On this day: August 19

Events on August 19

• 43 BC In the wake of the murder of Julius Caesar, his nephew and heir, Octavian, uses the threat of military force to compel the Roman Senate to elect him Consul. Wikipedia
• 947 Abu Yazid, a Kharijite rebel leader, is defeated and killed in the Hodna Mountains in modern-day Algeria by Fatimid forces. Wikipedia
• 1561 Mary, Queen of Scots, aged 18, returns to Scotland after spending 13 years in France. Wikipedia
• 1691 An Imperial army under Ludwig of Baden defeats the Ottomans in the battle of Slankamen. Wikipedia
• 1725 J. S. Bach led the first performance of Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren, BWV 137, a cantata setting the unchanged text of Neander's hymn. Wikipedia
• 1725 J. S. Bach leads the first performance of Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren, BWV 137, a cantata setting the unchanged text of Neander's hymn. Wikipedia
• 1848 California Gold Rush: The New York Herald breaks the news to the East Coast of the United States of the gold rush in California (although the rush started in January). Wikipedia
• 1862 Dakota War: During an uprising in Minnesota, Lakota warriors decide not to attack heavily defended Fort Ridgely and instead turn to the settlement of New Ulm, killing white settlers along the way. Wikipedia
• 1927 Patriarch Sergius of Moscow proclaims the declaration of loyalty of the Russian Orthodox Church to the Soviet Union. Wikipedia
• 1934 A referendum supported the recent merging of the posts of chancellor and president of Germany, consolidating Adolf Hitler's assumption of supreme power. Wikipedia
• 1934 The German referendum of 1934 approves Adolf Hitler's appointment as head of state with the title of Führer. Wikipedia
• 1936 The Great Purge of the Soviet Union begins when the first of the Moscow Trials is convened. Wikipedia
• 1942 World War II: Operation Jubilee (The Dieppe Raid): The 2nd Canadian Infantry Division leads an amphibious assault by allied forces on Dieppe, France and fails. Wikipedia
• 1953 Cold War: The CIA and MI6 help to overthrow the government of Mohammad Mosaddegh in Iran and reinstate the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Wikipedia
• 1960 Sputnik program: Korabl-Sputnik 2: The Soviet Union launches the satellite with the dogs Belka and Strelka, 40 mice, two rats and a variety of plants. Wikipedia
• 1981 Silvio Santos launches a new Brazilian television channel in São Paulo, Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão. Wikipedia
• 1989 Polish president Wojciech Jaruzelski nominates Solidarity activist Tadeusz Mazowiecki to be the first non-communist prime minister in 42 years. Wikipedia
• 1991 Crown Heights riot in New York City begins. Wikipedia
• 1999 In Belgrade, Yugoslavia, tens of thousands of Serbians rally to demand the resignation of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia President Slobodan Milošević. Wikipedia
• 2003 A truck-bomb attack on United Nations headquarters in Iraq kills the agency's top envoy Sérgio Vieira de Mello and 21 other employees. Wikipedia
• 2003 A car bomb destroyed the United Nations headquarters at Baghdad's Canal Hotel, killing Brazilian diplomat Sérgio Vieira de Mello and 21 others. Wikipedia
• 2003 Shmuel HaNavi bus bombing: A suicide attack on a bus in Jerusalem, planned by Hamas, kills 23 Israelis, seven of them children. Wikipedia
• 2004 Google Inc. has its initial public offering on Nasdaq. Wikipedia
• 2009 A series of bombings in Baghdad, Iraq, kills 101 and injures 565 others. Wikipedia
• 2010 Operation Iraqi Freedom ends, with the last of the United States brigade combat teams crossing the border to Kuwait. Wikipedia
• 2017 Tens of thousands of farmed non-native Atlantic salmon are accidentally released into the wild in Washington waters in the 2017 Cypress Island Atlantic salmon pen break. Wikipedia

Born on August 19

• 232 Marcus Aurelius Probus, Roman emperor (died 282) Wikipedia
• 1631 John Dryden, English poet, literary critic and playwright (died 1700) Wikipedia
• 1646 John Flamsteed, English astronomer and academic (died 1719) Wikipedia
• 1700 Bajirao I, 7th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire. (died 1740) Wikipedia
• 1743 Madame du Barry, French mistress of Louis XV (died 1793) Wikipedia
• 1835 Tom Wills, Australian cricketer and pioneer of Australian rules football (died 1880) Wikipedia
• 1871 Orville Wright, American engineer and pilot, co-founded the Wright Company (died 1948) Wikipedia
• 1878 Manuel L. Quezon, Filipino soldier, lawyer, and politician, 2nd President of the Philippines (died 1944) Wikipedia
• 1883 Coco Chanel, French fashion designer, founded the Chanel Company (died 1971) Wikipedia
• 1906 Philo Farnsworth, American inventor, invented the Fusor, key figure in the invention of television (died 1971) Wikipedia
• 1910 Saint Alphonsa, first woman of Indian origin to be canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church (died 1946) Wikipedia
• 1915 Peter Kemp, British soldier, mercenary, and writer (died 1993) Wikipedia
• 1921 Gene Roddenberry, American screenwriter and producer (died 1991) Wikipedia
• 1924 Willard Boyle, Canadian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2011) Wikipedia
• 1945 Ian Gillan, English singer-songwriter Wikipedia
• 1946 Bill Clinton, American lawyer and politician, 40th and 42nd Governor of Arkansas, 42nd President of the United States Wikipedia
• 1951 John Deacon, English bass player and songwriter Wikipedia
• 1955 Patricia Scotland, Baroness Scotland of Asthal, Dominica-born English lawyer and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales Wikipedia
• 1967 Satya Nadella, Indian-American business executive, chairman and CEO of Microsoft Wikipedia
• 1969 Matthew Perry, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (died 2023) Wikipedia
• 1973 Marco Materazzi, Italian footballer and manager Wikipedia
• 1987 Nico Hülkenberg, German racing driver Wikipedia

Died on August 19

• 14 Augustus, Roman emperor (born 63 BC) Wikipedia
• 1470 Richard Olivier de Longueil, French cardinal (born 1406) Wikipedia
• 1493 Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1415) Wikipedia
• 1580 Andrea Palladio, Italian architect, designed the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore and Il Redentore (born 1508) Wikipedia
• 1662 Blaise Pascal, French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher (born 1623) Wikipedia
• 1923 Vilfredo Pareto, Italian sociologist and economist (born 1845) Wikipedia
• 1936 Federico García Lorca, Spanish poet, playwright, and director (born 1898) Wikipedia
• 1954 Alcide De Gasperi, Italian journalist and politician, 30th Prime Minister of Italy (born 1881) Wikipedia
• 1968 George Gamow, Ukrainian-American physicist and cosmologist (born 1904) Wikipedia
• 1977 Groucho Marx, American comedian and actor (born 1890) Wikipedia
• 1980 Otto Frank, German-Swiss businessman, father of Anne Frank (born 1889) Wikipedia
• 1994 Linus Pauling, American chemist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1901) Wikipedia
• 2012 Tony Scott, English-American director and producer (born 1944) Wikipedia
• 2013 Abdul Rahim Hatif, Afghan politician, 8th President of Afghanistan (born 1926)[citation needed] Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Afghan Independence Day, commemorates the Treaty of Rawalpindi in 1919, granting independence from Britain (Afghanistan) Wikipedia
• August Revolution Commemoration Day (Vietnam) Wikipedia
• Birthday of Crown Princess Mette-Marit (Norway) Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Bertulf of Bobbio Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Saint Calminius Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Ezequiél Moreno y Díaz Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Feast of the Transfiguration (Julian calendar), and its related observances: Buhe (Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church) Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Feast of the Transfiguration (Julian calendar), and its related observances: Saviour's Transfiguration, popularly known as the "Apples Feast" (Russian Orthodox Church and Georgian Orthodox Church) Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Jean-Eudes de Mézeray Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Louis of Toulouse Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Maginus Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Magnus of Anagni Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Magnus of Avignon Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Sebaldus Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: August 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Manuel Luis Quezón Day (Quezon City and other places in the Philippines named after Manuel L. Quezon) Wikipedia
• National Aviation Day (United States) Wikipedia
• World Humanitarian Day Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “August 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.