Today in History for 19th August 2025

Historical Events

1493 – Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I becomes Archduke of Austria on the death of his father and co-ruler Frederick III
1912 – Percy Grainger’s orchestral piece “Shepherd’s Hey” premieres
1981 – Two US Navy F-14 jet fighters shoot down two Soviet-built Libyan SU-22s
1987 – Hungerford Massacre, England: Michael Ryan kills 16 people with an assault rifle and then commits suicide
1993 – Dow Jones Industrial Average hits record high of 3612.13

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Famous Birthdays

1899 – Charlie Hall, English comedic actor (Tit for Tat, A Chump at Oxford), born in Birmingham, England (d. 1959)
1902 – Ogden Nash, American humorous poet (I’m a Stranger Here Myself, Masquerade Party), born in Rye, New York (d. 1971)
1971 – Mary Joe Fernández, American tennis player, broadcaster (Olympic gold 1992, 96), born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
1971 – João Pinto, Portuguese football player, born in Porto, Portugal
1987 – Patrick Chung, Jamaican-American NFL player (New England Patriots), born in Kingston, Jamaica

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Famous Deaths

1601 – Michael the Brave, Prince of Wallachia and Moldovia (Romanian national hero), assassinated at 42 or 43
1856 – Charles Frédéric Gerhardt, French chemist, dies at 39
1892 – František Zdeněk Skuherský, Czech composer, dies at 62
1957 – David Bomberg, English painter, dies at 66
2023 – Gloria Coates, American post-minimalist composer (“Music on Open Strings”), dies of pancreatic cancer at 89

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