February 19

February 19 is the 50th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 315 days remaining until the end of the year (316 in leap years).

Events

Up to 1900

197 – Septimius Severus becomes lone Emperor of the Roman Empire.
357 – Emperor Constantius II issues a decree closing all Pagan temples in the Roman Empire.
1594 – Polish–Lithuanian King Sigismund III Vasa is crowned King of Sweden.
1600 – Peruvian stratovolcano Huaynaputina explodes in a violent eruption.
1674 – England and the Netherlands sign the Treaty of Westminster to end the Third Anglo-Dutch War. As part of the deal, New Amsterdam is transferred to English control, leading to it being renamed as New York.
1771 – Charles Messier discovers the Messier 49 Galaxy.
1803 – Thomas Jefferson recognises Ohio as the 17th US State. This is only made official later.
1807 – Former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr is arrested in Alabama on charges of treason.
1819 – Explorer William Smith discovers the South Shetland Islands near Antarctica.
1845 – The US annexes Texas.
1860 – Passenger steamer "Hungarian" of the Canadian–British Allan Line is tossed against cliffs on Sable Island, Nova Scotia, Eastern Canada, killing all 205 people on board.
1861 – Serfdom is abolished in Russia.
1878 – Thomas Edison patents the phonograph.
1884 – Over 60 tornadoes hit the Southern United States.

1901 – 2000

1915 – The first naval attack on the Dardanelles begins when a strong Anglo–French force bombs Ottoman artillery along the coast of Gallipoli.
1928 – The Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland, end.
1942 – World War II: 250 Japanese warplanes bomb the city of Darwin in Australia's Northern Territory, killing 243 people.
1942 – United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues Order 9066, leading to the moving of Japanese Americans to internment camps.
1945 – World War II: 30,000 United States Marines land on Iwo Jima (Battle of Iwo Jima)
1959 – The United Kingdom grants Cyprus independence, which it gains on August 16, 1960.
1960 – China successfully launches the T–7, the first sounding rocket.
1960 – German skier Georg Thoma becomes the first person from outside Scandinavia to win the Olympic gold medal in the Nordic Combined event, at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California.
1968 – Mister Rogers' Neighborhood airs its first episode on PBS with host Fred Rogers
1976 – United States President Gerald Ford reverses Order 9066, which had Japanese Americans being moved to internment camps.
1978 – At least 10 Egyptian commandos are killed in a gun battle with Greek Cypriot soldiers at Larnaca Airport in Cyprus.
1985 – Iberia Airlines Flight 610 crashes near Bilbao, killing all 148 people on board.
1985 – William J. Schroeder becomes the first person to both receive an artificial heart and be able to leave hospital.
1985 – EastEnders is first broadcast on the BBC.
1986 – The Soviet Union launches the Mir spacecraft.
1986 – The Sri Lankan Army massacres 80 Tamil farm workers in the eastern Province.

From 2001

2001 – Foot and Mouth Disease is discovered at an abattoir in Essex, leading to an outbreak across the United Kingdom.
2001 – The Oklahoma City bombing museum is officially opened.
2002 – NASA's Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars, using its thermal imaging system.
2003 – An Ilyushin II–76 military aircraft crashes near Kerman, Iran, killing 275 people.
2006 – A methane explosion at a coal mine near Nueva Rosita, Mexico, kills 65 people.
2008 – Fidel Castro announces his resignation as President of Cuba. His brother, Raul Castro, succeeds him.
2010 – Chemical Element 112 is named Copernicium.
2011 – The first exhibition of the Belitung Shipwreck, containing the largest collection of Tang Dynasty artefacts found in one location, begins in Singapore.
2012 – Iran suspends oil exports to the United Kingdom and France, in response to an embargo imposed by the EU.
2012 – Joachim Gauck is put forward as the main candidate to succeed Christian Wulff as President of Germany.

Births

Up to 1900

1473 – Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish astronomer and mathematician (d. 1543)
1626 – February 18/19 – Francesco Redi, physician (d. 1697)
1630 – Shivaji, founder of the Maratha Empire (d. 1680)
1660 – Friedrich Hoffmann, physician and chemist (d. 1742)
1717 – David Garrick, actor (d. 1779)
1733 – Daniel Solander, Swedish botanist (d. 1782)
1743 – Luigi Boccherini, Italian composer (d. 1805)
1754 – Vincenzo Monti, Italian writer (d. 1828)
1789 – William Fairbairn, Scottish engineer (d. 1874)
1798 – Allan MacNab, Canadian politician (d. 1862)
1799 – Ferdinand Reich, German chemist and physicist (d. 1882)
1802 – Wilhelm Matthias Näff, member of the Swiss Federal Council (d. 1881)
1804 – David Wark, Canadian politician and Senator (d. 1905)
1817 – King William III of the Netherlands (d. 1890)
1821 – August Schleicher, German linguist (d. 1868)
1833 – Elie Ducommun, Swiss journalist (d. 1906)
1843 – Adelina Patti, Italian opera singer (d. 1919)
1855 – Nishinoumi Kajiro I, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1908)
1859 – Svante Arrhenius, Swedish chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1927)
1863 – Augusto B. Leguia, President of Peru (d. 1932)
1865 – Sven Hedin, Swedish scientist and adventurer (d. 1952)
1865 – Ferdinand Löwe, Austrian conductor (d. 1925)
1866 – Thomas Jefferson Jackson See, American astronomer (d. 1962)
1869 – Hovhannes Tumanyan, Armenian writer and poet (d. 1923)
1873 – Louis Feuillade, French director (d. 1925)
1876 – Constantin Brancusi, Romanian sculptor (d. 1957)
1877 – George Melford, American director (d. 1961)
1877 – Gabriele Münter, German painter (d. 1962)
1879 – Luigj Gurakuqi, Albanian writer and politician (d. 1925)
1880 – Alvaro Obregon, President of Mexico (d. 1928)
1888 – Aurora Quezon, First Lady of the Philippines (d. 1949)
1888 – José Eustasio Rivera, Colombian writer (d. 1928)
1893 – Cedric Hardwicke, British actor, director and producer (d. 1964)
1895 – Louis Calhern, American actor (d. 1956)
1895 – Diego Mazquiaran, Spanish matador (d. 1940)
1896 – André Breton, French poet (d. 1966)
1897 – Alma Rubens, American actress (d. 1931)
1899 – Yury Olesha, Russian novelist (d. 1960)

1901 – 1950

1901 – Florence Green, British supercentenarian and last–surviving World War I service veteran (d. 2012)
1903 – Orma Slack, Canadian supercentenarian (d. 2015)
1910 – William Grey Walter, American–British neurophysiologist (d. 1977)
1910 – Dorothy Janis, American actress (d. 2010)
1911 – Merle Oberon, British actress (d. 1979)
1911 – Bill Bowerman, American athletics coach (d. 1999)
1912 – Stan Kenton, American musician (d. 1979)
1915 – John Freeman, English politician (d. 2014)
1916 – Eddie Arcaro, American jockey (d. 1997)
1917 – Carson McCullers, American writer (d. 1967)
1920 – Jaan Kross, Estonian writer (d. 2007)
1920 – George Rose, British music hall entertainer (d. 1988)
1922 – Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, Polish historian, publicist and politician (d. 2015)
1924 – David Bronstein, Ukrainian chess player (d. 2006)
1924 – Lee Marvin, American actor (d. 1987)
1926 – Egisto Pandolfino, Italian footballer
1928 – Nicolas Hayek, Swiss watchmaker (d. 2010)
1930 – John Frankenheimer, American movie director (d. 2002)
1930 – Kasinathuni Viswanath, Indian film director
1931 – Camillo Ruini, Italian cardinal
1932 – Joseph P. Kerwin, American NASA astronaut
1932 – Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, French theater director (d. 1988)
1937 – Boris Pugo, Soviet–Latvian politician
1937 – David Margulies, American actor (d. 2016)
1938 – Choekyi Gyaltsen, 10th Panchen Lama (d. 1989)
1939 – Erin Pizzey, British activist, writer and briadcaster
1939 – Alfredo Bryce-Echenique, Peruvian novelist
1940 – Smokey Robinson, American musician
1940 – Bobby Rogers, American singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
1940 – Saparmurat Niyazov, former President of Turkmenistan (d. 2006)
1940 – Andrzej Strejlau, Polish footballer, coach and handball player
1941 – David Gross, American physicist
1941 – Jenny Tonge, Baroness Tonge, English politician
1942 – Will Provine, American historian and scientist (d. 2015)
1942 – Howard Stringer, former CEO of Sony
1942 – Paul Krause, American football player
1943 – Lou Christie, American singer
1943 – Tim Hunt, British biochemist
1943 – Robert Trivers, American sociobiologist and evolutionary biologist
1945 – Michael Nader, American actor
1946 – Karen Silkwood, American activist (d. 1974)
1946 – Carolyn Maloney, American politician
1947 – Tim Shadbolt, Mayor of Invercargill, New Zealand
1948 – Tony Iommi, British musician (Black Sabbath)
1948 – Pim Fortuyn, Dutch politician (d. 2002)
1949 – Dan Bunten, American software developer (d. 1998)
1949 – Eddie Hardin, English rock music pianist (d. 2015)

1951 – 1975

1951 – Tahir-ul-Qadri, Islamic scholar and leader
1952 – Danilo Türk, former President of Slovenia
1952 – Amy Tan, American novelist
1952 – Rodolfo Neri Vela, Mexican astronaut
1953 – Massimo Troisi, Italian actor (d. 1994)
1953 – Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, President of Argentina
1953 – Conrad Murray, American doctor, Michael Jackson's personal physician
1954 – Socrates, Brazilian footballer and qualified physician (d. 2011)
1954 – Francis Buchholz, German musician (Scorpions)
1955 – Jeff Daniels, actor
1956 – Roderick MacKinnon, American biologist
1957 – Falco, Austrian singer (d. 1998)
1957 – Ray Winstone, British actor
1958 – Helen Fielding, British writer
1960 – Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, second son of Queen Elizabeth II
1960 – Leslie Ash, English actress
1961 – Justin Fashanu, English footballer (d. 1998)
1962 – Hana Mandlikova, Czech–born Australian tennis player
1963 – Seal, British singer
1964 – Jonathan Lethem, American writer
1965 – Michael Westphal, German tennis player (d. 1991)
1966 – Justine Bateman, American actress
1966 – Enzo Scifo, Belgian footballer
1966 – Paul Haarhuis, tennis player
1967 – Benicio Del Toro, Puerto–Rican actor
1968 – Frank Watkins, American musician (d. 2015)
1972 – Malky Mackay, Scottish football manager
1973 – Eric Lange, American actor

From 1976

1976 – Jahidi White, American basketball player
1977 – Gianluca Zambrotta, Italian footballer
1979 – Andrew Buchan, British actor
1979 – Steven Cherundolo, American soccer player
1979 – Eva-Maria Bisschop, Belgian pop star
1980 – Ma Lin, Chinese table tennis player
1981 – Vitas, Russian singer
1981 – Nicky Shorey, English footballer
1981 – Kyle Martino, American footballer
1981 – Beth Ditto, American singer
1981 – Baiba Skride, Latvian classical violinist
1982 – Camelia Potec, Romanian swimmer
1983 – Nick Zoricic, Canadian skier (d. 2012)
1985 – Haylie Duff, American singer and actress
1985 – Arielle Kebbel, American actress
1986 – Björn Gustafsson, Swedish comedian
1986 – Henri Karjalainen, Finnish racing driver
1986 – Maria Mena, Norwegian singer
1986 – Marta Vieira da Silva, Brazilian footballer
1988 – Miyu Irino, Japanese voice actor
1989 – Sone Aluko, former Aberdeen F.C. footballer
1991 – Christoph Kramer, German footballer
1992 – Helene Hegemann, German writer, director and actress
1992 – Georgi Milanov, Bulgarian footballer
1993 – Victoria Justice, American actress
2004 – Millie Bobby Brown, English actress

Deaths

Up to 1900

197 – Clodius Albinus, Roman Governor of Britain
1133 – Irene Ducaena, Byzantine Empress (b. 1066)
1553 – Erasmus Reinhold, German astronomer and mathematician (b. 1511)
1605 – Orazio Vecchi, Italian composer (b. 1550)
1653 – Luigi de Rossi, Italian composer (b. 1597)
1663 – Adam Adami, German bishop and diplomat (b. 1603)
1670 – King Frederick III of Denmark (b. 1609)
1672 – Charles Chauncy, English–born President of Harvard College (b. 1592)
1709 – Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, Japanese shogun (b. 1646)
1716 – Yostos, Emperor of Ethiopia (b. before 1690)
1716 – Dorothe Engelbretsdotter, Norwegian writer (b. 1634)
1729 – Karol Piotr Pancerzyński, Saint bishop and uncle of Kazimierz Ludwik Piłsudski, the of Józef Piłsudski (b. 1690)
1789 – Nicholas Van Dyke, American lawyer and President of Delaware (b. 1738)
1799 – Jean-Charles de Borda, French scientist (b. 1733)
1837 – Georg Büchner, German playwright (b. 1813)
1863 – Roger Sherman Baldwin, Governor of Connecticut (b. 1793)
1868 – Venancio Flores, Uruguayan general and politician (b. 1808)
1887 – Multatuli, Dutch writer (b. 1820)

1901 – 2000

1915 – Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Indian philosopher and politician (b. 1866)
1916 – Ernst Mach, Austrian physicist and philosopher (b. 1838)
1927 – Robert Fuchs, Austrian composer (b. 1847)
1936 – Billy Mitchell, American general and military aviation pioneer (b. 1879)
1945 – Fay Moulton, American sprinter, football player, coach and lawyer (b. 1876)
1951 – André Gide, French writer (b. 1869)
1952 – Knut Hamsun, Norwegian writer (b. 1859)
1957 – Maurice Garin, French cyclist (b. 1871)
1958 – Charles King, American athlete (b. 1880)
1962 – Georgios Papanikolaou, Greek doctor (b. 1883)
1968 – Georg Hackenschmidt, Estonian–English strongman and wrestler (b. 1877)
1972 – John Grierson, Scottish documentary movie maker (b. 1898)
1973 – Kostas Negrepontis, Greek footballer (b. 1897)
1973 – Joseph Szigeti, Hungarian violinist (b. 1892)
1975 – Luigi Dallapiccola, Italian composer (b. 1904)
1980 – Bon Scott, singer (AC/DC) (b. 1946)
1983 – Alice White, American actress (b. 1904)
1986 – Adolfo Celi, Italian actor and director (b. 1927)
1988 – André Frédéric Cournand, French–born physician (b. 1895)
1990 – Edris Rice-Wray, American physician (b. 1904)
1994 – Derek Jarman, British movie director (b. 1942)
1996 – Antonio Creus, Spanish racing driver (b. 1924)
1997 – Deng Xiaoping, Chinese Communist leader (b. 1904)
1998 – Grandpa Jones, American entertainer (b. 1913)
2000 – Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Austrian artist (b. 1928)

From 2001

2001 – Stanley Kramer, American director (b. 1913)
2003 – Johnny Paycheck, American singer (b. 1938)
2008 – Lydia Shum, Hong Kong actress and singer (b. 1945)
2010 – Lionel Jeffries, British actor (b. 1926)
2011 – Ollie Matson, American football player (b. 1930)
2011 – Dietrich Stobbe, German politician and Mayor of Berlin (b. 1938)
2012 – Ruth Barcan Marcus, American philosopher and logician (b. 1921)
2012 – Renato Dulbecco, Italian virologist and Nobel Prize winner (b. 1914)
2013 – Armen Alchian, Armenian–American economist (b. 1914)
2013 – Eva Bergh, Norwegian actress (b. 1926)
2013 – Robert Coleman Richardson, American physicist (b. 1937)
2013 – Donald Richie, American author (b. 1924)
2014 – Valeri Kubasov, Soviet–Russian cosmonaut (b. 1935)
2014 – Dale Gardner, American astronaut (b. 1948)
2014 – Toni Ucci, Italian actor and comedian (b. 1922)
2014 – Kresten Bjerre, Danish footballer (b. 1946)
2014 – Simon Diaz, Venezuelan folk singer and composer (b. 1928)
2015 – Harris Wittels, American television producer and writer (b. 1984)
2016 – Tamerlan Aguzarov, Russian politician (b. 1963)
2016 – Harper Lee, American writer (b. 1926)
2016 – William O'Brien, English naval officer (b. 1916)
2016 – Vi Subversa, English musician (b. 1935)
2016 – Samuel Willenberg, Polish–Israeli sculptor (b. 1923)
2016 – Umberto Eco, Italian writer and philosopher (b. 1932)
2016 – Bruno Zuppiger, Swiss politician (b. 1952)
2017 – Alejandro Atchugarry, Uruguayan lawyer and politician (b. 1952)
2017 – Kaci Kullmann Five, Norwegian politician (b. 1951)
2017 – Larry Coryell, American jazz guitarist (b. 1943)
2017 – Altamas Kabir, 39th Chief Justice of India (b. 1948)
2017 – Igor Shafarevich, Ukrainian–Russian mathematician (b. 1923)
2017 – Danuta Szaflarska, Polish actress (b. 1915)
2017 – John S. Wold, American politician (b. 1916)
2017 – Roman Zhuravskyi, Ukrainian footballer (b. 1948)

Observances

Armed Forces Day (Mexico)
Flag Day (Turkmenistan)
Shivaji Jayanti (Maharashtra in India)