On This Day — 19 August

2017

Tens of thousands of farmed non-native Atlantic salmon are accidentally released into the wild in Washington waters in the 2017 Cypress Island Atlantic salmon pen break.

Atlantic salmon

2013

The Dhamara Ghat train accident kills at least 37 people in the Indian state of Bihar.

Dhamara Ghat train accident

2010

Operation Iraqi Freedom ends, with the last of the United States brigade combat teams crossing the border to Kuwait.

Iraq War

2009

A series of bombings in Baghdad, Iraq, kills 101 and injures 565 others.

August 2009 Baghdad bombings

2005

The first-ever joint military exercise between Russia and China, called Peace Mission 2005 begins.

Peace Mission 2005

2004

Google Inc. has its initial public offering on Nasdaq.

Google

2003

A truck-bomb attack on United Nations headquarters in Iraq kills the agency's top envoy Sérgio Vieira de Mello and 21 other employees.

Canal Hotel bombing

2003

Shmuel HaNavi bus bombing: A suicide attack on a bus in Jerusalem, planned by Hamas, kills 23 Israelis, seven of them children.

Shmuel HaNavi bus bombing

2002

Khankala Mi-26 crash: A Russian Mil Mi-26 helicopter carrying troops is hit by a Chechen missile outside Grozny, killing 118 soldiers.

2002 Khankala Mi-26 crash

1999

In Belgrade, Yugoslavia, tens of thousands of Serbians rally to demand the resignation of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia President Slobodan Milošević.

Belgrade

1991

Dissolution of the Soviet Union: The August Coup begins when Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is placed under house arrest while on holiday in the town of Foros, Ukraine.

Dissolution of the Soviet Union

1991

Crown Heights riot in New York City begins.

Crown Heights riot

1989

Polish president Wojciech Jaruzelski nominates Solidarity activist Tadeusz Mazowiecki to be the first non-communist prime minister in 42 years.

Wojciech Jaruzelski

1989

Several hundred East Germans cross the frontier between Hungary and Austria during the Pan-European Picnic, part of the events that began the process of the Fall of the Berlin Wall.

East Germany

1987

Hungerford massacre: In the United Kingdom, Michael Ryan kills sixteen people with a semi-automatic rifle and then commits suicide.

Hungerford massacre

1981

Gulf of Sidra Incident: United States F-14A Tomcat fighters intercept and shoot down two Libyan Sukhoi Su-22 fighter jets over the Gulf of Sidra.

Gulf of Sidra incident (1981)

1980

Saudia Flight 163, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar burns after making an emergency landing at Riyadh International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killing 301 people.

Saudia Flight 163

1980

Otłoczyn railway accident: In Poland's worst post-war railway accident, 67 people lose their lives and a further 62 are injured.

Otłoczyn railway accident

1978

In Iran, the Cinema Rex fire causes more than 300 deaths.

Cinema Rex fire

1965

Japanese prime minister Eisaku Satō becomes the first post-World War II sitting prime minister to visit Okinawa Prefecture.

Prime Minister of Japan

1964

Syncom 3, the first geostationary communication satellite, is launched. Two months later, it would enable live coverage of the 1964 Summer Olympics.

Syncom

1960

Cold War: In Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union, downed American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers is sentenced to ten years imprisonment by the Soviet Union for espionage.

Lockheed U-2

1960

Sputnik program: Korabl-Sputnik 2: The Soviet Union launches the satellite with the dogs Belka and Strelka, 40 mice, two rats and a variety of plants.

List of spacecraft called Sputnik

1955

In the Northeast United States, severe flooding caused by Hurricane Diane, claims 200 lives.

Northeastern United States

1953

Cold War: The CIA and MI6 help to overthrow the government of Mohammad Mosaddegh in Iran and reinstate the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

Cold War

1945

August Revolution: Viet Minh led by Ho Chi Minh take power in Hanoi, Vietnam.

August Revolution

1944

World War II: Liberation of Paris: Paris, France rises against German occupation with the help of Allied troops.

Liberation of Paris

1942

World War II: Operation Jubilee (The Dieppe Raid): The 2nd Canadian Infantry Division leads an amphibious assault by allied forces on Dieppe, France and fails.

World War II

1941

Germany and Romania sign the Tiraspol Agreement, rendering the region of Transnistria under control of the latter.

Nazi Germany

1940

First flight of the B-25 Mitchell medium bomber.

North American B-25 Mitchell

1936

The Great Purge of the Soviet Union begins when the first of the Moscow Trials is convened.

Great Purge

1934

The first All-American Soap Box Derby is held in Dayton, Ohio.

Soap Box Derby

1934

The German referendum of 1934 approves Adolf Hitler's appointment as head of state with the title of Führer.

1934 German head of state referendum

1927

Patriarch Sergius of Moscow proclaims the declaration of loyalty of the Russian Orthodox Church to the Soviet Union.

Patriarch Sergius of Moscow

1920

The Tambov Rebellion breaks out, in response to the Bolshevik policy of Prodrazvyorstka.

Tambov Rebellion

1909

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway opens for automobile racing. William Bourque and his mechanic are killed during the first day's events.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

1903

The Transfiguration Uprising breaks out in East Thrace, resulting in the establishment of the Strandzha Commune.

Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising

1862

Dakota War: During an uprising in Minnesota, Lakota warriors decide not to attack heavily defended Fort Ridgely and instead turn to the settlement of New Ulm, killing white settlers along the way.

Dakota War of 1862

1861

First ascent of Weisshorn, fifth highest summit in the Alps.

Weisshorn

1854

The First Sioux War begins when United States Army soldiers kill Lakota chief Conquering Bear and in return are massacred.

Sioux Wars

1848

California Gold Rush: The New York Herald breaks the news to the East Coast of the United States of the gold rush in California (although the rush started in January).

California gold rush

1839

The French government announces that Louis Daguerre's photographic process is a gift "free to the world".

Louis Daguerre

1813

Gervasio Antonio de Posadas joins Argentina's Second Triumvirate.

Gervasio Antonio de Posadas

1782

American Revolutionary War: Battle of Blue Licks: The last major engagement of the war, almost ten months after the surrender of the British commander Charles Cornwallis following the Siege of Yorktown.

American Revolutionary War

1772

Gustav III of Sweden stages a coup d'état, in which he assumes power and enacts a new constitution that divides power between the Riksdag and the King.

Gustav III

1759

Battle of Lagos: Naval battle during the Seven Years' War between Great Britain and France.

Battle of Lagos

1745

Prince Charles Edward Stuart raises his standard in Glenfinnan: The start of the Second Jacobite Rebellion, known as "the 45".

Charles Edward Stuart

1745

Ottoman–Persian War: In the Battle of Kars, the Ottoman army is routed by Persian forces led by Nader Shah.

Ottoman–Persian War (1743–1746)

1725

J. S. Bach leads the first performance of Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren, BWV 137, a cantata setting the unchanged text of Neander's hymn.

Johann Sebastian Bach

1692

Salem witch trials: In Salem, province of Massachusetts Bay, Martha Carrier, George Jacobs Sr., John Proctor, John Willard, and clergyman George Burroughs are executed after being convicted of witchcraft.

Salem witch trials

1666

Second Anglo-Dutch War: Rear Admiral Robert Holmes leads a raid on the Dutch island of Terschelling, destroying 116 to 160 merchant ships, an act later known as "Holmes's Bonfire".

Second Anglo-Dutch War

1604

Eighty Years War: a besieging Dutch and English army led by Maurice of Orange forces the Spanish garrison of Sluis to capitulate.

Eighty Years' War

1561

Mary, Queen of Scots, aged 18, returns to Scotland after spending 13 years in France.

Mary, Queen of Scots

1504

In Ireland, the Hiberno-Norman de Burghs (Burkes) and Cambro-Norman Fitzgeralds fight in the Battle of Knockdoe.

Norman Irish

1458

Pope Pius II is elected the 211th Pope.

Pope Pius II

1153

After a six month siege, Baldwin III of Jerusalem captures Ascalon, obtaining a vast amount of plunder and securing the southern border of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Baldwin III of Jerusalem

947

Abu Yazid, a Kharijite rebel leader, is defeated and killed in the Hodna Mountains in modern-day Algeria by Fatimid forces.

Abu Yazid

-43

In the wake of the murder of Julius Caesar, his nephew and heir, Octavian, uses the threat of military force to compel the Roman Senate to elect him Consul.

Julius Caesar

-295

The first temple to Venus, the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility, is dedicated by Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges during the Third Samnite War.

Venus (mythology)