History for August 19 - On-This-Day.com
Orville Wright 1871, Gene Roddenberry 1921, Willie Shoemaker 1931
Ginger Baker 1939 - Musician (Cream, Blind Faith), Jill St. John 1940 - Actress, Fred Thompson 1942 - Actor, politician
Bill (William Jefferson) Clinton (U.S.) 1946, Mary Matalin 1953, Morton Anderson 1960 - Football player
1812 - "Old Ironsides" (the USS Constitution) won a battle against the British frigate Guerriere east of Nova Scotia.
1856 - Gail Borden received a patent for his process of condensing milk by vacuum.
1909 - The first car race to be run on brick occurred at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
1919 - Afghanistan gained independence from Britain.
1929 - "Amos and Andy," the radio comedy program, made its debut on NBC starring Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll.
1934 - Adolf Hitler was approved for sole executive power in Germany as Fuehrer.
1940 - The new Civil Aeronautics Administration awarded honorary license #1 to Orville Wright.
1942 - About 6,000 Canadian and British soldiers launched a raid against the Germans at Dieppe, France. They suffered about 50 percent casualties.
1960 - Francis Gary Powers, an American U-2 pilot, was convicted of espionage in Moscow.
2004 - Google Inc. stock began selling on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The initial price was set at $85 and ended the day at $100.34 with more than 22 million shares traded.