What are the important events that happened on May 19? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

May 19: Facts & Myths About This Day

May 19 is the 139^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 226 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Monday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is May 6, 2025 – a Monday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 1,747,612,800 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 ‘hectatriacontaenneagon’ day.

Taurus is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Emerald is the modern birthstone for this month. Sapphire is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 274 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 4,532 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

May 19 Historical Events

• 1535 –
  French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America with three ships, 110 men, and Chief Donnacona’s two sons (whom Cartier had kidnapped during his first voyage).
• 1643 –
  Thirty Years’ War: French forces under the duc d'Enghien decisively defeat Spanish forces at the Battle of Rocroi, marking the symbolic end of Spain as a dominant land power.
• 1649 –
  An Act of Parliament declaring England a Commonwealth is passed by the Long Parliament. England would be a republic for the next eleven years.
• 1749 –
  King George II of Great Britain grants the Ohio Company a charter of land around the forks of the Ohio River.
• 1897 –
  Oscar Wilde is released from Reading Gaol Prison.
• 1919 –
  Mustafa Kemal Atatürk lands at Samsun on the Anatolian Black Sea coast, initiating what is later termed the Turkish War of Independence.
• 1943 –
  World War II: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt set Monday, May 1, 1944 as the date for the Normandy landings (“D-Day”). It would later be delayed over a month due to bad weather.
• 1986 –
  The Firearm Owners Protection Act is signed into law by U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
• 2007 –
  President of Romania Traian Băsescu survives an impeachment referendum and returns to office from suspension.
• 2010 –
  The Royal Thai Armed Forces concludes its crackdown on protests by forcing the surrender of United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship leaders.

Who were born on May 19?

• 1908 –
  Percy Williams, Canadian athlete (d. 1982)
• 1921 –
  Yuri Kochiyama, American civil rights activist
• 1925 –
  Malcolm X, American civil rights activist (d. 1965)
• 1947 –
  David Helfgott, Australian pianist
• 1953 –
  Victoria Wood, English comedian and actress
• 1971 –
  Ross Katz, American film producer
• 1975 –
  Josh Paul, American baseball player
• 1981 –
  Bong Tae-gyu, South Korean actor
• 1985 –
  Chris Loudon, Scottish darts player
• 1989 –
  Jasmine, Japanese singer

Who died on May 19?

• 1526 –
  Emperor Go-Kashiwabara of Japan (b. 1464)
• 1798 –
  William Byron, 5th Baron Byron, English nobleman, and duelist (b. 1722)
• 1825 –
  Claude Henri de Rouvroy, Comte de Saint-Simon, French political philosopher (b. 1760)
• 1907 –
  Benjamin Baker, English engineer (b. 1840)
• 1946 –
  Booth Tarkington, American novelist (b. 1869)
• 1994 –
  Luis Ocaña, Spanish cyclist (b. 1945)
• 1998 –
  Sōsuke Uno, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1922)
• 1999 –
  Candy Candido, American actor (b. 1913)
• 1999 –
  James Blades, English percussionist (b. 1901)
• 2003 –
  Camoflauge, American rapper (b. 1981)