May 19: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

May 19 is the 139th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (140th in leap years). There are 226 days remaining.

Events

• 1535 - French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America with three ships, 110 men, and Chief Donnacona's two sons (whom Cartier kidnapped during his first voyage).
• 1536 - Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII of England, is beheaded for adultery.
• 1568 - Queen Elizabeth I of England has Mary Queen of Scots arrested.
• 1604 - The town of Montreal is founded.
• 1643 - Thirty Years' War: French forces under the duc d'Enghien decisively defeat Spanish forces at the Battle of Rocroi, marking the symbolic end of Spain as a dominant land power.
• 1649 - An Act declaring England a Commonwealth is passed by the Long Parliament. England would be a republic for the next eleven years.
• 1749 - King George II of Great Britain grants the Ohio Company a charter of land around the forks of the Ohio River.
• 1780 - Never-explained complete darkness falls on Eastern Canada and the New England area of the United States at 2 pm.
• 1802 - The Légion d'Honneur is founded by Napoleon Bonaparte.
• 1828 - U.S. President John Quincy Adams signs the Tariff of 1828 into law, protecting wool manufacturers in the United States.
• 1848 - Mexican-American War: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo – Mexico ratifies the treaty thus ending the war and ceding California, Nevada, Utah and parts of five other modern-day U.S. states to the USA for USD $15 million.
• 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Spotsylvania Court House ends.
• 1897 - Oscar Wilde is released from Reading Gaol.
• 1919 - In Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk moves to Samsun from Istanbul with a few followers, to oppose the Ottoman government, which eventually leads to the Turkish War of Independence.
• 1921 - The Emergency Quota Act passes the U.S. Congress establishing national quotas on immigration.
• 1922 - Young Pioneer organization of the Soviet Union is established.
• 1932 - The gangster film Scarface: The Shame of a Nation opens at the Rialto Theater in Los Angeles, California.
• 1943 - World War II: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt set Monday, May 1, 1944 as the date for the cross-English Channel landing (D-Day would later be delayed over a month due to bad weather).
• 1961 - Venera program: Venera 1 becomes the first man-made object to fly-by another planet by passing Venus (the probe had lost contact with Earth a month earlier and did not send back data).
• 1962 - A birthday salute to U.S. President John F. Kennedy takes place at Madison Square Garden, New York. The highlight is Marilyn Monroe's infamous rendition of Happy Birthday. Thirty-four years later, John F. Kennedy, Jr. had actress Drew Barrymore pose as Monroe for the cover of George magazine with the heading "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" in honor of then-President Bill Clinton turning 50.
• 1964 - Vietnam War: The United States Air Force begins Operation Yankee Team.
• 1971 - Mars probe program: Mars 2 is launched by the Soviet Union.
• 1991 - Willy T. Ribbs becomes the first African-American driver to qualify for the Indianapolis 500.
• 1999 - Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, the most hyped film in history up to that point, is released.
• 2005 - Clarence Richard Silva, Bishop-elect of Honolulu, retreats to Kalaupapa to pray at the onset of his episcopal ministry
• 2005 - Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is released, and sets the new one-day box office record.

• 1593 - Jacob Jordaens, Flemish painter (d. 1678)
• 1700 - José de Escandón, Spanish colonial governor (d. 1770)
• 1724 - Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol, British admiral and politician (d. 1779)
• 1744 - Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (d. 1818)
• 1762 - Johann Gottlieb Fichte, German philosopher (d. 1814)
• 1773 - Arthur Aikin, English chemist, mineralogist and scientific writer (d. 1854)
• 1795 - Johns Hopkins, American philanthropist (d. 1873)
• 1827 - Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour, French statesman (d. 1896)
• 1861 - Dame Nellie Melba, Australian opera singer (d. 1931)
• 1870 - Albert Fish, American serial killer (d. 1936)
• 1874 - Gilbert Jessop; English cricketer (d. 1955)
• 1879 - Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, American-born politician (d. 1964)
• 1880 - Sir Albert Richardson, English architect (d. 1964)
• 1882 - Mohammed Mossadegh, Prime Minister of Iran (d. 1967)
• 1890 - Ho Chi Minh, Vietnamese leader (d. 1969)
• 1891 - Oswald Boelcke, German World War I pilot (d. 1916)
• 1897 - Frank Luke, American World War I pilot (d. 1918)
• 1898 - Julius Evola, Italian philosopher (d. 1974)
• 1908 - Percy Williams, Canadian athlete (d. 1982)
• 1909 - Bruce Bennett, American athlete and actor
• 1914 - Max Perutz, Austrian-born molecular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (d. 2002)
• 1914 - Go Seigen, Japanese Go player
• 1921 - Yuri Kochiyama, American civil rights activist
• 1921 - Karel van het Reve, Dutch writer (d. 1999)
• 1924 - Sandy Wilson, British composer
• 1925 - Malcolm X, American civil rights activist (d. 1965)
• 1925 - Pol Pot, Cambodian dictator (d. 1998)
• 1926 - Swami Kriyananda, spiritual teacher and author
• 1930 - Lorraine Hansberry, American playwright (d. 1965)
• 1931 - Eric Tappy, Swiss tenor
• 1934 - Jim Lehrer, American television journalist
• 1939 - Livio Berruti, Italian athlete
• 1939 - Nancy Kwan, Hong Kong actress
• 1939 - Dick Scobee, astronaut (d. 1986)
• 1940 - Mickey Newbury, American musician
• 1941 - Nora Ephron, American screenwriter
• 1942 - Gary Kildall, American computer programmer (d. 1994)
• 1944 - Peter Mayhew, British actor
• 1945 - Pete Townshend, English guitarist and lyricist
• 1946 - André the Giant, French professional wrestler (d. 1993)
• 1946 - Claude Lelièvre, Belgian Commissioner for Children's Rights
• 1947 - Paul Brady, Northern Ireland singer/songwriter
• 1948 - Grace Jones, Jamaican singer and actress
• 1949 - Archie Manning, American football player
• 1951 - Joey Ramone, American musician and singer (The Ramones) (d. 2001)
• 1952 - Bert van Marwijk, Dutch football manager
• 1953 - Victoria Wood, British comic actress
• 1954 - Phil Rudd, Australian drummer (AC/DC)
• 1956 - James Gosling, Canadian computer programmer
• 1963 - Yazz, British singer
• 1966 - Polly Walker, British actress
• 1973 - Dario Franchitti, Scottish race car driver
• 1975 - London Fletcher, American football player
• 1976 - Kevin Garnett, American basketball player
• 1977 - Manuel Almunia, Spanish footballer
• 1978 - Marcus Bent, English footballer
• 1981 - Klaas-Erik Zwering, Dutch swimmer

• 804 - Alcuin, English monk (b. c. 735)
• 988 - Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 909)
• 1102 - Stephen, Count of Blois
• 1125 - Vladimir Monomakh, Russian prince (b. 1053)
• 1296 - Pope Celestine V (b. 1215)
• 1319 - Louis d'Évreux, son of Philip III of France (b. 1276)
• 1389 - Dmitri Donskoi, Grand Prince of Muscovy (b. 1350)
• 1526 - Emperor Go-Kashiwabara of Japan (b. 1464)
• 1531 - Jan Łaski, Polish statesman and diplomat (b. 1456)
• 1536 - Anne Boleyn, queen of Henry VIII of England (executed)
• 1601 - Costanzo Porta, Italian composer
• 1610 - Thomas Sanchez, Spanish theologian (b. 1550)
• 1637 - Isaac Beeckman, Dutch scientist and philosopher (b. 1588)
• 1645 - Miyamoto Musashi, Japanese swordsman
• 1715 - Charles Montagu, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1661)
• 1786 - John Stanley, English composer (b. 1712)
• 1795 - Josiah Bartlett, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1729)
• 1795 - James Boswell, Scottish biographer (b. 1740)
• 1798 - William Byron, 5th Baron Byron, English dueler (b. 1722)
• 1821 - Camille Jordan, French politician (b. 1771)
• 1825 - Claude Henri de Rouvroy, Comte de Saint-Simon, French political philosopher (b. 1760)
• 1864 - Nathaniel Hawthorne, American author (b. 1804)
• 1876 - Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer, Dutch politician (b. 1801)
• 1885 - Peter W. Barlow, English engineer (b. 1809)
• 1895 - José Martí, Cuban independence leader (b. 1853)
• 1898 - William Ewart Gladstone, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1809)
• 1904 - Auguste Molinier, French historian (b. 1851)
• 1907 - Benjamin Baker, English engineer (b. 1840)
• 1909 - Isaac Albéniz, Spanish composer (b. 1860)
• 1912 - Boleslaw Prus, Polish writer (b. 1847)
• 1918 - Raoul Lufbery, American World War I pilot (b. 1885)
• 1935 - T. E. Lawrence, English soldier (b. 1888)
• 1943 - Kristjan Raud, Estonian painter (b. 1865)
• 1946 - Booth Tarkington, American novelist (b. 1869)
• 1954 - Charles Ives, American composer (b. 1874)
• 1958 - Ronald Colman, English actor (b. 1891)
• 1965 - Tui Malila, world's oldest tortoise (b. 1773 or 1777)
• 1969 - Coleman Hawkins, American musician (b. 1901)
• 1971 - Ogden Nash, American poet (b. 1902)
• 1983 - Jean Rey, President of the European Commission (b. 1902)
• 1984 - John Betjeman, English poet (b. 1906)
• 1987 - James Tiptree, Jr, American author (b. 1915)
• 1989 - CLR James, West Indian writer and journalist (b. 1901)
• 1994 - Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, First Lady of the United States (b. 1929)
• 1998 - Uno Sosuke, Japanese prime minister (b. 1922)
• 2000 - Yevgeny Khrunov, cosmonaut (b. 1933)
• 2002 - John Gorton, nineteenth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1911)
• 2002 - Walter Lord, American writer (b. 1917)
• 2004 - Mary Dresselhuys, Dutch actress (b. 1907)
• 2005 - Henry Corden, Canadian voice actor (b. 1920)

• Feast day of the following saints in the Roman Catholic Church:
  • Dunstan
  • Peter Celestine
  • Ives
  • Emiliana
  • Pudentiana
  • Theophilus of Corte
• Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day in Turkey (1919)

May 18 - May 20 - April 19 - June 19 – listing of all days