December 19

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December 19 in recent years 2008 (Friday)2007 (Wednesday)2006 (Tuesday)2005 (Monday)2004 (Sunday)2003 (Friday)2002 (Thursday)2001 (Wednesday)2000 (Tuesday)

December 19 is the 353rd day of the year (354th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 12 days remaining until the end of the year.

1 Events
2 Births
3 Deaths
4 Holidays and observances
5 External links

Events

324 - Licinius abdicates his position as Roman Emperor.
1154- Henry II of England is crowned at Westminster Abbey.
1490 - Anne of Brittany is married to Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor by proxy.
1606 - The Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery depart England carrying settlers who, at Jamestown, Virginia, found the first of the thirteen colonies that became the United States.
1776 - Thomas Paine publishes one of a series of pamphlets in the Pennsylvania Journal titled The American Crisis.
1777 - American Revolutionary War: George Washington's Continental Army goes into winter quarters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
1828 - Nullification Crisis: Vice President of the United States John C. Calhoun pens the South Carolina Exposition and Protest, protesting the Tariff of 1828.
1835 - The first issue of The Blade newspaper is published in Toledo, Ohio.
1907 - A group of 239 coal miners die during a mine explosion in Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania.
1912 - William H. Van Schaick, captain of the steamship General Slocum which caught fire and killed over 1,000 people, is pardoned by U.S. President William Howard Taft after three-and-a-half-years in Sing Sing prison.
1916 - World War I: Battle of Verdun - On the Western Front, the French Army successfully holds off the German Army and drives it back to its starting position.
1920 - King Constantine I is restored as King of the Hellenes after the death of his son Alexander I of Greece and a plebiscite.
1924 - The last Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost is sold in London, England.
1932 - BBC World Service begins broadcasting as the BBC Empire Service
1941 - World War II: Adolf Hitler becomes Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the German Army.
1961 - India annexes Daman and Diu, part of Portuguese India.
1967 - Prime Minister of Australia Harold Holt is officially presumed dead.
1972 - Apollo program: The last manned lunar flight, Apollo 17, crewed by Eugene Cernan, Ron Evans and Harrison Schmitt, returns to Earth.
1975 - John Paul Stevens appointed as a justice of The United States Supreme Court.
1981 - Sixteen lives are lost when the Penlee lifeboat goes to the aid of the stricken coaster Union Star in heavy seas.
1983 - The original FIFA World Cup trophy, the Jules Rimet Trophy, is stolen from the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation in Rio de Janeiro.
1984 - The Sino-British Joint Declaration, stating that the People's Republic of China would resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong and the United Kingdom would restore Hong Kong to China with effect from July 1, 1997 is signed in Beijing by Deng Xiaoping and Margaret Thatcher.
1986 - Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev releases Andrei Sakharov and his wife from internal exile in Gorky.
1994 - Rolls-Royce announces its future cars will feature V12 engine which will be produced by BMW.
1997 - SilkAir Flight 185 crashes into the Musi River, near Palembang in Indonesia, killing 104.
1997 - Titanic is released in theaters. This movie would become the most financially successful movie in U.S. history, grossing approximately $1.8 billion worldwide.
1998 - Lewinsky scandal: The United States House of Representatives forwards articles I and III of impeachment against President Bill Clinton to the Senate.
2000 - The Leninist Guerrilla Units wing of the Communist Labour Party of Turkey/Leninist attack a Nationalist Movement Party office in Istanbul, killing one person and injuring three.
2001 - A record high barometric pressure of 1085.6 hPa (32.06 inHg) is recorded at Tosontsengel, Khövsgöl Province, Mongolia.
2001 - Argentine economic crisis: December 2001 riots - Riots erupt in Buenos Aires after Domingo Cavallo's corralito measures restrict the withdrawal of cash from bank deposits.
2007 - The Lakotah people, a Native American tribe, proclaim independence and withdraw all their treaties with the United States. They then proceed to establish the Republic of Lakotah, with an ongoing process of international recognition as a separate country.

Births

1554 - Philip William, Prince of Orange (d. 1618)
1683 - Philip V of Spain (d. 1746)
1699 - William Bowyer, English printer (d. 1777)
1714 - John Winthrop, American astronomer (d. 1779)
1778 - Princess Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte, eldest child of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI (d. 1851)
1784 - Marcus Morton, 16th and 18th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1864)
1813 - Thomas Andrews, Irish chemist (d. 1885)
1817 - James J. Archer, Confederate general (d. 1904)
1831 - Bernice Pauahi Bishop, Hawaiian philanthropist (d. 1884)
1852 - Albert Abraham Michelson, Prussian-born American physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1931)
1853 - Charles Fitzpatrick, Canadian politician, lieutenant-governor of Quebec (d. 1942)
1865 - Minnie Maddern Fiske, American actress (d. 1932)
1885 - Joe "King" Oliver, American jazz musician (d. 1938)
1888 - Fritz Reiner, Hungarian-born American conductor (d. 1963)
1894 - Ford Frick, American baseball commissioner (d. 1978)
1901 - Rudolf Hell, German inventor (d. 2002)
1902 - Sir Ralph Richardson, English actor (d. 1983)
1903 - George Davis Snell, American geneticist, Nobel laureate (d. 1996)
1906 - Leonid Brezhnev, leader of the Soviet Union (d. 1982)
1907 - Jimmy McLarnin, former Welterweight Champion (d. 2004)
1909 - W.A. Criswell, American (Baptist) preacher (d. 2002)
1910 - Jean Genet, French writer (d. 1986)
1915 - Édith Piaf, French singer and actress (d. 1963)
1918 - Professor Longhair, American blues musician (d. 1980)
1920 - Little Jimmy Dickens, American country singer
1920 - David Susskind, American TV talk show host (d. 1987)
1922 - Eamonn Andrews, Irish-born television presenter (d. 1987)
1923 - Gordon Jackson, Scottish actor (d. 1990)
1924 - Carlo Chiti, Italian race car engineer (d. 1994)
1924 - Doug Harvey, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1989)
1924 - Gary Morton, second husband of Lucille Ball (d. 1999)
1924 - Edmund Purdom, English actor
1925 - Tankred Dorst, German dramatist
1925 - Robert B. Sherman, American songwriter
1926 - Bobby Layne, American football player (d. 1986)
1926 - Herb Stempel, American game show contestant
1927 - James Booth, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2005)
1928 - Nathan Oliveira, American artist
1929 - Bob Brookmeyer, American jazz musician
1929 - Howard Sackler, American screenwriter (d. 1982)
1932 - Salvador Elizondo, Mexican writer
1933 - Kevan Gosper, Australian athlete
1933 - Cicely Tyson, American actress
1934 - Rudi Carrell, Dutch singer
1934 - Al Kaline, American baseball player
1934 - Casper R. Taylor, Jr., American politician
1935 - Barbara Bostock, American actress
1935 - Bobby Timmons, American jazz pianist (d. 1974)
1936 - Marian McKnight, Miss America 1957
1940 - Phil Ochs, American folk singer (d. 1976)
1941 - Maurice White, American singer and songwriter (Earth, Wind & Fire)
1942 - Rufus, French actor
1943 - Ross M. Lence, American political scientist (d. 2006)
1944 - William Christie, American-born director of Les Arts Florissants
1944 - Mitchell Feigenbaum, American mathematical physicist
1944 - Richard Leakey, Kenyan paleontologist, conservationist and politician
1944 - Alvin Lee, English singer/guitarist (Ten Years After)
1944 - Tim Reid, American actor
1944 - Zal Yanovsky, Canadian guitarist (The Lovin' Spoonful) (d. 2002)
1945 - Elaine Joyce, American actress
1946 - Rosemary Conley, English businesswoman, author and broadcaster
1946 - Robert Urich, American actor (d. 2002)
1948 - Ken Brown, Canadian ice hockey player
1949 - Nancy Kyes, American actress
1949 - Sebastian, Danish musician
1956 - Tom Lawless, American baseball player
1957 - Cyril Collard, French film director (d. 1993)
1957 - John Gulager, American film director
1957 - Kevin McHale, American basketball player
1958 - Limahl, English singer (Kajagoogoo)
1960 - Mike Lookinland, American actor
1960 - Michelangelo Signorile, American writer
1961 - Eric Allin Cornell, American physicist, Nobel laureate
1961 - Matthew Waterhouse, English actor
1961 - Reggie White, American football player (d. 2004)
1962 - Jill Talley, American actress
1963 - Jennifer Beals, American film actress
1963 - Til Schweiger, German actor
1964 - Arvydas Sabonis, Lithuanian basketball player
1965 - Chito Martínez, Belizean baseball player
1965 - Jessica Steen, American actress
1966 - Chuckii Booker, American singer, musician and producer
1966 - Robert MacNaughton, American stage and screen actor
1966 - Alberto Tomba, Italian alpine skier
1966 - Eric Weinrich, American ice hockey player
1967 - Frankie Lam, Hong Kong actor
1967 - Criss Angel, Illusionist,Actor, Musician, etc.
1969 - Richard Hammond, English television presenter
1969 - Tom Gugliotta, American basketball player
1969 - Kristy Swanson, American actress
1969 - Villano IV, Mexican professional wrestler
1970 - Tyson Beckford, American model
1971 - Liz Cho, American television reporter
1971 - Amy Locane, American actress
1971 - Tiffany Towers, Canadian adult film actress
1972 - Alyssa Milano, American actress
1972 - Rosa Blasi, American actress
1972 - Warren Sapp, American football player
1973 - Takashi Sorimachi, Japanese actor
1973 - Zulfiya Zabirova, Russian cyclist
1974 - Mikko Paananen, Finnish bassist (HIM)
1974 - Jake Plummer, American football player
1974 - Ricky Ponting, Australian cricketer
1975 - Olivier Tebily, Ivorian footballer
1977 - Jorge Garbajosa, Spanish basketball player
1978 - Patrick Casey, American screenwriter and actor
1979 - Kevin Devine, American musician
1979 - Paola Rey, Colombian actress
1980 - Jake Gyllenhaal, American actor
1980 - Marla Sokoloff, American actress
1982 - Vincent Accardi, American musician
1982 - Maurice Williams, American basketball player
1983 - Matt Stajan, Canadian ice hockey player
1984 - Ian Kennedy, Major League Baseball pitcher
1985 - Gary Cahill, English footballer
1985 - Neil Kilkenny, English-born Australian footballer
1985 - Lady Sovereign, English musician
1986 - Ryan Babel, Dutch Footballer
1987 - Karim Benzema, French footballer
1988 - Paulina Gretzky, American-born Canadian actress and model
1987 - Alexis Sánchez, Chilean footballer
1991 - Declan Galbraith, English singer