19 August History
- 1493 - Maximilian succeeds his father Frederick III as Holy Roman Emperor.
- 1587 - Sigismund III is chosen to be the king of Poland.
- 1692 - Five women are hanged in Salem, Massachusetts after being convicted of the crime of witchcraft. Fourteen more people are executed that year and 150 others are imprisoned.
- 1772 - Gustavus III of Sweden eliminates the rule of parties and establishes an absolute monarchy.
- 1779 - Americans under Major Henry Lee take the British garrison at Paulus Hook, New Jersey.
- 1812 - The USS Constitution earns the nickname "Old Ironsides" during the battle off Nova Scotia that saw her defeat the HMS Guerriere.
- 1914 - The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) lands in France.
- 1934 - 38 million Germans vote to make Adolf Hitler the official successor to President von Hindenburg.
- 1936 - Spanish poet Frederico Garcia Lorca is shot by Franco's troops after being forced to dig his own grave.
- 1942 - A raid on Dieppe, France by British and Canadian commandos is repulsed by the German Army.
- 1944 - In an effort to prevent a communist uprising in Paris, Charles DeGualle begins attacking German forces all around the city.
- 1950 - Edith Sampson becomes the first African-American representative to the United Nations.
- 1957 - The first balloon flight to exceed 100,000 feet takes off from Crosby, Minnesota.
- 1965 - U.S. forces destroy a Viet Cong stronghold near Van Tuong, in South Vietnam.
19 August Birthdays
- 1870 - Bernard Baruch, U.S. representative to the U.N. Atomic Energy Commission.
- 1871 - Orville Wright, aviation pioneer.
- 1883 - Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, fashion designer.
- 1902 - Ogden Nash, humorist.
- 1919 - Malcolm Forbes, publisher of Forbes magazine.
- 1921 - Gene Roddenberry, television writer and producer, best known for the series Star Trek.
- 1945 - William J. Clinton, 42nd President of the United States (1993- ).