Here’s a chronological timetable of events that occurred on this day in history. Let’s find out what happened today in history.

February 19

1701       Philip V of Spain makes his ceremonial entry into Madrid.

1902       Smallpox vaccination becomes obligatory in France.

1903       The Austria-Hungary government decrees a mandatory two-year military service.

1917       American troops are recalled from the Mexican border.

1919       The First Pan African Congress meets in Paris, France.

1926       Dr. Lane of Princeton estimates the earth’s age at one billion years.

1942       Port Darwin, on the northern coast of Australia, is bombed by the Japanese.

1965       Fourteen Vietnam War protesters are arrested in New York.

1966       Robert F. Kennedy suggests the United States offer the Vietcong a role in governing S. Vietnam.

1976       Britain slashes welfare spending.

1981       The U.S. State Department calls El Salvador a “textbook case” of a Communist plot.

Born on February 19

1473       Nicholas Copernicus, Polish astronomer

1683       Philip V, King of Spain.

1817       William III, King of the Netherlands.

1859       Svante Arrhenius, Swedish chemist, founder of physical chemistry.

1902       Kay Boyle, short story writer (“The White Horses of Vienna”).

1911       Merle Oberon, film actress.

1917       Carson McCullers, writer (The Heart is a Lonely Hunter).

1940       Smokey Robinson, American singer and songwriter.

Source: History Net