On This Day — 19 July

2018

The Knesset passes the controversial Nationality Bill, which defines the State of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.

Knesset

2014

Gunmen in Egypt's western desert province of New Valley Governorate attack a military checkpoint, killing at least 21 soldiers. Egypt reportedly declares a state of emergency on its border with Sudan.

New Valley Governorate

2012

Syrian civil war: The People's Protection Units (YPG) capture the city of Kobanî without resistance, starting the Rojava conflict in Northeast Syria.

Syrian civil war

2011

Guinean President Alpha Condé survives an attempted assassination and coup d'état at his residence in Conakry.

Guinea

1997

The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army resumes a ceasefire to end their 25-year paramilitary campaign to end British rule in Northern Ireland.

The Troubles

1992

A car bomb kills Judge Paolo Borsellino and five members of his escort.

Via D'Amelio bombing

1989

United Airlines Flight 232 crashes in Sioux City, Iowa, killing 111.

United Airlines Flight 232

1985

The Val di Stava dam collapses killing 268 people in Val di Stava, Italy.

Val di Stava dam collapse

1983

The first three-dimensional reconstruction of a human head in a CT is published.

Michael W. Vannier

1982

In one of the first militant attacks by Hezbollah, David S. Dodge, president of the American University of Beirut, is kidnapped.

Hezbollah

1981

In a private meeting with U.S. President Ronald Reagan, French President François Mitterrand reveals the existence of the Farewell Dossier, a collection of documents showing the Soviet Union had been stealing American technological research and development.

Ronald Reagan

1980

Opening of the Summer Olympics in Moscow.

1980 Summer Olympics

1979

The Sandinista rebels overthrow the government of the Somoza family in Nicaragua.

Sandinista National Liberation Front

1979

The oil tanker SS Atlantic Empress collides with another oil tanker, causing the largest ever ship-borne oil spill.

SS Atlantic Empress

1977

The world's first Global Positioning System (GPS) signal was transmitted from Navigation Technology Satellite 2 (NTS-2) and received at Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, at 12:41 a.m. Eastern time (ET).

Global Positioning System

1976

Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal is created.

Sagarmatha National Park

1972

Dhofar Rebellion: British SAS units help the Omani government against Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman rebels in the Battle of Mirbat.

Dhofar rebellion

1969

Chappaquiddick incident: U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy crashes his car into a tidal pond at Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts, killing his passenger Mary Jo Kopechne.

Chappaquiddick incident

1967

Piedmont Airlines Flight 22, a Piedmont Airlines Boeing 727-22 and a twin-engine Cessna 310 collided over Hendersonville, North Carolina, USA. Both aircraft were destroyed and all passengers and crew were killed, including John T. McNaughton, an advisor to Robert McNamara.

Piedmont Airlines Flight 22

1964

Vietnam War: At a rally in Saigon, South Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyễn Khánh calls for expanding the war into North Vietnam.

Vietnam War

1963

Joe Walker flies a North American X-15 to a record altitude of 106,010 meters (347,800 feet) on X-15 Flight 90. Exceeding an altitude of 100 km, this flight qualifies as a human spaceflight under international convention.

Joseph A. Walker

1961

Tunisia imposes a blockade on the French naval base at Bizerte; the French would capture the entire town four days later.

Bizerte crisis

1957

The largely autobiographical novel The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold by Evelyn Waugh was published.

Autobiographical novel

1952

Opening of the Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland.

1952 Summer Olympics

1947

Prime Minister of the shadow Burmese government, Bogyoke Aung San and eight others are assassinated.

Myanmar

1947

Korean politician Lyuh Woon-hyung is assassinated.

Lyuh Woon-hyung

1943

World War II: Rome is heavily bombed by more than 500 Allied aircraft, inflicting thousands of casualties.

Bombing of Rome in World War II

1942

World War II: The Second Happy Time of Hitler's submarines comes to an end, as the increasingly effective American convoy system compels them to return to the central Atlantic.

Second Happy Time

1940

World War II: Battle of Cape Spada: The Royal Navy and the Regia Marina clash; the Italian light cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni sinks, with 121 casualties.

World War II

1940

Field Marshal Ceremony: First occasion in World War II that Adolf Hitler appoints field marshals due to military achievements.

1940 Field Marshal Ceremony

1940

World War II: Army order 112 forms the Intelligence Corps of the British Army.

Intelligence Corps (United Kingdom)

1936

Spanish Civil War: The CNT and UGT call a general strike in Spain – mobilizing workers' militias against the Nationalist forces. People's Olympiad of Barcelona cancelled.

Spanish Civil War

1934

The rigid airship USS Macon surprised the USS Houston near Clipperton Island with a mail delivery for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, demonstrating its potential for tracking ships at sea.

USS Macon (ZRS-5)

1916

World War I: Battle of Fromelles: British and Australian troops attack German trenches as part of the Battle of the Somme.

World War I

1903

Maurice Garin wins the first Tour de France.

Maurice Garin

1900

The first line of the Paris Metro opens for operation.

Paris Metro Line 1

1870

Franco-Prussian War: France declares war on Prussia.

Franco-Prussian War

1864

Taiping Rebellion: Third Battle of Nanking: The Qing dynasty finally defeats the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Taiping Rebellion

1863

American Civil War: Morgan's Raid: At Buffington Island in Ohio, Confederate General John Hunt Morgan's raid into the north is mostly thwarted when a large group of his men are captured while trying to escape across the Ohio River.

American Civil War

1848

Women's rights: A two-day Women's Rights Convention opens in Seneca Falls, New York.

Women's rights

1845

Great New York City Fire of 1845: The last great fire to affect Manhattan begins early in the morning and is subdued that afternoon. The fire kills four firefighters and 26 civilians and destroys 345 buildings.

Great New York City Fire of 1845

1843

Brunel's steamship the SS Great Britain is launched, becoming the first ocean-going craft with an iron hull and screw propeller, becoming the largest vessel afloat in the world.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

1832

The British Medical Association is founded as the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association by Sir Charles Hastings at a meeting in the Board Room of the Worcester Infirmary.

British Medical Association

1821

Coronation of George IV of the United Kingdom.

George IV

1817

Unsuccessful in his attempt to conquer the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi for the Russian-American Company, Georg Anton Schäffer is forced to admit defeat and leave Kauaʻi.

Schäffer affair

1702

Great Northern War: A numerically superior Polish-Saxon army of Augustus II the Strong, operating from an advantageous defensive position, is defeated by a Swedish army half its size under the command of King Charles XII in the Battle of Klissow.

Great Northern War

1701

Representatives of the Iroquois Confederacy sign the Nanfan Treaty, ceding a large territory north of the Ohio River to England.

Haudenosaunee

1588

Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines: The Spanish Armada is sighted in the English Channel.

Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

1553

The attempt to install Lady Jane Grey as Queen of England collapses after only nine days.

Lady Jane Grey

1545

The Tudor warship Mary Rose sinks off Portsmouth; in 1982 the wreck is salvaged in one of the most complex and expensive projects in the history of maritime archaeology.

Tudor period

1544

Italian War of 1542–46: The first Siege of Boulogne begins.

Italian War of 1542–1546

1333

Wars of Scottish Independence: Battle of Halidon Hill: The English win a decisive victory over the Scots.

Wars of Scottish Independence

998

Arab–Byzantine wars: Battle of Apamea: Fatimids defeat a Byzantine army near Apamea.

Arab–Byzantine wars

939

Battle of Simancas: King Ramiro II of León defeats the Moorish army under Caliph Abd-al-Rahman III near the city of Simancas.

Battle of Simancas

711

Umayyad conquest of Hispania: Battle of Guadalete: Umayyad forces under Tariq ibn Ziyad defeat the Visigoths led by King Roderic.

AD 711

484

Leontius, Roman usurper, is crowned Eastern emperor at Tarsus (modern Turkey). He is recognized in Antioch and makes it his capital.

Leontius (usurper)

64

The Great Fire of Rome causes widespread devastation and rages on for six days, destroying half of the city.

AD 64