December 19

1154 Two months after Henry II ascended to the English throne he was crowned at Westminster Abbey on December 19, 1154. When Henry became king, his French lands stretched from the English Channel to the Pyrenees. A man of simple tastes, Henry disliked pomp and ceremony and the trappings of monarchy. He was as willing to mingle with peasants as with his courtiers.

Henry II

1776 The first of Thomas Paine's The American Crisis pamphlets was published in the Pennsylvania Journal on December 19, 1776. Paine published The American Crisis pamphlet series to inspire the Americans in their battles against the British army, during the American Revolution. A series of 16 pamphlets, they began with the famous words "these are the times that try mens' souls."

1778 Marie-Thérèse Charlotte, the eldest child of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, was born at Versailles December 19, 1778. Marie-Antoinette was forced to endure the humiliation of a public birth in her Bedchamber, in front of hundreds of courtiers. The Queen actually passed out through a combination of embarrassment and pain. It was the last time such a ritual was permitted as Marie-Antoinette refused to give birth in public ever again. Below is Marie-Thérèse Charlotte with her mother, Marie Antoinette, and brother Louis Joseph

1783 William Pitt the Younger became the youngest British prime minister at age 24 on December 19, 1783. His appointment was dismissed by opposition leader Charles Fox as "a boyish prank.
However, Pitt gained great popularity with the public at large as "Honest Billy" who was seen as a refreshing change from the dishonesty, corruption and lack of principles widely associated with other political leaders.

1843 Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol was published on December 19, 1843. Dickens wrote the book in six weeks in such a state of excitement that he could not sleep but walked the streets of London thinking about the story. All 6,000 copies of its first print run were sold in just five days and it was reprinted. However, the extravagance of its gilted pages and cloth cover meant despite its success, Dickens only made £130 from the book.

A Christmas Carol-Title page-First edition 1843.

1848 Wuthering Heights author Emily Brontë died of tuberculosis on December 19, 1848 at about two in the afternoon. Emily was interred in the Church of St. Michael and All Angels family vault, Haworth, West Yorkshire. She became so thin before her death that her coffin was reputedly just 16 inches (41 cm) wide.

1849 One of the first detailed photographs of the Moon through a telescope was taken by American astronomer John Adams Whipple and William Cranch Bond, director of the Harvard College Observatory, on December 19, 1849. The first photo of its dark side was taken in 1959.

metmuseum.org

1851 The English landscape artist JMW Turner died of cholera in his house in Cheyne Walk, Chelsea on December 19, 1851 with the words "The sun is God" on his lips. Turner left his entire £140,000 estate to found a charity for 'decayed artists.' But following his death, a group of distant relations fought the will, and split the cash among themselves.

1906 Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev was born on December 19, 1906 in Kamenskoe (now Dniprodzerzhynsk in Ukraine), to metalworker Ilya Yakovlevich Brezhnev and his wife, Natalia Denisovna. At different times during his life, Brezhnev specified his ethnic origin alternately as either Ukrainian or Russian, opting for the latter as he rose within the Communist Party

1924 The last Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost was sold in London on December 19, 1924. The last word in refinement, the Silver Ghost was a must-have for Edwardian Lords and Viscounts. Its luxury heralded the end of the horse and carriage as the aristocracy's preferred mode of transport. Adverts billed it: "Silent as a Ghost, Powerful as a Lion, and Trustworthy as Time."

1932 The BBC's World Service was launched on December 19, 1932 as BBC Empire Service. Today it is is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting radio news, speech and discussions in more than 40 languages.

1960 Mount Vernon, George Washington's favorite residence, was designated a National Historic Landmark on December 19, 1960. The estate is situated on the banks of the Potomac River in Fairfax County, Virginia, near Alexandria, across from Prince George's County, Maryland. It was named by Washington's half brother in honor of Vice Admiral Edward Vernon, famed for the War of Jenkin's Ear and capture of the Portobelo, Colón.

1981 The flag of Spain consists of three horizontal stripes: red, yellow and red, the yellow stripe being twice the size of each red stripe. Its origin is the naval ensign of 1785, Pabellón de la Marina de Guerra under Charles III of Spain. The current version of the national flag of Spain with its present-day coat of arms was adopted on December 19, 1981.

1997 James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster Titanic was released in the US on December 19, 1997. It became the highest-grossing film in history up to that time, as well as the winner of 11 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for Cameron. Five weeks into the movie's run, 7% of all American teenage girls had seen the film twice.

2001 The global record for the highest barometric pressure recorded anywhere on Earth belongs to Tontsengel, Mongolia, at an altitude of 1,371 meters (4,500 feet). On December 19, 2001, this small town witnessed a staggering pressure reading of 1,084.8 hectopascals (hPa), or 32.03 inches of mercury

2003 Chen Si is a Chinese man who has spent every weekend since December 19, 2003 voluntarily patrolling the world's most popular suicide site. As a result, he has prevented over 300 people from jumping over the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge.

2008 The most Christmas trees chopped in two minutes is 27 by Erin Lavoie. The American achieved his feat on the set of Guinness World Records in Germany, on December 19, 2008. She is a professional lumberjack athlete and a world champion in several events.