September 19
Events
Pre-1600
- 96 - Nerva, suspected of complicity of the death of Domitian, is declared emperor by Senate. The Senate then annuls laws passed by Domitian and orders his statues to be destroyed.
- 634 - Siege of Damascus: The Rashidun Arabs under Khalid ibn al-Walid capture Damascus from the Byzantine Empire.
- 1356 - Battle of Poitiers: An English army under the command of Edward the Black Prince defeats a French army and captures King John II.
- 1410 - End of the Siege of Marienburg: The State of the Teutonic Order repulses the joint Polish—Lithuanian forces.
1601–1900
- 1676 - Jamestown is burned to the ground by the forces of Nathaniel Bacon during Bacon's Rebellion.
- 1777 - American Revolutionary War: British forces win a tactically expensive victory over the Continental Army in the First Battle of Saratoga.
- 1778 - The Continental Congress passes the first United States federal budget.
- 1796 - George Washington's Farewell Address is printed across America as an open letter to the public.
- 1799 - French Revolutionary Wars: French-Dutch victory against the Russians and British in the Battle of Bergen.
- 1846 - Two French shepherd children, Mélanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud, experience a Marian apparition on a mountaintop near La Salette, France, now known as Our Lady of La Salette.
- 1852 - Annibale de Gasparis discovers the asteroid Massalia from the north dome of the Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte.
- 1862 - American Civil War: Union troops under William Rosecrans defeat a Confederate force commanded by Sterling Price.
- 1863 - American Civil War: The first day of the Battle of Chickamauga, in northwestern Georgia, the bloodiest two-day battle of the conflict, and the only significant Confederate victory in the war's Western Theater.
- 1864 - American Civil War: Union troops under Philip Sheridan defeat a Confederate force commanded by Jubal Early. With over 50,000 troops engaged, it was the largest battle fought in the Shenandoah Valley.
- 1868 - La Gloriosa begins in Spain.
- 1870 - Franco-Prussian War: The siege of Paris begins. The city held out for over four months before surrendering.
- 1893 - In New Zealand, the Electoral Act of 1893 is consented to by the governor, giving all women in New Zealand the right to vote.
1901–present
- 1902 - A stampede at Shiloh Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, leads to the death of 115 attendees.
- 1916 - World War I: During the East African Campaign, colonial forces of the Belgian Congo under the command of Charles Tombeur capture the town of Tabora after heavy fighting.
- 1939 - World War II: The Battle of Kępa Oksywska concludes, with Polish losses reaching roughly 14% of all the forces engaged.
- 1940 - World War II: Witold Pilecki is voluntarily captured and sent to Auschwitz concentration camp to gather and smuggle out information for the resistance movement.
- 1944 - World War II: The Battle of Hürtgen Forest begins. It will become the second-longest individual battle that the U.S. Army has ever fought.
- 1944 - World War II: The Moscow Armistice between Finland and the Soviet Union is signed, which officially ended the Continuation War.
- 1946 - The Council of Europe is founded following a speech by Winston Churchill at the University of Zurich.
- 1950 - Korean War: An attack by North Korean forces was repelled at the Battle of Nam River.
- 1960 - Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistani President Ayub Khan sign the Indus Waters Treaty for the control and management of the Indus, Chenab, Jhelum, Ravi, Sutlej and Beas rivers.
- 1970 - Michael Eavis hosts the first Glastonbury Festival.
- 1970 - Kostas Georgakis, a Greek student of geology, sets himself ablaze in Matteotti Square in Genoa, Italy, as a protest against the dictatorial regime of Georgios Papadopoulos.
- 1976 - Turkish Airlines Flight 452 hits the Taurus Mountains, outskirt of Karatepe, Turkey, killing all 154 passengers and crew.
- 1976 - Two Imperial Iranian Air Force F-4 Phantom II jets fly out to investigate an unidentified flying object.
- 1978 - The Solomon Islands join the United Nations.
- 1982 - Scott Fahlman posts the first documented emoticons :-) and :-( on the Carnegie Mellon University bulletin board system.
- 1983 - Saint Kitts and Nevis gains its independence.
- 1985 - A strong earthquake kills thousands and destroys about 400 buildings in Mexico City.
- 1985 - Tipper Gore and other political wives form the Parents Music Resource Center as Frank Zappa, John Denver, and other musicians testify at U.S. Congressional hearings on obscenity in rock music.
- 1989 - A bomb destroys UTA Flight 772 in mid-air above the Tùnùrù Desert, Niger, killing all 170 passengers and crew.
- 1991 - Ötzi the Iceman is discovered in the Alps on the border between Italy and Austria.
- 1995 - The Washington Post and The New York Times publish the Unabomber Manifesto.
- 1997 - The Guelb El-Kebir massacre in Algeria kills 53 people.
- 2006 - The Thai army stages a coup. The Constitution is revoked and martial law is declared.
- 2008 - A Learjet 60 carrying musicians Travis Barker and Adam "DJ AM" Goldstein crashes during a rejected takeoff from Colombia Metropolitan Airport in West Columbia, South Carolina, killing four of the six people on board. Barker and Goldstein both survive.
- 2010 - The leaking oil well in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is sealed.
- 2011 - Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees surpasses Trevor Hoffman to become Major League Baseball's all-time career saves leader with 602.
- 2016 - In the wake of a manhunt, the suspect in a series of bombings in New York and New Jersey is apprehended after a shootout with police.
- 2017 - The 2017 Puebla earthquake strikes Mexico, causing 370 deaths and over 6,000 injuries, as well as extensive damage.
- 2021 - The Cumbre Vieja volcano, on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, erupts. The eruption lasts for almost three months, ending on December 13.
- 2022 - The state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom is held at Westminster Abbey, London.
- 2022 - A strong earthquake kills 2 and injures over 30 in Mexico's state of Michoacán.
- 2023 - Azerbaijan launches a military offensive against the Republic of Artsakh in the Nagorno-Karabakh region; this leads to the flight of the Armenian population.
Births
Pre-1600
- AD 86 - Antoninus Pius, Roman emperor
- 866 - Leo VI the Wise, Byzantine emperor
- 931 - Mu Zong, emperor of the Liao Dynasty
- 1377 - Albert IV, Duke of Austria
- 1426 - Marie of Cleves, Duchess of Orléans, French noble
- 1477 - Ferrante d'Este, Ferrarese nobleman and condottiero
- 1551 - Henry III of France
- 1560 - Thomas Cavendish, English naval explorer, led the third expedition to circumnavigate the globe
1601–1900
- 1608 - Alfonso Litta, Roman Catholic cardinal and archbishop
- 1638 - Isaac Milles, English minister
- 1662 - Jean-Paul Bignon, French priest and man of letters
- 1721 - William Robertson, Scottish historian
- 1749 - Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre, French mathematician and astronomer
- 1754 - John Ross Key, American lieutenant, lawyer, and judge
- 1759 - William Kirby, English priest and entomologist
- 1778 - Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux, Scottish lawyer and politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain
- 1796 - Hartley Coleridge, English poet and author
- 1802 - Lajos Kossuth, Hungarian journalist, lawyer, and politician, Governor-President of Hungary
- 1803 - Maria Anna of Savoy
- 1811 - Orson Pratt, American mathematician and religious leader
- 1824 - William Sellers, American engineer, inventor, and businessperson
- 1828 - Fridolin Anderwert, Swiss judge and politician, President of the Swiss National Council
- 1856 - Arthur Morgan, Australian politician, 16th Premier of Queensland
- 1865 - Frank Eugene, American-German photographer
- 1867 - Arthur Rackham, English illustrator
- 1869 - Ben Turpin, American comedian and actor
- 1871 - Frederick Ruple, Swiss-American painter
- 1882 - Christopher Stone, English radio host
- 1883 - Mabel Vernon, American educator and activist
- 1887 - Lovie Austin, American pianist, composer, and bandleader
- 1887 - Lynne Overman, American actor and singer
- 1888 - James Waddell Alexander II, American mathematician and topologist
- 1888 - Porter Hall, American actor
- 1889 - Sarah Louise Delany, American physician and author
- 1894 - Rachel Field, American author and poet
- 1898 - Giuseppe Saragat, Italian lawyer and politician, 5th President of Italy
- 1900 - Ricardo Cortez, American actor
1901–present
- 1905 - Judith Auer, German World War II resistance fighter
- 1905 - Leon Jaworski, American lawyer, Watergate special prosecutor, co-founded Fulbright & Jaworski
- 1907 - Lewis F. Powell Jr., American lawyer and jurist, associate Supreme Court Justice
- 1908 - Paul Bénichou, French historian, author, and critic
- 1908 - Robert Lecourt, French lawyer, judge, and politician, Lord Chancellor of France
- 1908 - Tatsuo Shimabuku, Japanese martial artist, founded Isshin-ryū
- 1909 - Ferdinand Porsche, Austrian engineer and businessman
- 1910 - Margaret Lindsay, American actress
- 1910 - Arturo M. Tolentino, Filipino diplomat and politician
- 1911 - William Golding, British novelist, playwright, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1912 - Reuben David, Indian veterinarian and zoo founder
- 1912 - Kurt Sanderling, Polish-German conductor
- 1913 - Frances Farmer, American actress
- 1913 - Helen Ward, American singer
- 1915 - Germán Valdés, Mexican actor, singer, and producer
- 1918 - Pablita Velarde, Santa Clara Pueblo painter
- 1919 - Roger Grenier, French journalist and author
- 1919 - Amalia Hernández, Mexican choreographer and dancer
- 1919 - Earl R. Fox, U.S. Navy and Coast Guard veteran; last active U.S. servicemember to serve in World War II
- 1920 - Roger Angell, American journalist, author, and editor
- 1921 - Paulo Freire, Brazilian philosopher, theorist, and academic
- 1921 - Billy Ward, American R&B singer-songwriter
- 1922 - Damon Knight, American author and critic
- 1922 - Willie Pep, American boxer and referee
- 1922 - Emil Zátopek, Czech runner
- 1924 - Vern Benson, American baseball player, coach, and manager
- 1924 - Don Harron, Canadian actor and screenwriter
- 1925 - W. Reece Smith Jr., American lawyer and academic
- 1926 - Victoria Barbă, Moldovan animated film director
- 1926 - Masatoshi Koshiba, Japanese physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1926 - James Lipton, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1926 - Duke Snider, American baseball player and sportscaster
- 1927 - Helen Carter, American singer
- 1927 - Rosemary Harris, English actress
- 1927 - William Hickey, American actor
- 1927 - Nick Massi, American singer and bass player
- 1928 - Adam West, American actor and businessman
- 1929 - Marge Roukema, American educator and politician
- 1930 - Muhal Richard Abrams, American pianist, composer, and educator
- 1930 - Bettye Lane, American photographer and journalist
- 1930 - Antonio Margheriti, Italian director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1931 - Brook Benton, American pop/R&B/rock & roll singer-songwriter
- 1931 - Derek Gardner, English engineer
- 1932 - Mike Royko, American journalist and author
- 1932 - Stefanie Zweig, German journalist and author
- 1933 - Gilles Archambault, Canadian journalist and author
- 1933 - David McCallum, Scottish actor
- 1934 - Brian Epstein, English businessman, The Beatles manager
- 1934 - Austin Mitchell, English journalist, academic and politician
- 1935 - Benjamin Thurman Hacker, American admiral
- 1936 - Martin Fay, Irish fiddler
- 1936 - Milan Marcetta, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1936 - Al Oerter, American discus thrower
- 1937 - Abner Haynes, American football player
- 1939 - Carl Schultz, Hungarian-Australian director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1940 - Bill Medley, American singer-songwriter
- 1940 - Zandra Rhodes, English fashion designer, founded the Fashion and Textile Museum
- 1940 - Paul Williams, American singer-songwriter and actor
- 1941 - Umberto Bossi, Italian politician
- 1941 - Cass Elliot, American singer
- 1941 - Jim Fox, English pentathlete
- 1941 - Mariangela Melato, Italian actress
- 1942 - Freda Payne, American singer and actress
- 1943 - André Boudrias, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1943 - Joe Morgan, American baseball player
- 1944 - Anders Björck, Swedish politician, 25th Swedish Minister of Defence
- 1944 - Edmund Joensen, Faroese politician, 9th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands
- 1944 - İsmet Özel, Turkish poet and scholar
- 1945 - Kate Adie, English journalist and author
- 1945 - David Bromberg, American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter
- 1945 - Randolph Mantooth, American actor
- 1947 - Henry Bromell, American novelist and screenwriter
- 1947 - Lol Creme, English musician, songwriter, and music video director
- 1947 - Tanith Lee, English author
- 1948 - Jim Ard, American basketball player
- 1948 - Mykhaylo Fomenko, Ukrainian footballer and manager
- 1948 - Jeremy Irons, English actor
- 1949 - Twiggy, English model, actress, and singer
- 1949 - Ringo Mendoza, Mexican wrestler
- 1949 - Barry Scheck, American lawyer, co-founded the Innocence Project
- 1949 - Sidney Wicks, American basketball player
- 1950 - Joan Lunden, American television journalist, anchor, and author
- 1950 - Michael Proctor, English physicist, mathematician, and academic
- 1951 - Daniel Lanois, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1952 - Rhys Chatham, American trumpet player, guitarist, and composer
- 1952 - Henry Kaiser, American guitarist and composer
- 1952 - Nile Rodgers, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
- 1952 - George Warrington, American businessman
- 1953 - Wayne Clark, Australian cricketer
- 1953 - Sarana VerLin, American singer-songwriter and violinist
- 1954 - Adam Phillips, Welsh psychotherapist and author
- 1954 - Eleni Vitali, Greek singer-songwriter
- 1955 - Richard Burmer, American composer and engineer
- 1957 - Dan Hampton, American football player
- 1957 - Chris Roupas, American basketball player
- 1958 - Lita Ford, English-American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1958 - Kevin Hooks, American actor, director, and producer
- 1960 - Mario Batali, American chef and author
- 1960 - Loïc Bigois, French aerodynamicist and engineer
- 1960 - Yolanda Saldívar, American convicted murderer
- 1961 - Artur Ekert, Polish-British physicist and academic
- 1962 - Randy Myers, American baseball player
- 1962 - Cheri Oteri, American actress, comedian, and screenwriter
- 1962 - Ken Rosenthal, American sportscaster
- 1963 - Jarvis Cocker, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1963 - David Seaman, English footballer
- 1963 - Urmas Tartes, Estonian biologist and photographer
- 1964 - Patrick Marber, English actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1964 - Trisha Yearwood, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1965 - Andrew Leeds, Australian rugby player and coach
- 1965 - Sunita Williams, American captain, pilot, and astronaut
- 1966 - Soledad O'Brien, American journalist and producer
- 1966 - Yoshihiro Takayama, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist
- 1967 - Jim Abbott, American baseball player
- 1967 - Aleksandr Karelin, Russian wrestler and politician
- 1969 - Candy Dulfer, Dutch saxophonist
- 1969 - Jacek Frąckiewicz, Polish footballer
- 1969 - Alkinoos Ioannidis, Cypriot singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1969 - Michael Symon, American chef and author
- 1969 - Kostya Tszyu, Russian-Australian boxer
- 1969 - Tapio Wilska, Finnish singer-songwriter
- 1970 - Gilbert Dionne, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1970 - Antoine Hey, German footballer and manager
- 1970 - Victor Williams, American actor
- 1971 - Sanaa Lathan, American actress
- 1971 - Mike Sadlo, German footballer and manager
- 1972 - Ryan Girdler, Australian rugby league player
- 1972 - Ashot Nadanian, Armenian chess player and coach
- 1973 - Jacinta Allan, Australian politician, 49th Premier of Victoria
- 1973 - Nick Colgan, Irish footballer and coach
- 1973 - Cristiano da Matta, Brazilian racing driver
- 1973 - Javier Duarte, Mexican politician
- 1973 - David Zepeda, Mexican actor, model and singer
- 1974 - Jimmy Fallon, American comedian and talk show host
- 1974 - Hidetaka Miyazaki, Japanese video game designer and executive
- 1975 - Marcus Dunstan, American director and screenwriter
- 1976 - Raja Bell, American basketball player
- 1976 - Jan Hlaváč, Czech ice hockey player
- 1976 - Alison Sweeney, American actress and television host
- 1976 - Sergey Tsinkevich, Belarusian footballer and referee
- 1977 - Poon Yiu Cheuk, Hong Kong footballer and coach
- 1977 - Aakash Chopra, Indian cricketer
- 1977 - Ryan Dusick, American musician and record producer
- 1977 - Tommaso Rocchi, Italian footballer
- 1977 - Mike Smith, American baseball player
- 1977 - Emil Sutovsky, Israeli chess player
- 1978 - Nick Johnson, American baseball player
- 1978 - Brett Keisel, American football player
- 1978 - Jorge López Montaña, Spanish footballer
- 1979 - Mikael Tellqvist, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1980 - J. R. Bremer, American-Bosnian basketball player
- 1980 - James Ellison, English motorcycle racer
- 1980 - Dimitri Yachvili, French rugby player
- 1981 - Damiano Cunego, Italian cyclist
- 1982 - Eduardo Carvalho, Portuguese footballer
- 1982 - Eleni Daniilidou, Greek tennis player
- 1982 - Columbus Short, American actor and choreographer
- 1983 - Eamon, American singer and songwriter
- 1983 - Katharina Kucharowits, Austrian politician
- 1983 - Carl Landry, American basketball player
- 1983 - Joni Pitkänen, Finnish ice hockey player
- 1984 - Eva Marie, American wrestler
- 1984 - Ángel Reyna, Mexican footballer
- 1984 - Kevin Zegers, Canadian actor
- 1985 - Alun Wyn Jones, Welsh rugby player
- 1985 - Song Joong-ki, South Korean actor
- 1985 - Nathanael Liminski, German politician
- 1985 - Renee Paquette, Canadian-American television personality
- 1986 - Leon Best, English footballer
- 1986 - Sally Pearson, Australian athlete and hurdler
- 1987 - Danielle Panabaker, American actress
- 1987 - Carlos Quintero, Colombian footballer
- 1988 - Katrina Bowden, American actress
- 1989 - George Springer, American baseball player
- 1990 - Saki Fukuda, Japanese actress and singer
- 1990 - Savvas Gentsoglou, Greek footballer
- 1990 - Stephon Gilmore, American football player
- 1990 - Kieran Trippier, English footballer
- 1991 - CJ McCollum, American basketball player
- 1992 - Jiro Kuroshio, Japanese wrestler
- 1992 - Palmer Luckey, American entrepreneur
- 1992 - Diego Antonio Reyes, Mexican footballer
- 1993 - Pi'erre Bourne, American record producer and rapper
- 1995 - Brent Faiyaz, American singer
- 1995 - Rachel Sennott, American actress
- 1996 - Brandon Clarke, Canadian-American basketball player
- 1996 - Pia Mia, American singer, songwriter, model, and actress
- 1996 - Dejounte Murray, American basketball player
- 1996 - Chris Silva, Gabonese basketball player
- 1998 - Nolan Patrick, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1998 - Trae Young, American basketball player
- 1999 - Precious Achiuwa, Nigerian basketball player