On this day: January 19

Events on January 19

• 1419 Hundred Years' War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England, completing his reconquest of Normandy. Wikipedia
• 1511 War of the League of Cambrai: Troops led by Pope Julius II captured Mirandola after a brief siege. Wikipedia
• 1795 The Batavian Republic was established the day after William V fled the Dutch Republic as a result of the Batavian Revolution in Amsterdam. Wikipedia
• 1839 The British East India Company captures Aden. Wikipedia
• 1853 Giuseppe Verdi's opera Il trovatore receives its premiere performance in Rome. Wikipedia
• 1861 American Civil War: Georgia joins South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama in declaring secession from the United States. Wikipedia
• 1901 Queen Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom, is stricken with paralysis. She dies three days later at the age of 81. Wikipedia
• 1909 A deed was recorded for David Hanbury to sell Island No. 2 in northern California to his brother John for $10 ($358.33 in 2025). Wikipedia
• 1915 World War I: The first major attack of the German bombing campaign against Britain took place when Zeppelins bombed several towns in Norfolk. Wikipedia
• 1920 The American Civil Liberties Union was founded by the directors of the National Civil Liberties Bureau. Wikipedia
• 1945 World War II: Soviet forces liberate the Łódź Ghetto. Of more than 200,000 inhabitants in 1940, fewer than 900 had survived the Nazi occupation. Wikipedia
• 1960 Japan and the United States sign the US–Japan Mutual Security Treaty Wikipedia
• 1966 Indira Gandhi becomes India's first female prime minister. Wikipedia
• 1972 The French newspaper L'Aurore revealed that the former Nazi SS officer Klaus Barbie, the "Butcher of Lyon", had been found to be living in Peru. Wikipedia
• 1975 An earthquake registering 6.8 Ms struck northern Himachal Pradesh in India, causing extensive damage to the region. Wikipedia
• 1977 Iva Toguri, convicted of treason for broadcasting Japanese propaganda, was granted a full pardon by U.S. president Gerald Ford. Wikipedia
• 1978 The last Volkswagen Beetle made in Germany leaves VW's plant in Emden. Beetle production in Latin America continues until 2003. Wikipedia
• 1981 Iran hostage crisis: United States and Iranian officials sign an agreement to release 52 American hostages after 14 months of captivity. Wikipedia
• 1993 Czech Republic and Slovakia join the United Nations. Wikipedia
• 1996 A tank barge and a tug grounded on a beach in Rhode Island, causing a spill of an estimated 828,000 U.S. gallons (3.13 million litres) of home heating oil. Wikipedia
• 1997 Yasser Arafat returns to Hebron after more than 30 years and joins celebrations over the handover of the last Israeli-controlled West Bank city. Wikipedia
• 2006 In the deadliest aviation accident in Slovak history, an Antonov An-24 operated by the Slovak Air Force crashed in northern Hungary, killing 42 of the 43 people on board. Wikipedia
• 2007 Turkish-Armenian journalist and human-rights activist Hrant Dink was assassinated by a Turkish nationalist in Istanbul. Wikipedia
• 2007 A four-man team, using only skis and kites, completed a 1,093-mile (1,759 km) trek to reach the Southern Pole of Inaccessibility, the first people to get there since 1967, and the first to do so on foot. Wikipedia
• 2012 The Hong Kong–based file-sharing website Megaupload was shut down by the FBI. Wikipedia
• 2025 Bytedance and sister companies are banned from the United States for "security concerns". Wikipedia

Born on January 19

• 1200 Dōgen Zenji, founder of Sōtō Zen (died 1253) Wikipedia
• 1544 Francis II of France (died 1560) Wikipedia
• 1736 James Watt, Scottish chemist and engineer (died 1819) Wikipedia
• 1798 Auguste Comte, French economist, sociologist, and philosopher (died 1857) Wikipedia
• 1807 Robert E. Lee, American Confederate general (died 1870) Wikipedia
• 1809 Edgar Allan Poe, American short story writer, poet, and critic (died 1849) Wikipedia
• 1839 Paul Cézanne, French painter (died 1906) Wikipedia
• 1863 Werner Sombart, German economist and sociologist (died 1941) Wikipedia
• 1912 Leonid Kantorovich, Russian mathematician and economist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1986) Wikipedia
• 1920 Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, Peruvian politician and diplomat, 135th Prime Minister of Peru (died 2020) Wikipedia
• 1921 Patricia Highsmith, American novelist and short story writer (died 1995) Wikipedia
• 1936 Ziaur Rahman, Bangladeshi general and politician, seventh President of Bangladesh (died 1981) Wikipedia
• 1943 Janis Joplin, American singer-songwriter (died 1970) Wikipedia
• 1946 Dolly Parton, American singer-songwriter and actress (died 2026) Wikipedia
• 1946 Julian Barnes, English novelist, short story writer, essayist, and critic Wikipedia
• 1966 Stefan Edberg, Swedish tennis player and coach Wikipedia
• 1980 Jenson Button, English racing driver Wikipedia
• 1982 Pete Buttigieg, American politician Wikipedia
• 1985 Damien Chazelle, American film director, screenwriter, and producer Wikipedia
• 1986 Claudio Marchisio, Italian footballer Wikipedia
• 1992 Logan Lerman, American actor Wikipedia
• 1994 Matthias Ginter, German footballer Wikipedia

Died on January 19

• 639 Dagobert I, Frankish king (born 603) Wikipedia
• 1729 William Congreve, English playwright and poet (born 1670) Wikipedia
• 1865 Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, French philosopher and politician (born 1809) Wikipedia
• 1874 August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, German poet and scholar (born 1798) Wikipedia
• 1906 Bartolomé Mitre, Argentinian historian and politician, sixth President of Argentina (born 1821) Wikipedia
• 1938 Branislav Nušić, Serbian author, playwright, and journalist (born 1864) Wikipedia
• 1990 Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Indian guru and mystic (born 1931) Wikipedia
• 2000 Hedy Lamarr, Austrian-American actress, singer, and mathematician (born 1914) Wikipedia
• 2000 Bettino Craxi, Italian lawyer and politician, 45th Prime Minister of Italy (born 1934) Wikipedia
• 2002 Vavá, Brazilian footballer and manager (born 1934) Wikipedia
• 2007 Hrant Dink, Turkish-Armenian journalist and activist (born 1954) Wikipedia
• 2008 Suzanne Pleshette, American actress (born 1937) Wikipedia
• 2017 Miguel Ferrer, American actor (born 1955) Wikipedia
• 2026 Valentino, Italian fashion designer, founder of Valentino (born 1932) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Bassianus of Lodi Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Faustina and Liberata of Como Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Henry of Uppsala Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Marius, Martha, Audifax, and Abachum Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Mark of Ephesus (Eastern Orthodox Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Pontianus of Spoleto Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: January 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Confederate Heroes Day (Texas), and its related observance: Robert E. Lee Day (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi) Wikipedia
• Husband's Day (Iceland) Wikipedia
• Kokborok Day (Tripura, India) Wikipedia
• Theophany / Epiphany (Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy), and its related observances: Timkat, or 20 during Leap Year (Ethiopian Orthodox) Wikipedia
• Theophany / Epiphany (Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy), and its related observances: Vodici or Baptism of Jesus (North Macedonia) Wikipedia

Sources

• Wikipedia — “January 19” — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/January 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 “January 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 January 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.