On This Day in History

April 19

Historical Events

1770 British explorer Captain James Cook first sights Australia. Writes in his log book that “what we have as yet seen of this land appears rather low, and not very hilly, the face of the Country green and Woody, but the Sea shore is all a white Sand.”

'Battle on Lexington Green' as painted by William Barnes Wollen

1775 American Revolution begins in Lexington, Massachusetts, with the "Shot Heard Round the World" fired later that day in Concord.

1995 Oklahoma City bombing: Timothy McVeigh sets a truck bomb at Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, killing 168. including 19 children, and injuring 500

2011 Fidel Castro resigns his position of First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba after 45 years in power.

More Historical Events

Famous Birthdays

Getulio Vargas 1883 - 1954 Fernando Botero 1932 - 2023

Jayne Mansfield 1933 - 1967 Ali Hosseini Khamenei 85th Birthday

Also Al Unser Jr. (62) and Maria Sharapova (37).

More Famous Birthdays

Famous Deaths

Lord Byron 1788 - 1824 Charles Darwin 1809 - 1882

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Millions Come Up to See Mae West

Mae West, jailed on this day for obscenity, became one of the most successful sex symbols. Fans could not resist the offer: ‘Come up and see me some time.’

How Mae West Corrupted the Morals of Youth