May 19 facts for kids

May 19 is the 139th day of the year (140th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 226 days remain until the end of the year. Every day is special, and May 19th is no different! Throughout history, many important events have happened on this day, from ancient battles to modern space missions. People from all walks of life, like famous leaders, artists, and scientists, were born or passed away on May 19th. Let's explore some of the most interesting moments and people connected to this date!

Historic Moments on May 19

Early History: Before 1600

• 715 – Pope Gregory II was chosen as the leader of the Catholic Church.
• 1051 – Henry I of France married Anne of Kiev, a princess from the Kievan Rus' kingdom.
• 1445 – John II of Castile won an important battle called the First Battle of Olmedo.
• 1499 – Catherine of Aragon, who was 13, was married by proxy to Arthur, Prince of Wales, who was 12. This means someone stood in for Arthur during the ceremony.
• 1535 – French explorer Jacques Cartier began his second trip to North America with three ships and 110 men. He also brought along two sons of Chief Donnacona, whom he had taken on his first trip.
• 1536 – Anne Boleyn, who was the second wife of King Henry VIII of England, passed away.
• 1542 – The Prome Kingdom in what is now Myanmar was taken over by the Taungoo Dynasty.

Big Changes: 1601 to 1900

• 1643 – During the Thirty Years' War, French forces led by the duc d'Enghien won a huge victory against Spain at the Battle of Rocroi. This battle showed that Spain was no longer the strongest land power.
• 1649 – England became a Commonwealth, which means it was a republic (a country without a king or queen) for the next eleven years.
• 1655 – The Invasion of Jamaica began as part of a war between England and Spain.
• 1743 – Jean-Pierre Christin created the centigrade temperature scale, which we still use today!
• 1749 – King George II of Great Britain gave land around the Ohio River to the Ohio Company.
• 1776 – During the American Revolutionary War, a group of American soldiers surrendered in the Battle of the Cedars.
• 1780 – An unusual event called New England's Dark Day happened. The sky turned very dark over New England and parts of Canada.
• 1802 – Napoleon Bonaparte started the Legion of Honour, a special award in France.
• 1828 – U.S. President John Quincy Adams signed a law called the Tariff of 1828. This law helped protect wool makers in the United States.
• 1845 – Captain Sir John Franklin and his team set off from England on their Arctic expedition, which sadly ended in disaster.
• 1848 – The Mexican–American War officially ended when Mexico agreed to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Mexico gave up a lot of land, including parts of modern-day California, Nevada, and Utah, to the United States for $15 million.
• 1883 – Buffalo Bill's famous Buffalo Bill's Wild West show opened for the first time in Omaha, Nebraska.
• 1900 – Great Britain took control of Tonga Island.
• 1900 – British troops ended the Siege of Mafeking during the Second Boer War.

Modern Times: 1901 to Today

• 1911 – Parks Canada, the first national park service in the world, was created to protect natural areas.
• 1917 – The Norwegian football (soccer) club Rosenborg BK was founded.
• 1919 – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk arrived in Samsun, starting the Turkish War of Independence.
• 1921 – The United States Congress passed a law called the Emergency Quota Act. This law set limits on how many immigrants could come to the U.S. from different countries.
• 1922 – The Young Pioneer Organization of the Soviet Union, a youth group, was started.
• 1933 – Finnish general C. G. E. Mannerheim was given the title of field marshal.
• 1934 – A group called Zveno and the Bulgarian Army carried out a coup d'état (a sudden takeover of the government) and made Kimon Georgiev the new Prime Minister of Bulgaria.
• 1942 – During World War II, after the Battle of the Coral Sea, a group of U.S. Navy ships went to Pearl Harbor for repairs.
• 1943 – Winston Churchill gave his second speech to the U.S. Congress during World War II.
• 1945 – French troops fired on Syrian protesters in Damascus, injuring twelve people. This led to a big disagreement known as the Levant Crisis.
• 1950 – A barge carrying explosives for Pakistan exploded in the harbor at South Amboy, New Jersey, causing a lot of damage.
• 1950 – Egypt announced that the Suez Canal was closed to ships and trade from Israel.
• 1959 – The North Vietnamese Army created Group 559. Their job was to find ways to send supplies to South Vietnam, which led to the famous Ho Chi Minh trail.
• 1961 – Venera 1 became the first human-made object to fly past another planet, Venus. However, it had lost contact with Earth and couldn't send back any information.
• 1961 – In Silchar, Assam, 11 people died when police shot at protesters who wanted Bengali to be an official language.
• 1962 – A special birthday celebration for U.S. President John F. Kennedy was held in New York City. A famous moment was Marilyn Monroe singing "Happy Birthday".
• 1963 – The New York Post Sunday Magazine published Martin Luther King Jr.'s important "Letter from Birmingham Jail".
• 1971 – The Soviet Union launched Mars 2, a probe to explore Mars.
• 1986 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan signed the Firearm Owners Protection Act into law.
• 1991 – Croatians voted for their country's independence in a referendum.
• 1993 – SAM Colombia Flight 501 crashed while trying to land in Medellín, Colombia, and 132 people died.
• 1996 – Space Shuttle Endeavour was launched on mission STS-77 to space.
• 1997 – The Sierra Gorda biosphere in Mexico was created. It's known for having the most different kinds of plants and animals in Mexico.
• 2000 – Space Shuttle Atlantis was launched on mission STS-101 to bring supplies to the International Space Station.
• 2007 – President of Romania Traian Băsescu stayed in office after surviving an impeachment vote.
• 2010 – The Royal Thai Armed Forces ended protests in Thailand by making the leaders of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship surrender.
• 2015 – The Refugio oil spill released a large amount of crude oil onto a very important coastline in California.
• 2018 – The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle took place at Windsor Castle. About 1.9 billion people around the world watched it!

Famous People Born on May 19

Historical Figures: Before 1900

• 1462 – Baccio D'Agnolo, an Italian architect and sculptor.
• 1593 – Claude Vignon, a French painter.
• 1616 – Johann Jakob Froberger, a German organist and composer.
• 1744 – Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who became Queen of the United Kingdom by marrying King George III.
• 1762 – Johann Gottlieb Fichte, an important German philosopher.
• 1795 – Johns Hopkins, an American businessman and generous giver (philanthropist) who founded the famous Johns Hopkins University and Hospital.
• 1857 – John Jacob Abel, an American biochemist who studied how chemicals work in living things.
• 1861 – Nellie Melba, a famous Australian opera singer.
• 1871 – Walter Russell, an American painter, sculptor, and writer.
• 1879 – Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, an American-English politician.
• 1881 – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, a Turkish military leader and statesman who became the first President of Turkey.
• 1890 – Ho Chi Minh, a Vietnamese politician who became the first President of Vietnam.

Modern Personalities: 1901 to Present

• 1909 – Nicholas Winton, an English banker and humanitarian who saved many children during World War II.
• 1914 – Max Perutz, an Austrian-English biologist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
• 1925 – Malcolm X, an influential American minister and activist who fought for civil rights.
• 1928 – Colin Chapman, an English engineer who founded Lotus Cars, a famous car company.
• 1930 – Lorraine Hansberry, an American playwright and director.
• 1932 – Elena Poniatowska, a Mexican intellectual and journalist.
• 1934 – Ruskin Bond, a well-known Indian author and poet.
• 1934 – Jim Lehrer, an American journalist.
• 1939 – James Fox, an English actor.
• 1939 – Nancy Kwan, a Hong Kong-American actress.
• 1942 – Gary Kildall, an American computer scientist who founded Digital Research Inc..
• 1944 – Peter Mayhew, an English-American actor famous for playing Chewbacca in Star Wars.
• 1945 – Pete Townshend, an English singer-songwriter and guitarist, famous for being in the band The Who.
• 1946 – André the Giant, a famous French-American wrestler and actor.
• 1948 – Grace Jones, a Jamaican-American singer, producer, and actress.
• 1949 – Dusty Hill, an American singer and bass player for the band ZZ Top.
• 1949 – Archie Manning, a famous American football player.
• 1951 – Joey Ramone, an American singer-songwriter, lead singer of the punk rock band The Ramones.
• 1953 – Victoria Wood, an English actress, singer, and writer.
• 1954 – James Gosling, a Canadian-American computer scientist who created the Java programming language.
• 1957 – Bill Laimbeer, an American basketball player and coach.
• 1964 – Miloslav Mečíř, a Slovak tennis player.
• 1966 – Jodi Picoult, a popular American author.
• 1967 – Geraldine Somerville, an English actress.
• 1968 – Kyle Eastwood, an American actor and bass player, and son of Clint Eastwood.
• 1973 – Dario Franchitti, a Scottish race car driver.
• 1974 – Andrew Johns, an Australian rugby league player and coach.
• 1974 – Nawazuddin Siddiqui, an Indian actor.
• 1976 – Kevin Garnett, a famous American basketball player.
• 1977 – Natalia Oreiro, a Uruguayan singer and actress.
• 1979 – Andrea Pirlo, a famous Italian footballer (soccer player).
• 1979 – Diego Forlán, a famous Uruguayan footballer.
• 1981 – Yo Gotti, an American rapper.
• 1983 – Michael Che, an American comedian.
• 1985 – Malakai Black, a Dutch professional wrestler.
• 1986 – Mario Chalmers, an American basketball player.
• 1992 – Marshmello, a popular American electronic music producer and DJ.
• 1992 – Sam Smith, a famous English singer-songwriter.
• 1992 – Heather Watson, a British tennis player.
• 2003 – JoJo Siwa, a well-known American dancer, singer, and YouTube personality.

Notable People Who Passed Away on May 19

Historical Figures: Before 1900

• 804 – Alcuin, an English monk and scholar.
• 988 – Dunstan, an English archbishop and saint.
• 1125 – Vladimir II Monomakh, a powerful Grand Duke of Kyiv.
• 1218 – Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor.
• 1296 – Pope Celestine V.
• 1303 – Saint Ivo of Kermartin, a French lawyer.
• 1389 – Dmitry Donskoy, a Grand Prince of Muscovy.
• 1536 – Anne Boleyn, the Queen of England and second wife of King Henry VIII.
• 1623 – Mariam-uz-Zamani, Empress of the Mughal Empire.
• 1795 – James Boswell, a Scottish writer famous for his biographies.
• 1864 – Nathaniel Hawthorne, a famous American novelist and short story writer.
• 1895 – José Martí, a Cuban journalist, poet, and philosopher who fought for Cuba's independence.
• 1898 – William Ewart Gladstone, an English lawyer and politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom four times.

Modern Personalities: 1901 to Present

• 1904 – Jamsetji Tata, an Indian businessman who founded the Tata Group, a huge company.
• 1935 – T. E. Lawrence, a British colonel and archaeologist, also known as "Lawrence of Arabia."
• 1954 – Charles Ives, an American composer.
• 1969 – Coleman Hawkins, a famous American jazz saxophonist.
• 1971 – Ogden Nash, an American poet known for his funny poems.
• 1994 – Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, the 37th First Lady of the United States and wife of President John F. Kennedy.
• 2002 – John Gorton, the 19th Prime Minister of Australia.
• 2009 – Robert F. Furchgott, an American biochemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
• 2011 – Garret FitzGerald, the 8th Prime Minister of Ireland.
• 2014 – Jack Brabham, an Australian race car driver who won the Formula One World Championship three times.
• 2016 – Alan Young, an English-born Canadian-American actor, known for voicing Scrooge McDuck.
• 2016 – Morley Safer, a Canadian-born American journalist.
• 2023 – Andy Rourke, an English bassist, famous for being in the band The Smiths.

Holidays and Celebrations

• Christian feast day:
  • Calocerus (Eastern Orthodox Church)
  • Crispin of Viterbo
  • Dunstan (Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church; commemoration, Anglicanism)
  • Ivo of Kermartin
  • Joaquina Vedruna de Mas
  • Maria Bernarda Bütler
  • Peter Celestine
  • Pudentiana (Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church)
  • May 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Pontian Greek Genocide Remembrance Day (Greece)
• Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day (Turkey, Northern Cyprus)
• Hồ Chí Minh's Birthday (Vietnam)
• Malcolm X Day (United States of America)
• National Asian & Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (United States)
• Hepatitis Testing Day (United States)
• Mother's Day (Kyrgyzstan)

See also

In Spanish: 19 de mayo para niños