History Events on May 19

Croatians vote for independence in a referendum.

#Croatia

World War II: In the aftermath of the Battle of the Coral Sea, Task Force 16 heads to Pearl Harbor.

#World_War_II

A barge containing munitions destined for Pakistan explodes in the harbor at South Amboy, New Jersey, devastating the city.

#Pakistan

The United States Congress passes the Emergency Quota Act establishing national quotas on immigration.

#United_States_Congress

The Refugio oil spill deposited 142,800 U.S. gallons (3,400 barrels) of crude oil onto an area in California considered one of the most biologically diverse coastlines of the west coast.

#Refugio_oil_spill

John II of Castile defeats the Infantes of Aragon at the First Battle of Olmedo.

#John_II_of_Castile

The North Vietnamese Army establishes Group 559, whose responsibility is to determine how to maintain supply lines to South Vietnam; the resulting route is the Ho Chi Minh trail.

#People's_Army_of_Vietnam

Napoleon Bonaparte founds the Legion of Honour.

#Napoleon

Catherine of Aragon is married by proxy to Arthur, Prince of Wales. Catherine is 13 and Arthur is 12.

#Catherine_of_Aragon

President of Romania Traian B?sescu survives an impeachment referendum and returns to office from suspension.

#President_of_Romania

At Silchar Railway Station, Assam, 11 Bengalis die when police open fire on protesters demanding state recognition of Bengali language in the Bengali Language Movement.

#Silchar

King George II of Great Britain grants the Ohio Company a charter of land around the forks of the Ohio River.

#George_II_of_Great_Britain

Captain Sir John Franklin and his ill-fated Arctic expedition depart from Greenhithe, England.

#John_Franklin

American Revolutionary War: A Continental Army garrison surrenders in the Battle of The Cedars.

#American_Revolutionary_War

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).

#Jacques_Cartier

The Royal Thai Armed Forces concludes its crackdown on protests by forcing the surrender of United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship leaders.

#Royal_Thai_Armed_Forces

EgyptAir Flight 804 crashes into the Mediterranean Sea while traveling from Paris to Cairo, killing all on board.

#EgyptAir_Flight_804

U.S. President John Quincy Adams signs the Tariff of 1828 into law, protecting wool manufacturers in the United States.

#John_Quincy_Adams

The Firearm Owners Protection Act is signed into law by U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

#Firearm_Owners_Protection_Act

A birthday salute to U.S. President John F. Kennedy takes place at Madison Square Garden, New York City. The highlight is Marilyn Monroe's rendition of "Happy Birthday".

#John_F._Kennedy

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk lands at Samsun on the Anatolian Black Sea coast, initiating what is later termed the Turkish War of Independence.

#Mustafa_Kemal_Atatürk

The New York Post Sunday Magazine publishes Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail.

#Martin_Luther_King_Jr.

The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is held at St George's Chapel, Windsor, with an estimated global audience of 1.9 billion.

#Wedding_of_Prince_Harry_and_Meghan_Markle

Mexican-American War: Mexico ratifies the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo thus ending the war and ceding California, Nevada, Utah and parts of four other modern-day U.S. states to the United States for US$15 million.

#Mexican-American_War

Egypt announces that the Suez Canal is closed to Israeli ships and commerce.

#Egypt

Jean-Pierre Christin developed the centigrade temperature scale.

#Jean-Pierre_Christin

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.

#Thirty_Years'_War

Henry I of France marries the Russian princess, Anne of Kiev.

#Henry_I_of_France

The Invasion of Jamaica begins during the Anglo-Spanish War.

#Invasion_of_Jamaica

The Norwegian football club Rosenborg BK is founded.

#Rosenborg_BK

Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII of England, is beheaded for adultery, treason, and incest.

#Anne_Boleyn

A car bomb explodes near a military complex in the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor, killing nine people.

Three gas cylinder bombs explode in front of a vocational school in the Italian city of Brindisi, killing one person and injuring five others.

The Sierra Gorda biosphere, the most ecologically diverse region in Mexico, is established as a result of grassroots efforts.

Mars probe program: Mars 2 is launched by the Soviet Union.

Venera program: Venera 1 becomes the first man-made object to fly by another planet by passing Venus (the probe had lost contact with Earth a month earlier and did not send back any data).

Zveno and the Bulgarian Army engineer a coup d'état and install Kimon Georgiev as the new Prime Minister of Bulgaria.

The Young Pioneer Organization of the Soviet Union is established.

Parks Canada, the world's first national park service, is established as the Dominion Parks Branch under the Department of the Interior.

New England's Dark Day, an unusual darkening of the day sky, was observed over the New England states and parts of Canada.

An Act of Parliament declaring England a Commonwealth is passed by the Long Parliament. England would be a republic for the next eleven years.

Queen Elizabeth I of England orders the arrest of Mary, Queen of Scots.

The Prome Kingdom falls to the Taungoo Dynasty in present-day Myanmar.

Pope Gregory II is elected.

Ashina Jiesheshuai and his tribesmen assaulted Emperor Taizong at Jiucheng Palace.