On this day - Mar 19

• 1279 - Mongolian victory in the Battle of Yamen ends the Song Dynasty in China.
• 1286 - King Alexander III of Scotland, dies, (b. 1241) .
• 1313 - Execução de Jacques de Molay, Grão-Mestre da Ordem dos Templários, em França.
• 1413 - King Henry IV of England, dies .
• 1434 - Ashikaga Yoshikatsu, was born, Ashikaga shogun (b. 1443) .
• 1534 - Nascimento do Padre José de Anchieta , em San Cristóbal de La Laguna-Canárias, fundador da cidade de São Paulo, no Brasil. Ficou conhecido como 'O Apóstolo do Brasil' .
• 1604 - Johan IV composer/king of Portugal (1640-56) was born.
• 1623 - Uesugi Kagekatsu, dies, Japanese samurai and warlord (b. 1556) .
• 1629 - Aleksei M Romanov 1st Romanov tsar of Russia, was born.
• 1644 - 200 members of Peking imperial family/court commit suicide .
• 1673 - Pedro Vaz Rego was born, composer .
• 1684 - Jean Astruc, was born, French physician and scholar, (d. 1766) .
• 1687 - Explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle, searching for the mouth of the Mississippi River, is murdered by his own men.
• 1721- Tobias Smollett, was born, Scottish Pope Clement XI [Giovanni F Albani], Italian Pope (1700-21), , dies, (b. 1649).
• 1721 - Em Setúbal, registou-se a entrada de 40 embarcações holandesas para carregar sal
  1752 - Jose Mauricio Nunes Garcia, was born (d. 18 Apr 1830). Brazilien composer .
• 1808 - Carlos IV abdica la corona de España en su hijo Fernando VII.
• 1809 - Nikolai Gogol, was born .
• 1812 - Las Cortes de Cádiz juran la primera Constitución española.
• 1812 - Juramento da Constituição espanhola em Cádis. Ficará conhecida pela la Pepa.
• 1813 - David Livingstone, was born, missionary and explorer, (d. 1873).
• 1818 - Acción de Cancha Rayada, por la independencia de Chile.
• 1821 - Sir Richard Burton was born. Explorer/translator (Arabian Nights) .
• 1823 - Levantamiento en Veracruz del general Santa Anna contra el emperador Itúrbide.
• 1831 - The City Bank of New York becomes the site of the first bank robbery in United States history ($245,000 taken).
• 1845 - Nace José Pedro Varela, escritor y político uruguayo.
• 1848 - Wyatt Earp, was born, policeman, gunfighter, (d. 1929) .
• 1849 - Alfred von Tirpitz, was born, German soldier, (d. 1930).
• 1851 - Nace Roque Sáenz Peña, ideólogo de la ley de voto secreto y obligatorio en Argentina. Presidente da Argentina (1910-1914).
• 1853 - China: los Taiping se apoderan de Nanking y proclama a esta ciudad capital del país.
• 1861 - The First Taranaki War ends in New Zealand.
• 1864 - Charles Marion Russell, was born, artist, (d. 1926).
• 1865 - American Civil War: The Battle of Bentonville begins. By the end of the battle two days later the Confederate forces have retreated from Greenville, North Carolina.
• 1865 - William Morton Wheeler, was born, US entomologist, myrmecologist, pioneer in ethology, (d. 1937) .
• 1872 - Nasceu o russo Serguei Diaghilev, responsável pelos Ballets Russos .
• 1873 - Max Reger, was born, composer, (d. 1916) .
• 1882 - Colocación de la primera piedra del templo de la Sagrada Familia, en Barcelona, obra cumbre del arquitecto Gaudí.
• 1883 - Joseph Stilwell, was born, US general, (d. 1946) .
• 1888 - Josef Albers, was born, artist (d. 1976) .
• 1889 - Nasceu o Rei D. Manuel II [ Manoel II was born, last king of Portugal(1908-1910)].
• 1891 - Fallece el pintor Georges Seurat.
• 1891 - Earl Warren, was born, Chief Justice of the United States, (d. 1974) .
• 1894 - Joe Venuti, was born, jazz musician and violinist, (d. 1978) .
• 1894 - Moms Mabley, was born, comedienne, (d. 1975).
• 1898 - Joao da Cruz - Brazilian poet, dies at 26 .
• 1900 - Frédéric Joliot, was born, physicist and winner of 1935 Nobel Prize in chemistry, (d. 1958) .
• 1905 - Fallece Rafael María Merchán, escritor y político cubano.
• 1905 - Albert Speer, was born, Nazi official, (d. 1981) .
• 1906 - Adolf Eichmann, was born, Nazi official, (d. 1962) .
• 1909 - Louis Hayward, was born, actor, (d. 1985) .
• 1913 - Nace Hernán Siles Zuazo, ex presidente de Bolivia.
• 1913 - Ocupación de Tetuán por las tropas españolas durante la guerra de Marruecos.
• 1914- Jay Berwanger, was born, American football star, winner of the first Heisman Trophy, (d. 2002).
• 1915 - Pluto is photographed for the first time but was not recognized as a planet.
• 1916 - Irving Wallace, was born, novelist, (d. 1990). .
• 1916 - Eight American planes take off in pursuit of Pancho Villa, the first United States air-combat mission in history.
• 1917 - Dinu Lipatti, was born, pianist, (d. 1950).
• 1918 - The U.S. Congress establishes time zones and approves daylight saving time.
• 1919 - Sangrienta represión a indígenas del Gran Chaco.
• 1920 - Kjell Aukrust, was born, Norwegian author .
• 1920 - The United States Senate rejects the Treaty of Versailles for the second time (first time was on November 19, 1919).
• 1921 - Alfredo Zayas es elegido presidente de Cuba.
• 1921- Tommy Cooper, was born, comedy magician .
• 1922 - Colocación de la primera piedra de la plaza de toros de Madrid.
• 1928 - Hans Küng, was born, theologian .
• 1928 - Patrick McGoohan, was born, actor .
• 1930 - Ornette Coleman, was born, musician .
• 1932 - Sydney Harbour Bridge opens.
• 1933 - Plebiscito do projecto de Constituição Política da República apresentado pelo governo de Salazar e que marcou o início do Estado Novo em Portugal. O projecto mereceu o apoio de 59, 3 % da população, tendo-se 40,2 % abstido.
• 1933 - Philip Roth, was born, author .
• 1934 - La Cámara de Representantes de los EEUU aprueba la concesión de la independencia a las islas Filipinas.
• 1936 - Ursula Andress, was born, actress Berne Switzerland, actress (Dr No, She, Sensuous Nurse) .
• 1937 - Texas (EEUU): 738 personas muertas por una explosión de gas en una escuela.
• 1937 - Horacio Quiroga Uruguayan author/poet, commits suicide at 58 .
• 1939 - Lloyd L. Gaines, dies, civil rights activist, (b. c. 1913) .
• 1939 - Joe Kapp, was born, US football star .
• 1942 - The Thoroughbred Racing Association is established in Chicago, Illinois.
• 1943 - Nace José Legrá, ex boxeador cubano español.
• 1943 - Mario Monti, was born, aka "Super Mario" .
• 1944 - World War II: Nazi forces occupy Hungary.
• 1944 - Said Musa, was born, Prime Minister of Belize .
• 1944 - Sirhan Sirhan, was born, assassin .
• 1945 - World War II: Off the coast of Japan, a dive bomber hits the aircraft carrier USS Franklin, killing 800 of her crew and crippling the ship.
• 1945 - World War II: Adolf Hitler issues his "Nero Decree" ordering all industries, military installations, shops, transportation facilities and communications facilities in Germany be destroyed.
• 1946 - French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion become overseas départements of France.
• 1946 - Bigas Luna director/writer (Anguish) was born .
• 1947 - Glenn Close, was born, actress .
• 1953 - 25th Academy Awards: "Greatest Show on Earth", Gary Cooper & Shirley Booth win (1st time televised) .
• 1954 - Joey Giardello knocks out Willie Tory in round seven at Madison Square Garden in the first televised prize boxing fight shown in color.
• 1955 - Bruce Willis, was born, actor .
• 1958 - Em Estrasburgo, realizou-se a primeira reunião do Parlamento Europeu .
• 1962 - Algerian War of Independence: A ceasefire takes effect.
• 1962 - Arturo Frondizi, presidente de Argentina, es depuesto por el Ejército.
• 1963 - Se suscribe la "Cumbre de San José", de la que emana la Declaración de Costa Rica.
• 1965 - Chivu Stoica becomes President of the Council of Romanian People's Republic & Nicolae Ceausescu appointed 1st Secretary of Romanian communist party.
• 1965 - Indonesia nationalizes all foreign oil companies .
• 1968 - Mário Soares é preso pela PIDE e deportado posteriormente para a ilha de São Tomé.
• 1969 - Connor Trinneer, was born, actor .
• 1977 - Nace el ciclista argentino Sebastián Alexandre.
• 1972 - India and Bangladesh sign a friendship treaty.
• 1977 - Nace el ciclista argentino Sebastián Alexandre.
• 1978 - UN Security Council Resolution 425 and 426 were passed, calling upon Israel immediately to cease its military action and withdraw its forces from all Lebanese territory (Operation Litani), and established the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
• 1978 - Gaston Julia, dies, mathematician, (Julia Sets).
• 1979 - The United States House of Representatives begins broadcasting its day-to-day business via the cable television network C-SPAN.
• 1980 - Tamara de Lempicka, dies, art deco painter, (b. 1898) .
• 1981 - Three workers are killed and five injured during a test of the Space Shuttle Columbia.
• 1982 - Falklands War: Argentines land on South Georgia Island, precipitating war.
• 1982 - Randy Rhoads, dies, guitarist of Quiet Riot (b. 1956) .
• 1987 - Following a scandal involving Jessica Hahn, televangelist Jim Bakker resigns from the PTL.
• 1987 - É assinado em Pequim o acordo final para a devolução de Macau à China.
• 1987 - Louis-Victor de Broglie, dies, French physicist and winner 1929 of the Nobel Prize in Physics, (b. 1892) .
• 1989 - Alan Civil, dies, English French horn player (b. 1929) .
• 1992 - Foi anunciada a separação dos Duques de York .
• 1992 - Guatemala y la CE firman un convenio para desarrollar las telecomunicaciones en Centroamérica.
• 1994 - Fallece Irvin Flores, líder nacionalista portorriqueño.
• 1995 - Finland Social-Democratic Party wins parliamentary election .
• 1996 - Winnie Mandela divorces Nelson after 38 years of marrage.
• 1997 - Willem de Kooning, dies, artist, (b. 1904) .
• 1999 - Mueren el escritor José Agustín Goytisolo y la tonadillera Juanita Reina.
• 2002 - U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda ends (started on March 2) after killing 500 Taliban and al Qaeda fighters with 11 allied troop fatalities.
• 2003 - Michael Mathias Prechtl, dies, illustrator .
• 2003 - The invasion of Iraq begins (with the time difference, it actually begins on March 20 at 0100 UTC) .
• 2004 - Äänekoski bus disaster - A long-distance lorry and a bus crash head-on in Äänekoski, Finland. 24 people are killed and 13 injured.
• 2004 - A Swedish DC-3 shot down by a Russian Mig-15 in the 1950s is finally recovered after years of work. The remains of the crew are left in place, pending further investigations.
• 2004 - Taiwanese president Chen Shui-ban is shot just before the country's presidential election on March 20. See 3-19 Shooting Incident.
• 2004 - Mitchell Sharp, dies, former Canadian Liberal cabinet minister (b. 1911) .