September 19 in history — What Happened Today in History

Ötzi the Iceman is discovered in the Alps on the border between Italy and Austria.

A bomb destroys UTA Flight 772 in mid-air above the Tùnùrù Desert, Niger, killing all 170 passengers and crew.

A strong earthquake kills thousands and destroys about 400 buildings in Mexico City.

Tipper Gore and other political wives form the Parents Music Resource Center as Frank Zappa, John Denver, and other musicians testify at U.S. Congressional hearings on obscenity in rock music.

Saint Kitts and Nevis gains its independence.

Scott Fahlman posts the first documented emoticons :-) and :-( on the Carnegie Mellon University bulletin board system.

The Solomon Islands join the United Nations.

Turkish Airlines Flight 452 hits the Taurus Mountains, outskirt of Karatepe, Turkey, killing all 154 passengers and crew.

Two Imperial Iranian Air Force F-4 Phantom II jets fly out to investigate an unidentified flying object.

Michael Eavis hosts the first Glastonbury Festival.

Kostas Georgakis, a Greek student of geology, sets himself ablaze in Matteotti Square in Genoa, Italy, as a protest against the dictatorial regime of Georgios Papadopoulos.

Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistani President Ayub Khan sign the Indus Waters Treaty for the control and management of the Indus, Chenab, Jhelum, Ravi, Sutlej and Beas rivers.

Korean War: An attack by North Korean forces was repelled at the Battle of Nam River.

The Council of Europe is founded following a speech by Winston Churchill at the University of Zurich.

World War II: The Battle of Hürtgen Forest begins. It will become the second-longest individual battle that the U.S. Army has ever fought.

World War II: The Moscow Armistice between Finland and the Soviet Union is signed, which officially ended the Continuation War.

World War II: Witold Pilecki is voluntarily captured and sent to Auschwitz concentration camp to gather and smuggle out information for the resistance movement.

World War II: The Battle of Kępa Oksywska concludes, with Polish losses reaching roughly 14% of all the forces engaged.

Football stadium San Siro is inaugurated in Milan, Italy

The battle of Megiddo begins in which British forces attack the right flank of the Ottoman army during World War I.

World War I: During the East African Campaign, colonial forces of the Belgian Congo (Force Publique) under the command of Charles Tombeur capture the town of Tabora after heavy fighting.

A stampede at Shiloh Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, leads to the death of 115 attendees.

In New Zealand, the Electoral Act of 1893 is consented to by the governor, giving all women in New Zealand the right to vote.

Franco-Prussian War: The siege of Paris begins. The city held out for over four months before surrendering.

La Gloriosa begins in Spain.

American Civil War: Union troops under Philip Sheridan defeat a Confederate force commanded by Jubal Early. With over 50,000 troops engaged, it was the largest battle fought in the Shenandoah Valley.

American Civil War: The first day of the Battle of Chickamauga, in northwestern Georgia, the bloodiest two-day battle of the conflict, and the only significant Confederate victory in the war's Western Theater.

American Civil War: Union troops under William Rosecrans defeat a Confederate force commanded by Sterling Price.

CJ McCollum, American basketball player

Saki Fukuda, Japanese actress and singer

Savvas Gentsoglou, Greek footballer

Stephon Gilmore, American football player

Kieran Trippier, English footballer

George Springer, American baseball player

Carlos Quintero, Colombian footballer

Leon Best, English footballer

Sally Pearson, Australian athlete and hurdler

Alun Wyn Jones, Welsh rugby player

Song Joong-ki, South Korean actor

Nathanael Liminski, German politician

Renee Paquette, Canadian-American television personality

Masajuro Shiokawa, Japanese economist and politician, 63rd Japanese Minister of Finance (born 1921)

Audrey Long, American actress (born 1922)

Robert Barnard, English author and critic (born 1936)

John Reger, American football player (born 1931)

William Ungar, Polish-American author and philanthropist, founded the National Envelope Corporation (born 1913)

John D. Vanderhoof, American banker and politician, 37th Governor of Colorado (born 1922)

Hiroshi Yamauchi, Japanese businessman (born 1927)

Rino Ferrario, Italian footballer (born 1926)

Itamar Singer, Romanian-Israeli historian and author (born 1946)

Earl R. Fox, U.S. Navy and Coast Guard veteran; last active U.S. servicemember to serve in World War II (born 1919)

Thomas Capano, American lawyer and politician, and convicted murderer (born 1949)

Dolores Hope, American singer (born 1909)

George Cadle Price, 1st Prime Minister of Belize (born 1919)