pierre Curie, French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1859) Wikipedia
• 1914 Charles Sanders Peirce, American mathematician and philosopher (born 1839) Wikipedia
• 1967 Konrad Adenauer, German politician, 1st Chancellor of Germany (born 1876) Wikipedia
• 1998 Octavio Paz, Mexican poet, philosopher, and academic Nobel Prize laureate (born 1914) Wikipedia
• 1999 Hermine Braunsteiner, Austrian-German SS officer (born 1919) Wikipedia
• 2004 Norris McWhirter, English author and activist co-founded the Guinness World Records (born 1925) Wikipedia
• 2013 François Jacob, French biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1920) Wikipedia
• 2021 Walter Mondale, American politician, 42nd Vice President of the United States (born 1928) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Ælfheah of Canterbury (Anglican, Catholic, Orthodox) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Conrad of Ascoli Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Emma of Lesum Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Expeditus Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: George of Antioch Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Olaus and Laurentius Petri (Lutheran) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Pope Leo IX Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Ursmar Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: April 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “April 19” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.