✦ DateLore

On This Day · The 109th day of the year

April 19

A look at April 19 through the almanac — historic events, famous birthdays including Maria Sharapova and Sarah Bagley, and the day's notable deaths and observances.

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Events

10 notable moments
  1. 2005

    2005 conclave

    Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is elected to the papacy and becomes Pope Benedict XVI.

    History
  2. 1995

    Oklahoma City bombing

    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.

    1995 terrorist bombing in
  3. 1989

    Gun turret

    A gun turret explodes on the USS Iowa, killing 47 sailors.

    Rotatable weapon mount
  4. 1971

    Salyut 1

    Launch of Salyut 1, the first space station.

    Soviet space station (1971)
  5. 1956

    Grace Kelly

    Actress Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier of Monaco.

    American actress, Princess of
  6. 1927

    Mae West

    Mae West is sentenced to ten days in jail for obscenity for her play Sex.

    American actress (1893–1980)
  7. 1861

    American Civil War

    American Civil War: Baltimore riot of 1861: A pro-Secession mob in Baltimore attacks United States Army troops marching through the city.

    1861–1865 conflict in the
  8. 1775

    American Revolutionary War

    American Revolutionary War: The war begins during the Battles of Lexington and Concord with a victory of American minutemen and other militia over British forces, later referred to as the "shot heard round the world".

    1775–1783 conflict in North
  9. 1713

    Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor

    With no living male heirs, Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, issues the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 to ensure that Habsburg lands and the Austrian throne would be inheritable by a female; his daughter and successor, Maria Theresa, was not born until 1717.

    Holy Roman Emperor from
  10. 1506

    Lisbon massacre

    The Lisbon Massacre begins, in which about two thousand Jews who had been forcibly converted to Christianity are slaughtered by Portuguese Catholics.

    1506 antisemitic riot in
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Famous birthday twins

Born on April 19

Maria Sharapova

b. 1987

Russian tennis player

Sarah Bagley

b. 1806

American labor organizer

Glenn T. Seaborg

b. 1912

American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

Tim Curry

b. 1946

English actor and singer

Erich Hartmann

b. 1922

German colonel and pilot

Ali Khamenei

b. 1939

Supreme Leader of Iran

Mswati III

b. 1968

King (Ngwenyama) of Eswatini (Swaziland)

Otto Georg Thierack

b. 1889

German jurist and politician

Deaths

  • 2016Patricio Aylwin, Chilean politician
  • 1967Konrad Adenauer, German politician, 1st Chancellor of Germany
  • 1906Pierre Curie, French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1882Charles Darwin, English biologist and theorist
  • 1824Lord Byron, English-Scottish poet and playwright
  • 1588Paolo Veronese, Italian painter

Holidays & observances

  • —Christian feast day: Ælfheah of Canterbury (Anglican, Catholic, Orthodox)
  • —Christian feast day: Conrad of Ascoli
  • —Christian feast day: Emma of Lesum
  • —Christian feast day: Expeditus
  • —Christian feast day: George of Antioch
  • —Christian feast day: Olaus and Laurentius Petri (Lutheran)
  • —Christian feast day: Pope Leo IX
  • —Christian feast day: Ursmar

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