This Day in History on 19th February

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 the historical events that occurred on 19th February. The students can refer to them while preparing for all competitive exams and banking exams.

Important Days

Shivaji Jayanti (Maharashtra, India)


Important Events

1389: Assassination of Sultan Giasuddin Tughlaq II in Delhi.

1942: US President Roosevelt signed an order detaining Americans of Japanese descent following the Pearl Harbor attack.

1985: William J. Schroeder became the first recipient of an artificial heart to leave the hospital.

1986: Computerized railway reservation ticket was introduced in India.

1986: Akkaraipattu massacre: the Sri Lankan Army massacres 80 Tamil farm workers in eastern Sri Lanka.

1989: Flying Tiger Line flight 66 crashes into a hill near Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Malaysia, killing four.[3]

2002: NASA’s Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system.

2003: The Indian Union Cabinet approved a bill banning advertisements for tobacco products altogether.

2003: An Ilyushin Il-76 military aircraft crashes near Kerman, Iran, killing 275.

2004: Approval of the Stockholm Treaty banning pesticides and industrial chemicals by more than 50 countries of the world.

2006: A methane explosion in a coal mine near Nueva Rosita, Mexico, kills 65 miners.

2011: The debut exhibition of the Belitung shipwreck, containing the largest collection of Tang dynasty artifacts found in one location, begins in Singapore.

2012: Forty-four people are killed in a prison brawl in Apodaca, Nuevo León, Mexico.

Birth/Birth Anniversary

Merle Oberon

1473: Nicolaus Copernicus, a Renaissance-era mathematician, and astronomer.

1630: Shivaji Maharaj, an Indian warrior-king and founder of the Maratha Empire.

1859: Svante Arrhenius, a Swedish scientist.

1900: Balwantrai Mehta, an Indian politician and the 2nd Chief Minister of Gujarat state, India.

Kasinathuni Viswanath

1906: M. S. Golwalkar, the second Sarsanghchalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

1911: Merle Oberon, Indian-American actress (d. 1979)

1922: Beant Singh, an Indian politician and the former Chief Minister of Punjab.

1930: Kasinathuni Viswanath, Indian actor, director, and screenwriter

Gopal Krishna Gokhale

Death/ Death Anniversary

1885: Munshi Nawal Kishore, a book publisher from India.

1915: Gopal Krishna Gokhale, an Indian liberal political leader, and a social reformer.

Nirad Mohapatra

1978: Pankaj Mullick, a popular Bengali Indian music composer, playback singer, and actor.

1997: Deng Xiaoping, a Chinese politician.

2015: Nirad Narayan Mohapatra, an Indian film director.

Further Reading

Month-wise This Day in History