Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/February 19
This is a list of selected February 19 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Please read the selected anniversaries guidelines before making your edit. However, if your addition might be controversial or on a day that is or will soon be on the Main Page, please post your suggestion on the talk page instead.
Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on how important or significant their subjects are. Only four to five events are posted at a time and thus not everything that is "most important and significant" can be listed. In addition, an event is generally not posted this year if it is also the subject of the scheduled featured article or picture of the day.
To report an error when this appears on the Main Page, see Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
February 19: Fat Thursday (2009)
- 1594 – King Sigismund III Vasa of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was crowned King of Sweden, succeeding his father John III.
- 1600 – The Peruvian stratovolcano Huaynaputina exploded in the most violent eruption in the recorded history of South America.
- 1811 – Peninsular War: An outnumbered French force under Édouard Mortier (pictured) routed and nearly destroyed the Spanish at the Battle of the Gebora near Badajoz, Spain.
- 1819 – English explorer William Smith sighted Livingston Island in the South Shetland archipelago, a group of Antarctic islands more than 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) south of the Falkland Islands.
- 1942 – World War II: In the largest attacks mounted by a foreign power against Australia, more than 240 bombers and fighters of the Imperial Japanese Navy bombed Darwin, Northern Territory.
- 1986 – The space station Mir of the Soviet space program was launched, establishing the first long-term research station in space.