On this day: June 19

Events on June 19

• 1718 At least 73,000 people die in the 1718 Tongwei–Gansu earthquake due to landslides in the Qing dynasty. Wikipedia
• 1811 The Carlton House Fête is held in London to celebrate the establishment of the Regency era. Wikipedia
• 1816 Battle of Seven Oaks between North West Company and Hudson's Bay Company, near Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Wikipedia
• 1838 The Maryland province of the Jesuits contracted to sell 272 slaves to buyers in Louisiana in one of the largest slave sales in American history. Wikipedia
• 1846 The first officially recorded baseball game in U.S. history using modern rules was played in Hoboken, New Jersey, with the "New York Nine" defeating the New York Knickerbockers 23–1. Wikipedia
• 1862 President Abraham Lincoln signs the Territorial Slavery Act of 1862, which prohibits slavery in all current and future United States territories. Wikipedia
• 1865 Over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, slaves in Galveston, Texas, United States, are officially informed of their freedom. The anniversary was officially celebrated in Texas and other states as Juneteenth. On June 17, 2021, Juneteenth officially became a federal holiday in the United States. Wikipedia
• 1875 The Herzegovinian rebellion against the Ottoman Empire begins. Wikipedia
• 1903 Benito Mussolini, at the time a radical Socialist, is arrested by Bern police for advocating a violent general strike. Wikipedia
• 1910 The first Father's Day is celebrated in Spokane, Washington. Wikipedia
• 1926 King Roger, an opera about Roger II of Sicily by Karol Szymanowski, was premiered at the Grand Theatre in Warsaw. Wikipedia
• 1926 King Roger, an opera about Roger II of Sicily by Karol Szymanowski, is premiered at the Grand Theatre in Warsaw. Wikipedia
• 1953 Cold War: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are executed at Sing Sing, in New York. Wikipedia
• 1953 Americans Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed as spies for passing nuclear weapons secrets to the Soviet Union. Wikipedia
• 1961 Kuwait declares independence from the United Kingdom. Wikipedia
• 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is approved after surviving an 83-day filibuster in the United States Senate. Wikipedia
• 1965 Nguyễn Cao Kỳ becomes Prime Minister of South Vietnam at the head of a military junta; General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu becomes the figurehead chief of state. Wikipedia
• 1978 Garfield's first comic strip, originally published locally as Jon in 1976, goes into nationwide syndication. Wikipedia
• 1985 Members of the Revolutionary Party of Central American Workers, dressed as Salvadoran soldiers, attack the Zona Rosa area of San Salvador. Wikipedia
• 1987 The Basque separatist group ETA detonated a car bomb at a Hipercor shopping centre in Barcelona, killing 21 people and injuring 45 others. Wikipedia
• 1988 Pope John Paul II canonizes 117 Vietnamese Martyrs. Wikipedia
• 2005 Only six race cars competed in the United States Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana, after all the Michelin-shod entrants were withdrawn due to safety concerns. Wikipedia
• 2009 War in Afghanistan: British forces began Operation Panther's Claw, in which more than 350 troops made an aerial assault on Taliban positions in southern Afghanistan. Wikipedia
• 2009 War in North-West Pakistan: The Pakistani Armed Forces open Operation Rah-e-Nijat against the Taliban and other Islamist rebels in the South Waziristan area of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Wikipedia
• 2012 WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange requests asylum in London's Ecuadorian Embassy for fear of extradition to the US after publication of previously classified documents including footage of civilian killings by the US army; he will remain there until 2019. Wikipedia
• 2012 Facing allegations of sexual assault in Sweden, Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, requested asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Wikipedia

Born on June 19

• 1301 Prince Morikuni, shōgun of Japan (died 1333) Wikipedia
• 1417 Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, lord of Rimini (died 1468) Wikipedia
• 1566 James VI and I of the United Kingdom (died 1625) Wikipedia
• 1623 Blaise Pascal, French mathematician and physicist (died 1662) Wikipedia
• 1861 José Rizal, Filipino journalist, author, and poet (died 1896) Wikipedia
• 1896 Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor, American wife of the former King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, Duke of Windsor (died 1986) Wikipedia
• 1897 Cyril Norman Hinshelwood, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1967) Wikipedia
• 1906 Walter Rauff, German SS officer (died 1984) Wikipedia
• 1906 Ernst Boris Chain, German-Irish biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1979) Wikipedia
• 1910 Paul Flory, American chemist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1985) Wikipedia
• 1910 Abe Fortas, American lawyer and jurist, associate member of the US Supreme Court (died 1982) Wikipedia
• 1922 Aage Bohr, Danish physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2009) Wikipedia
• 1941 Václav Klaus, Czech economist and politician, 2nd President of the Czech Republic Wikipedia
• 1945 Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese politician, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1945 Radovan Karadžić, Serbian-Bosnian politician and convicted war criminal, 1st President of Republika Srpska Wikipedia
• 1947 Salman Rushdie, Indian-English novelist and essayist Wikipedia
• 1951 Ayman al-Zawahiri, Egyptian terrorist (died 2022) Wikipedia
• 1954 Kathleen Turner, American actress Wikipedia
• 1959 Christian Wulff, German lawyer and politician, 10th President of Germany Wikipedia
• 1964 Boris Johnson, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and former Mayor of London Wikipedia
• 1972 Jean Dujardin, French actor Wikipedia
• 1978 Zoe Saldaña, American actress Wikipedia

Died on June 19

• 404 Huan Xuan, Jin-dynasty warlord and emperor of Huan Chu (born 369) Wikipedia
• 1747 Nader Shah, Persian leader (born 1688) Wikipedia
• 1820 Joseph Banks, English botanist and author (born 1743) Wikipedia
• 1867 Maximilian I of Mexico (born 1832) Wikipedia
• 1937 J. M. Barrie, Scottish novelist and playwright (born 1860) Wikipedia
• 1962 Frank Borzage, American film director and actor (born 1894) Wikipedia
• 1977 Ali Shariati, Iranian sociologist and philosopher (born 1933) Wikipedia
• 1991 Jean Arthur, American actress (born 1900) Wikipedia
• 1993 William Golding, British novelist, playwright, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1911) Wikipedia
• 2013 James Gandolfini, American actor (born 1961) Wikipedia
• 2016 Anton Yelchin, American actor (born 1989) Wikipedia
• 2018 Koko, western lowland gorilla and user of American Sign Language (born 1971) Wikipedia
• 2019 Etika, American YouTuber and streamer (born 1990) Wikipedia
• 2020 Ian Holm, British actor (born 1931) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Deodatus (or Didier) of Nevers (or of Jointures) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Gervasius and Protasius (Catholic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Hildegrim of Châlons Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Juliana Falconieri Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Michelina of Pesaro Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Rémy Isoré Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Romuald Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Ursicinus of Ravenna Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Zosimus Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: June 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• New Church Day Wikipedia
• Day of the Independent Hungary (Hungary) Wikipedia
• Feast of Forest (Palawan) Wikipedia
• Juneteenth (United States) Wikipedia
• Labour Day (Trinidad and Tobago) Wikipedia
• Laguna Day (Laguna) Wikipedia
• Birthday of Jose Gervasio Artigas (Uruguay) Wikipedia
• World Sickle Cell Day (International) Wikipedia
• Anniversary of Kim Jong Il's commencement of work at the Workers' Party Central Committee (DPRK) Wikipedia

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