Date·Lore

On This Day · The 353rd day of the year

December 19

December 19 carries 10 recorded events spanning between 1154 and 2016. Henry II of England is crowned at Westminster Abbey.

♐ZodiacSagittarius ◈BirthstoneTurquoise ❀Birth flowerHolly

Compiled & reviewed by · Last reviewed July 13, 2026

What happened on December 19?

December 19 is the 353rd day of the year. It marks 10 notable events in history, dated between 1154 and 2016. Famous people born on December 19 include Édith Piaf, Karim Benzema and Alberto Tomba.

The shape of the day

250 years on from Thomas Paine, December 19 is a date with an anniversary worth pausing on. Most of the weight falls in the 20th century, where politics and nation-building recur.

Sagittarius is the sign for December 19 — read more on the Sagittarius page, or see December's birthstone & birth flower.

Released on December 19

Movies, games, albums & shows

2024

  • Game Alien: Rogue Incursion
  • Movie Sonic the Hedgehog 3

2023

  • TV Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Release data from TMDB & IGDB.

Events

10 notable moments
  1. 1154

    Henry II of England

    Henry II of England is crowned at Westminster Abbey.

  2. 1776

    Thomas Paine

    Thomas Paine publishes one of a series of pamphlets in The Pennsylvania Journal entitled "The American Crisis".

  3. 1929

    Indian National Congress

    The Indian National Congress promulgates the Purna Swaraj (the Declaration of the Independence of India).

  4. 1941

    World War II

    World War II: Adolf Hitler appoints himself as head of the Oberkommando des Heeres.

  5. 1956

    John Bodkin Adams

    Irish-born physician John Bodkin Adams is arrested in connection with the suspicious deaths of more than 160 patients. Eventually he is convicted only of minor charges.

  6. 1984

    Sino-British Joint Declaration

    The Sino-British Joint Declaration, stating that China would resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong and the United Kingdom would restore Hong Kong to China with effect from July 1, 1997, is signed in Beijing by Deng Xiaoping and Margaret Thatcher.

  7. 1985

    Aeroflot Flight 101/435

    Aeroflot Flight 101/435 is hijacked to China by its first officer.

  8. 1997

    SilkAir Flight 185

    SilkAir Flight 185 crashes into the Musi River, near Palembang in Indonesia, killing 104.

  9. 1998

    Bill Clinton

    President Bill Clinton is impeached by the United States House of Representatives, becoming the second president of the United States to be impeached.

  10. 2016

    Andrei Karlov

    Russian ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov is assassinated while at an art exhibition in Ankara. The assassin, Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş, is shot and killed by a Turkish guard.

Famous birthday twins

Born on December 19

Édith Piaf

b. 1915

French singer-songwriter and actress

Karim Benzema

b. 1987

French footballer

Alberto Tomba

b. 1966

Italian skier

Sally Kipyego

b. 1985

Kenyan runner

Orna Berry

b. 1949

Israeli computer scientist and businesswoman

Lee Myung-bak

b. 1941

South Korean businessman and politician, 10th President of South Korea

Mige (musician)

b. 1974

Finnish musician, bassist and founding member of the gothic rock band HIM

M'Baye Niang

b. 1994

French footballer

Deaths

  • 2016Andrei Karlov
  • 1999Desmond Llewelyn
  • 1996Marcello Mastroianni
  • 1946Paul Langevin
  • 1807Friedrich Melchior, Baron von Grimm
  • 1111Al-Ghazali

Holidays & observances

  • —Christian feast day: Lillian Trasher (Episcopal Church)
  • —Christian feast day: O Radix
  • —Christian feast day: Pope Anastasius I
  • —Christian feast day: Pope Urban V
  • —Christian feast day: December 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • —Christian feast day: Saint Nicholas Day
  • —Goa Liberation Day (Goa, India)
  • —National Heroes and Heroines Day (Anguilla)

Historical facts, event summaries, and biographical lines above are adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license. DateLore adds curation, structure, and original editorial commentary. DateLore is not affiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation.

About the author

Roman Tailor compiles and reviews every date on DateLore. He's the writer and editor behind the site's editorial essays and the day-by-day almanac. Corrections and questions are welcome — read more about DateLore or get in touch.

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