On this Day

Thursday, May 19th
The 139th day of 2005
There are 226 days left in the year

Today's Highlights in History

On May 19, 1935, T.E. Lawrence, also known as "Lawrence of Arabia," died in England from injuries sustained in a motorcycle crash. (Go to article)

On May 19, 1890, Ho Chi Minh, the founder of the Indochina Communist Party and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam from 1954 to 1969, was born. Following his death on Sept. 2, 1969, his obituary appeared in The Times. (Go to obituary)

On May 19, 1888, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about temperance legislation in New York. (See the cartoon and read an explanation)

Reference: The New York Times




(The following via Iraq War Today)

Today in History:
1568 - Queen Elizabeth I of England arrests Scottish queen Mary.
1585 - Spain confiscates English ships.
1588 - The Spanish Armada sets sail for Lisbon, bound for England.
1635 - France declares war on Spain
1643 - The French destroy the Spanish army at the Battle of Rocroi / Allersheim; Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut and New Harbor form the United Colonies of New England.
1848 - Mexico gives Texas to the U.S., ending the war.
1862 - The Homestead Act goes into effect, providing cheap land for settlement of the West.
1864 - Battle of Port Walthall Junction, VA; last engagement in the Spotsylvania series of battles.
1884 - The Ringling Brothers circus premieres.
1898 - The Post Office authorizes the use of postcards.
1913 - In California, the Webb Alien Land-Holding Bill passes, prohibiting the Japanese from owning land.
1923 - Communists revolt in German Ruhr cities occupied by the Allies.
1926 - The French air force bombs Damascus, Syria.
1929 - China’s General Feng Yu-Xiang of China declares war on Chiang Kai-Shek’s government. 1930 - White woman win voting rights in South Africa.
1931 - The Ironclad cruiser Germany is launched in Kiel.
1939 - Churchill signs the British-Russian anti-Nazi pact.
1941 - German occupiers in Holland forbid bicycle taxis; the Nazi battleship Bismarck leaves Gdynia, Poland.
1943 - Berlin is declared free of Jews - "Judenrien"; Churchill pledges England's full support to the U.S. against Japan.
1944 - More than 200 gypsies are transported to Auschwitz from the Netherlands; the German defense line in Italy collapses.
1951 - The U.N. begins a counter-offensive in Korea.
1954 - Postmaster General Summerfield approves the CIA’s mail-opening project.
1958 - The U.S. and Canada form the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD).
1960 - USAF Major Robert M. White takes the X-15 to 33,222 mph.
1964 - U.S. diplomats find at least 40 secret microphones in the Moscow embassy.
1965 - Patricia R. Harris is named the first American black female ambassador – to Luxembourg.
1967 - The U.S. bombs Hanoi; the U.S.S.R. ratifies a treaty with England and the U.S. banning nuclear weapons in space.
1971 - The U.S.S.R. launches Mars 2, the first spacecraft to crash land on Mars.
1976 - The Senate establishes a permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
1983 - NASA launches Intelsat V.
1992 - The 27th Amendment is ratified, prohibiting Congress from raising its salary.

Birthdays:
1808 - Confederate Brigadier General Samuel Jameson Gholson
1812 - Confederate Brigadier General Felix Kirk
1815 - Union Brevet Major General John Gross Barnard
1828 - Union Brevet Major General Adin Ballou
1890 - Ho Chi Minh, Vietnamese leader
1915 - Pol Pot, dictator / mass murderer
1925 - Malcolm X (Little), black muslim leader
1935 - David Hartman, TV personality (Good Morning America)
1938 - James H. Bilbray (Representative-NV)
1939 - Francis R. Scobee, USAF / astronaut (STS 41C, 51L-Chal disaster)
1941 - Jimmy Hoffa, Jr., son of Jimmy Hoffa / Teamster union leader
1948 - Jean-Pierre Haignere, cosmonaut (Soyuz TM-17)

Passings:
1536 - Anne Boleyn Queen of England / wife of Henry VIII, beheaded; Lord Rochford English, brother of Anna Boleyn, beheaded
1795 - Josiah Bartlett, physician / judge, signer of Declaration of Independence
1864 - Nathaniel Hawthorne, writer (Scarlet Letter)
1935 - Thomas E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), motorcycle crash
1966 - Tortoise reportedly given to Tonga's king by Captain Cook in 1773
1994 - Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, former First Lady
1997 - Millie, dog of President Bush

Reported Missing in Action:
1965
Donovan, Leroy M., US Army (CO); Aircraft overdue
Harper, Richard K. , US Army (MA); Aircraft overdue

1967
Anderson, Gareth L., US Navy (MA); Released by DRV March, 1973, deceased 1974
Griffin, James Lloyd, US Navy (TN); Remains returned March 1974
Hellbach, Harold J., USMC (LA); Remains returned 1997, ID'd May, 1998
Knight, Roy A., Jr., USAF (TX);
McDaniel, Eugene B., USN (NC); Released by DRV March, 1973, alive and well 1998
Metzger, William J., USN (WI); Released by DRV March, 1973, alive and well 1998
Patterson, James K., USN (CA); probably captured with broken leg
Plumb, Joseph C., USN (KS); Released by DRV February, 1973, alive and well 1998
Rich, Richard, USN (CT)
Russell, Kay, USN (TX); Released by DRV March, 1973, deceased
Stark, William R., USN (CA); Released by DRV March, 1973; alive and well 1998
Walters, Jack, Jr., USN (NC); Died in captivity, remains returned March, 1974

1968
Davies, Joseph E., USAF (VA)
McCubbin, Glenn D., USAF (KS)

1972
Mott, David P. , USMC (ND); Released by PRG March, 1973, alive and well 1998
Nichols, Aubrey A., USN (TX); Released by DRV March, 1973, alive and well 1998
Thomas, William E., USMC (PA); Released by PRG March, 1973, alive and well 1998