March 19

1279 Emperor Bing, the last emperor of the Chinese Song dynasty, died during the Battle of Yamen on March 19, 1279, bringing the dynasty to an end after three centuries. The Song Dynasty (960 -1279) was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money. This dynasty also saw the first known use of gunpowder, as well as first discernment of true north using a compass.

Emperor Bing of Song

1813 Scottish missionary and explorer David Livingstone was born on March 19, 1813 in a Glasgow worker's tenement in the mill town of Blantyre, Strathclyde, Scotland. Livingstone's father ran his own business as a door-to-door tea salesman, so the room was constantly fragrant with the smell of tea. At the age of 21, Livingstone was inspired to take up Theology and Medical studies after hearing an appeal by British and American Churches for medical missionaries to go to China.

1831 The first bank robbery in United States history took place on March 19, 1831, when Edward Smith stole $245,000 from the City Bank of New York, using a set of copied keys. Edward Smith was the first indicted bank robber in the U.S., as well. He spent $60,000 before he was caught and sentenced to five years hard labor on the rock pile at Sing Sing Prison.

The house to the far right became City Bank of New York's first home (Painting by Archibald Robertson, c. 1798)

1843 The first public skiing competition ("betting race") was held in Tromsø, Norway on March 19, 1843. The race was organized by the local businessman and sports enthusiast, Erling Kagge, and it consisted of a 3.5-kilometer course with betting on the side. It was also the first skiing competition reported in a newspaper.

1895 At age 17, French inventor Louis Lumière invented a new process for film development using a dry plate Thirteen years later, he and his brother August patented their combination movie camera and projector, the Cinématographe. They recorded their first footage using their newly patented cinematograph on March 19, 1895. It showed mainly female workers leaving the Lumière factory on the outskirts of Lyon, France, as if they had just finished a day's work.

1911 International Women's Day was launched in Copenhagen, Denmark, by Clara Zetkin, leader of the Women's Office for the Social Democratic Party in Germany on March 19, 1911. It was marked by over a million women in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland.

1914 Chairman Mao's fourth and final wife, failed actress Jiang Qing, was born on March 19, 1914.
Mao Zedong first met the neurotic, imperious, Jiang Qing at the the Chinese Communist headquarters in Yan'an in 1937. They married in a small private ceremony following approval by the Party's Central Committee the following year. Jiang became active in politics in the mid 1960s and was the driving force behind the Cultural Revolution.

1915 American astronomer Percival Lowell spent the last decade of his life searching for the mysterious ninth planet, which he dubbed "Planet X." The dwarf planet Pluto was photographed for the first time on March 19, 1915 by Lowell Observatory, although the object remained unrecognized because it was fainter than anticipated. Pluto was officially discovered 15 years later by Clyde Tombaugh.

1916 The first U.S. air combat mission begun on March 19, 1916, when eight Curtiss “Jenny” planes of the First Aero Squadron took off from Columbus, New Mexico. They were on a support mission for the 7,000 U.S. troops under the command of General Pershing who had invaded Mexico to capture Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa.

S.C. No. 53, a JN3 of the 1st Aero Squadron, at Casas Grandes, Mexico

1924 Charles Lindbergh reported to Brooks Field on March 19, 1924, to begin a year of military flight training with the United States Army Air Service both there and later at nearby Kelly Field.
Lindbergh graduated first overall in his class in March 1925, thereby earning his Army pilot's wings and a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Air Service Reserve Corps.

1928 While on a trip to New Orleans in 1852, Stephen Foster stopped in Kentucky to visit a cousin's house, called Federal Hill, near Bardstown. There, it is said, he wrote "My Old Kentucky Home."  "My Old Kentucky Home" became Kentucky's state song on March 19, 1928. The state maintains Federal Hill as a memorial to Foster.

My Old Kentucky Home, also Federal Hill Mansion. By Firthpond1700

1931 In a bid to alleviate the impact of the Great Depression,  the Nevada state legislature passed a bill legalizing gambling on March 19, 1931. The move was an effort to generate revenue and create jobs, and it led to the establishment of the casino industry in the state, which became a major tourist attraction and a source of employment for many Nevadans.

1932 The Sydney Harbor Bridge opened on March 19, 1932. The event was not without scandal, as before it could be officially declared open by Premier J.T. Lang, the ceremony was interrupted by New Guard member Captain de Groot on horseback. He slashed the ribbon with his sword, declaring that he was opening the bridge in the name of the people of New South Wales. Sydney Harbor Bridge took nine years to build and another 56 years to pay off the debt incurred in building it.

1938 The BBC televised its first rugby union match on March 19, 1938. Scotland beat England v 21-16 at Twickenham. This match was part of the then-Home Nations Championship (which later became the Six Nations)  It marked the beginning of a new era for sports broadcasting in the UK.

1945 Adolf Hitler issued the "Nero Decree" on March 19, 1945, also referred to as the "scorched earth" decree. It aimed to destroy German infrastructure, including bridges, roads, communication systems, and industrial facilities, to prevent them from being used by the Allied forces who were advancing.

1947 Bing Crosby initially recorded "White Christmas" in 1942, and its immense success led to repeated pressings that reportedly wore out the master recording. Crosby revisited the studio on March 19, 1947, employing the same backing singers to recreate the original rendition as faithfully as possible. This new version became a perennial hit, charting almost every year from 1947 to 1962.

1950 Tarzan author Edgar Rice Burroughs died alone in his Encino, California home of a heart attack after many health problems, on March 19, 1950, He had spent his last hour alive reading the Sunday comics in bed. Edgar Rice Burroughs published his first magazine story in 1912 about an abandoned English boy raised by African apes. Tarzan, "King of the Jungle," became one of the 20th centuries’ best-known fictional characters.

1953 The Academy Awards were first broadcast on television by NBC on March 19, 1953. The awards ceremony, which honors excellence in the film industry, had previously only been broadcast on the radio. The Academy Awards were first broadcast in color in 1966, with ABC carrying the broadcast.

1955 The actor Bruce Willis was born on March 19, 1955, in the town of Idar-Oberstein, West Germany. Bruce's father, David Willis, was an American soldier. His mother, Marlene, was German. He had severe stuttering problems as a child. Bruce discovered the stutter disappeared while performing in a school play through the memorization of lines. While studying acting in college it was the combination of acting and speech therapy which helped him overcome his condition.

1962 Bob Dylan briefly attended the University of Minnesota, but dropped out in May 1960. Six months later, he traveled to New York City, hoping to perform there. Dylan became a regular in the folk clubs and coffeehouses of Greenwich Village. In the fall of 1961, after one of his performances received a rave review in The New York Times, he signed a recording contract with Columbia Records and released his eponymous debut album on March 19, 1962.

1965 On March 19, 1965 Tailor and Cutter Magazine ran an article asking The Rolling Stones to start wearing ties. The current fashion did not include wearing ties with shirts and many tie-makers were facing financial disaster.

Rolling Stones performing in Georgia, May 1965. By Kevin Delaney

1957 On March 19, 1957, a Mrs Ruth Brown-Moore accepted a $ 1,000 deposit for the sale of her mansion, Graceland, to a young singer called Elvis Presley. The Graceland site was originally part of a 500-acre farm founded by Mr S. Toof, a Memphis, Tennessee businessman. Mr Toof's daughter was called Grace and he named the ranch Graceland in her honor.

1982 On March 19, 1982, Argentinian forces posing as scrap metal merchants, occupied the abandoned whaling station at Leith Harbour on South Georgia. The following month they occupied the Falkland Islands precipitating war with the United Kingdom. British administration was restored two months later at the end of the Falklands War.

1986 On March 19, 1986, Buckingham Palace announced the engagement of Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew, exactly ten years after Princess Margaret separated from Lord Snowdon. They married at Westminster Abbey on July 23, 1986. Sarah Ferguson joined the British Royal Family as the Duchess of York. By 1991, the marriage was in trouble, and the couple had drifted apart.

2000 Country star Garth Brooks is a huge baseball fan and he participated in spring training for the San Diego Padres in both 1998 and 1999 plus the New York Mets in 2000, but he didn't make either team. The singer was released by the New York Mets from their roster on March 19, 2000 after having a zero-for-17 batting record during his spring training season with them.

2000 Bart to the Future, the seventeenth episode of the eleventh season of The Simpsons, originally aired in the United States on March 19, 2000. The show mentions billionaire Donald Trump having been President of the United States at one time, sixteen years before Trump actually successfully run for the position.

2008 British science author / presenter Sir Arthur C. Clarke died in Sri Lanka on March 19, 2008 after suffering from respiratory failure. He'd emigrated to Sri Lanka in 1956 largely to pursue his interest in scuba diving. He was buried in Colombo in traditional Sri Lankan fashion three days later. His younger brother, Fred Clarke, and his Sri Lankan adoptive family were among the thousands in attendance.

2008 The gamma-ray burst GRB 080319B that was observed on March 19, 2008 broke the record for the farthest object that could be seen in the universe by the naked eye. The explosion occurred about 7.5 billion years ago, roughly half the time since the Big Bang.

2011 The record for the longest distance ever surfed a single wave belongs to Panamanian surfer Gary Saavedra. In 2011, Saavedra rode a wave generated by a boat for 41.3 miles (66.47 kilometers) along the Panama Canal. This ride also holds the record for the longest time spent surfing a wave (3 hours, 55 minutes, and 2 seconds). 

2014 Kepler-186f is an exoplanet orbiting the red dwarf Kepler-186, 492 light-years from the Earth. It is the first planet with a radius similar to Earth's to be discovered in the habitable zone of another star. NASA's Kepler spacecraft detected it using the transit method, along with four additional planets orbiting much closer to the star. The results were presented initially at a conference on March 19, 2014.

2019 Nursultan Nazarbayev, who had been the first and only President of Kazakhstan since the country gained independence in 1991, resigned from his position on March 19, 2019, after a 29-year tenure. Nazarbayev had played a significant role in the development and modernization of Kazakhstan, overseeing its transition from a Soviet republic to an independent nation with a market-based economy.

In the Roman Catholic tradition, Fathers are celebrated on Saint Joseph's Day, commonly called Feast of Saint Joseph, March 19; though in certain countries Father's Day has become a secular celebration. Father's Day is celebrated on March 19th in a number of Catholic countries including Italy, Portugal and Spain.