Today in History: October 19 | Arts & Entertainment

In 1739, England declared war on Spain over borders in Florida.

In 1765, the Stamp Act Congress, meeting in New York, adopted a declaration of rights and liberties which the British Parliament ignored.

In 1781, British troops under Gen. Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia, as the American Revolution neared its end.

In 1789, John Jay was sworn in as the first Chief Justice of the United States.

In 1814, the first documented public performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” took place at the Holliday Street Theater in Baltimore.

In 1864, Confederate soldiers attacked Union forces at Cedar Creek, Virginia; the Union troops were able to rally and defeat them.

In 1873, Yale, Princeton, Columbia and Rutgers universities draft the first code of football rules.

In 1944, the US Navy began accepting black women into WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service).

In 1949, The People’s Republic of China was formally proclaimed.

In 1950, during the Korean War, the North Korean capital of Pyongyang is captured by UN troops.

In 1953, the Ray Bradbury novel “Fahrenheit 451,” set in a dystopian future where books are banned and burned by the government, was first published by Ballantine Books.

In 1960, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested during a sit-down protest at a lunch counter in Atlanta. The US imposed an embargo on exports to Cuba except for medical supplies and certain foods.

Canada and the United States agree to undertake a joint Columbia River project to provide hydroelectric power and flood control.

In 1977, the supersonic Concorde made its first landing in New York City.

In 1982, automaker John Z. DeLorean was arrested by federal agents in Los Angeles, accused of conspiring to sell $24 million of cocaine to salvage his business. (DeLorean was acquitted at trial on grounds of entrapment.)

In 1987, the stock market crashed as the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 508 points, or 22.6 percent in value (its biggest daily percentage loss), in what came to be known as “Black Monday.” In retaliation for Iranian attacks on ships in the Persian Gulf, the US navy disables three of Iran’s offshore oil platforms.

In 1990, Kevin Costner’s Western epic “Dances with Wolves” had its world premiere in Washington, DC

In 1994, 22 people were killed as a terrorist bomb shattered a bus in the heart of Tel Aviv’s shopping district.

In 2001, US special forces began operations on the ground in Afghanistan, opening a significant new phase of the assault against the Taliban and al-Qaida.

In 2003, Pope John Paul II beatified Mother Teresa during a ceremony in St. Peter’s Square.

In 2005, a defiant Saddam Hussein pleaded innocent to charges of premeditated murder and torture as his trial opened under heavy security in the former headquarters of his Baath Party in Baghdad.

In 2010, the Pentagon directed the military to accept openly gay recruits for the first time in the nation’s history.

In 2015, Justin Trudeau won a landslide victory over Stephen Harper for Canada’s Prime Minister position.

In 2021, The US Supreme Court declined to block a vaccine requirement imposed on Maine health care workers, the latest defeat for opponents of vaccine mandates.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1957, Maurice “Rocket” Richard of the Montreal Canadiens became the first NHL player to score 500 goals. In 2014, Peyton Manning broke Brett Favre’s NFL record of 508 career touchdown passes as he threw four TD passes in Denver’s 42-17 victory over the San Francisco 49ers.