November 19th in History
World War II era poster from the War Production Board (NARA 534346)
On This Day in History
- Christopher Columbus goes ashore on San Juan Bautista Island, later renamed Puerto Rico (1493)
- US President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address (1863)
- The Soviet Union launches Операция «Уран» (Operation Uranus) that turns the tide at the Battle of Stalingrad (1942)
- Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes Supreme Commander of NATO (1950)
- The first automatic toll collection machine goes into service (1954)
- Ford discontinues the Edsel (1959)
- Rocky and His Friends premiers on TV (1959)
- Apollo 12 astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean land on the Moon (1969)
- Pennzoil wins the largest civil verdict in US history, receiving US$10.3 billion in a lawsuit against Texaco (1985)
- Milli Vanilli lose their Grammy Award for failure to sing on their own album (1990)
- China launches 神舟一號 (Shenzhou 1) (1999)
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| From left to right: Bullwinkle J. Moose and Rocket J. Squirrel from Rocky and His Friends. |
Birthdays
- James A. Garfield, 20th US President
- Billy Sunday, baseball player and evangelist (1862)
- Ned Sparks, actor (1883)
- José Rául Capablanca, chess player (1888)
- Clifton Webb, actor (1889)
- Tommy Dorsey, bandleader (1905)
- Peter Drucker, management theorist (1909)
- Indira Gandhi, Indian prime minister (1917)
- Alan Young, actor (1919)
- Gene Tierney, actress (1920)
- Roy Campanella, baseball player (1921)
- Jeane Kirkpatrick, US diplomat (1926)
- Larry King, talk show host (1933)
- Jack Welch, GE CEO (1935)
- Dick Cavett, talk show host (1936)
- Ted Turner, broadcasting magnate (1938)
- Tom Harkin, politician (1939)
- Dan Haggerty, actor (1941)
- Tommy Thompson, Wisconsin governor (1941)
- Calvin Klein, fashion designer (1942)
- Ahmad Rashad, football player and sportscaster (1949)
- Robert Beltran, actor (1953)
- Eileen Collins, astronaut (1956)
- Ann Curry, journalist (1956)
- Glynnis O’Connor, actress (1956)
- Allison Janney, actress (1959)
- Meg Ryan, actress (1951)
- Jodie Foster, actress (1962)
- Savion Glover, dancer (1973)
- Jack Dorsey, Twitter co-founder (1976)
Deaths
- The Man in the Iron Mask, French prisoner (1703)
- Franz Schubert, composer (1828)
- Emma Lazarus, poet (1887)
- Joe Hill, US labor activist (1915)
- Stepin Fetchit, actor (1985)
- Christina Onassis, heiress (1988)
- Dick Wilson, “Mr. Whipple” (2007)
Holidays
- День ракетных войск и артиллерии (Day of Missile Forces and Artillery) (Russia, Belarus)
- Día del Descubrimiento de Puerto Rico (Discovery of Puerto Rico Day) (Puerto Rico)
- Flag Day (Brazil)
- Garifuna Settlement Day (Belize)
- Have a Bad Day Day (Wellcat Holidays and Herbs)
- International Men’s Day (Australia, Canada, Ghana, Hungary, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Malta, Singapore, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom, United States)
- Liberation Day (Mali)
- Monaco National Day (Monaco)
- World Toilet Day (World Toilet Organization)
November 19 is the 323rd day of the year (324th in leap years), with 42 days remaining until year’s end.