History of 19 May
- 1992 – U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle criticized the CBS sitcom “Murphy Brown” for having its title character decide to bear a child out of wedlock.
- 1992 – In Massapequa, NY, Mary Jo Buttafuoco was shot and seriously wounded by Amy Fisher. Fisher was her husband Joey’s teenage lover.
- 1992 – The 27th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution went into effect. The amendment prohibits Congress from giving itself midterm pay raises.
- 1993 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed about 3,500 (3,500.03) for the first time.
- 1998 – In Russia, strikes broke out over unpaid wages.
- 1998 – Bandits stole three of Rome’s most important paintings from the National Gallery of Modern Art.
- 1999 – “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace” was released in the U.S. It set a new record for opening day sales at 28.5 million.
- 1999 – Rosie O’Donnell and Tom Selleck got into an uncomfortable verbal issue concerning gun control on O’Donnell’s talk show.
- 2000 – The bones of the most complete and best-preserved Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton went on display in Chicago.
- 2000 – Disney released the movie “Dinosaur.”
- 2003 – It was announced that Worldcom Inc. would pay investors $500 million to settle civil fraud charges over its $11 billion accounting scandal.
- 2003 – Hundreds of Albert Einstein’s scientific papers, personal letters and humanist essays were make available on the Internet. Einstein had given the papers to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in his will.
- 2005 – “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith” brought in 50.0 million in its opening day.
- 2013 – The Yahoo board approved the $1.1 billion purchase of the blogging site Tumblr.
- 2015 – 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.
- 2016 – EgyptAir Flight 804 crashes into the Mediterranean Sea while traveling from Paris to Cairo, killing all on board.
- 2018 – 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.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Luciano Figueroa, the Argentinian footballer
- 1981 – Yo Gotti, American rapper
- 1981 – Michael Leighton, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1981 – Sina Schielke, German sprinter
- 1981 – Klaas-Erik Zwering, Dutch swimmer
- 1982 – Kevin Amankwaah, English footballer
- 1982 – Pål Steffen Andresen, Norwegian footballer
- 1982 – Klaas Vantornout, Belgian cyclist
- 1983 – Michael Che, American comedian
- 1983 – Jessica Fox, English actress
- 1984 – Marcedes Lewis, American football player
- 1985 – Aleister Black, Dutch professional wrestler
- 1986 – Mario Chalmers, American basketball player
- 1987 – Michael Angelakos, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1987 – David Edgar, Canadian soccer player
- 1987 – Mariano Torres, Argentinian footballer
- 1987 – Jayne Wisener, Northern Irish actress
- 1991 – Jordan Pruitt, American singer-songwriter
- 1992 – Marshmello, American electronic music producer and DJ
- 1992 – Michele Camporese, Italian footballer
- 1992 – Ola John, Dutch footballer
- 1992 – Felise Kaufusi, New Zealand-Tongan rugby league player
- 1992 – Evgeny Kuznetsov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1992 – Sam Smith, English singer-songwriter
- 1994 – Carlos Guzmán, Mexican footballer
- 1995 – Taane Milne, New Zealand rugby league player