Historical Events on April 19

  • 1770: Lieutenant James Cook (soon to be Captain James Cook) sights the eastern coast of Australia.
  • 1770: In a proxy wedding, Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI of France are wed.
  • 1775: At the beginning of the American Revolutionary War, American forces enjoy a victory in Concord during the Battles of Lexington and Concord.
  • 1782: Thanks to John Adams, the Dutch Republic recognizes the United States as an independent country. John Adams house in Hague, Netherlands becomes the very first American embassy to that country.
  • 1839: Belgium is established as a kingdom and its neutrality is guaranteed thanks to the Treaty of London.
  • 1861:S Army troops in Baltimore are attacked by pro-secession mobs during the Baltimore Riot.
  • 1927: Mae West gets 10 days in jail for her play Sex – which is deemed obscene.
  • 1943: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising starts in Poland after German troops try to round up the remaining Jews.
  • 1956: Prince Rainier of Monaco and actress Grace Kelly wed.
  • 1985: 200 FBI and ATF agents siege the compound of the white supremacist group: The Covenant, The Sword and the Arm of the Lord in Arkansas. This group will surrender 2-days later.
  • 1987: The Simpsons cartoon first airs as a series of shorts on the Tracey Ullman Show.
  • 1989: The USS Iowa’s gun turret explodes. Almost 50 sailors are killed.
  • 1993: The FBI siege of the Branch Davidian Complex just outside of Waco, Texas ends when a fire erupts. Four ATF agents and eighty-two civilians will end up dying.
  • 1995: Almost 170 people are killed when the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City is bombed.

Famous Birthdays on April 19

  • English actor Tim Curry is born in 1946.
  • American writer and producer, Alan Kirschenbaum is born in 1961.
  • American race car driver Al Unser Jr. is born in 1962.
  • American actress Ashley Judd is born in 1968.
  • American actress Kate Hudson is born in 1979.