On this day: September 19

Events on September 19

• 96 Nerva, suspected of complicity of the death of Domitian, is declared emperor by Senate. The Senate then annuls laws passed by Domitian and orders his statues to be destroyed. Wikipedia
• 1356 Hundred Years' War: English forces led by Edward the Black Prince decisively won the Battle of Poitiers and captured John II of France. Wikipedia
• 1622 Imperial-Spanish forces under the count of Tilly and Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba capture Heidelberg, the capital of the Palatinate during the Thirty Years' War. Wikipedia
• 1777 American Revolutionary War: British forces win a tactically expensive victory over the Continental Army in the First Battle of Saratoga. Wikipedia
• 1862 American Civil War: Union troops under William Rosecrans defeat a Confederate force commanded by Sterling Price. Wikipedia
• 1863 American Civil War: The Battle of Chickamauga began in northwestern Georgia and would end in the most significant Union defeat in the Western Theater. Wikipedia
• 1916 World War I: During the East African Campaign, colonial forces of the Belgian Congo (Force Publique) under the command of Charles Tombeur capture the town of Tabora after heavy fighting. Wikipedia
• 1918 The battle of Megiddo begins in which British forces attack the right flank of the Ottoman army during World War I. Wikipedia
• 1926 Football stadium San Siro is inaugurated in Milan, Italy Wikipedia
• 1939 World War II: The Battle of Kępa Oksywska concludes, with Polish losses reaching roughly 14% of all the forces engaged. Wikipedia
• 1940 World War II: Polish resistance leader Witold Pilecki allowed himself to be captured by German forces and sent to Auschwitz to gather intelligence. Wikipedia
• 1940 World War II: Witold Pilecki is voluntarily captured and sent to Auschwitz concentration camp to gather and smuggle out information for the resistance movement. Wikipedia
• 1944 World War II: Finland, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom signed the Moscow Armistice to end the Continuation War. Wikipedia
• 1946 The Council of Europe is founded following a speech by Winston Churchill at the University of Zurich. Wikipedia
• 1950 Korean War: A North Korean attack was repelled by Allied forces at the Battle of Nam River. Wikipedia
• 1950 Korean War: An attack by North Korean forces was repelled at the Battle of Nam River. Wikipedia
• 1960 Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistani President Ayub Khan sign the Indus Waters Treaty for the control and management of the Indus, Chenab, Jhelum, Ravi, Sutlej and Beas rivers. Wikipedia
• 1970 Greek student Kostas Georgakis set himself on fire in Genoa, Italy, as a protest against the military junta of Georgios Papadopoulos. Wikipedia
• 1978 The Solomon Islands join the United Nations. Wikipedia
• 1983 Saint Kitts and Nevis gains its independence. Wikipedia
• 1985 An earthquake registering Mw 8.0 struck Mexico City, killing at least 9,000 people and leaving up to 100,000 homeless. Wikipedia
• 1991 Ötzi, a well-preserved natural mummy of a man dating from about 3300 BC, was discovered by two German tourists in the Alps. Wikipedia
• 2021 The Cumbre Vieja volcano, on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, erupts. The eruption lasts for almost three months, ending on December 13. Wikipedia
• 2022 A strong earthquake kills 2 and injures over 30 in Mexico's state of Michoacán. Wikipedia
• 2022 The state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom is held at Westminster Abbey, London. Wikipedia
• 2023 Azerbaijan launches a military offensive against the Republic of Artsakh in the Nagorno-Karabakh region; this leads to the flight of the Armenian population. Wikipedia

Born on September 19

• 86 Antoninus Pius, Roman emperor (died 161) Wikipedia
• 866 Leo VI the Wise, Byzantine emperor (died 912) Wikipedia
• 931 Mu Zong, emperor of the Liao Dynasty (died 969) Wikipedia
• 1377 Albert IV, Duke of Austria (died 1404)[citation needed] Wikipedia
• 1551 Henry III of France (died 1589) Wikipedia
• 1802 Lajos Kossuth, Hungarian journalist, lawyer, and politician, Governor-President of Hungary (died 1894) Wikipedia
• 1898 Giuseppe Saragat, Italian lawyer and politician, 5th President of Italy (died 1988) Wikipedia
• 1921 Paulo Freire, Brazilian philosopher, theorist, and academic (died 1997) Wikipedia
• 1922 Emil Zátopek, Czech runner (died 2000) Wikipedia
• 1926 Masatoshi Koshiba, Japanese physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2020) Wikipedia
• 1934 Brian Epstein, English businessman, The Beatles manager (died 1967) Wikipedia
• 1941 Cass Elliot, American singer-songwriter, actress, comedian, and television personality (died 1974) Wikipedia
• 1941 Umberto Bossi, Italian politician (died 2026) Wikipedia
• 1948 Jeremy Irons, English actor, winner of multiple accolades (Oscar, Tony, Emmy, Golden Globe) Wikipedia
• 1963 David Seaman, English footballer Wikipedia
• 1967 Aleksandr Karelin, Russian wrestler and politician Wikipedia
• 1974 Jimmy Fallon, American comedian, television host, actor, singer, writer, and producer Wikipedia
• 1977 Ryan Dusick, American musician and record producer Wikipedia
• 1982 Eduardo Carvalho, Portuguese footballer Wikipedia
• 1985 Song Joong-ki, South Korean actor Wikipedia
• 1986 Sally Pearson, Australian athlete and hurdler Wikipedia
• 1990 Kieran Trippier, English footballer Wikipedia

Died on September 19

• 1710 Ole Rømer, Danish astronomer and instrument maker (born 1644) Wikipedia
• 1812 Mayer Amschel Rothschild, German banker (born 1744) Wikipedia
• 1843 Gaspard-Gustave de Coriolis, French mathematician, physicist, and engineer (born 1792) Wikipedia
• 1881 James A. Garfield, American general, lawyer, and politician, and the 20th President of the United States (born 1831) Wikipedia
• 1902 Masaoka Shiki, Japanese poet, author, and critic (born 1867) Wikipedia
• 1935 Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Russian scientist and engineer (born 1857) Wikipedia
• 1944 Guy Gibson, British commander, Victoria Cross recipient (born 1918) Wikipedia
• 1978 Étienne Gilson, French historian and philosopher (born 1884) Wikipedia
• 1985 Italo Calvino, Italian novelist, short story writer, and journalist (born 1923) Wikipedia
• 1987 Einar Gerhardsen, Norwegian civil servant and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Norway (born 1897) Wikipedia
• 2019 Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisian soldier, politician, 2nd President of Tunisia (born 1936) Wikipedia
• 2020 John Turner, Canadian politician, 17th Prime Minister of Canada (born 1929) Wikipedia
• 2021 Jimmy Greaves, English footballer (born 1940) Wikipedia
• 2026 Sandro Mazzola, Italian footballer and sportscaster (born 1942) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Alonso de Orozco Mena Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Emilie de Rodat Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Francisca Cualladó Baixauli Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Goeric of Metz Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Januarius (Western Christianity) Feast of San Gennaro Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Maria de Cervelló Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Our Lady of La Salette Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Theodore of Tarsus (Anglican Communion, Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Trophimus, Sabbatius, and Dorymedon Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: September 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Armed Forces Day (Chile) Wikipedia
• Day of the First Public Appearance of the Slovak National Council Wikipedia
• Second day of Fiestas Patrias (Chile) Wikipedia
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Saint Kitts and Nevis from the United Kingdom in 1983. Wikipedia
• International Talk Like a Pirate Day Wikipedia

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