On this day: February 19

Events on February 19

• 1819 British explorer William Smith discovers the South Shetland Islands. 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
• 1884 More than sixty tornadoes strike the Southern United States, one of the largest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history. Wikipedia
• 1910 Old Trafford, a football stadium in Greater Manchester, England, hosted its inaugural match, between Manchester United and Liverpool. Wikipedia
• 1915 World War I: The first naval attack on the Dardanelles begins when a strong Anglo-French task force bombards Ottoman artillery along the coast of Gallipoli. Wikipedia
• 1937 Yekatit 12: During a public ceremony at the Viceregal Palace (the former Imperial residence) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, two Ethiopian nationalists of Eritrean origin attempt to kill viceroy Rodolfo Graziani with a number of grenades. 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 World War II: Nearly 250 Japanese warplanes attack the northern Australian city of Darwin, killing 243 people. Wikipedia
• 1942 World War II: United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs executive order 9066, allowing the United States military to relocate Japanese Americans to internment camps. Wikipedia
• 1942 A book-burning was held and politicians were arrested in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, as part of a simulated Nazi invasion. Wikipedia
• 1943 World War II: Battle of Kasserine Pass in Tunisia begins. 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
• 1948 The Conference of Youth and Students of Southeast Asia Fighting for Freedom and Independence convenes in Calcutta. Wikipedia
• 1959 The United Kingdom grants Cyprus independence, which is formally proclaimed on August 16, 1960. Wikipedia
• 1976 Executive Order 9066, which led to the relocation of Japanese Americans to internment camps, is rescinded by President Gerald Ford's Proclamation 4417. Wikipedia
• 1978 Egyptian forces raid Larnaca International Airport in an attempt to intervene in a hijacking, without authorisation from the Republic of Cyprus authorities. The Cypriot National Guard and Police forces kill 15 Egyptian commandos and destroy the Egyptian C-130 transport plane in open combat. Wikipedia
• 1985 A Boeing 727 operating as Iberia Flight 610 crashes Mount Oiz in Spain, killing 148; it is the deadliest accident to occur in Iberia's history and the deadliest to occur in Basque County. Wikipedia
• 1986 Akkaraipattu massacre: the Sri Lankan Army massacres 80 Tamil farm workers in eastern Sri Lanka. Wikipedia
• 1989 Flying Tiger Line Flight 066 crashes into a hill near Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Malaysia, killing four. Wikipedia
• 2002 NASA's Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system. Wikipedia
• 2011 The debut exhibition of the Belitung shipwreck, containing the largest collection of Tang dynasty artifacts found in one location, begins in Singapore. Wikipedia
• 2020 Nine people are killed in two domestic terrorist shootings in Hanau, Hesse, Germany. 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
• 1943 Tim Hunt, English biochemist and academic, Nobel 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
• 1956 Roderick MacKinnon, American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1960 Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, second son of Elizabeth II Wikipedia
• 1964 Jennifer Doudna, American biochemist Wikipedia
• 1967 Benicio del Toro, Puerto Rican actor, director, and producer 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

• 197 Clodius Albinus, Roman usurper (born 150) Wikipedia
• 446 Leontius of Trier, Bishop of Trier Wikipedia
• 1275 Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, Sufi philosopher and poet (born 1177) Wikipedia
• 1445 Eleanor of Aragon, queen of Portugal (born 1402) 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
• 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
• 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

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 2026-10-09 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.