July 19 in history — What Happened Today in History

Opening of the Summer Olympics in Moscow.

The Sandinista rebels overthrow the government of the Somoza family in Nicaragua.

The oil tanker SS Atlantic Empress collides with another oil tanker, causing the largest ever ship-borne oil spill.

The world's first Global Positioning System (GPS) signal is transmitted from Navigation Technology Satellite 2 (NTS-2) and received at Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, at 12:41 a.m. Eastern time (ET).

Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal is created.

Dhofar Rebellion: British SAS units help the Omani government against Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman rebels in the Battle of Mirbat.

Chappaquiddick incident: U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy crashes his car into a tidal pond at Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts, killing his passenger Mary Jo Kopechne.

Piedmont Airlines Flight 22, a Piedmont Airlines Boeing 727-22, and a twin-engine Cessna 310 collide over Hendersonville, North Carolina, USA. Both aircraft are destroyed and all passengers and crew are killed, including John T. McNaughton, an advisor to Robert McNamara.

Vietnam War: At a rally in Saigon, South Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyễn Khánh calls for expanding the war into North Vietnam.

Joe Walker flies a North American X-15 to a record altitude of 106,010 meters (347,800 feet) on X-15 Flight 90. Exceeding an altitude of 100 km, this flight qualifies as a human spaceflight under international convention.

Tunisia imposes a blockade on the French naval base at Bizerte; the French would capture the entire town four days later.

The largely autobiographical novel The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold by Evelyn Waugh is published.

Opening of the Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland.

Prime Minister of the shadow Burmese government, Bogyoke Aung San and eight others are assassinated.

Korean politician Lyuh Woon-hyung is assassinated.

World War II: Rome is heavily bombed by more than 500 Allied aircraft, inflicting thousands of casualties.

World War II: The Second Happy Time of Hitler's submarines comes to an end, as the increasingly effective American convoy system compels them to return to the central Atlantic.

World War II: Battle of Cape Spada: The Royal Navy and the Regia Marina clash; the Italian light cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni sinks, with 121 casualties.

Field Marshal Ceremony: First occasion in World War II that Adolf Hitler appoints field marshals due to military achievements.

World War II: Army order 112 forms the Intelligence Corps of the British Army.

Spanish Civil War: The CNT and UGT call a general strike in Spain – mobilizing workers' militias against the Nationalist forces. People's Olympiad of Barcelona cancelled.

The rigid airship USS Macon surprises the USS Houston near Clipperton Island with a mail delivery for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, demonstrating its potential for tracking ships at sea.

World War I: Battle of Fromelles: British and Australian troops attack German trenches as part of the Battle of the Somme.

Maurice Garin wins the first Tour de France.

The first line of the Paris Metro opens for operation.

Franco-Prussian War: France declares war on Prussia.

Taiping Rebellion: Third Battle of Nanking: The Qing dynasty finally defeats the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

American Civil War: Morgan's Raid: At Buffington Island in Ohio, Confederate General John Hunt Morgan's raid into the north is mostly thwarted when a large group of his men are captured while trying to escape across the Ohio River.

Patrick Corbin, American baseball player

Sam McKendry, Australian-New Zealand rugby league player

James Austin Johnson, American actor and comedian

Shane Dawson, American comedian and actor

Kevin Großkreutz, German footballer

Jakub Kovář, Czech ice hockey player

Cherami Leigh, American actress

Trent Williams, American football player

Yan Gomes, Brazilian-American baseball player

Jon Jones, American mixed martial artist

Marc Murphy, Australian footballer

Leandro Greco, Italian footballer

Jinder Mahal, Canadian wrestler

Van Alexander, American composer and conductor (born 1915)

Galina Prozumenshchikova, Ukrainian-Russian swimmer and journalist (born 1948)

Carmino Ravosa, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (born 1930)

Gennadiy Seleznyov, Russian journalist and politician, 2nd Speaker of the Duma (born 1947)

Rubem Alves, Brazilian theologian (born 1933)

Skye McCole Bartusiak, American child actress and child model (born 1992)

David Easton, Canadian-American political scientist and academic (born 1917)

Paul M. Fleiss, American pediatrician and author (born 1933)

James Garner, American actor (born 1928)

Jerzy Jurka, Polish biologist (born 1950)

Ray King, English footballer and manager (born 1924)

Ingemar Odlander, Swedish journalist (born 1936)

Harry Pougher, English cricketer (born 1941)