/year

December 19 in history

180 sourced entries recorded on December 19, from 211 CE to 2025 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 211Geta is lured to come without his bodyguards to meet Caracalla, to discuss a possible reconciliation. When he arrives the Praetorian Guard murders him, and he dies in the arms of his mother Julia Domna.source
  • 324Licinius abdicates his position as Emperor. He is pardoned by Constantine I as a result of the supplication of his wife Constantia (who is Constantine's halfsister), and banished to Thessalonica as a private citizen.source
  • 1154The 21-year-old Henry II is crowned as sole ruler of England along with his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine.source
  • 1237December 16–21 – Siege of Ryazan: The Mongols under Batu Khan lay siege to Ryazan. The townspeople repel the first Mongol attacks but after 5 days the city walls are breached by Chinese catapults. On December 21, the Mongols storm the walls and plunder the capital, killing Yuri Igorevich and all inhabitants. Yuri II of Vladimir stands by and does nothing to intervene while Ryazan burns.source
  • 1308Treaty of Alcalá de Henares: King Ferdinand IV of Castile and King James II of Aragon sign an alliance in the Monastery of Santa María de Huerta. Ferdinand agrees to join James in making war by sea and by land against Granada. He also promises to give up one-sixth of Granada to Aragon, and grants him the Province of Almería.source
  • 1359The Catalan Courts are held in Cervera, giving birth to the Deputation of the General of Catalonia (Diputació del General de Catalunya), also called Generalitat of Catalonia (Generalitat de Catalunya).source
  • 1387At the Battle of Radcot Bridge in England, forces loyal to King Richard II are defeated by the Lords Appellant, a group of three rebellious barons—. King Richard is taken prisoner, and not freed until he agrees to dismiss all the councillors in his court. Richard continues as the nominal King of England, with the Lords Appellant administering the kingdom.source
  • 1395The Principality of Monaco comes under the control of the Republic of Genoa, administered by the Doge Antoniotto I Adorno. Lord Jean I of the House of Grimaldi steps aside during the Genoan invasion.source
  • 1411Royal assent is given by King Henry IV to many of the acts passed by the English Parliament, including the Riot Act 1411, which provides that "The justices of peace and the sheriffs shall arrest those which commit any riot... and inquire of them, and record their offences.source
  • 1414In Poland, Casimir, Duke of Oświęcim takes full power as he reaches the age of 18.source
  • 1442Pope Eugene IV issues the papal bull Illius qui se pro divini granting full remission of sins to any Christian who had participated in the Crusades by Prince Henry the Navigator against the Saracens.source
  • 1487(7 Panquetzaliztli of the year 8 acatl) During the reign of the Mexican Aztec Emperor Ahuitzotl, the Temple of Huitzilopochtli, sixth in a series is completed and dedicated in Tenochtitlan to the Aztec god of war.source
  • 1490Anne of Brittany is married by proxy to Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor.source
  • 1546Trinity College, Cambridge, is founded by Henry VIII of England.source
  • 1562Battle of Dreux: Huguenot and Catholic forces fight a bloody battle, narrowly won by the Catholic side. The official leaders of both armies are captured in the battle.source
  • 1576Representatives of the nobility of the Second Estate vote in favor of outlawing Protestantism in France.source
  • 1599The forces of Minye Thihathu II of Toungoo and his ally Min Razagyi of the Kingdom of Mrauk U end the First Toungoo Empire by capturing Pegu (modern-day Bago, Myanmar).source
  • 1601The 10th Parliament of Elizabeth I is adjourned. Another English Parliament will not be assembled until 1604 when summoned by James I.source
  • 1606The Susan Constant sets out from the River Thames in England leading the Virginia Company's fleet for the foundation of Jamestown, Virginia.source
  • 1610Pieter Both becomes the first Governor-general of the Dutch East Indies (now the Republic of Indonesia), serving until 1614.source
  • 1644the House of Commons passes the Self-denying Ordinance.source
  • 1666Lund University is founded in Lund, Sweden.source
  • 1667Emperor Aurangzeb, ruler of the Mughal Empire in India, orders a massive counterattack on Assam's Ahom kingdom after learning that Mughal troops had captured Guwahati. Aurangzeb appoints Raja Ram Singh to command a force of 36,000 infantry, 18,000 cavalry, 2,000 archers and 40 ships to conquer Ahom. The war lasts until the defeat of the Mughals by the smaller Ahom force in March 1671.source
  • 1673King Louis XIV of France issues a decree recognizing the legitimacy of (and giving royal titles to) the three children whom he had sired through his mistress, Madame de Montespan: Louis Auguste, Duke of Maine; Louis César, Count of Vexin; and Louise Françoise, Princess of Condé.source
  • 1675United colonial forces attack the Narragansetts at the Great Swamp Fight.source
  • 1696Jean-François Regnard's verse comedy Le Joueur ("The Gamester") premieres in Paris.source
  • 1732Benjamin Franklin, in the Pennsylvania Gazette, first advertises the publication of Poor Richard's Almanack, purportedly written by "Richard Saunders", a pen name used by Franklin. The book goes on sale on December 28. The annual publication will continue until 1758.source
  • 1733Unsuccessful in capturing Baghdad from the Ottoman Empire, Persia's ruler Nader Shah signs the Treaty of Baghdad with the Ottoman Governor, Ahmad Khan Pasha, with the Turks and the Iranians agreeing to restore the boundary between the two empires to the lines before the 1732 Ottoman invasion of Iran.source
  • 1735At the age of 8 years old, Prince Luis of Spain becomes the youngest Roman Catholic Cardinal in history, after being named by Pope Clement XII.source
  • 1755Bredo Munthe of Bekkeskov was ennobled, and given the noble family name Munthe af Morgenstierne.source
  • 1776American Revolution – Thomas Paine, living with Washington's troops, publishes the first in the series of pamphlets on The American Crisis in The Pennsylvania Journal, opening with the stirring phrase, "These are the times that try men's souls."source
  • 1777American Revolutionary War – George Washington's Continental Army goes into winter quarters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.source
  • 1783William Pitt the Younger becomes Prime Minister of Great Britain.source
  • 1801South Carolina College, a precursor to The University of South Carolina, is established in Columbia, South Carolina.source
  • 1810Frigates HMS Nymphe and HMS Pallas are wrecked near Dunbar.source
  • 1813December 18–19 – War of 1812: British soldiers and native allies invade the United States, and are successful in the Capture of Fort Niagara, and attack Lewiston, New York.source
  • 1816December 9–21 – The American Colonization Society is established, to support the emigration of free African Americans to Africa.source
  • 1821The Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland begins to erupt.source
  • 1828A document written by U.S. Vice President John C. Calhoun, the South Carolina Exposition and Protest, is presented to the South Carolina House of Representatives protesting the 'Tariff of Abominations'.source
  • 1835HMS Beagle, captained by Robert FitzRoy and carrying Charles Darwin, arrives in New Zealand.source
  • 1843Charles Dickens's novella A Christmas Carol is first published in London, England. Released on December 19, it sells out by Christmas Eve.source
  • 1843"A Christmas Carol", by Charles Dickens, was first published on December 19, 1843, with the first edition sold out by Christmas Eve. By 1844, the novella had gone through 13 printings and continues to be a robust seller more than 175 years later.source
  • 1854The Basel SBB railway station is openedsource
  • 1859César Franck inaugurates the new organ at the basilia of Sainte-Clotilde, Paris, an instrument built by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll.source
  • 1863Linoleum is patented in the United Kingdom.source
  • 1864Cape Western – Salt River to Wynberg, 6 mi.source
  • 1864A railway line to Wynberg, constructed with private capital, is opened to the public.source
  • 1871The city of Birmingham, Alabama, is incorporated with the merger of three existing towns.source
  • 1871The city of Birmingham, Alabama, is incorporated with the merger of three pre-existing towns.source
  • 1873December 19 (December 7 OS) – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's fantasia The Tempest, composed between August and October, is premiered, in Moscow.source
  • 1879Swift Runner is hanged in Fort Saskatchewan, NWT, for murdering and then eating eight members of his own family over the previous winter. He believed he was possessed by Wendigo, a terrifying mythological creature with a ravenous appetite for human flesh.source
  • 1885The city of Río Gallegos, Santa Cruz, is established, and a naval base created, to increase Argentine control over southern Patagonia.source
  • 1894Trial and conviction of Alfred Dreyfus begins at the Cherche-Midi prison and lasts four days.source
  • 1900Hopetoun Blunder: The first Governor-General of Australia, John Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun, appoints Sir William Lyne premier of the new state of New South Wales, but he is unable to persuade other colonial politicians to join his government, and is forced to resign.source
  • 1900Port and shipyard workers in Genoa declare a general strike after prefect Camillo Garroni closed the Camera del Lavoro (Labour Exchange). Prime minister Giuseppe Saracco revokes the prefect's decision after personally negotiating with a working-class delegation. Twenty thousand workers participated in the strike, that ended on the 23nd. Saracco's handling of the strike brought him criticism from the Left for being too repressive and from the Right for being too permissive.source
  • 1907An explosion in a coal mine in Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania kills 239.source
  • 1908Coup d'état led by Juan Vicente Gómezsource
  • 1909The association football team Borussia Dortmund is founded in Dortmund, Germany.source
  • 1909German football club Borussia Dortmund was founded.source
  • 1910The second 1910 United Kingdom general election (the last to be fought with an all-male electorate) concludes with confirmation of a majority for the Liberal Party in alliance with the Irish Parliamentary Party, resolving the battle of wills between the House of Commons of the United Kingdom and the House of Lords by giving a majority for restriction of the powers of the Lords and support for the Irish Home Rule movement.source
  • 1912The Federal University of Paraná is established.source
  • 1914Serbian Campaign (World War I): The Battle of Kolubara ends, resulting in a decisive Serbian victory over Austria-Hungary.source
  • 1914Mohandas Gandhi leaves England, sailing for India on this date (accompanied by his wife Kasturba). He begins to learn the Bengali language whilst on board.source
  • 1917Montreal Wanderers defeat the Toronto Arenas in the first NHL game.source
  • 1920December 15–22 – The Brussels Conference establishes a timetable for German war reparations, intended to extend for over 42 years.source
  • 1923Elisabeth of Romania, Queen Consort, and King George II of Greece, find refuge in Romania after having to leave Greece.source
  • 1924German serial killer Fritz Haarmann is sentenced to death for the murder and dismemberment of at least 24 young males in Hanover.source
  • 1930Mount Merapi volcano in central Java, Indonesia, erupts, destroying numerous villages and killing 1,300 people.source
  • 1931The UAP/Country Coalition, led by Joseph Lyons, defeats the Australian Labor Government, led by Prime Minister James Scullin. Coming in the aftermath of two splits in the Labor Party, the election comes about due to the defeat of the Scullin government on the floor of the House of Representatives – to date, it is the last federal election where a one-term government was defeated. Lyons will be sworn in January 6th the following year, but not before disbanding the Coalition, after the UAP wins enough seats to form a government in its own right.source
  • 1931The South African Springboks beat Ireland 8–3 in Ireland.source
  • 1932BBC World Service begins broadcasting as the BBC Empire Service using a shortwave radio facility at its Daventry transmitting station in England.source
  • 1941Hitler becomes Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Nazi Army.source
  • 1941Raid on Alexandria: Italian Regia Marina divers on human torpedoes place limpet mines on ships of the British Royal Navy Mediterranean Fleet in port at Alexandria, Egypt, disabling battleships Queen Elizabeth and Valiant.source
  • 1944Council of Industrial Design established.source
  • 1944The daily newspaper Le Monde begins publication in Paris.source
  • 1946Viet Minh forces begin a war against French occupying forces in Vietnam, succeeding in 1954 with France's surrender at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.source
  • 1948In the American National Football League, the Philadelphia Eagles defeat the Chicago Cardinals 7–0, to win the championship.source
  • 1955Australian comedian Barry Humphries first introduces his character Edna Everage on stage in Melbourne.source
  • 1956British doctor John Bodkin Adams is arrested for the murder of 2 patients in Eastbourne, England; he will be acquitted.source
  • 1958A message from U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower is broadcast from the SCORE satellite.source
  • 1960José María Castellanos Urrutia, educator and politician in Colima (born 1887)source
  • 1960Fire sweeps through the USS Constellation, to become the U.S. Navy's largest aircraft carrier, while she is under construction at the Brooklyn Navy Yard; killing 50 workers and injuring 150.source
  • 1961Indonesian president Sukarno announces that he will take West Irian by force, if necessary.source
  • 1961The Portuguese surrender Goa to India, after 400 years of Portuguese rule.source
  • 1962Britain acknowledges the right of Nyasaland (modern-day Malawi) to secede from the Central African Federation.source
  • 1966South Vietnam becomes one of the founding members of the Asian Development Bank.source
  • 1966The Asian Development Bank begins operations.source
  • 1967The Rescue Agreement setting forth rights and obligations in outer space is voted into consensus by the United Nations General Assembly.source
  • 1971Intelsat IV (F3) is launched; it enters commercial service over the Atlantic Ocean February 18, 1972.source
  • 1971The controversial dystopian crime film A Clockwork Orange, directed by Stanley Kubrick is released in New York City.source
  • 1971Clube Atlético Mineiro wins the Brazil Football Championship.source
  • 1972Apollo program: Apollo 17 returns to Earth, concluding the program of lunar exploration.source
  • 1977The Mw 5.9 Bob–Tangol earthquake rocks Iran, killing at least 584 people and injuring 1,000.source
  • 1977The Bob–Tangol earthquake strikes Kerman province, killing 584–665 people and causing local destruction.source
  • 1978Former Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi is arrested and jailed for a week for breach of privilege and contempt of parliament.source
  • 1983The Jules Rimet Trophy is stolen from the Brazilian Soccer Confederation building in Rio de Janeiro. As of 2025, the trophy has not been recovered.source
  • 1984The People's Republic of China and the United Kingdom sign the Sino-British Joint Declaration on the future of Hong Kong.source
  • 1985A farmer is injured when his vehicle hits an anti-tank mine in the Weipe area.source
  • 1986Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov is permitted to return to Moscow after six years of internal exile.source
  • 19881988 Sri Lankan presidential election: Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa of the ruling United National Party is elected President of Sri Lanka, receiving 50.4% of all votes cast and defeating Sri Lanka Freedom Party candidate Sirimavo Bandaranaike.source
  • 1989Romanian Revolution: Workers in the cities go on strike in protest against the Communist regime. On December 20 about 100,000 occupy Timișoara.source
  • 1991Skarnsund Bridge opens in Norway, becoming the world's longest cable-stayed bridge for two years with a span of 530 m.source
  • 1994Civil unions between same-sex couples are legalized in Sweden.source
  • 1994A planned exchange rate correction of the Mexican peso to the US dollar, becomes a massive financial meltdown in Mexico, unleashing the 'Tequila' effect on global financial markets. This prompts a US$50 billion "bailout" by the Clinton administration.source
  • 1994Nigeria Airways Flight 9805 crashes in marshland near Kiri Kasamasource
  • 1997Janet Jagan (widow of Cheddi Jagan) takes office in Guyana.source
  • 1997James Cameron's Titanic is released in theaters in the United States. It will become the fourth highest-grossing film of all time (adjusted for inflation).source
  • 1997SilkAir Flight 185 crashes into the Musi River, near Palembang in Indonesia, killing 104.source
  • 1997SilkAir Flight 185 crashes into the Musi River near Palembang in South Sumatra killing all 104 people on board.source
  • 1997SilkAir Flight 185 crashes into Musi River near Palembang, Sumatra, killing all 104 people on board.source
  • 1998The U.S. House of Representatives forwards articles of impeachment against President Clinton to the Senate, making him the second president to be impeached in U.S. history.source
  • 1998Lewinsky scandal: President Bill Clinton is impeached by the United States House of Representatives. (He was later acquitted.)source
  • 1999President Obasanjo orders troops to raid the town of Odi in the Niger Delta, in response to the murders of twelve policemen at the hands of local militia; The troops razed the town of Odi.source
  • 2001A record-high barometric pressure of 1085.6 hPa (32.06 inHg) is recorded at Tosontsengel, Zavkhan, Mongolia.source
  • 2003Libya agrees to eliminate all of its materials, equipment, and programs aimed at producing weapons of mass destruction.source
  • 2003The Beagle 2 Mars lander deploys, but contact is lost.source
  • 2005Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101 crashes into the ocean off of Miami Beach in Florida. There were 20 fatalities.source
  • 2011Liechtenstein becomes the 26th member state of the Schengen Area.source
  • 2013Berlin city-state officials say that a police investigation has traced vehicles stolen in recent years in Germany to Tajikistan, some 3,500 mi away. German authorities alleged that relatives and other people close to Tajikistan's president are driving stolen luxury cars from Germany, as a long-running criminal probe escalated into a diplomatic spat between two countries.source
  • 2016Berlin truck attack: A truck is deliberately driven into the Christmas market next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church at Breitscheidplatz in Berlin, leaving 12 people dead and 56 others injured.source
  • 2018December 19–21 – Gatwick Airport drone incident: Reports of drone sightings close to the runway at Gatwick Airport in England causes major disruption, affecting approximately 140,000 passengers and 1,000 flights, making it the largest disruption since ash from an Icelandic volcano shut the airport in 2010.source
  • 2019Libya's Government of National Accord activates a cooperation accord with Turkey, allowing for a potential Turkish military intervention in the Second Libyan Civil War.source
  • 2019A locust plague devastates 173,000 acres (70,000 hectares) of crop and grazing land in Ethiopia and Somalia.source
  • 2019A court in the Philippines convicts Andal Ampatuan Jr., his brother Zaldy Ampatuan and 31 others including three members of the Ampatuan clan, of 57 counts of murder and sentences them to life imprisonment without parole for their role in the Maguindanao massacre.source
  • 2021The second round of the 2021 Chilean presidential election is held; leftist candidate Gabriel Boric is elected President.source
  • 2021The 2021 Hong Kong legislative election, originally scheduled for 6 September 2020 but postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is held.source
  • 2022At the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15), nearly 200 countries agree a landmark deal to protect a third of the planet for nature by 2030.source
  • 2024The Hungarian government of Viktor Orbán has granted political asylum to Polish MP of Law and Justice Marcin Romanowski, who is wanted on the European Arrest Warrant for being accused of defrauding 100 million zł from the Fundusz Sprawiedliwości (Justice Fund) when he was deputy minister of justice during the PiS government.source
  • 2024Mazan rapes trial: The Judicial Court in Avignon, France, finds Dominique Pelicot guilty of the aggravated rape of his ex-wife Gisèle Pelicot and imposes the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The 50 other defendants in the case are also convicted of crimes ranging from attempted rape to aggravated rape, and receive prison sentences ranging from three to 15 years.source
  • 2025EU leaders approve a €90bn ($105bn) loan for Ukraine for the next two years, which Kyiv will repay only once Russia pays reparations.source

Births

  • 1343William I, Margrave of Meissen (died 1407)source
  • 1498Andreas Osiander, German Protestant theologian (died 1552)source
  • 1563Lord William Howard, English nobleman (died 1640)source
  • 1628Charlotte of the Palatinate, German noble (died 1631)source
  • 1683King Philip V of Spain (died 1746)source
  • 1778Marie Thérèse of France, eldest child of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette (died 1851)source
  • 1790William Edward Parry, English Arctic explorer (died 1855)source
  • 1849Henry Clay Frick, American industrialist, art collector (died 1919)source
  • 1852Albert A. Michelson, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1931)source
  • 1902Ralph Richardson, English actor (died 1983)source
  • 1906Leonid Brezhnev, Soviet leader (died 1982)source
  • 1974Ricky Ponting, Australian cricketersource

Deaths

  • 401Pope Anastasius I dies at Rome after a 2-year reign, and is succeeded by Innocent I as the 40th pope proclaiming his universal power over the whole of Christendom.source
  • 966Sancho I, king of León (Spain)source
  • 1064Fujiwara no Nagaie, Japanese nobleman (born 1005)source
  • 1091Adelaide of Susa, margravine of Turinsource
  • 1091Fujiwara no Tadaie, Japanese statesman (born 1033)source
  • 1111Al-Ghazali, Persian theologian (born 1058)source
  • 1111Agnes of Rheinfelden, German noblewomansource
  • 1127Jordan II (or Giordano), prince of Capuasource
  • 1327Agnes of France, Duchess of Burgundysource
  • 1370Pope Urban V (born 1310)source
  • 1385Bernabò Visconti, Lord of Milan (born 1319)source
  • 1442Elizabeth of Luxembourg (born 1409)source
  • 1477Maria of Mangup, Princess-consort of Moldaviasource
  • 1479The surviving suspect in the Pazzi conspiracy and April 26, 1478, assassination of Giuliano de' Medici in the Republic of Florence, is executed after being returned to Florence by order of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II. The conspirator, Bernardo Bandini dei Baroncelli, is hanged from a window of the Palazzo del Popolo, Florence's "Palace of the People".source
  • 1494December 19 or December 20 – Matteo Maria Boiardo, Italian poet (born c. 1434-1441)source
  • 1498Jeanne de Laval, French noble (born 1433)source
  • 1562Jacques Dalbon, Seigneur de Saint Andre, soldier (born c.1505)source
  • 1636William Spencer, 2nd Baron Spencer of Wormleighton, British baron (born 1591)source
  • 1637Christina of Lorraine, Tuscan regent (born 1565)source
  • 1660Ove Gjedde, admiral (born 1594)source
  • 1737James Sobieski, Crown Prince of Poland (born 1667)source
  • 1741Vitus Bering, Danish-born Russian explorer (born 1681)source
  • 1741Vitus Bering dies during his expedition, east of Siberia.source
  • 1745Jean-Baptiste van Loo, French painter (born 1684)source
  • 1751Louise of Great Britain, queen of Frederick V of Denmark (born 1724)source
  • 1751Queen Louise, Queen of Denmark-Norway (born 1724 in the United Kingdom)source
  • 1788Juan Bautista de Anza, Governor of the Spanish Province of New Mexico (born 1736)source
  • 1791Jean-François de Neufforge, Flemish architect and engraver (born 1714)source
  • 1796Pyotr Rumyantsev, Russian general (born 1725)source
  • 1807Friedrich Melchior, Baron von Grimm, German writer (born 1723)source
  • 1807Friedrich Melchior, Baron von Grimm, German writer (born 1723)source
  • 1848Emily Brontë, English author (born 1818)source
  • 1851J. M. W. Turner, English painter (born 1775)source
  • 1919Martin Savage, Irish Republican Army commander; killed in action (born 1898)source
  • 1927Three members of the revolutionary movement for Indian independence – Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil, Thakur Roshan Singh and Ashfaqulla Khan – are executed by the British Raj. Rajendra Nath Lahiri had been executed two days before.source
  • 1966Betty Kuuskemaa, actress (born 1879)source
  • 2016Andrei Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, is assassinated by an off-duty Turkish police officer at an art exhibition in Ankara.source
  • 2018James Ramlall, or Bhai, poet (born 1935).source