132 things happened on 19 November, from AD 461 to 2023. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.
1620 · 406 years ago
After about ten weeks at sea, the people on board the Mayflower sighted Cape Cod in North America. The English sailing ship carried 102 passengers, now known as the Pilgrims, and a crew of about 30. The Pilgrims wanted to worship in their own way, separate fr…
UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
UK story
After about ten weeks at sea, the people on board the Mayflower sighted Cape Cod in North America. The English sailing ship carried 102 passengers, now known as the Pilgrims, and a crew of about 30. The Pilgrims wanted to worship in their own way, separate from the Church of England. They went on to set up Plymouth Colony, in what is now Massachusetts.
UK story
The United States and Great Britain signed the Jay Treaty, the basis for ten years of peaceful trade between the two nations.
UK story
The Garinagu arrive at British Honduras (present-day Belize).
UK story
Temenggong Abdul Rahman of Johor and Sultan Hussein Shah of Johor ceded the governance of Singapore to the British East India Company.
UK story
In the United Kingdom, the first National Lottery draw is held. A £1 ticket gave a one-in-14-million chance of correctly guessing the winning six out of 49 numbers.
During the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln gave a short speech at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He was opening a cemetery for soldiers, a few months after a major battle there. The speech had only 271 words and took less than two minutes, but it became one of the most famous in American history. It is remembered for the words 'government of the people, by the people, for the people'.
During the Second World War, the Soviet Red Army launched Operation Uranus during the Battle of Stalingrad, in southern Russia. The plan was to surround the German army and its allies in and around the city. The operation turned the battle in the Soviet Union's favour. Germany's defeat at Stalingrad ended its big summer attack of 1942.
Brazilian footballer Pelé scored the thousandth goal of his career, playing for his club Santos against Vasco da Gama in Rio de Janeiro. Pelé is widely seen as one of the greatest footballers in history. He is the only player to have won the FIFA World Cup three times, in 1958, 1962 and 1970. He was nicknamed 'O Rei', which means 'the King'.
Apollo 12 astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean landed on a part of the Moon called the Ocean of Storms. They became the third and fourth people to walk on the Moon. Their rocket had been struck by lightning twice during its launch, but the mission carried on. They landed so precisely that they could walk to Surveyor 3, a robot probe that had landed there in 1967.
US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev began a three-day meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. It was the first time the two leaders had met. They talked about relations between their countries and about the arms race, the build-up of weapons on both sides during the Cold War. It was the first of five summits between them.
The Space Shuttle Columbia was launched on mission STS-80. It became the longest Space Shuttle mission ever flown, lasting 17 days and 15 hours. On board was American astronaut Story Musgrave. On this flight he became the only astronaut to have flown on all five Space Shuttles that went into space.
China launched Shenzhou 1, the first test flight of its Shenzhou spacecraft. There was no one on board. The capsule circled the Earth 14 times before landing safely in Inner Mongolia, in northern China. The Shenzhou design is based on Russia's Soyuz spacecraft, and since 2005 it has carried Chinese astronauts into space.
Libius Severus is declared emperor of the Western Roman Empire. The real power is in the hands of the magister militum Ricimer.
The Rashidun Caliphate defeats the Sasanian Empire at the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah in Iraq.
The current Saint Peter's Basilica is consecrated in Rome, replacing an earlier basilica on the same site.
Finnish War: The Convention of Olkijoki in Raahe ends hostilities in Finland.
Warsaw University is established.
The second Canadian railway line, the Montreal and Lachine Railroad, is opened.
American Civil War: Confederate forces began the Siege of Knoxville against Union fortifications, surrounding most of the city.
A meteorite lands near the village of Grossliebenthal, southwest of Odesa, Ukraine.
Serbo-Bulgarian War: Bulgarian victory in the Battle of Slivnitsa solidifies the unification between the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia.
First Balkan War: The Serbian Army captures Bitola, ending the five-century-long Ottoman rule of Macedonia.
Samuel Goldwyn and Edgar Selwyn establish Goldwyn Pictures.
The Union of the Right, a coalition of right-wing parties, won the majority of seats in the 1933 Spanish general election, the first election in the country with suffrage extended to women.
World War II: The Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney and the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran destroyed each other in the Indian Ocean.
Mutesa II is crowned the 35th and last Kabaka (king) of Buganda, prior to the restoration of the kingdom in 1993.
World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces the sixth War Loan Drive, aimed at selling US$14 billion in war bonds to help pay for the war effort.
The founding congress of the Communist Party of Transcarpathian Ukraine is held in Mukachevo.
Afghanistan, Iceland and Sweden join the United Nations.
US General Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes Supreme Commander of NATO-Europe.
Greek Field Marshal Alexander Papagos becomes the 152nd Prime Minister of Greece.
Télé Monte Carlo, Europe's oldest private television channel, is launched by Prince Rainier III.
National Review publishes its first issue.
The establishment of TVB, the first wireless commercial television station in Hong Kong.
Pennzoil wins a US$10.53 billion judgment against Texaco, in the largest civil verdict in the history of the United States, stemming from Texaco executing a contract to buy Getty Oil after Pennzoil had entered into an unsigned, yet still binding, buyout contract with Getty.
Police in Baling, Malaysia, lay siege to houses occupied by an Islamic sect of about 400 people led by Ibrahim Mahmud.
Serbian communist representative and future Serbian and Yugoslav president Slobodan Milošević publicly declares that Serbia is under attack from Albanian separatists in Kosovo as well as internal treachery within Yugoslavia and a foreign conspiracy to destroy Serbia and Yugoslavia.
Mexican singer Luis Miguel released the album Romance, which led to a revival of interest in bolero music.
Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on STS-87.
John Carpenter becomes the first person to win the top prize in the TV game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
The Aviation and Transportation Security Act is enacted by the 107th United States Congress in the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Act created the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
The worst brawl in NBA history results in several players being suspended. Several players and fans are charged with assault and battery.
The 2023 Cricket World Cup final takes place at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India, played between host nation India and Australia.
Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!
In which year did this happen: “The Mayflower's Pilgrims catch sight of Cape Cod”?
C: 1620. 1620 — that’s 406 years ago. Find it on the page
In which year was Charles I born?
C: 1600. 1600 — that’s 426 years ago. Find it on the page
Which of these happened first?
C: The Mayflower's Pilgrims catch sight of Cape Cod. 1863: Abraham Lincoln gives the Gettysburg Address · 1969: Pelé scores his 1,000th goal · 1620: The Mayflower's Pilgrims catch sight of Cape Cod Find it on the page
“Nicholas Patrick” happened in 1964. How many years ago was that?
B: 62 years. 2026 − 1964 = 62. Find it on the page
Famous people whose birthday is 19 November.
UK story
Charles I was the second son of King James VI of Scotland, and became King of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1625. He believed in the 'divine right of kings', the idea that a king's power comes from God. He quarrelled with Parliament, and from 1642 he fought against Parliament's armies in the English Civil War. After losing the war, he was put on trial and executed in 1649.
UK story
Nicholas Patrick is a British-American engineer and a former NASA astronaut. In 2006 he flew into space on the Space Shuttle Discovery, on a mission called STS-116. This made him the fourth person born in the United Kingdom to travel into space.
Well-known people who died on 19 November.
Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 19 November somewhere in the world.
World Toilet Day is a United Nations day that encourages action on the global sanitation crisis. Sanitation means having clean, safe toilets and ways of getting rid of waste. Around the world, 3.4 billion people live without safely managed sanitation. One of the UN's goals is for everyone to have clean water and toilets.
Content note: these entries mention things like war, violence, deaths, disasters or crime. They are part of history, but they can be upsetting. Grown-ups and teachers: you may want to read them first. They come straight from Wikipedia and have not been rewritten for children.
Stories with a heading have been written for young readers by A Day in the Past, using the linked articles as sources. Other entries show text from Wikipedia’s “November 19” page and its “On this day” feed, written by Wikipedia contributors and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Each “Read more” link goes to the article an entry is based on. Photos are credited under each picture. Spotted a mistake? Please tell us.