Holidays
Feast Day of St. Peter Celestine
Patron saint of the book industry.
Feast Day of St. Dunstan
Patron saint of goldsmiths.
What Happened On
Frost and Nixon (right)
Frost and Nixon (right)
When the President Does It, That Means That It Is Not Illegal
May 19, 1977
Former U.S. President Richard Nixon responds to the question of legality of his actions as president, "Well, when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal." This was broadcast as part of a series of interviews of Nixon by David Frost.
Marilyn Monroe Sings Happy Birthday to JFK
May 19, 1962
Movie star Marilyn Monroe sings Happy Birthday, Mr. President to U.S. President John F. Kennedy at a celebration for his upcoming 45th birthday wearing a dress made of a sheer and flesh-colored marquisette fabric, with 2,500 shimmering rhinestones sewn into it.
Monroe sang "Happy Birthday to You" in a sultry voice followed by a snippet from the classic song, "Thanks for the Memory", for which she had written new lyrics:
"Thanks, Mr. President
For all the things you've done
The battles that you've won
The way you deal with U.S. Steel
And our problems by the ton
We thank you so much"
Monroe attended the event during the production of the movie Something's Got to Give, which was a violation of her contract with 20th Century Fox and led to her eventual firing the following month.
Monroe would be found dead at her home the following August.
The Atomic Blast that Killed John Wayne?
May 19, 1953
An atomic bomb is tested in Nevada. Due to a miscalculation and change in wind-direction, a large amount of radioactive fallout fell on St. George, Utah, where two years later the movie The Conqueror was filmed. By 1980, of the 220 members of the cast and crew, 91 of them had developed some form of cancer and 46 had died of the disease. The deaths included John Wayne (1979), Pedro Armendariz (1963), Dick Powell (1963), Ted de Corsia (1973), Agnes Moorehead (1974), and Susan Hayward (1975).
Halley's Comet in 1910
Halley's Comet in 1910
Halley's Comet - Doomsday
May 19, 1910
Earth passes through the tail of Halley's comet. The comet's tail was known to contain the toxic gas cyanogen, which led many to believe life on Earth would die when it passed through the tail. This caused panicked buying of gas masks and quack "anti-comet pills" and "anti-comet umbrellas."
Mark Twain, who was born two weeks after the comet's 1835 perihelion, wrote in his 1909 autobiography:
"I came in with Halley's comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it. It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I don't go out with Halley's comet. The Almighty has said, no doubt: 'Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together'."
Twain died the day following the comet's 1910 perihelion.
The comet is named after Edmond Halley, who in 1705 predicted that the comet of 1682 would return in 1758. When this prediction proved correct, the comet was named in his honor. Unfortunately, Halley had died in 1742 and didn't witness the return.
The Dark Day - End of the World?
May 19, 1780
Much of New England and parts of Canada become almost totally dark, causing widespread panic as many people thought the end of the world had come. The exact cause has never been determined, but it may have been due to a combination of forest fire smoke and cloud cover. It was so dark that candles were needed from noon on. It did not disperse until the middle of the next night.
In 2007, researchers discovered signs of a massive 1780 wildfire in the Algonquin Highlands of southern Ontario. "Fire scars" in the tree rings dated the blaze to the spring of 1780.
Dan Quayle Criticizes Murphy Brown
May 19, 1992
U.S. Vice-President Dan Quayle criticizes the TV character Murphy Brown's moral values for having a child out of wedlock.
Miss USA - First Person Disqualified
May 19, 1981
Deborah Ann Fountain (Miss New York State) is disqualified for padding her swim suit bra. She claimed she was just trying to make it fit better.
Federated Boys' Clubs
May 19, 1906
Federated Boys' Clubs is organized, now called the Boys' Clubs of America.
First Federation of the Four American Colonies
May 19, 1643
The United Colonies of New England is formed. It was between the English colonies of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven. Its primary purpose was to unite the Puritan colonies in support of the church, and for defense against the American Indians and the Dutch colony of New Netherland.
Birthdays
Photo Credit: John McKeon
Photo Credit: John McKeon
André the Giant (André René Roussimoff)
Born May 19, 1946 d. 1993
French giant, wrestler. Billed as 7-foot-4, 520-pounds, and "The Eighth Wonder of the World". He portrayed Fessick the gentle giant in the 1989 movie The Princess Bride. He was the first inductee into the WWF Hall of Fame (1993).
Malcolm X with an M1 Carbine and looking out window
Photo Credit: Ebony Magazine
Malcolm X with an M1 Carbine and looking out windowPhoto Credit: Ebony Magazine
Malcolm X (Malcolm Little)
Born May 19, 1925 d. 1965
American civil rights leader. While in prison he converted to the Muslim Nation of Islam (1946) and preached that all whites were of the devil. He was assassinated by the members of the Nation of Islam after breaking from them in 1964.
Photo Credit: cs:User:Li-sung
Photo Credit: cs:User:Li-sung
The British Schindler
Nicholas Winton
Born May 19, 1909 d. 2015
British humanitarian. "The British Schindler". He organized the rescue of 669 children, most of them Jewish, from Czechoslovakia during the onset of WWII (1938), in an operation known as the Czech Kindertransport (German for "children transportation"). Winton arranged for their passage to Britain and Sweden. Most of the parents, who weren't allowed entry to Britain or other countries, died in Nazi concentration camps. The last group of 250 children was stopped at the last minute due to the outbreak of WWII on its day of departure. Of those 250, only two survived the war. He had contacted other countries, including U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, but they refused to accept the refugees. He said he could have saved thousands more if other countries would have accepted them.
He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to humanity (2003) and awarded the Order of the White Lion - 1st class (2014), the highest honor of the Czech Republic.
Winton was honored on the 
TV Show That's Life (1988).
Nicole Brown Simpson
Born May 19, 1959 d. 1994
American murder victim, ex-wife of O.J. Simpson. She and her friend Ronald Goldman were found murdered at her home. O.J. Simpson was tried and found not guilty of the crime.
Grace Jones
Born May 19, 1948
Jamaican-born model, singer, actress. Film: Conan the Destroyer (1984) and A View to a Kill (1985).
Pete Townshend
Born May 19, 1945
British singer, with The Who. Music: My Generation (1965). He wrote rock's first opera Tommy (1969) with the hit Pinball Wizard.
Don Johnson
Born May 19, 1940 d. 2003
American ten-pin bowler, PBA Hall of Famer, Bowler of the Year (1971-72).
David Hartman
Born May 19, 1935
American actor. TV: Lucas Tanner (title role) and Good Morning America (host).
Jim Lehrer
Born May 19, 1934 d. 2020
American news correspondent. TV: PBS's MacNeil/Lehrer Report.
First World Series Grand Slam Home Run by a Rookie
Gil McDougald (Gilbert James McDougald)
Born May 19, 1928 d. 2010
American baseball player. First rookie to hit a grand-slam home run in a World Series (1951, New York Yankees) and was voted 1951 Rookie of the Year. He played with the Yankees from 1951-60. In 1955, he was hit with a line drive in batting practice that impaired his hearing. He had a cochlear implant to help restore his hearing and became a spokesperson for the maker of the device.
Dolph Schayes
Born May 19, 1928 d. 2015
American basketball player, coach. He was the first NBA player to score 15,000 points (1960).
Team Lotus Eleven cars for Le Mans 24 Hour race 1956
Photo Credit: Raycrosthwaite
Team Lotus Eleven cars for Le Mans 24 Hour race 1956Photo Credit: Raycrosthwaite
Founder of Lotus Cars
Colin Chapman
Born May 19, 1928 d. 1982
British auto designer. Founder of Lotus Cars Ltd. (1952). He introduced the "monocoque" racing chassis (1962), and "ground effects" (the use of air pressure to hold down the car).
Nathuram Godse
Born May 19, 1910 d. 1949
Hindu nationalist. He assassinated Mahatma Gandhi (1948). He felt Gandhi favored the political demands of India's Muslims during the partition of India. He plotted the assassination with seven others and was sentenced to death for his crime. Although Gandhi's sons plead for commutation, he and co-conspirator Narayan Apte were hanged together.
Ho Chi Minh
Born May 19, 1890 d. 1969
Vietnamese leader. Founder and first president of North Vietnam (1954-69).
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Born May 19, 1881 d. 1938
Turkish patriot. Father of the Turks, founder and first president of the Turkish Republic (1923-38).
John Jacob Abel
Born May 19, 1857 d. 1938
American physiological chemist. He was the first to produce insulin in its crystalline form, and the first to isolate (1926) the pituitary hormone.
Johns Hopkins
Born May 19, 1795 d. 1873
American businessman, philanthropist, contributed money for the Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Deaths
Was Punished for Preventing World War III
Stanislav Petrov
Died May 19, 2017 b. 1939
Soviet soldier. After preventing World War III, he was reprimanded for disobeying orders. Stanislav Petrov was the duty officer at a Soviet early-warning system when the system reported that up to six Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles had been launched from the United States. This was in 1983, just three weeks after the Soviet military had shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 007 killing all 269 people aboard, including U.S. Congressman Larry McDonald and many other Americans. Petrov believed it might be a false alarm and disobeyed orders by not reporting the attack to his superiors. He feared that had he reported the attack, his superiors would have launched a retaliatory nuclear attack, leading to an all out nuclear war. Later analysis showed that the detection system had malfunctioned and it was indeed a false alarm. Petrov was reprimanded for not correctly documenting the incident.
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (Jacqueline Lee Bouvier)
Died May 19, 1994 b. 1929
American First Lady, widow of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis.
Joseph Edgar Howard
Died May 19, 1961 b. 1878
American songwriter. Music: Hello! Ma Baby (1899, with his wife: "Hello my baby, hello my honey. Hello my ragtime, summertime gal").
Lawrence of Arabia (Thomas Edward Lawrence)
Died May 19, 1935 b. 1888
English soldier, spy, diplomat, and secret agent. During World War I, he organized the Arab revolt that ended Turkish rule over Arabia.
Morley Safer
Died May 19, 2016 b. 1931
Canadian-born American Emmy-winning journalist. TV: 60 Minutes (1968-2016). He was known for his hard-hitting new coverage of such topics as the Vietnam War.
John Beradino
Died May 19, 1996 b. 1917
American actor. TV: General Hospital (Dr. Steve Hardy from the show's inception in 1963 till his death). He also played major league baseball from 1939 to 1953.
Henry Morgan (Henry Lerner Van Ost, Jr.)
Died May 19, 1994 b. 1915
American caustic comedian. Known for his trademark radio sign-on: "Good evening, anybody. Here's Morgan." TV: What's My Line and I've Got a Secret.
Martin Branner
Died May 19, 1970 b. 1888
American cartoonist, creator of Winnie Winkle, the Breadwinner (1920).
Booth Tarkington
Died May 19, 1946 b. 1869
American Pulitzer-winning novelist. Writings: The Magnificent Ambersons (1918, Pulitzer), and Alice Adams (1921, Pulitzer).
The Scarlet Letter
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Died May 19, 1864 b. 1804
American author. Writings: The Scarlet Letter (1850) and The House of Seven Gables (1851).
The Scarlet Letter was one of the first mass-produced books in the United States.
Robert Bailey Thomas
Died May 19, 1846 b. 1766
American publisher. Founder of The Farmer's Almanac (1792, later called The Old Farmer's Almanack), which he published until his death.
Button Gwinnett
Died May 19, 1777 b. circa 1735
American patriot, signer of the Declaration of Independence. He died from injuries received in a duel.
Anne Boleyn
Died May 19, 1536 b. circa 1501
Queen of England (1533-36), second wife of King Henry VIII. In 1526, Henry VIII began his pursuit of Anne. She refused to become his mistress, as her sister Mary had been. Pope Clement VII refused to annul Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon so that Henry could marry Anne. Henry disregarding the Pope, divorced Catherine and married Anne in 1533 anyway, causing Pope Clement to excommunicate Henry. This led to the break between the Catholic Church and the Church of England. When Henry took an interest Jane Seymour in 1536, he had Anne convicted of treason and beheaded.
Otto IV
Died May 19, 1218 b. circa 1174
Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (1209-18).