Browse Historical Events by Day: What Happened on December 19th?

Henry II of England is crowned as king, beginning the Angevin Empire.

John Cabot, an Italian explorer sailing under the English flag, reaches the coast of what is now North America, likely Canada.

Benjamin Franklin publishes his Poor Richard's Almanack, a periodical, containing affordable information, humor, ideas, advice and the proverbial wisdom, etc. for the populace. More

Thomas Paine’s publishes "The American Crisis" a new pamphlet that appeared in the Pennsylvania Journal that inspired a huge American military victory. Paine had written the words during the army’s retreat from New York: “These are the times that try men’s souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like Hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” More

Charles Dickens' classic novella "A Christmas Carol" is first published in London by Chapman & Hall and sold out by Christmas Eve. It was first published in America in 1844 by Carey & Hart in Philadelphia. Charles Dickens' beloved ghost story. was inspired by Dickens' childhood and his desire to address social issues. It continues to be a robust seller more than 180 years later. More

The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) terrorizes the University of Dayton, a Catholic Institution, by exploding 12 bombs throughout the campus and setting on fire an 8-foot cross. Several hundred Klansmen were routed by hundreds of neighborhood residents who joined students in chasing them off. The growing Catholic presence in Dayton during the 1920s drew the hostility of the Ku Klux Klan. More about the attack - More about the KKK

Twenty months after the Berlin Wall went up, more than 700,000 West Berliners take advantage of a long-awaited chance to see their loved ones on the other side of the Wall. The agreement signed two days earlier on December, 17 allowed West Berliners to visit their relatives in the other part of the city over Christmas. An estimated 1.2 million cross over to the East between 19 December and 5 January. More

1984, December 19 - Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher and Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang sign an agreement committing Britain to return Hong Kong to China in 1997 after 155 years of British rule, in return for terms guaranteeing a 50-year extension of its capitalist system. At midnight on July 1, 1997, Hong Kong was peaceably handed over to China in a ceremony attended by numerous international dignitaries. More

The U.S. House of Representatives impeaches President Bill Clinton on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.

The assassination of Andrei Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, in Ankara.

The United States House of Representatives impeaches President Donald Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.