Charles V of France is crowned King of France, on May 19, 1364, at Reims Cathedral after the death of his father, John II.
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On This Day in History: May 19
Explore the historical events that shaped our world on May 19th. From major milestones to cultural achievements, see what happened on this day in history. Dates for earlier events may be approximate.
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Anne Boleyn, the infamous second wife of King Henry VIII, is beheaded, on May 19, 1536, in the Tower of London and buried in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula in the Tower. She was convicted after a sham trial, filled with Anne’s enemies, found her guilty, on charges of adultery, incest, conspiracy and high treason against the king.
Henry married Jane Seymour just 11 days after Anne's execution. The circumstances of her marriage and execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that marked the start of the English Reformation. More
President Abraham Lincoln, wrote a letter on May 19, 1864, to anti-slavery Congressional leader Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts, proposing that, widows and children of soldiers should be given equal treatment regardless of race. His letter led to the Congressional Resolution frequently referenced as H.R. 406, Section 13 to rectify the issue.
President Lincoln had written the letter to Senator Sumner, after meeting with Mary Booth, the widow of black Civil War soldier, Major Lionel F. Booth, who was killed at Fort Pillow, Tennessee the previous month by a Confederate sniper. Although this resolution was passed, the Library of Congress has no record that Mary Booth ever applied for or received the widow's pension she sought.
The first Ringling Brothers Circus opens on May 19, 1884, in Baraboo, Wisconsin. By the early 20th century it became the leading circus in the U.S. as the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
After a hiatus from 2017 to 2023, it has returned with a reimagined show that features no animals. The circus is now billed as "The Greatest Show on Earth" and includes acts like trapeze, high wire, and teeterboard. More
Earth passed through the tail of Halley's Comet on May 19, 1910, as the comet passed near Earth. Halley's Comet is a famous periodic comet, known for its regular appearances in Earth's night sky, making it a celestial event of great historical and scientific interest.
One of the substances discovered in the tail by spectroscopic analysis was the toxic gas cyanogen, leading to press speculation that life on Earth could be endangered. Despite reassurances from scientists that the gas would not present any danger, public panic buying of gas masks was recorded, and quack "anti-comet pills" were sold. No harm was done by the comet.
Halley makes a close approach to Earth every 75-76 years. The first certain appearance of Halley's Comet in the historical record is a description from 240 BC, in the Chinese chronicle Records of the Grand Historian or Shiji, which describes a comet that appeared in the east and moved north. It was last seen in 1986, and is expected to return in 2061. More
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk lands at Samsun on the Black Sea coast, on May 19, 1919, starting the Turkish War of Independence. More
The Soviet Union officially ratifies the Outer Space Treaty on May 19, 1967. The treaty bans the placement of nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit around the Earth, on the Moon, or in outer space, and limits the Moon and other celestial bodies to peaceful purposes.
The treaty entered into force on October 10, 1967. As of March 2024, 115 countries are parties to the treaty, while another 22 have signed the treaty but have not completed ratification. More
Egypt Air, Flight MS804, an Airbus A320, flying from Paris to Cairo crashes into the eastern Mediterranean Sea on May 19, 2016. All 66 passengers and crew on board died. It took almost a month to find the wreckage.
The crash, was originally thought to be a result of a terrorist attack but a year later it was determined that a fire had caused the plane to crash. A 2022 report from the French authorities attributed the cause of the fire to a pilot smoking a cigarette, a practice which wasn't banned at the time, in the proximity of an oxygen line which had its airflow switch improperly left in the “emergency” position when the oxygen mask was replaced three days before. According to the Airbus manual; under those conditions, “an oxygen leakage could occur.“ More