Events for January 19
649 – Conquest of Kucha: The forces of Kucha surrender after a forty-day siege led by Tang dynasty general Ashina She'er, establishing Tang control over the northern Tarim Basin in Xinjiang.[2]
1960 – Japan and the United States sign the US–Japan Mutual Security Treaty
1920 – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is founded.
1829 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust: The First Part of the Tragedy receives its premiere performance.[10]
2007 – Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink is assassinated in front of his newspaper's Istanbul office by 17-year-old Turkish ultra-nationalist Ogün Samast.
1988 – Trans-Colorado Airlines Flight 2286 crashes in Bayfield, Colorado, killing nine.[16]
1981 – Iran hostage crisis: United States and Iranian officials sign an agreement to release 52 American hostages after 14 months of captivity.
1917 – Silvertown explosion: A blast at a munitions factory in London kills 73 and injures over 400. The resulting fire causes over £2,000,000 worth of damage.
2007 – Four-man Team N2i, using only skis and kites, completes a 1,093-mile (1,759 km) trek to reach the Antarctic pole of inaccessibility for the first time since 1965 and for the first time ever without mechanical assistance.[20]
1639 – Hämeenlinna (Swedish: Tavastehus) is granted privileges after it separated from the Vanaja parish as its own city in Tavastia.[6]
1993 – Czech Republic and Slovakia join the United Nations.
2006 – A Slovak Air Force Antonov An-24 crashes near Hejce, Hungary, killing 42.[19]
1839 – The British East India Company captures Aden.
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.
1511 – The Italian Duchy of Mirandola surrenders to the Pope.[4]
1788 – The second group of ships of the First Fleet arrive at Botany Bay.
1764 – Bolle Willum Luxdorph records in his diary that a mail bomb, possibly the world's first, has severely injured the Danish Colonel Poulsen, residing at Børglum Abbey.[8]
2024 – The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's probe landed on the moon, making Japan the 5th country to land a spacecraft on the moon.[22]
1995 – After being struck by lightning the crew of Bristow Helicopters Flight 56C are forced to ditch. All 18 aboard are later rescued.
1901 – Queen Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom, is stricken with paralysis. She dies three days later at the age of 81.[12]
1969 – Student Jan Palach dies after setting himself on fire three days earlier in Prague's Wenceslas Square to protest about the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union in 1968. His funeral turns into another major protest.
1915 – Georges Claude patents the neon discharge tube for use in advertising.
Notable Births & Deaths for January 19
1999 – Jonathan Taylor, American football player[87]
1992 – Mac Miller, American rapper (died 2018)[76]
2008 – Don Wittman, Canadian sportscaster (born 1936)
2003 – Felix Afena-Gyan, Ghanaian footballer[92]
2012 – Rudi van Dantzig, Dutch ballet dancer and choreographer (born 1933)
2014 – Christopher Chataway, English runner, journalist, and politician (born 1931)
2013 – Earl Weaver, American baseball player and manager (born 1930)[113]
1990 – Shaunette Renée Wilson, Guyanese-American actress[56]
2012 – Sarah Burke, Canadian skier (born 1982)
2013 – Stan Musial, American baseball player and manager (born 1920)[112]
2008 – Suzanne Pleshette, American actress (born 1937)
1999 – Donyell Malen, Dutch footballer[88]
1990 – Tatiana Búa, Argentine tennis player
2015 – Ward Swingle, American-French singer-songwriter and conductor (born 1927)
2012 – Peter Åslin, Swedish ice hockey player (born 1962)
2007 – Murat Nasyrov, Russian singer-songwriter (born 1969)
2015 – Justin Capră, Romanian engineer and academic (born 1933)
1993 – Walter Benítez, Argentine footballer[80]
2008 – John Stewart, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1939)
2013 – Frank Pooler, American conductor and composer (born 1926)
2013 – Toktamış Ateş, Turkish academician, political commentator, columnist and writer (born 1944)
2016 – Richard Levins, American ecologist and geneticist (born 1930)
2003 – Ilaix Moriba, Guinean footballer[93]
1993 – Jack Schlossberg, American writer and political candidate[81]
2010 – Bill McLaren, Scottish rugby player and sportscaster (born 1923)
1992 – Logan Lerman, American actor[75]
2012 – Winston Riley, Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer (born 1943)
2016 – Ettore Scola, Italian director and screenwriter (born 1931)[114]
2000 – Juan Miranda, Spanish footballer[89]
2014 – Azaria Alon, Ukrainian-Israeli environmentalist, co-founded the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (born 1918)
1993 – Erick Torres Padilla, Mexican footballer[77]
1994 – Marvelous Nakamba, Zimbabwean footballer[84]
1992 – Shawn Johnson East, American gymnast[30]
2015 – Michel Guimond, Canadian lawyer and politician (born 1953)
1993 – João Mário, Portuguese footballer[78]
1994 – Matthias Ginter, German footballer[82]
1991 – Petra Martić, Croatian tennis player[73]
1994 – Alfie Mawson, English footballer[83]
2017 – Miguel Ferrer, American actor (born 1955)[116]
2013 – Taihō Kōki, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 48th Yokozuna (born 1940)
2025 – Jeff Torborg, American baseball player and manager (born 1941)[117]
1996 – Jakub Jankto, Czech footballer[85]
1998 – Emre Guler, Australian rugby league player[86]
1991 – Erin Sanders, American actress[74]
1993 – Ricardo Centurión, Argentine footballer[79]
2016 – Sheila Sim (Lady Attenborough), English actress (born 1922)[115]
Quick Start
Our API is incredibly easy to use, check out the code samples below to get started:
Fetch Historical Events
All you need to do is send a request to https://today.zenquotes.io/api/[month]/[day]/[key] in order to generate a JSON array of historical events, including notable births and deaths. API data pulled from WikiPedia.
*[key] not required but recommended.
Sample Requests
https://today.zenquotes.io/api - Generate notable events, births, and deaths for current server time (UTC).
https://today.zenquotes.io/api/1/1 - Generate notable events, births, and deaths for January 1.
https://today.zenquotes.io/api/5/5 - Generate notable events, births, and deaths for May 5.
https://today.zenquotes.io/api/12/25 - Generate notable events, births, and deaths for December 25.
Response
The result data is formatted as a JSON array, grouped by event type.
{ "info":"OnThisDay API", "date":"April_20", "updated":"1615972324",
"data":{
"Events":[
{
"text":"1303 – The Sapienza University of Rome is instituted by a bull of Pope Boniface VIII.[1]",
"html":"<a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/1303\" title=\"1303\">1303</a> – The <a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapienza_University_of_Rome\" title=\"Sapienza University of Rome\">Sapienza University of Rome</a> is instituted by a <a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_bull\" title=\"Papal bull\">bull</a> of <a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Boniface_VIII\" title=\"Pope Boniface VIII\">Pope Boniface VIII</a>."
},
//.. MORE DATA ..//
],
"Births":[
{
"text":"1494 – Johannes Agricola, German theologian and reformer (d. 1566)[8]",
"html":"<a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/1494\" title=\"1494\">1494</a> – <a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Agricola\" title=\"Johannes Agricola\">Johannes Agricola</a>, German theologian and reformer (d. 1566)"
},
//.. MORE DATA ..//
],
"Deaths":[
{
"text":"689 – Cædwalla, king of Wessex (b. 659)[21]",
"html":"<a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/689\" title=\"689\">689</a> – <a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A6dwalla_of_Wessex\" title=\"Cædwalla of Wessex\">Cædwalla</a>, king of <a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Wessex\" title=\"Wessex\">Wessex</a> (b. 659)" },
//.. MORE DATA ..//
}
]
} }Usage Limits and Attribution
Requests are restricted to 5 per 30 second period, an API key or registered IP is required for unlimited access and to enable Access-Control-Allow-Origin headers. We require that you show attribution with a link back to https://today.zenquotes.io/ when using the free version of this API. Contact support@zenquotes.io to chat with our friendly dev team and get registered.
Historical event data provided by <a href="https://today.zenquotes.io/" target="_blank">ZenQuotes.io</a>