September 19
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1908
Unraveling the mystery of the healthy carrier
The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published an article on this day examining a newly recognized public health threat—people who carried and spread typhoid bacteria without appearing sick. The most notorious example was Mary Mallon, or “Typhoid Mary,” a New York cook linked to multiple outbreaks. Her case helped bring attention to asymptomatic carriers, and raised difficult questions about individual rights and public health.
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© Photo Researchers—Science History Images/Alamy; Photo Illustration Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Featured Event
Scala/Art Resource, New York
In his Farewell Address, printed in a Philadelphia newspaper on this day in 1796, George Washington, the first U.S. president, implored his country to maintain neutrality and avoid entangling alliances with Europe. [Take our quiz about U.S. presidents.]
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
Mark Gerson
It really means nothing in this country [England] whatsoever—but then being a writer here means nothing either.
English novelist Sir William Golding, born this day in 1911, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983 for his parables of the human condition, most notably his acclaimed novel Lord of the Flies (1954).
Famous Birthdays
More on September 19
© Harry Langdon/Getty Images
2015
English author Jackie Collins, whose glamorous public persona echoed the lavish lifestyles of the characters in her provocative romance thrillers, died at age 77. [Test your knowledge of famous authors.]
Jim McIsaac/Getty Images
2011
Panamanian baseball pitcher Mariano Rivera registered his record-setting 602nd career save; when he retired in 2013, Rivera had an unprecedented 652 saves and was considered the sport’s greatest relief pitcher. [Did Mariano Rivera make our list of the 10 greatest baseball players of all time?]
John Youngbear/AP Images
1995
The Unabomber’s manifesto—a 35,000-word antitechnology document written by Ted Kaczynski, who had launched a bombing campaign that killed 3 and wounded 23—was published in The New York Times and The Washington Post; the manifesto helped lead to his capture.
© National Broadcasting Company
1994
The medical drama ER debuted on NBC and became one of the highest-rated programs on television; it launched the careers of several actors, most notably George Clooney, Noah Wyle, and Juliana Margulies. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about A-list actors.]
Martin Shields/Alamy
1991
In the Ötztal Alps on the Italian-Austrian border, German tourists discovered a mummified human body (later known as Ötzi the Iceman) that was subsequently determined to date from 3300 bce. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about ancient life.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1983
Saint Kitts and Nevis gained independence from Britain, becoming the smallest sovereign country in the Western Hemisphere in both area and population.
© Columbia Broadcasting System
1970
The first episode of the sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show aired on American television; the groundbreaking series starred Mary Tyler Moore as a single independent working woman at a time when female characters were defined as the wife, girlfriend, or widow of a male counterpart. [Test your knowledge of pop culture.]
© Sulozone/Dreamstime.com
1960
India and Pakistan signed the Indus Water Treaty to delimit the rights and obligations of both countries concerning the use of the waters of the Indus River system.
Courtesy of the OAS (Columbus Memorial Library)
1955
President Juan Perón of Argentina was overthrown and fled to Paraguay after an army-navy revolt led by democratically inspired officers. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about South America.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1893
In a landmark victory for women’s suffrage, New Zealand’s Electoral Act gave all women, including Māori women, the right to vote in national elections. New Zealand was the first self-governing country in the world to enfranchise women.
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (B8184-10260)
1863
The Battle of Chickamauga Creek, an important engagement of the American Civil War that was fought over control of the railroad center at nearby Chattanooga, Tennessee, began. [How much do you know about the American Civil War?]
© Photos.com/Getty Images
1783
The Montgolfier brothers sent aloft a balloon with a rooster, a duck, and a sheep aboard, rapidly advancing French aeronautics. [Take our quiz about early aviation.]
Courtesy of the Państwowe Zbiory Sztuki na Wawelu, Kraków, Poland
1657
John II Casimir Vasa, king of Poland, signed the Treaty of Wehlau, renouncing the suzerainty of the Polish crown over ducal Prussia and making Frederick William the duchy’s sovereign ruler. [Test your knowledge of European history.]