Today in History : February 19
1408 : The revolt of Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, against King Henry IV, ends with his defeat and death at Bramham Moor.
1701 : Philip V of Spain makes his ceremonial entry into Madrid.
1807 : Vice President Aaron Burr is arrested in Alabama for treason. He is later found innocent.
1847 : Rescuers finally reach the ill-fated Donner Party in the Sierras.
1861 : Russian Tsar Alexander II abolishes serfdom.
1902 : Smallpox vaccination becomes obligatory in France.
1903 : The Austria-Hungary government decrees a mandatory two year military service.
1915 : British and French warships begin their attacks on the Turkish forts at the mouth of the Dardenelles, in an abortive expedition to seize the straits of Gallipoli.
1917 : American troops are recalled from the Mexican border.
1919 : The First Pan African Congress meets in Paris, France.
1925 : President Calvin Coolidge proposes the phasing out of inheritance tax.
1926 : Dr. Lane of Princeton estimates the earth’s age at one billion years.
1942 : Port Darwin, on the northern coast of Australia, is bombed by the Japanese.
1944 : The U.S. Eighth Air Force and Royal Air Force begin “Big Week,” a series of heavy bomber attacks against German aircraft production facilities.
1965 : Fourteen Vietnam War protesters are arrested for blocking the United Nations’ doors in New York.
1966 : Robert F. Kennedy suggests the United States offer the Vietcong a role in governing South Vietnam.
1976 : Britain slashes welfare spending.
1981 : The U.S. State Department calls El Salvador a “textbook case” of a Communist plot.
1987 : New York Governor Mario Cuomo declares that he will not run for president in the next election.
Born on February 19
1473 : Nicholas Copernicus, Polish astronomer who introduced the idea that the earth revolved around the sun.
1683 : Philip V, King of Spain.
1817 : William III, King of the Netherlands.
1859 : Svante Arrhenius, Swedish chemist, founder of physical chemistry.
1902 : Kay Boyle, short story writer (“The White Horses of Vienna”).
1911 : Merle Oberon, film actress.
1917 : Carson McCullers, writer (The Heart is a Lonely Hunter).
1940 : Smokey Robinson, American singer and songwriter.
1952 : Amy Tan, novelist (The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God’s Wife).
1408 : The revolt of Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, against King Henry IV, ends with his defeat and death at Bramham Moor.
1701 : Philip V of Spain makes his ceremonial entry into Madrid.
1807 : Vice President Aaron Burr is arrested in Alabama for treason. He is later found innocent.
1847 : Rescuers finally reach the ill-fated Donner Party in the Sierras.
1861 : Russian Tsar Alexander II abolishes serfdom.
1902 : Smallpox vaccination becomes obligatory in France.
1903 : The Austria-Hungary government decrees a mandatory two year military service.
1915 : British and French warships begin their attacks on the Turkish forts at the mouth of the Dardenelles, in an abortive expedition to seize the straits of Gallipoli.
1917 : American troops are recalled from the Mexican border.
1919 : The First Pan African Congress meets in Paris, France.
1925 : President Calvin Coolidge proposes the phasing out of inheritance tax.
1926 : Dr. Lane of Princeton estimates the earth’s age at one billion years.
1942 : Port Darwin, on the northern coast of Australia, is bombed by the Japanese.
1944 : The U.S. Eighth Air Force and Royal Air Force begin “Big Week,” a series of heavy bomber attacks against German aircraft production facilities.
1965 : Fourteen Vietnam War protesters are arrested for blocking the United Nations’ doors in New York.
1966 : Robert F. Kennedy suggests the United States offer the Vietcong a role in governing South Vietnam.
1976 : Britain slashes welfare spending.
1981 : The U.S. State Department calls El Salvador a “textbook case” of a Communist plot.
1987 : New York Governor Mario Cuomo declares that he will not run for president in the next election.
Born on February 19
1473 : Nicholas Copernicus, Polish astronomer who introduced the idea that the earth revolved around the sun.
1683 : Philip V, King of Spain.
1817 : William III, King of the Netherlands.
1859 : Svante Arrhenius, Swedish chemist, founder of physical chemistry.
1902 : Kay Boyle, short story writer (“The White Horses of Vienna”).
1911 : Merle Oberon, film actress.
1917 : Carson McCullers, writer (The Heart is a Lonely Hunter).
1940 : Smokey Robinson, American singer and songwriter.
1952 : Amy Tan, novelist (The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God’s Wife).
