On this day: February 19

Events on February 19

• 607 Pope Boniface III is consecrated in Rome. Wikipedia
• 1600 Huaynaputina, a stratovolcano in present-day Peru, produced the largest recorded volcanic explosion in South America. Wikipedia
• 1674 England and the Netherlands sign the Treaty of Westminster, ending the Third Anglo-Dutch War. A provision of the agreement transfers the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam to England. Wikipedia
• 1807 Former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr is arrested for treason in Wakefield, Alabama, and confined to Fort Stoddert. Wikipedia
• 1811 Peninsular War: Outnumbered French forces under Édouard Mortier routed and nearly destroyed Spanish troops at the Battle of the Gebora near Badajoz, Spain. Wikipedia
• 1836 King William IV signs Letters Patent establishing the province of South Australia. Wikipedia
• 1846 In Austin, Texas, the newly formed Texas state government is officially installed. The Republic of Texas government officially transfers power to the State of Texas government following the annexation of Texas by the United States. Wikipedia
• 1878 Thomas Edison patents the phonograph. Wikipedia
• 1903 A blockade against Venezuela, caused by President Cipriano Castro's refusal to pay foreign debts, was lifted. Wikipedia
• 1910 Old Trafford, a football stadium in Greater Manchester, England, hosted its inaugural match, between Manchester United and Liverpool. Wikipedia
• 1913 Pedro Lascuráin becomes President of Mexico for 45 minutes; this is the shortest term to date of any person as president of any country. Wikipedia
• 1931 The Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia was dissolved and reformed as the Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, an autonomous republic of the Soviet Union within Georgia. Wikipedia
• 1937 Italian forces began a brutal crackdown on Ethiopians following an attempted assassination of Rodolfo Graziani, the viceroy of Italian East Africa, in Addis Ababa. Wikipedia
• 1942 World War II: U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, authorizing the forcible relocation of over 112,000 Japanese Americans to internment camps. Wikipedia
• 1942 Second World War: In the largest attack mounted by a foreign power against Australia, more than 240 Japanese aircraft bombed the city of Darwin. Wikipedia
• 1942 A book-burning was held and politicians were arrested in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, as part of a simulated Nazi invasion. Wikipedia
• 1945 World War II: Battle of Iwo Jima: About 30,000 United States Marines land on the island of Iwo Jima. Wikipedia
• 1948 The Southeast Asian Youth Conference, which is believed to have inspired armed communist rebellions in different Asian countries, opened in Calcutta, India. Wikipedia
• 1963 Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, a non-fiction book credited with sparking the beginning of second-wave feminism in the United States, was first published. Wikipedia
• 1965 Colonel Phạm Ngọc Thảo of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, along with Generals Lâm Văn Phát and Trần Thiện Khiêm attempted a coup against the military junta of Nguyễn Khánh. Wikipedia
• 2006 A methane explosion in a coal mine in Nueva Rosita, Mexico, trapped and killed 65 miners. Wikipedia
• 2011 Items from the Belitung shipwreck, the largest single collection of Tang-dynasty artefacts found in one location, were first exhibited in Singapore. Wikipedia
• 2012 Mexican drug war: Forty-four inmates died in a prison riot in Apodaca, Mexico, between members of Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel. Wikipedia
• 2020 Nine people are killed in two domestic terrorist shootings in Hanau, Hesse, Germany. Wikipedia
• 2021 Mya Thwe Thwe Khine, a 19-year-old protester, becomes the first known casualty of anti-coup protests that formed in response to the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état. Wikipedia
• 2026 Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor became the first member of the British royal family to be arrested in 379 years. Wikipedia

Born on February 19

• 1473 Nicolaus Copernicus, Prussian mathematician and astronomer (died 1543) Wikipedia
• 1630 Shivaji, Indian warrior-king and the founder of Maratha Empire (died 1680) Wikipedia
• 1833 Élie Ducommun, Swiss journalist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1906) Wikipedia
• 1859 Svante Arrhenius, Swedish physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1927) Wikipedia
• 1865 Sven Hedin, Swedish geographer and explorer (died 1952) Wikipedia
• 1876 Constantin Brâncuși, Romanian-French sculptor, painter, and photographer (died 1957) Wikipedia
• 1896 André Breton, French poet and author (died 1966) Wikipedia
• 1924 Lee Marvin, American actor (died 1987) Wikipedia
• 1940 Saparmyrat Nyýazow, Turkmen engineer and politician, 1st President of Turkmenistan (died 2006) Wikipedia
• 1941 David Gross, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1952 Danilo Türk, Slovene academic and politician, 3rd President of Slovenia Wikipedia
• 1953 Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Argentine lawyer and politician, President of Argentina and Vice President of Argentina Wikipedia
• 1954 Sócrates, Brazilian footballer and manager (died 2011) Wikipedia
• 1960 Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, second son of Elizabeth II Wikipedia
• 1963 Seal, English singer-songwriter Wikipedia
• 1964 Jennifer Doudna, American biochemist Wikipedia
• 1967 Benicio del Toro, Puerto Rican actor, director, and producer Wikipedia
• 1977 Gianluca Zambrotta, Italian footballer and manager Wikipedia
• 1986 Marta, Brazilian footballer Wikipedia
• 1993 Victoria Justice, American actress and singer Wikipedia
• 1993 Mauro Icardi, Argentine footballer Wikipedia
• 2004 Millie Bobby Brown, English actress, model and producer Wikipedia

Died on February 19

• 1837 Georg Büchner, German-Swiss poet and playwright (born 1813) Wikipedia
• 1887 Multatuli, Dutch-German author and civil servant (born 1820) Wikipedia
• 1897 Karl Weierstrass, German mathematician and academic (born 1815) Wikipedia
• 1916 Ernst Mach, Austrian-Czech physicist and philosopher (born 1838) Wikipedia
• 1951 André Gide, French novelist, essayist, and dramatist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1869) Wikipedia
• 1952 Knut Hamsun, Norwegian novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1859) Wikipedia
• 1980 Bon Scott, Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter (born 1946) Wikipedia
• 1988 André Frédéric Cournand, French-American physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1895) Wikipedia
• 1997 Deng Xiaoping, Chinese politician, paramount leader and 1st Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China (born 1904) Wikipedia
• 2000 Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Austrian-New Zealand painter and illustrator (born 1928) Wikipedia
• 2013 Robert Coleman Richardson, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1937) Wikipedia
• 2016 Umberto Eco, Italian novelist, literary critic, and philosopher (born 1932) Wikipedia
• 2016 Harper Lee, American author (born 1926) Wikipedia
• 2019 Karl Lagerfeld, German fashion designer (born 1933) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Army Day (Mexico) Wikipedia
• Brâncuși Day (Romania) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Barbatus of Benevento Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Boniface of Brussels Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Conrad of Piacenza Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Elisabetta Picenardi Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Lucy Yi Zhenmei (one of Martyrs of Guizhou) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: February 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Commemoration of Vasil Levski (Bulgaria) Wikipedia
• Shivaji Jayanti (Maharashtra, India) Wikipedia

Sources

• Wikipedia — “February 19” — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/February 19” — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikidata — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “February 19” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for February 19 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.