What are the important events that happened on February 19? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
February 19: Facts & Myths About This Day
February 19 is the 50th day of the year 2020 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 316 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Wednesday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is February 6, 2020 – a Wednesday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 1,582,070,400 seconds has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.
Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘pentacontagon’ day.
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Aquarius is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Amethyst is the modern birthstone for this month. Bloodstone is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.
According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 359 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.
The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 2,616 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
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February 19 Historical Events
- 1594 –Having already inherited the throne of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth through his mother Catherine Jagellonica of Poland, Sigismund III of the House of Vasa is crowned King of Sweden, succeeding his father John III of Sweden.
- 1674 –England and the Netherlands sign the Treaty of Westminster, ending the Third Anglo-Dutch War. A provision of the agreement transfers the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam to England, and it is renamed New York.
- 1807 –In Alabama, former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr is arrested for treason and confined to Fort Stoddert.
- 1861 –Serfdom is abolished in Russia.
- 1949 –Ezra Pound is awarded the first Bollingen Prize in poetry by the Bollingen Foundation and Yale University.
- 1972 –The Asama-Sansō hostage standoff begins in Japan.
- 1978 –Egyptian forces raid Larnaca International Airport in an attempt to intervene in a hijacking, without authorisation from the Republic of Cyprus authorities. The Cypriot National Guard and Police forces kill 15 Egyptian commandos and destroy the Egyptian C-130 transport plane in open combat.
- 1986 –The Soviet Union launches its Mir spacecraft. Remaining in orbit for 15 years, it is occupied for 10 of those years.
- 2001 –The Oklahoma City bombing museum is dedicated at the Oklahoma City National Memorial.
- 2015 –New Year’s Day in Chinese calendar. Start of the year of the Wood Sheep in Chinese astrology.
Who were born on February 19?
- 1936 –Sam Myers, American musician and songwriter (d. 2006)
- 1940 –Saparmurat Niyazov, President of Turkmenistan (d. 2006)
- 1945 –Michael Nader, American actor
- 1949 –William Messner-Loebs, American comics writer
- 1951 –Stephen Nichols, American actor
- 1952 –Rodolfo Neri Vela, Mexican astronaut
- 1955 –Jeff Daniels, American actor
- 1957 –Falco, Austrian singer (d. 1998)
- 1967 –Benicio del Toro, Puerto Rican actor
- 1975 –Daniel Adair, Canadian Drummer (Nickelback)
Who died on February 19?
- 1589 –Saint Philothei, Orthodox martyr and Patron of Athens (b. 1522)
- 1716 –Dorthe Engelbrechtsdatter, Norwegian poet (b. 1634)
- 1806 –Elizabeth Carter, English writer (b. 1717)
- 1837 –Georg Büchner, German playwright (b. 1813)
- 1837 –Thomas Burgess, English author, philosopher, Bishop of Saint David’s and Bishop of Salisbury (b. 1756)
- 1927 –Robert Fuchs, Austrian composer (b. 1847)
- 1975 –Luigi Dallapiccola, Italian composer (b. 1904)
- 1983 –Alice White, American film actress (b. 1904)
- 1997 –Leo Rosten, American Yiddish writer and humorist (b. 1908)
- 1999 –Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr, Iraqi Shiite leader (assassinated) (b. 1943)
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