On this day: November 19

Events on November 19

• 636 The Rashidun Caliphate defeats the Sasanian Empire at the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah in Iraq. Wikipedia
• 1646 The current Saint Peter's Basilica is consecrated in Rome, replacing an earlier basilica on the same site. Wikipedia
• 1802 The Garinagu arrive at British Honduras (present-day Belize). Wikipedia
• 1863 American Civil War: U.S. president Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Wikipedia
• 1863 American Civil War: U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address at the dedication ceremony for the military cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Wikipedia
• 1881 A meteorite lands near the village of Grossliebenthal, southwest of Odesa, Ukraine. Wikipedia
• 1941 World War II: The Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney and the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran destroyed each other in the Indian Ocean. Wikipedia
• 1941 World War II: Battle between HMAS Sydney and HSK Kormoran. The two ships sink each other off the coast of Western Australia, with the loss of 645 Australians and about 77 German seamen. Wikipedia
• 1942 World War II: Soviet troops launched Operation Uranus at the Battle of Stalingrad with the goal of encircling Axis forces, turning the tide of the battle in their favour. Wikipedia
• 1942 World War II: Battle of Stalingrad: Soviet Union forces under General Georgy Zhukov launch the Operation Uranus counterattacks at Stalingrad, turning the tide of the battle in the USSR's favor. Wikipedia
• 1943 The Holocaust: Nazis liquidate Janowska concentration camp in Lemberg (Lviv), western Ukraine, murdering at least 6,000 Jews after a failed uprising and mass escape attempt. Wikipedia
• 1944 World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces the sixth War Loan Drive, aimed at selling US$14 billion in war bonds to help pay for the war effort. Wikipedia
• 1946 Afghanistan, Iceland and Sweden join the United Nations. Wikipedia
• 1950 US General Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes Supreme Commander of NATO-Europe. Wikipedia
• 1969 Apollo program: Apollo 12 astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean land at Oceanus Procellarum (the "Ocean of Storms") and become the third and fourth humans to walk on the Moon. Wikipedia
• 1969 Association football player Pelé scores his 1,000th goal. Wikipedia
• 1969 Playing for Santos against Vasco da Gama in Rio de Janeiro, Brazilian footballer Pelé scored his thousandth goal. Wikipedia
• 1979 Iran hostage crisis: Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini orders the release of 13 female and black American hostages being held at the US Embassy in Tehran. Wikipedia
• 1984 San Juanico disaster: A series of explosions at the Pemex petroleum storage facility at San Juan Ixhuatepec in Mexico City starts a major fire and kills about 500 people. Wikipedia
• 1985 The first of five summits between Soviet general secretary Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. president Ronald Reagan began in Geneva. Wikipedia
• 1985 Cold War: In Geneva, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev meet for the first time. Wikipedia
• 1988 Serbian communist representative and future Serbian and Yugoslav president Slobodan Milošević publicly declares that Serbia is under attack from Albanian separatists in Kosovo as well as internal treachery within Yugoslavia and a foreign conspiracy to destroy Serbia and Yugoslavia. Wikipedia
• 1993 A factory fire killed 87 and injured 51 in Shenzhen, China. Wikipedia
• 1998 Clinton–Lewinsky scandal: The United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee begins impeachment hearings into U.S. President Bill Clinton. Wikipedia
• 2001 The Aviation and Transportation Security Act is enacted by the 107th United States Congress in the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Act created the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Wikipedia
• 2013 A double suicide bombing at the Iranian embassy in Beirut kills 23 people and injures 160 others. Wikipedia

Born on November 19

• 1600 Charles I of England, Scotland, and Ireland (died 1649) Wikipedia
• 1711 Mikhail Lomonosov, Russian physicist, chemist, astronomer, and geographer (died 1765) Wikipedia
• 1805 Ferdinand de Lesseps, French diplomat and engineer, developed the Suez Canal (died 1894) Wikipedia
• 1828 Rani Lakshmibai, Indian queen (died 1858) Wikipedia
• 1831 James A. Garfield, American general, lawyer, and politician, 20th President of the United States (died 1881) Wikipedia
• 1875 Mikhail Kalinin, Russian civil servant and politician, 1st Head of State of The Soviet Union (died 1946) Wikipedia
• 1877 Giuseppe Volpi, Italian businessman and politician, founded the Venice Film Festival (died 1947) Wikipedia
• 1887 James B. Sumner, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1955) Wikipedia
• 1888 José Raúl Capablanca, Cuban-American chess player and theologian (died 1942) Wikipedia
• 1906 Franz Schädle, German SS officer (died 1945) Wikipedia
• 1909 Peter Drucker, Austrian-American theorist, educator, and author (died 2005). Wikipedia
• 1912 George Emil Palade, Romanian-American biologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2008) Wikipedia
• 1915 Earl Wilbur Sutherland, Jr., American pharmacologist and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1974) Wikipedia
• 1917 Indira Gandhi, Indian politician, 3rd Prime Minister of India (died 1984) Wikipedia
• 1925 Zygmunt Bauman, Polish-English sociologist, historian, and academic (died 2017) Wikipedia
• 1933 Larry King, American journalist and talk show host (died 2021) Wikipedia
• 1936 Yuan T. Lee, Taiwanese-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1938 Ted Turner, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Turner Broadcasting System (died 2026) Wikipedia
• 1954 Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Egyptian field marshal and politician, 6th President of Egypt Wikipedia
• 1961 Meg Ryan, American actress and producer Wikipedia
• 1962 Jodie Foster, American actress, director, and producer Wikipedia
• 1976 Jack Dorsey, American businessman, co-founded Twitter Wikipedia

Died on November 19

• 496 Pope Gelasius I Wikipedia
• 498 Pope Anastasius II Wikipedia
• 1092 Malik-Shah I, Seljuk Sultan (born 1055) Wikipedia
• 1665 Nicolas Poussin, French-Italian painter (born 1594) Wikipedia
• 1785 Bernard de Bury, French harpsichord player and composer (born 1720) Wikipedia
• 1828 Franz Schubert, Austrian pianist and composer (born 1797) Wikipedia
• 1850 Richard Mentor Johnson, American colonel, lawyer, and politician, 9th Vice President of the United States (born 1780) Wikipedia
• 1942 Bruno Schulz, Polish painter and critic (born 1892) Wikipedia
• 2001 Marcelle Ferron, Canadian painter and stained glass artist (born 1924) Wikipedia
• 2004 John Vane, English pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1927) Wikipedia
• 2013 Frederick Sanger, English biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1918) Wikipedia
• 2014 Mike Nichols, German-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1931) Wikipedia
• 2017 Charles Manson, American cult leader and mass murderer (born 1934) Wikipedia
• 2023 Rosalynn Carter, American mental health activist, First Lady of the United States (1977–1981), and of Georgia (1971–1975) (born 1927) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Blessed Giacomo Benefatti Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Mechthild of Hackeborn Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Obadiah (Eastern Catholic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Raphael Kalinowski Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Severinus, Exuperius, and Felician Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: November 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Day of Discovery of Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico) Wikipedia
• Day of Missile Forces and Artillery (Russia, Belarus) Wikipedia
• Flag Day (Brazil) Wikipedia
• Garifuna Settlement Day (Belize) Wikipedia
• International Men's Day Wikipedia
• Liberation Day (Mali) Wikipedia
• Martyrs' Day (Uttar Pradesh, India) Wikipedia
• The Sovereign Prince's Day (Monaco) Wikipedia
• World Toilet Day Wikipedia

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