April 19 in History: American Revolution Begins, Oklahoma City Bombing, and First Space Helicopter Flight

Discover what happened on April 19 in history, along with notable events that shaped revolution, tragedy, and space exploration.

What Happened on April 19 in History?

From the first shots of the American Revolution to a devastating act of domestic terrorism and a groundbreaking flight on another planet, April 19 marks moments that changed history in profound ways.

APRIL 19 – TODAY IN HISTORY:

1764 – The English Parliament banned the American colonies from printing paper money.

1775 – The American Revolution began as fighting broke out at Lexington, MA.

1861 – Thaddeus S. C. Lowe sailed 900 miles in nine hours in a hot air balloon from Cincinnati, OH, to Unionville, SC.

1892 – The Duryea gasoline buggy was introduced in the U.S. by Charles and Frank Duryea.

1897 – The first annual Boston Marathon was held. It was the first of its type in the U.S. It was won by New Yorker John J. McDermott in a time of 2:55:10.

1911 – In Grand Rapids, MI, some 4,000 workers waked off their jobs at 35 furniture shops. They stayed out 19 weeks in a strike for better pay and improved working conditions. The Grand Rapids Police Department had a Riot Squad that served to keep the peace.

1917 – Gov. Albert Sleeper created the Michigan State Troops Permanent Force, also known as the Michigan State Constabulary. Public Act 26 reorganized the Constabulary as the permanent, peace-time Michigan State Police on March 26, 1919.

1927 – Ty Tyson provided play by play of the Detroit Tigers game over radio station WWJ in Detroit for the first time. The Tigers scored a 8-5 victory over the Cleveland Indians.

1933 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a proclamation that removed the U.S. from the gold standard.

1939 – Connecticut approved the Bill of Rights for the U.S. Constitution after 148 years.

1951 – General Douglas MacArthur gave his “Old Soldiers” speech before Congress after being relieved by President Harry Truman. In the address General MacArthur said that “Old soldiers never die, they just fade away.”

1956 – Actress Grace Kelly became Princess Grace of Monaco when she married Prince Rainier III of Monaco. The civil ceremony took place on April 18.

1960 – Baseball uniforms began displaying player’s names on their backs.

1967 – Surveyor 3 landed on the moon and began sending photos back to the U.S.

1971 – Russia launched the Salyut into orbit around Earth. It was the first space station.

1971 – Charles Manson was sentenced to death (later commuted life imprisonment) for conspiracy to commit the Tate/LaBianca murders.

1977 – Alex Haley received a special Pulitzer Prize for his book “Roots.”

1982 – NASA named Sally Ride to be first woman astronaut. Guion S. Bluford Jr. was named as the first African American astronaut.

1982 – The U.S. announced a ban on U.S. tourist and business travel to Cuba.

1987 – In Phoenix, AZ, skydiver Gregory Robertson went into a 200-mph free-fall to save an unconscious colleague 3,500 feet from the ground.

1987 – The last California condor known to be in the wild was captured and placed in a breeding program at the San Diego Wild Animal Park.

1987 – “The Simpsons” premiered as a short cartoon called “Good Night” on television’s “The Tracy Ullman Show”.

1988 – Sonny Bono was inaugurated as the Mayor of Palm Springs, CA.

1989 – A giant asteroid passed within 500,000 miles of Earth.

1989 – A gun turret exploded aboard the USS Iowa. 47 sailors were killed.

1990 – The TV show “Wings” debuted.

1991 – Evander Holyfield beat George Foreman in 12 rounds for the heavyweight boxing crown.

1993 – The Branch-Davidian’s compound in Waco, TX, burned to the ground. It was the end of a 51-day standoff between the cult and U.S. federal agents. 86 people were killed including 17 children. Nine of the Branch Davidians escaped the fire.

1994 – A Los Angeles, CA jury awarded Rodney King $3.8 million for the police violation of his civil rights.

1995 – The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, OK, was destroyed by a bomb. It was the worst bombing on U.S. territory. 168 people were killed including 19 children, and 500 were injured. Timothy McVeigh was found guilty of the bombing on June 2, 1997.

2000 – The Oklahoma City National Memorial was dedicated on the fifth anniversary of the bombing in Oklahoma that killed 168 people.

2000 – Oprah Winfrey debuted “O” magazine.

2002 – The movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” debuted in theaters.

2002 – The USS Cole was relaunched. In Yemen, 17 sailors were killed when the ship was attacked by terrorists on October 12, 2000. The attack was blamed on Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network.

2005 – Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected to the papacy and became Pope Benedict XVI.

2009 – The TV show “Cake Boss” premiered.

2013 – Boston Marathon bombings suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a shootout with police. His brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured while hiding in a boat inside a backyard in Watertown, MA.

2021 – NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter achieved the first flight on another planet.

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS ON APRIL 19:

Justin Francis Rigali – 91 years old (1935) – Cardinal

Elinor Donahue – 89 years old (1937) – Actress

Stanley Fish – 88 years old (1938) – Theorist, author, and scholar

James Heckman – 82 years old (1944) – Economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

Frank Viola – 66 years old (1960) – Baseball player and coach

Kim Weaver – 62 years old (1964) – Astrophysicist, astronomer, and academic

Suge Knight – 61 years old (1965) – Record executive

Ashley Judd – 58 years old (1968) – Actress

Madeleine Peyroux – 52 years old (1974) – French jazz and blues singer-songwriter

Michelle Feldman – 50 years old (1976) – Bowler

James Franco – 48 years old (1978) – Actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

Amanda Sage – 48 years old (1978) – American-Austrian painter and educator

Kate Hudson – 47 years old (1979) – Actress

Troy Polamalu – 45 years old (1981) – Football player

Samuel C. Morrison – 44 years old (1982) – Jr. , Liberian-American journalist, producer, and screenwriter

Ali Wong – 44 years old (1982) – Comedian and actress

Joe Mauer – 43 years old (1983) – Baseball player

Candace Parker – 40 years old (1986) – Basketball player

Jackie Bradley Jr. – 36 years old (1990) – Baseball player

Dalton Knecht – 25 years old (2001) – Basketball player

Loren Gray – 24 years old (2002) – Singer and internet personality

Jackson Merrill – 23 years old (2003) – Baseball player

The Rizzler – 10 years old (2016) – Internet personality

DAYS OF THE YEAR FOR APRIL 19:

For additional information check out websites like: www.on-this-day.com, www.born-today.com, www.famousbirthdays.com, www.daysoftheyear.com, and www.nationaldaycalendar.com.