This Day in History on 19th May

The historical events hold a lot of value for aspirants who are sitting for UPSC competitive exams including the IAS Exam. 

On this page, we will list all historical events that occurred on 19th May. The students can refer to them while preparing for all competitive exams and banking exams.

Important Days

  • Hepatitis Testing Day (United States)
  • Mother’s Day (Kyrgyzstan)

Important Events

Hockey champion Jagbir Singh.
Hockey champion Jagbir Singh.

1536: Anne Boleyn, the wife of King Henry VIII of England, was beheaded for adultery.

1743: Jean-Pierre Christine developed a centigrade temperature scale.

1796: Game protection law restricts encroachment on Indian hunting grounds.

1892: Noted playwright and poet Oscar Wilde were released from prison.

1926: Benito Mussolini declared Italy a fascist nation.

1953: State to control production and distribution of minerals involved in atomic energy development.

1954: The Govt. of India constituted a National Film Board.

1956: The Indian govt. bans six U.S. and two British films for presenting a ‘disparaging’ impression of life in Africa, including ‘African Queen’ and ‘Mogambo’ at New Delhi.

1971: Indian Navy’s first submarine station started at ‘Veer Bahu’ in Visakhapatanam.

1982: Elections for Assemblies held in West Bengal, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala.

1991: About 20 crore voters go to the polls in the first phase of election in 204 constituencies of the 10th Lok Sabha.

1992: Arjuna award for Tennis star Leander Paes and Hockey champion Jagbir Singh.

1993: Government decides to merge Vayudut with Indian Airlines.

Birthday / Anniversary

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy

1824: Nana Saheb Peshwa II, an Indian Peshwa of the Maratha empire.


1908: Manik Bandopadhyay, modern Bengali novelist and story-writer, was born.

1910: Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi.

Ruskin Bond, Indian author and poet
Ruskin Bond, Indian author and poet

1911: K.N. Vaswani, educationist and Journalist, was born at Hyderabad, Sind.

1913: Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, the sixth President of India.

1925: Malcolm X, an African American human rights activist.

1934: Ruskin Bond, an Indian author of British descent.

1938: Girish Karnad, an Indian actor, and film director.

1974: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, an Indian actor 

Death / Death Anniversary

Jamshedji Nasarvanji Tata,
Jamshedji Nasarvanji Tata,

1984: Jamshedji Nasarvanji Tata, famous industrialist and father of modern technology, passed away at Nauheim, Hesse-Nassau, France. He commenced cotton mills in Bombay and Nagpur and founded the Tata Iron and Steel Company, which is one of the largest integrated steel mills in the world.

1951: Sukhdev Bihari Mishra of Mishra Brothers, first historian of Hindi litterateur, passed away.

Vijay Tendulkar, Indian playwright and screenwriter
Vijay Tendulkar, Indian playwright and screenwriter

1958: Sir Jadunath Sarkar, an Indian historian.

1979: Hazari Prasad Dwivedi, a Hindi novelist, literary historian, essayist, critic, and scholar.

1980: Dr Ramashankar Shukla ‘Rasal’, a famous writer, passed away.

1980: T. N. Raina, former General of India, passed away.

1995: Vinay Chandra Maudgalya, an Indian classical musician.

1997: Sombhu Mitra, an Indian film and stage actor, director, and playwright.

1999: Ramesh Tendulkar, a Marathi novelist. He is the father of famous cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.

2008: Vijay Tendulkar, a leading Indian playwright, movie and television writer, literary essayist, political journalist, and social commentator.

Further Reading

Month-wise This Day in History

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