Summary of the Day ✨ 19 August (19/08)
On this day, tens of thousands of farmed Atlantic salmon escaped into Washington waters while Operation Iraqi Freedom concluded as US troops withdrew to Kuwait, and simultaneously, devastating train and bomb attacks claimed lives in India and Iraq, while Russia and China began their first joint military exercise.
Historical Events 📜
- 2017: Tens of thousands of farmed non-native Atlantic salmon are accidentally released into the wild in Washington waters in the 2017 Cypress Island Atlantic salmon pen break.
- 2013: The Dhamara Ghat train accident kills at least 37 people in the Indian state of Bihar.
- 2010: Operation Iraqi Freedom ends, with the last of the United States brigade combat teams crossing the border to Kuwait.
- 2009: A series of bombings in Baghdad, Iraq, kills 101 and injures 565 others.
- 2005: The first-ever joint military exercise between Russia and China, called Peace Mission 2005 begins.
- 2004: Google Inc. has its initial public offering on Nasdaq.
- 2003: A truck-bomb attack on United Nations headquarters in Iraq kills the agency’s top envoy Sérgio Vieira de Mello and 21 other employees.
- 2003: Shmuel HaNavi bus bombing: A suicide attack on a bus in Jerusalem, planned by Hamas, kills 23 Israelis, seven of them children.
- 2002: Khankala Mi-26 crash: A Russian Mil Mi-26 helicopter carrying troops is hit by a Chechen missile outside Grozny, killing 118 soldiers.
- 1999: In Belgrade, Yugoslavia, tens of thousands of Serbians rally to demand the resignation of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia President Slobodan Milošević.
- 1991: Dissolution of the Soviet Union: The August Coup begins when Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is placed under house arrest while on holiday in the town of Foros, Ukraine.
- 1991: Crown Heights riot in New York City begins.
- 1989: Polish president Wojciech Jaruzelski nominates Solidarity activist Tadeusz Mazowiecki to be the first non-communist prime minister in 42 years.
- 1989: Several hundred East Germans cross the frontier between Hungary and Austria during the Pan-European Picnic, part of the events that began the process of the Fall of the Berlin Wall.
- 1987: Hungerford massacre: In the United Kingdom, Michael Ryan kills sixteen people with a semi-automatic rifle and then commits suicide.
Famous Births 👶
- 2004: Chae Hyun-woo, South Korean football player
- 2001: Awak Kuier, Finnish basketball player
- 2000: Keegan Murray, American basketball player
- 1999: Ethan Cutkosky, American actor and musician
- 1999: Thomas Flegler, Australian rugby league player
- 1999: Florentino Luís, Portuguese footballer
- 1996: Jung Ye-rin, South Korean singer and actress
- 1996: Lachlan Lewis, Australian rugby league player
- 1994: Nafissatou Thiam, Belgian pentathlete and heptathlete
- 1994: Fernando Gaviria, Colombian cyclist
- 1993: Pio Seci, Fijian rugby league player
- 1992: David Rittich, Czech ice hockey player
- 1991: Salem Al-Dawsari, Saudi Arabian footballer
- 1990: Danny Galbraith, Scottish footballer
- 1989: Romeo Miller, American basketball player, rapper, actor
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2024: Maria Branyas, American-Spanish supercentenarian (born 1907)
- 2023: Václav Patejdl, Slovak musician (born 1954)
- 2022: Tekla Juniewicz, Polish supercentenarian (born 1906)
- 2021: Sonny Chiba, Japanese actor (born 1939)
- 2019: Lars Larsen, Danish businessman and billionaire, founder and owner of the Danish retail chain JYSK (born 1948)
- 2017: Dick Gregory, American comedian, author and activist (born 1932)
- 2016: Jack Riley, American actor and voice artist (born 1935)
- 2015: George Houser, American minister and activist (born 1916)
- 2015: Sanat Mehta, Indian activist and politician (born 1935)
- 2014: Samih al-Qasim, Palestinian poet and journalist (born 1939)
- 2014: Simin Behbahani, Iranian poet and activist (born 1927)
- 2014: James Foley, American photographer and journalist (born 1973)
- 2014: Candida Lycett Green, Anglo-Irish journalist and author (born 1942)
- 2013: Musa’id bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi Arabian prince (born 1923)
- 2013: Russell S. Doughten, American director and producer (born 1927)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Afghan Independence Day, commemorates the Treaty of Rawalpindi in 1919, granting independence from Britain (Afghanistan)
- August Revolution Commemoration Day (Vietnam)
- Birthday of Crown Princess Mette-Marit (Norway)
- Christian Feast Day:
Bernardo Tolomei - Christian Feast Day:
Bertulf of Bobbio - Christian Feast Day:
Saint Calminius - Christian Feast Day:
Ezequiél Moreno y Díaz - Christian Feast Day:
Feast of the Transfiguration (Julian calendar), and its related observances:
Buhe (Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church) - Christian Feast Day:
Feast of the Transfiguration (Julian calendar), and its related observances:
Saviour’s Transfiguration, popularly known as the “Apples Feast” (Russian Orthodox Church and Georgian Orthodox Church) - Christian Feast Day:
Jean-Eudes de Mézeray - Christian Feast Day:
Louis of Toulouse - Christian Feast Day:
Maginus - Christian Feast Day:
Magnus of Anagni - Christian Feast Day:
Magnus of Avignon - Christian Feast Day:
Sebaldus