On this day in History - Feb. 19

• 0003 - Sadiq Hidajat was born. Persian writer (Blind Person Owl).
• 0197 - Roman Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies.
• 0197 - Clodius Albinus dies. Roman governor of Britain.
• 0607 - Boniface III becomes Pope.
• 0842 - The Medieval Iconoclastic Controversy ended, when a Council in Constantinople formally reinstated the veneration of images (icons) in the churches.
• 1133 - Irene Ducaena dies (b. 1066). Wife of Alexius I Comnenus.
• 1405 - Tamerlán dies at about 68. Mongols monarch.
• 1449 - Leonor de Aragão dies (b. 1402). Queen of Portugal.
• 1473 - Nicolaus Copernicus was born (d. 1543). Polish mathematician and astronomer.
• 1479 - Antonello da Messina dies. Italian painter.
• 1526 - Charles de L'Ecluse was born (d. 1609). Flemish botanist.
• 1552 - Melchior Klesl was born (d. 1630). Austrian cardinal and statesman.
• 1553 - Erasmus Reinhold dies at the age of 41. German mathematician.
• 1589 - Saint Philothei dies (b. 1522). Orthodox martyr and Patron of Athens.
• 1594 - Having already inherited the throne of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth through his mother Catherine Jagellonica of Poland, Sigismund III of the House of Vasa is crowned King of Sweden, succeeding his father John III of Sweden.
• 1600 - The Peruvian stratovolcano Huaynaputina exploded in the most violent eruption in the recorded history of South America.
• 1602 - Philippe Emmanuel, Duke of Mercoeur dies (b. 1558). French soldier.
• 1605 - Orazio Vecchi dies (b. 1550). Italian composer.
• 1620 - Roemer Visscher dies (b. 1547). Dutch writer.
• 1622 - Sir Henry Savile dies (b. 1549). English educator.
• 1626 - Francesco Redi was born (d. 1697). Physician, refuted abiogenesis.
• 1630 - Shivaji was born (d. 1680). Founder of the Maratha Empire.
• 1649 - Segunda Batalha dos Guararapes, no Brasil, em que o exército holandês que ocupava Pernambuco, no Nordeste do Brasil, é derrotado pelo exército de Francisco Barreto. A primeira batalha tinha sido travada no ano anterior, com vitória portuguesa.
• 1653 - Luigi de Rossi dies (b. 1597). Italian composer.
• 1660 - Friedrich Hoffmann was born (d. 1742). German physician and chemist.
• 1663 - Adam Adami dies (b. 1603). German bishop and diplomat.
• 1670 - King Frederick III of Denmark dies (b. 1609).
• 1672 - Charles Chauncy dies b. 1592). English-born president of Harvard College.
• 1674 - England and the Netherlands sign the Peace of Westminster, ending the Third Anglo-Dutch War. A provision of the agreement transfers the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam to England, which renamed it New York.
• 1709 - Tokugawa Tsunayoshi dies (b. 1646). The fifth shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan.
• 1716 - Dorthe Engelbrechtsdatter dies (b. 1634). Norwegian poet.
• 1717 - David Garrick was born (d. 1779). British actor.
• 1722 - Tiphaigne de la Roche was born (d. 1774). French writer.
• 1743 - Luigi Boccherini was born (d. 1805). Italian composer.
• 1766 - Em Portugal, começa a funcionar o Colégio dos Nobres, criado por carta régia em 7 de Março de 1761.
• 1780 - Richard McCarty was born (d. 1844). American politician.
• 1789 - Nicholas Van Dyke dies (b. 1738). American lawyer and President of Delaware.
  
• 1799 - Jean-Charles de Borda dies (b. 1733). French mathematician, physicist, political scientist, and sailor.
• 1802 - Wilhelm Matthias Näff was born (d. 1881). Member of the Swiss Federal Council.
• 1804 - Carl Freiherr von Rokitansky was born (d. 1878). German physician.
• 1804 - David Wark was born (d. 1905). Canadian politician and Senator.
• 1806 - Elizabeth Carter dies (b. 1717). English writer.
• 1807 - Río de la Plata: una junta militar confiere el mando supremo a Santiago de Liniers.
• 1807 - In Alabama, Former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr is arrested for treason.
• 1819 - British explorer William Smith discovered the South Shetland Islands, and claimed them in the name of King George III.
• 1821 - August Schleicher was born (d. 1868). German linguist.
• 1822 - Jeronymo Francisco de Lima dies at the age of 78. Composer.
• 1833 - Élie Ducommun was born (d. 1906). Swiss journalist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
  
• 1836 - Felipe Santiago Salaverry dies executed in Arequipa. Peruvian general and President of Peru (1835-1836).
• 1837 - Georg Büchner dies (b. 1813). German playwright.
• 1846 - In Austin, Texas the newly-formed Texas state government is officially installed.
• 1847 - The Donner Party is rescued. It is noted that some of the survivors seem to be remarkably well-fed considering their ordeal.
• 1852 - The Phi Kappa Psi fraternity is founded at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Penns.
• 1856 - The tintype photographic process was patented by Professor Hamilton L. Smith of Gambier, OH. ylvania.
• 1859 - Svante Arrhenius was born (d. 1927). Swedish chemist, Nobel Prize laureate in 1903.
• 1861 - Serfdom is abolished in Russia.
• 1864 - Knights of Pythias founded at Washington, DC by Justus H. Rathbone.
• 1865 - Sven Hedin was born (d. 1952). Swedish explorer.
• 1868 - Venancio Flores is assassinated (b. 18 May 1808). Uruguyan general and President of Uruguay from 1854 to 1855 (interim) and from 1865 to 1868.
• 1873 - Vasil Levski dies (b 1837). Bulgarian revolutionary.
• 1876 - Constantin Brancusi was born (d. 1957). Romanian sculptor.
• 1877 - Gabriele Münter was born (d. 1962). German painter, member of Blaue Reiter.
• 1878 - The phonograph is patented by Thomas Edison.
• 1880 - Alvaro Obregon was born (d. 1928). Mexican president.
• 1881 - Kansas became the first U.S. state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages.
• 1887 - Multatuli dies (b. 1820). Dutch writer.
• 1888 - José Eustasio Rivera was born (d. 1928). Colombian writer.
• 1893 - Sir Cedric Hardwicke was born (d. 1964). British actor.
• 1895 - Louis Calhern was born (d. 1956). American actor.
• 1896 - André Breton was born (d. 1966). French poet.
• 1897 - Alma Rubens was born (d. 1931). American actress.
• 1897 - Karl Weierstraß dies (b. 1815). German mathematician.
• 1899 - Yury Olesha was born (d. 1960). Russian novelist.
• 1900 - Giorgos Seferis was born (d. 1971). Greek writer, Nobel laureate.
• 1902 - The smallpox vaccination became obligatory in France.
• 1902 - Kay Boyle was born (d. 1992). American writer.
• 1904 - Havank was born (d. 1964). Dutch writer.
• 1906 - William Kellogg founds his breakfast cereal company .
• 1911 - Merle Oberon was born (d. 1979). British actress.
• 1912 - Saul Chaplin was born (d. 1997). American composer.
• 1912 - Stan Kenton was born (d. 1979). American musician.
• 1913 - Prizes are included in Cracker Jack candy boxes for the first time.
• 1913 - Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza was born. Pretender to the title Emperor of Brazil.
  
• 1914 - Jacques Dufilho was born (d. 2005). French comedian.
• 1915 - World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli began.
• 1916 - Eddie Arcaro was born (d. 1997). American jockey.
• 1916 - Ernst Mach dies (b.1838). Austrian-Czech physicist and philosopher.
• 1917 - Carson McCullers was born (d. 1967). American author.
• 1920 - Netherlands joined the League of Nations.
• 1920 - Jaan Kross was born. Estonian writer.
• 1920 - George Rose was born (d. 1988). British music hall entertainer.
• 1920 - C. Z. Guest was born (d. 2003). American socialite.
• 1924 - Lee Marvin was born (d. 29 Aug 1987). Academy Award-winning Best Actor: Cat Ballou [1965]; The Caine Mutiny, The Dirty Dozen, Delta Force, Ship of Fools.
• 1924 - David Bronstein was born. Ukrainian chess player.
• 1924 - Bruce Norris was born (d. 1986). National Hockey League executive.
• 1927 - Robert Fuchs dies (b. 1847). Austrian composer.
• 1928 - Malcolm Cambell establece una nueva marca de velocidad automovilística: 333,061 km/h.
• 1928 - The second Winter Olympic Games closed in St Moritz, Switzerland.
• 1929 - Jacques Deray was born (d. 2003). French film director.
• 1930 - John Frankenheimer was born (d. 2002). American film director (Days of Wine and Roses, Birdman of Alcatraz, The French Connection, The Manchurian Candidate).
• 1934 - Carole Eastman was born (d. 2004). American screenwriter.
• 1936 - Sam Myers was born (d. 2006). American musician and songwriter.
• 1936 - Martha Rocha was born. Miss Brazil 1954.
• 1936 - Marin Sorescu was born (d. 1997). Romanian writer and novelist.
• 1936 - Manuel Azaña became the Spanish premier.
• 1936 - Billy Mitchell dies (b. 1879). American general and military aviation pioneer.
• 1936 - Max Schreck dies (b. 1879). German actor.
• 1936 - Charles Harding Firth dies (b. 1857). British historian.
• 1937 - During a public ceremony at the Viceregal Palace (the former Imperial residence) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, two Eritrean nationalists attempt to kill viceroy Rodolfo Graziani with a number of grenades.
• 1937 - Robert "Bilbo" Walker Jr. was born. American blues guitarist.
  
• 1937 - Horacio Quiroga dies (b. 31 Dec 1897). Uruguyan writer.
• 1939 - Alfredo Bryce-Echenique was born. Peruvian novelist .
• 1939 - Gwen Taylor was born. English actress.
• 1940 - Smokey Robinson was born, in Detroit, Michigan. American singer, songwriter, producer.
• 1940 - Saparmurat Niyazov was born (d. 2006). President of Turkmenistan.
• 1941 - David Gross was born. American physicist, Nobel laureate.
  
• 1941 - World War II: The Afrika Korps, the corps-level headquarters controlling the German Panzer divisions in North Africa, was formed.
• 1942 - World War II: About 250 Japanese warplanes attack Darwin, Australia.
• 1942 - Japanese troops landed on Timor.
• 1942 - World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the executive order 9066, allowing the United States military to relocate Japanese-Americans to Japanese internment camps.
• 1942 - Paul Krause was born. American football player .
• 1942 - Frank Abbandando dies executed (b. 1910). American gangster.
• 1943 - World War II: Battle of the Kasserine Pass in Tunisia began.
• 1943 - Lou Christie was born. American singer.
• 1943 - Homer Hickam was born. American author and retired NASA engineer.
  
• 1943 - Tim Hunt was born. British biochemist, Nobel laureate.
  
• 1944 - German submarine U-264 sank off Ireland.
• 1945 - World War II: Battle of Iwo Jima - about 30,000 United States Marines landed on Iwo Jima starting the battle.
• 1945 - Michael Nader was born. American actor.
• 1946 - Peter Hudson was born. Australian rules footballer.
• 1946 - Karen Silkwood was born (d. 1974). American activist.
• 1946 - Paul Dean was born. Canadian guitarist (Loverboy).
• 1947 - Tim Shadbolt was born. Mayor of Invercargill, New Zealand.
  
• 1948 - Pim Fortuyn was born (d. 2002). Dutch politician.
• 1948 - Tony Iommi was born. British musician (Black Sabbath).
• 1948 - Big John Studd was born (d. 1995). American professional wrestler.
• 1948 - La Cámara belga aprueba la concesión del voto a la mujer.
• 1949 - Ezra Pound is awarded the first Bollingen Prize in poetry by the Bollingen Foundation and Yale University.
• 1949 - Mass arrests of communists took place in India.
• 1949 - Dan Bunten was born (d. 1998). American software developer
• 1950 - Andy Powell was born. British musician.
• 1951 - Stephen Nichols was born. American actor
• 1951 - Tahir-ul-Qadri was born. Pakistani Islamic scholar
• 1951 - André Gide dies (b. 1869). French writer, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1952 - Amy Tan was born. American novelist.
• 1952 - Rodolfo Neri Vela was born. Mexican astronaut.
• 1952 - Knut Hamsun dies (b. 1859). Norwegian author, Nobel Prize for Literature in 1920 .
• 1953 - Censorship: Georgia approves the first literature censorship board in the United States.
• 1953 - Cristina Elisabet Fernández was born. Argentinian politician
• 1953 - Massimo Troisi was born (d. 1994). Italian actor.
• 1954 - Socrates was born. Brazilien football player .
• 1955 - Jeff Daniels was born. American actor ( Speed, Dumb and Dumber, Radio Days, Something Wild, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Terms of Endearment, Ragtime).
• 1956 - Roderick MacKinnon was born. American biologist, Nobel laureate
• 1956 - Kathleen Beller was born. American actress
• 1957 - Falco [Johann Holzel] was born (d. in a car accident 6 Feb 1998). Austrian singer.
• 1957 - Ray Winstone was born. British actor.
• 1957 - Maurice Garin dies (b. 1871). French cyclist.
• 1959 - Gabon adopted its constitution.
• 1959 - The United Kingdom grants Cyprus its independence, which is then on formally proclaimed on August 16, 1960.
• 1959 - Diogo de Macedo dies (b. 1889). Portuguese sculptor and writer.
• 1960 - Leslie Ash was born. English actress.
• 1960 - Prince Andrew [Albert Christian Edward] was born, second son of Queen Elizabeth II .
• 1961 - Justin Fashanu was born (d. 1998). English footballer.
• 1962 - Hana Mandlikova was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, tennis coach, former tennis player. (1985 US Open).
• 1962 - John Laroche was born. American orchid poacher.
• 1962 - Georgios Papanikolaou dies (b. 1883). Greek doctor, inventor of the Pap smear.
• 1963 - Seal [Henry Samuel] was born. English singer.
• 1963 - Robert Frost won the Bollingen Prize.
• 1963 - Laurell K. Hamilton was born. American writer.
• 1964 - Paul Simon writes "The Sounds of Silence," the song which, in a year and a half, will catapult him and Art Garfunkel to stardom as Simon & Garfunkel.
• 1964 - Dmitri Lipskerov was born. Russian writer.
• 1964 - Sonu Walia was born. Indian actress.
• 1965 - Gheorge Gheorghiu Dej dies at the age of 63. Romanian President, at the age of 63.
• 1965 - Mário Beirão dies in Lisbon (b. in Beja, 01 May 1890). Portuguese poet.
• 1966 - Justine Bateman was born. American actress.
• 1966 - Paul Haarhuis was born. Dutch tennis player.
• 1966 - Enzo Scifo was born. Belgian footballer.
• 1967 - Benicio Del Toro was born in Puerto Rico. Actor (Licence to Kill, Usual Suspects).
• 1968 - Georg Hackenschmidt dies (b. 1878). Estonian professional wrestler.
• 1969 - Burton C. Bell was born. American vocalist.
• 1969 - Madge Blake dies (b. 1899). American actress.
• 1971 - Miguel Batista was born. Dominican baseball player.
• 1971 - Gil Shaham was born. Israeli/American violinist.
• 1972 - Francine was born. American professional wrestler.
• 1972 - John Grierson dies (b. 1898). Scottish documentary filmmaker.
• 1972 - Tedd Pierce dies (b. 1906). American animator.
• 1973 - Kostas Negrepontis dies (b. 1897). Greek footballer.
• 1973 - Joseph Szigeti dies (b. 1892). Hungarian violinist.
• 1974 - Danny Doring was born. American professional wrestler.
• 1975 - Daewon Song was born. Korean professional skateboarder.
• 1975 - Mikko Kavén was born. Finnish footballer
• 1975 - Katja Schuurman was born. Dutch actress and singer
• 1975 - Francisco Keil do Amaral dies (b. 28 Apr 1910). Portuguese architect and composer, who also wrote the national anthem of Portugal.
• 1975 - Luigi Dallapiccola dies (b. 1904). Italian composer.
• 1976 - Henry Kissinger, secretário de Estado dos Estados Unidos e considerado um gênio da diplomacia internacional, visita o Brasil.
• 1976 - Guatemala: unos fuertes seísmos causan entre 25.000 y 30.000 victimas .
• 1976 - Iceland breaks off diplomatic relations with Britain over the 'cod war' .
• 1976 - Frente Polisario formed the Democratic Republic of Sahara.
• 1977 - Gianluca Zambrotta was born. Italian footballer.
• 1977 - Ola Salo was born. Swedish singer (The Ark).
• 1977 - Mike González dies (b. 1890). Cuban baseball player.
• 1977 - Anthony Crosland dies (b. 1918). British politician.
• 1978 - Egyptian forces raid Larnaca International Airport, in an attempt to intervene in a hijacking situation, without authorisation from the Republic of Cyprus authorities. The Cypriot National Guard and Police forces kill 15 Egyptian commandos and destroy the Egyptian C-130 transport plane in open combat.
• 1978 - Immortal Technique was born. American rapper.
• 1978 - Michalis Konstantinou was born. Greek-Cypriot footballer.
• 1979 - Mariska was born. Finnish rapper.
• 1979 - Clinton Morrison was born. Irish footballer.
• 1979 - Mariana Ochoa was born. Mexican singer and actress.
• 1979 - Eva-Maria Bisschop was born. Belgian pop star.
• 1979 - Steve Cherundolo was born. American soccer player.
• 1980 - Neleh Dennis was born. American Survivor contestant.
• 1980 - Mike Miller was born. American basketball player.
• 1980 - Ma Lin was born. Chinese table tennis player.
• 1980 - Bon Scott dies (b. 1946). Australian musician ("AC/DC").
• 1981 - Gil Reyes was born. American boxer.
• 1981 - Nicky Shorey was born. English footballer.
• 1981 - Ronnie Arniell was born. Canadian professional wrestler.
• 1981 - Beth Dittowas born. American singer (The Gossip).
• 1981 - Gil Reyes was born. American boxer.
• 1981 - Nicky Shorey was born. English footballer
• 1981 - Vitas was born. Russian singer.
• 1983 - Assunta De Rossi was born. Filipino actress
• 1983 - Mika Nakashima was born. Japanese singer/actress.
• 1983 - Alice White dies (b. 1904). American film actress.
• 1984 - The 14th Winter Olympic Games ended at Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. The Soviet Union led all countries with 25 medals.
• 1984 - Chris Richardson was born. American Idol finalist.
  1985 - Artificial heart patient William J. Schroeder becomes the first such patient to leave hospital.
• 1985 - Artificial heart recipient William J. Schroeder becomes the first such patient to leave hospital.
• 1985 - Iberia Airlines Boeing 727 crashes into Mount Oiz in Spain, killing 148.
• 1985 - Comienza en Bercy, París, el primer mundial de atletismo bajo techo.
• 1985 - EastEnders first airs on televisions across the United Kingdom, on the first night of a major ident change for BBC1.
• 1985 - Arielle Kebbel was born. American actress.
• 1985 - Haylie Duff was born. American singer/actress.
• 1986 - The Soviet Union launches the Mir space station.
• 1986 - After waiting 37 years, the United States Senate approves a treaty outlawing genocide.
• 1986 - Henri Karjalainen was born. Finnish racing driver.
• 1986 - Jayde Nicole was born. Canadian model.
• 1986 - Kyle Chipchura was born. Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1986 - Maria Mena was born. Norwegian singer.
• 1986 - Marta was born. Brazilian footballer.
• 1986 - Reon Kadena was born. Japanese model/actress.
• 1986 - Adolfo Celi dies (b. 1922). Italian actor.
• 1987 - Carolina Pavanelli was born. Brazilian actress.
• 1988 - André Frédéric Cournand dies (b. 1895). French-born physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• 1992 - North and South Korea officially end their 40 year confrontation.
• 1993 - Victoria Justice was born. American actress.
• 1994 - Bombas danificam seis lojas em Londres e o grupo terrorista irlandês – IRA - declara-se responsável.
• 1994 - Derek Jarman dies (b. 1942). British film director.
• 1995 - Irina Privalova ran an indoor woman's European record 200 metres in 22.10 seconds.
• 1996 - Antonio Creus dies (b. 1924). Spanish racecar driver.
• 1996 - Charles O. Finley dies (b. 1918). American sports entrepreneur.
• 1997 - Deng Xiaoping dies (b. 1904). Chinese Communist leader and revolutionary.
• 1997 - Leo Rosten dies (b. 1908). American Yiddish writer and humorist.
• 1997 - António Gedeão dies (b. 24 Nov 1906). Portuguese poet.
• 1997 - Deng Xiaoping dies (b. 1904). Chinese Communist political leader and revolutionary (b. 1904). He ruled China from 1978 until he retired from his last official post in 1990, but his influence remained supreme until his death.
• 1998 - John Acheson dies. British actor.
• 1998 - Grandpa Jones dies (b. 1913). American entertainer.
• 1999 - Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr dies assassinated. Iraqi Shiite leader.
• 1999 - Octavio Pato dies. Portuguese politician- PCP (Portuguese Communist Party).
• 1999 - Dennis Franz receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
• 2000 - Friedensreich Hundertwasser dies (b. 1928). Austrian artist.
• 2001 - Priscilla Davis dies (b. 1942) former Fort Worth, Texas socialite
• 2001 - Stanley Kramer dies (b. 1913). American director.
• 2001 - Charles Trenet dies (b. 1913). French singer .
• 2001 - An Oklahoma City bombing museum is dedicated at the Oklahoma City National Memorial.
• 2002 - NASA's Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system.
• 2002 - Around 300 people were killed when a train caught fire in Egypt.
• 2003 - Johnny Paycheck dies (b. 1938). American country music singer .
• 2004 - Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal was awarded an honorary knighthood in recognition of a "lifetime of service to humanity."
• 2004 - Clark Byers dies. American sign maker .
• 2004 - Hermann Krings dies. German philosopher.
• 2005 - 350 inmates escape from a prison in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
• 2005 - An earthquake, registering 6.9 on the Richter scale, strikes South East Sulawesi, Indonesia at 00:04 UTC.
• 2006 - The Rolling Stones made the largest show open to the public of the world in Copacabana beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 1.3 million people went to the show.
• 2007 - Three Salvadoran deputies to the Central American Parliament and their driver are murdered in Guatemala.
• 2007 - Celia Franca dies (b. 1921). Founder of National Ballet of Canada.
  
• 2007 - Janet Blair dies (b. 1921). American actress.
• 2008 - Fidel Castro announces that he will resign as President of Cuba.
• 2008 - Lydia Shum dies (b. 1945). Hong Kong comedian and actress.
  
• 2008 - Yegor Letov dies (b. 1964). Russian song writer and singer.
  
• 2009 – Kelly Groucutt dies (b. 1945). Bass guitarist and singer for the band Electric Light Orchestra.
• 2009 – Miika Tenkula dies (b. 1974). Finnish guitarist for the band Sentenced.
• Chaoflux (Discordianism).