What Happened on April 19th in History
30 historical events on this date
The Treaty of London establishes Belgium as a kingdom and guarantees its neutrality.
The Treaty of London of 1839, was signed on 19 April 1839 between the major European powers, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the Kingdom of Belgium. It was a direct follow-up to the 1831...
American Civil War: Baltimore riot of 1861: A pro-Secession mob in Baltimore attacks United States Army troops marching through the city.
The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union to preserve slavery in the...
The Kishinev pogrom in Kishinev (Bessarabia) begins, forcing tens of thousands of Jews to later seek refuge in Palestine and the Western world.
The Kishinev pogrom or Kishinev massacre was an anti-Jewish riot that took place in Kishinev, then the capital of the Bessarabia Governorate in the Russian Empire, on 19–21 April [O.S. 6–8...
Colo-Colo, the most successful and popular soccer football team in the South American nation of Chile, was founded at the El Llano Stadium in San Miguel, Santiago, by footballer David Arellano and some of his teammates who had also left the Deportes Magallanes club.
Colo-Colo, officially Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo, is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano, it competes in the Chilean Primera...
Mae West is sentenced to ten days in jail for obscenity for her play Sex.
Mary Jane "Mae" West was an American actress, singer, comedian, screenwriter, and playwright whose career spanned more than seven decades. Recognized as a prominent sex symbol of her time, she was...
The Jaffa riots commence, initiating the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine.
In the context of mass Jewish immigration to Mandatory Palestine, violent attacks against British colonial installations and Jews of the Yishuv broke out in Jaffa on 19 April 1936. These attacks are...
World War II: In German-occupied Poland, the Majdan-Tatarski ghetto is established, situated between the Lublin Ghetto and a Majdanek subcamp.
World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major...
World War II: In German-occupied Poland, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising begins, after German troops enter the Warsaw Ghetto to round up the remaining Jews.
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was an uprising by the Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto in German-occupied Poland during World War II to oppose Nazi Germany's final effort to transport the...
Actress Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier of Monaco.
Grace Patricia Kelly was an American actress and Princess of Monaco as the wife of Prince Rainier III from their marriage on April 18, 1956 until her death in 1982. Prior to her marriage, she...
Students in South Korea hold a nationwide pro-democracy protest against president Syngman Rhee, eventually forcing him to resign.
The April Revolution, also called the April 19 Revolution or April 19 Movement, were mass protests in South Korea against President Syngman Rhee and the First Republic from April 11 to 26, 1960,...
Sierra Leone becomes a republic, and Siaka Stevens the president.
Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the west coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area...
Launch of Salyut 1, the first space station.
Salyut 1, also known as DOS-1, was the world's first space station. It was launched into low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on April 19, 1971. The Salyut program subsequently achieved five more...
Charles Manson is sentenced to death (later commuted to life imprisonment) for conspiracy in the Tate–LaBianca murders.
Charles Milles Manson was an American criminal, cult leader, and musician who was the founder of the Manson Family. He gained notoriety for ordering the Tate–LaBianca murders, where his followers...
The Portuguese Socialist Party is founded in the German town of Bad Münstereifel.
The Socialist Party is a social democratic political party in Portugal. It was founded on 19 April 1973 in the German city of Bad Münstereifel by militants who were at the time with the Portuguese...
India's first satellite Aryabhata launched in orbit from Kapustin Yar, Russia.
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area; the most populous country in the world and, since its independence in 1947, the...
South Vietnamese forces withdraw from the town of Xuan Loc in the last major battle of the Vietnam War.
The Army of the Republic of Vietnam composed the ground forces of the South Vietnamese military from its inception in 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. Its predecessor was the ground...
A violent F5 tornado strikes around Brownwood, Texas, injuring 11 people. Two people were thrown at least 1,000 yards (910 m) by the tornado and survived uninjured.
During the evening hours of April 19, 1976, a violent tornado struck Brownwood, Texas, United States. The damage caused by the tornado was extreme enough for the National Weather Service to rate the...
Two hundred ATF and FBI agents lay siege to the compound of the white supremacist survivalist group The Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord in Arkansas; the CSA surrenders two days later.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and...
A gun turret explodes on the USS Iowa, killing 47 sailors.
A gun turret is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that...
The 51-day FBI siege of the Branch Davidian building in Waco, Texas, US, ends when a fire breaks out. Seventy-six Davidians, including 18 children under age 10, died in the fire.
The Waco siege, also known as the Waco massacre, was the siege by US federal government and Texas state law enforcement officials of a compound belonging to the religious cult known as the Branch...
Oklahoma City bombing: The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, US, is bombed, killing 168 people including 19 children under the age of six.
On April 19, 1995, American anti-government extremist Timothy McVeigh, assisted by Terry Nichols, detonated a makeshift bomb stored in a rental truck parked in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal...
The German Bundestag returns to Berlin.
The Bundestag is the federal parliament of Germany. It is the only constitutional body in the country directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag was established by Title III of the Basic...
Air Philippines Flight 541 crashes in Samal, Davao del Norte, killing all 131 people on board.
Air Philippines Flight 541 was a scheduled domestic flight operated by Air Philippines from Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Metro Manila to Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao...
Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on STS-100 carrying the Canadarm2 to the International Space Station.
Space Shuttle Endeavour is a retired orbiter from NASA's Space Shuttle program and the fifth and final operational Shuttle built. It embarked on its first mission, STS-49, in May 1992 and its 25th...
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is elected to the papacy and becomes Pope Benedict XVI.
A conclave was held on 18 and 19 April 2005 to elect a new pope to succeed John Paul II, who had died on 2 April 2005. Of the 117 eligible cardinal electors, all but two attended. On the fourth...
The Quito Ultratumba nightclub fire in Quito, Ecuador, kills 19 people and injures at least 24 more.
The Quito Ultratumba nightclub fire was a fire that occurred on April 19, 2008, at the Factory nightclub in Quito, Ecuador, during the gothic rock concert Ultratumba 2008. A pyrotechnics accident...
Fidel Castro resigns as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba after holding the title since July 1961.
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as prime minister from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 2008....
Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev is killed in a shootout with police. His brother Dzhokhar is later captured hiding in a boat inside a backyard in the suburb of Watertown.
The Boston Marathon bombing, sometimes referred to as simply the Boston bombing, was an Islamist domestic terrorist attack that took place during the 117th annual Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013....
A killing spree in Nova Scotia, Canada, leaves 22 people and the perpetrator dead, making it the deadliest rampage in the country's history.
On April 18 and 19, 2020, 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman committed multiple shootings and set fires at 16 locations in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, killing 22 people, and injuring three others...
The Ingenuity helicopter becomes the first aircraft to achieve flight on another planet.
Ingenuity, nicknamed Ginny, is an autonomous helicopter that operated on Mars from 2021 to 2024 as part of NASA's Mars 2020 mission. Ingenuity made its first flight on 19 April 2021, demonstrating...