On This Day - What Happened On April 19 - Encyclopedia Britannica

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1775 American Revolution begun Launched this day in 1775 with the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the American Revolution was an effort by 13 British colonies in North America (with help from France, Spain, and the Netherlands) to win their independence. © 1903 John H. Daniels & Son, Boston/ Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (pga-00995)

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Charles Darwin British naturalist bornFebruary 12, 1809Shrewsbury, EnglanddiedApril 19, 1882 (aged 73)Downe, EnglandFrom Charles Darwin. A Paper Contributed to the Transactions of the Shropshire Archeological Society, by Edward Woodall, 1884 1987 Maria Sharapova Russian tennis player 1972 Rivaldo Brazilian athlete 1957 Mukesh Ambani Indian businessman 1939 Ali Khamenei rahbar of Iran 1935 Dudley Moore British actor, comedian, and musician See All Biographies On This Day

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2018 King Mswati III announced that he was changing his country's name from the Kingdom of Swaziland to the Kingdom of Eswatini. Can you match these African leaders to the countries they led?© Maximum Exposure PR/Shutterstock.com 2005 Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected to succeed Pope John Paul II, who had died some two weeks earlier; Ratzinger took the name Benedict XVI. Take our quiz about popes© Gasper Furman/Shutterstock.com 1995 In what was the worst act of terrorism in U.S. history up to that time, a truck bomb nearly destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 and injuring more than 500 people.Bill Waugh—AP/Shutterstock.com 1993 After a 51-day standoff with U.S. federal agents, some 80 members of the millennialist Branch Davidian religious group perished in a fire at their compound near Waco, Texas. How much do you know about U.S. history?Susan Weems/AP Images 1975 Aryabhata, the first uncrewed Earth satellite built by India, was launched from the Soviet Union by a Russian-made rocket. Sort fact from fiction in our space objects quizISRO/NASA 1960 Students in South Korea began demonstrating against President Syngman Rhee, who had declared victory in the national election, which many claimed was marred by fraud; the unrest grew, ultimately forcing Rhee to resign. Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about KoreaHarris & Ewing Collection/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (Digital File Number: LC-DIG-hec-26756) 1943 The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, an act of resistance by Polish Jews under Nazi occupation, began this day and was quelled four weeks later, on May 16. Test your knowledge of World War IINational Archives and Records Administration/United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, www.ushmm.org 1927 American actress Mae West was sentenced to 10 days in jail, convicted of obscenity and “corrupting the morals of youth” with her portrayal of a prostitute in the Broadway play Sex, which she also wrote; the publicity made her nationally known. How much do you know about A-list actors?© 1933 Paramount Pictures 1772 English economist David Ricardo, who gave systematized and classical form to the rising social science of economics in the 19th century, is believed to have been born on or about this day. Take our economics quizCourtesy of The National Portrait Gallery, London SIGN UP FOR History's Biggest Headlines Discover the fascinating events that shaped the world, straight from our editors. SIGN UP Thanks for signing up for Today in History. Your first newsletter will arrive soon! SIGN UP By clicking "Sign Up" you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.