January 19 in History

Historical Events on January 19

1861 American Civil War: Georgia joins South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama in declaring secession from the United States.

1883 The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires, built by Thomas Edison, begins service at Roselle, New Jersey.

1915 World War I: German zeppelins bomb the towns of Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn in the United Kingdom killing at least 20 people, in the first major aerial bombardment of a civilian target.

1941 World War II: The Greek Triton (Y-5) sinks the Italian submarine Neghelli in Otranto.

1946 General Douglas MacArthur establishes the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo to try Japanese war criminals.

1977 President Gerald Ford pardons Iva Toguri D'Aquino (a.k.a. "Tokyo Rose").

1991 Gulf War: Iraq fires a second Scud missile into Israel, causing 15 injuries.

1993 Czech Republic and Slovakia join the United Nations.

1997 Yasser Arafat returns to Hebron after more than 30 years and joins celebrations over the handover of the last Israeli-controlled West Bank city.

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Famous Birthdays on January 19

1807 Robert E. Lee

1943 Janis Joplin

1946 Dolly Parton

1980 Jenson Button

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Famous Deaths on January 19

1865 Pierre-Joseph Proudhon

1980 William O. Douglas

1990 Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

2013 Stan Musial

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