Major Events
- 1776 Thomas Paine publishes his first "American Crisis" essay beginning "These are the times that try men's souls" (date disputed)
- 1783 William Pitt the Younger becomes the youngest ever British Prime Minister at age 24
- 1932 British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) begins transmitting overseas
- 1958 First radio broadcast from space, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower sends a Christmas message "to all mankind, America's wish for peace on Earth and goodwill to men everywhere" [1]
- 1984 Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher sign the Sino-British Joint Declaration to transfer Hong Kong back to China in 1997
- More December 19 Events
Dec 19 in Film & TV
- 1971 Stanley Kubrick's film and cult classic "A Clockwork Orange" based on the book by Anthony Burgess and starring Malcolm McDowell premieres
Dec 19 in Music
- 1960 Frank Sinatra's 1st session with Reprise Records ("Ring-A-Ding-Ding")
Dec 19 in Sport
- 2010 "Miracle at the New Meadowlands", Philadelphia Eagles trail New York Giants by 21 points with eight minutes to play, before scoring 4 touchdowns in final 7 minutes, including dramatic walk-off punt returned for a touchdown by DeSean Jackson
Did You Know?
"A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens is published, 6,000 copies sold
Edwin Stanton
Leonid Brezhnev
Jean Genet
Ralph Richardson
Richard Hammond
Alyssa Milano
Jake Gyllenhaal
Edith Piaf
Beals Wright
Doug Harvey
Al Kaline
Reggie White
Karim Benzema
Alexis Sánchez
Fun Fact About December 19
Theresa Vaughn, 24, confesses in court in Sheffield, England, to being married 61 times over 5 years in 50 cities in three countries
Famous Weddings
- 1813 Future business magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt (19) marries his cousin Sophia Johnson
- 1895 Poet Robert Frost (21) weds Elinor Miriam White in Lawrence, Massachusetts
- 1912 Author Colette (39) weds "Le Matin" newspaper editor Henri de Jouvenel
Famous Divorces
- 1995 Queen Elizabeth asks Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, to divorce
More December 19 Weddings
Emily Brontë
J. M. W. Turner
Alois Alzheimer
Masaru Ibuka
James Bevel
Sally Ann HowesArticles, Photos and Quiz
Wuthering Heights Author Dies at 30
Emily Brontë, author of the classic novel Wuthering Heights, died on this day. Like her sisters Anne and Charlotte, she passed away at a tragically young age.
December 19, 1848
A Clockwork Orange
Malcolm McDowell as Alex DeLarge in Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange"
December 19, 1971
Sino-British Joint Declaration
The Sino-British Joint Declaration is signed by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (left) and Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang (right)
December 19, 1984
