August 19
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43 bce: A Roman teenager becomes political royalty
On this day in 43 bce, a 19-year-old became one of the most powerful people in the Roman Republic. He was Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian (later known simply as Octavian [until the date when he assumed the designation Augustus]), and he had just ascended to the rank of consulâone of two Roman heads of state, the highest magistrates and officials in the land. His rise to power was rapid, and he would dramatically change the face of Rome. Read on to find out how.
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© Syd/stock.adobe.com; Photo Illustration EncyclopÊdia Britannica, Inc.
Featured Event
Boris Yurchenko/AP Images
Attempted coup against Gorbachev
On this day in 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev, the general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1985â91) and president of the Soviet Union (1990â91), was briefly ousted in a coup by communist hard-liners. [How much do you know about Russian history?]
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
Courtesy, William J. Clinton Foundation
There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.
Bill Clintonâwho, as the 42nd president of the United States (1993â2001), oversaw the countryâs longest peacetime economic expansion but became, in 1998, only the second president to be impeachedâwas born this day in 1946.
Famous Birthdays
More on August 19
© Archive Photos
2017
Dick Gregrory, an American comedian and civil rights activist, died at age 84. Gregory became nationally recognized in the 1960s for a biting brand of comedy that attacked racial prejudice. By addressing his hard-hitting satire to white audiences, he gave a comedic voice to the American civil rights movement.
© Ken Wolter/Dreamstime.com
2004
The search engine company Google Inc. raised $1.66 billion in its initial public offering; in an unusual move, the shares were sold in a public auction intended to put the average investor on an equal footing with financial industry professionals. [Test your knowledge of tech companies.]
Karsh/Woodfin Camp and Associates
1994
American theoretical physical chemist Linus Paulingâthe only person to have won two unshared Nobel Prizes (Chemistry, 1954; Peace, 1962)âdied at age 93. [Take our Nobel Prize quiz.]
Central Intelligence Agency
1960
American pilot Francis Gary Powers was sentenced to 10 yearsâ confinement by the Soviet Union for espionage following the U-2 Affair, but he was later released (1962) in exchange for the Soviet spy Rudolf Abel. [Read about 10 famous names in the espionage game.]
© Bettmann/Getty Images
1945
A commando force formed by Vo Nguyen Giap, under Vietnamese nationalist leader Ho Chi Minh, entered the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about Southeast Asia.]
© David King Collection
1936
Soviet officials began the Great Purge of prominent Old Bolsheviksâreal or potential political rivals and critics of Joseph Stalinâas the first show trial opened, resulting in the execution of Lev Kamenev and others. [Test your knowledge of Russian history.]
Print CollectorâHulton Archive/Getty Images
1934
Some 90 percent of German voters approved a referendum that made Adolf Hitler âFĂŒhrer und Reichskanzlerâ (âleader and chancellorâ). [Nine things you may not know about Adolf Hitler.]
© Hulton Archive/Getty Images
1900
The first and only Olympic cricket match began at the 1900 Paris Olympic Games. Played across two days, Great Britain beat France to take home the gold medal.
Courtesy of Chanel; photograph, Douglas Kirkland
1883
French fashion designer Coco Chanelâwho, with her elegantly casual creations, ruled over Parisian haute couture for almost six decadesâwas born. [Test your knowledge of fashion.]
U.S. Signal Corps/National Archives, Washington, D.C.
1847
U.S. forces under Major General Winfield Scott began the Battle of Contreras, opening the final campaign of the Mexican-American War. [Take our history of war quiz.]
Yale University Art Gallery; Mabel Brady Garvan Collection (1946.9.434)
1812
The USS Constitution, commanded by Captain Isaac Hull, won a brilliant victory over the British frigate HMS Guerriere in the War of 1812. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about submarines, ships, and other watercraft.]
Courtesy of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Samuel H. Kress Collection
1458
Enea Silvio Piccolomini was elected pope as Pius II, following the death of Calixtus III. [How much do you know about popes?]
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
1274