It happened today, the almanac of the day: the historical and political facts, who was born and who left us. What happened on April 19th
1587 – Francis Drake sinks the Spanish fleet in the port of Cadiz
1770 – Captain James Cook arrives in sight of Australia
1775 – The American Revolutionary War begins with the Battle of Lexington and Concord
1810 – Venezuela achieves a form of self-government
1820 – Greece: on the island of Milos Jules Dumont d’Urville sees the upper part of the statue known as Venus de Milo in the hut of a Greek farmer. The farmer will say that he found it three weeks earlier while digging in the remains of a temple, and that he left the lower part and the arms of the statue there. All these pieces are sent to the Louvre Museum in France, where however they get lost in the warehouses. Only the armless bust of Venus remains
1839 – The Treaty of London establishes the birth of the kingdom of Belgium
1904 – Much of the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is destroyed by fire
1909 – Joan of Arc is beatified
1919 – USA: Leslie Irvin makes the first jump with a free-fall parachute
1923 – The first Egyptian Constitution is promulgated
1927 – USA: the actress Mae West is sentenced to ten days in prison for obscenity for the performance of her comedy Sex
1937 – Fascist Italy passes the first law for the protection of the race, Royal Decree-Law no. 880/37. The ordinance prohibited madamate (the purchase of a concubine) and marriage to black women from the African colonies
1938 – USA: RCA-NBC begins its television broadcasts.
1943 – World War II: German SS soldiers, under the command of General Stroop, enter the Warsaw Ghetto to capture the last remaining Jews.
1948 – Italy, the results of the previous day’s votes are made known: the Christian Democrats obtain 48.5% of the votes and 305 seats, clearly establishing themselves on the second list: that of the Popular Democratic Front.
1951 – General Douglas MacArthur retires from the military.
1956 – Actress Grace Kelly marries Rainier III of Monaco.
1961 – Bay of Pigs/Cuba: the invasion of the Caribbean island fails.
1967 – Belgrade, guilty of having criticized Tito’s regime, the writer Mihajlo Mihajlov is sentenced to 4 and a half years in prison.
1968 – USA, the man who killed Martin Luther King on April 4th is identified: he is James E. Ray, an escapee from Jefferson City prison
Valdagno: the striking workers of the Marzotto factories resist police charges and start a battle throughout the country which ends with 42 arrests. The statue of the founder of the factory, Count Gaetano Marzotto, was torn down
1971 – Vietnam War: Anti-Vietnam War Veterans Association begins a five-day demonstration in Washington
Charles Manson is sentenced to life in prison for the killing of actress Sharon Tate, wife of director Roman Polański
Russians launch Salyut into orbit
1978 – after 46 years, the congress of the Communist Party of Spain is held in Madrid
1979 – Rome, Ciro Principessa, a PCI member is stabbed by Claudio Minetti, a right-wing extremist within the Party section
Milan, The Armed Proletarians for Communism kill the DIGOS agent Andrea Campagna
Federal Republic of Germany, the bullet-riddled body of Jozo Molos, a Croatian emigrant, was found in the forests near Cologne: the Yugoslav secret services are suspected of the murder
1987 – USA The Simpsons make their first appearance on the Tracey Ullman Show in a short episode entitled Good Night
1993 – USA: Waco massacre, Texas – the fifty-day siege of a school complex near Waco ends with a shootout: eight people dead
1994France, life sentence for Paul Touvier, sadly known as the Vichy executioner
1995 – USA: Timothy McVeigh uses a car bomb to destroy the FBI headquarters in Oklahoma City, capital of the state of Oklahoma, causing 168 victims. Up to that point it was the most serious attack suffered by the United States
1999 – Germany: the seat of Parliament returns to Berlin
2000 – Air disaster: an Air Philippines Boeing 737-200 crashes near Dabaw airport: 131 deaths
2004 – A Soyuz TMA-4 capsule departs from the Bayqoñyr cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, destined to refuel the International Space Station (ISS), with the Russian Gennady Padalka, the Dutch Andre Kuipers and the American Michael Fincke on board
2005 – After the conclave, the German cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is elected pope with the name of Benedict XVI. The white smoke is at 5.50pm and is followed at 6.04pm by the ringing of the festive bells. The announcement of the Habemus Papam was made at 6.41 pm
The saints of the day
- Saint Giuseppe Benedetto Cottolengo: 19th century Italian priest, founder of the Little House of Divine Providence and of the Congregation of the Sons of Divine Providence, dedicated to the care of the sick and the poor.
- Saint Leobard: Irish monk of the 7th century, who lived in France, where he was abbot of the monastery of Fleury. He is considered the patron saint of innkeepers and blacksmiths.
- Saint Crescenziano of Sassari: 4th century Christian martyr, originally from Sardinia, beheaded for refusing to worship the pagan deities of the Roman Empire.
- Saint Emma of Lesum: German noblewoman of the 11th century, known for her generosity and dedication to charity, was the founder of numerous hospitals and convents.
- Saint Rufus of Avignon: 3rd century Christian martyr, venerated as the patron saint of the city of Avignon, France.
- Saint Volfango of Regensburg: 10th century German bishop, known for his dedication to charity and the construction of churches and monasteries in his diocese.
Born today April 19th
Fernando Botero (1932)
Claudio Cecchetto (1952)
Ferdinand I of Austria (1793)
James Franco (1978)
Lilli Gruber (1957)
Kate Hudson (1979)
Maria Sharapova (1987)
Alessandro Preziosi (1973)
Dudley Moore (1935)
Marisa Laurito (1951)
Deaths today April 19th
George Byron (1824)
Canaletto (1768)
Charles Darwin (1882)
Octavio Paz (1998)
Paolo Veronese (1588)
