August 19th
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Day:
- 1692
Five people, including a clergyman, are executed after being convicted of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts during the Salem Witch Trials View Post →
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- 43
Octavian, later known as Augustus, compels the Roman Senate to elect him Consul
- 1793
The first fatality of a yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia, then the U.S. capital, is recorded. The epidemic lasts until November, killing around 5,000 people
- 1812
Old Ironsides (the USS Constitution) wins a battle against the British frigate Guerriere east of Nova Scotia
- 1848
The New York Herald reports the discovery of gold in California
- 1887
Dmitri Mendeleev makes a solo ascent by balloon to an altitude of 11,500 feet (3.5 km) above Klin, Russia to observe an eclipse
- 1955
Hurricane Diane kills 200 people and becomes the first billion-dollar damage storm in the Northeast U.S
- 1960
The Soviet Union launches two dogs into Earth's orbit in a satellite
- 1960
The first commercial atomic energy reactor, owned by the Yankee Atomic Electric Company, achieves a self-sustaining nuclear reaction in Rowe, Deerfield River, Massachusetts
- 2005
A series of strong storms, known as the Toronto Supercell, lashes Southern Ontario, spawning several tornadoes and creating extreme flash flooding within the city of Toronto and its surrounding communities
- 2020
Apple becomes the first U.S. company to be valued at $2 trillion, just two years after it reached a $1 trillion valuation
- 2020
The largest floods in 70 years wet the toes of the giant 71m Leshan Buddha carved by a river outside Chengdu, China, leading to the evacuation of 100,000 people
