🔍
Go To:

On This Day

December 19

YEAR 2012

Park Geun-hye is elected the first female president of South Korea.

Park Geun-hye is elected the first female president of South Korea.

YEAR 1999

Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-103, the third Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission.

Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-103, the third Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission.

YEAR 1998

President Bill Clinton is impeached by the United States House of Representatives, becoming the second president of the United States to be impeached.

President Bill Clinton is impeached by the United States House of Representatives, becoming the second president of the United States to be impeached.

YEAR 1985

Aeroflot Flight 101/435 is hijacked to China by its first officer.

Aeroflot Flight 101/435 is hijacked to China by its first officer.

YEAR 1983

The original FIFA World Cup trophy, the Jules Rimet Trophy, is stolen from the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation in Rio de Janeiro,...

The original FIFA World Cup trophy, the Jules Rimet Trophy, is stolen from the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

YEAR 1974

Nelson Rockefeller is sworn in as Vice President of the United States under President Gerald Ford under the provisions of the Twenty-fifth Amendment t...

Nelson Rockefeller is sworn in as Vice President of the United States under President Gerald Ford under the provisions of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

YEAR 1972

Apollo program: The last crewed lunar flight, Apollo 17, carrying Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evans, and Harrison Schmitt, returns to Earth.

Apollo program: The last crewed lunar flight, Apollo 17, carrying Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evans, and Harrison Schmitt, returns to Earth.

YEAR 1961

India annexes Daman and Diu, part of Portuguese India.

India annexes Daman and Diu, part of Portuguese India.

YEAR 1946

Start of the First Indochina War.

Start of the First Indochina War.

YEAR 1941

World War II: Adolf Hitler appoints himself as head of the Oberkommando des Heeres.

World War II: Adolf Hitler appoints himself as head of the Oberkommando des Heeres.

YEAR 1941

World War II: Limpet mines placed by Italian divers heavily damage HMS Valiant and HMS Queen Elizabeth in Alexandria harbour.

World War II: Limpet mines placed by Italian divers heavily damage HMS Valiant and HMS Queen Elizabeth in Alexandria harbour.

YEAR 1940

Risto Ryti, the Prime Minister of Finland, is elected President of the Republic of Finland in a presidential election, which is exceptionally held by...

Risto Ryti, the Prime Minister of Finland, is elected President of the Republic of Finland in a presidential election, which is exceptionally held by the 1937 electoral college.

YEAR 1932

BBC World Service begins broadcasting as the BBC Empire Service.

BBC World Service begins broadcasting as the BBC Empire Service.

YEAR 1929

The Indian National Congress promulgates the Purna Swaraj (the Declaration of the Independence of India).

The Indian National Congress promulgates the Purna Swaraj (the Declaration of the Independence of India).

YEAR 1927

Three Indian revolutionaries, Ram Prasad Bismil, Roshan Singh and Ashfaqulla Khan, are executed by the British Raj for participation in the Kakori con...

Three Indian revolutionaries, Ram Prasad Bismil, Roshan Singh and Ashfaqulla Khan, are executed by the British Raj for participation in the Kakori conspiracy.

YEAR 1912

William Van Schaick, captain of the steamship General Slocum which caught fire and killed over one thousand people, is pardoned by U.S. President Will...

William Van Schaick, captain of the steamship General Slocum which caught fire and killed over one thousand people, is pardoned by U.S. President William Howard Taft after 3+1⁄2 years in Sing Sing prison.

YEAR 1900

Hopetoun Blunder: The first Governor-General of Australia John Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun, appoints Sir William Lyne premier of the new state of New S...

Hopetoun Blunder: The first Governor-General of Australia John Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun, appoints Sir William Lyne premier of the new state of New South Wales, but he is unable to persuade other colonial politicians to join his government and is fo...

YEAR 1828

Vice President of the United States John C. Calhoun sparks the Nullification Crisis when he anonymously publishes the South Carolina Exposition and Pr...

Vice President of the United States John C. Calhoun sparks the Nullification Crisis when he anonymously publishes the South Carolina Exposition and Protest, protesting the Tariff of 1828.

YEAR 1796

French Revolutionary Wars: Two British frigates under Commodore Horatio Nelson and two Spanish frigates under Commodore Don Jacobo Stuart engage in ba...

French Revolutionary Wars: Two British frigates under Commodore Horatio Nelson and two Spanish frigates under Commodore Don Jacobo Stuart engage in battle off the coast of Murcia.

YEAR 1793

War of the First Coalition: The Siege of Toulon ends when Napoleon's French artillery forces the British to abandon the city, securing southern France...

War of the First Coalition: The Siege of Toulon ends when Napoleon's French artillery forces the British to abandon the city, securing southern France from invasion.