| 19 August 14 | Roman Empire [births and deaths] | Augustus, first emperor of the Roman Empire 27 BC–AD 14, dies in Nola, near Naples, Italy (75). |
| 19 August 1071 | Byzantine Empire, Seljuk Sultanate, Fatimid Caliphate [wars] | The Seljuk sultan Alp Arslan destroys a Byzantine army at Manzikert, Armenia, and captures Emperor Romanus IV, whom he frees for a ransom and the payment of tribute. The Seljuk Turks now complete their conquest of Armenia and overrun most of Anatolia (modern Turkey). In the same year, the Seljuks also conquer Syria and, under the general Atsiz ibn-Abaq, take Jerusalem from the Fatimid caliphate. |
| 19 August 1153 | Fatimid Caliphate, Kingdom of Jerusalem [Crusades (1095–1272)] | The Fatimid (Shiite Muslim) garrison of Ascalon, a city on the Mediterranean coast in Palestine, surrenders to King Baldwin III of Jerusalem: the Christians now control the entire coast of the Holy Land. |
| 19 August 1493 | Holy Roman Empire [political events] | Maximilian I assumes the title of Holy Roman Emperor elect (–1519) following the death of his father, the holy Roman Emperor Frederick III, thereby confirming the hereditary claim of the Habsburgs. |
| 19 August 1587 | Poland-Lithuania [political events] | Sigismund III Vasa, son of King John III of Sweden, is elected king of Poland; he is forced to concede further powers to the Sejm (parliament). A minority supports Maximilian, Archduke of Austria, who invades toward Kraków. |
| 19 August 1619 | Bohemia, Habsburg Monarchy, Holy Roman Empire [political events] | The Bohemian diet (legislative assembly) deposes the Habsburg heir, King Ferdinand, from the throne. |
| 19 August 1631 | England [births and deaths] | John Dryden, outstanding English poet, playwright and critic, poet laureate, whose major works include ‘Annus Mirabilis’ (1667) and Marriage à la mode (1672), born in Aldwincle, Northamptonshire, England (–1700). |
| 19 August 1662 | France [births and deaths] | Blaise Pascal, French mathematician and physicist who founded the theory of probability, and invented the first digital calculator, the syringe, and hydraulic press, dies in Paris, France (39). |
| 19 August 1691 | Holy Roman Empire, Ottoman Empire, Transylvania, Habsburg Monarchy [wars] | Imperial forces under Louis, Margrave of Baden, defeat the Ottoman Turks under Imre Thököly at Zalánkemén, completing the re-conquest of Transylvania. Mustafa Köprülü, the Grand Vizier, is killed in action. |
| 19 August 1796 | France, Spain, UK [French Revolutionary Wars (1792–1801)] | An alliance is signed at San Ildefonso, Spain, between France and Spain against Britain. It is virtually a renewal of the 1761 Family Compact between the Bourbon rulers of the two countries. |
| 19 August 1819 | Scotland, England [births and deaths] | James Watt, Scottish inventor whose improved steam engine had a major impact on the Industrial Revolution, dies in Heathfield Hall, near Birmingham, England (83). |
| 19 August 1871 | USA [births and deaths] | Orville Wright, US pioneer of aviation who, with his brother Wilbur, is the first to achieve sustained powered flight, born in Dayton, Ohio (–1948). |
| 19 August 1883 | France [births and deaths] | Coco (Gabrielle) Chanel, French couturier whose classic designs become widely copied, born in Saumur, France (–1971). |
| 19 August 1944 | England [births and deaths] | Henry Wood, English conductor, founder of the Promenade Concerts (the ‘Proms’) in 1895, dies in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England (75). |
| 19 August 1946 | USA [births and deaths] | (William Jefferson) ‘Bill’ Clinton, US Democratic politician, 42nd president of the USA from 1993, born in Hope, Arkansas. |
| 19 August 1946 | England [cricket] | Walter Hammond of England becomes the first batsman to score 7,000 runs in Test cricket. |
| 19 August 1969 | UK [political events] | The British army assumes full responsibility for security in Northern Ireland following civil unrest. |
| 19 August 1977 | USA [births and deaths] | Groucho Marx (born Julius Marx), US comedian of stage, film, radio, and television along with two of his brothers, Harpo and Chico, dies in Los Angeles, California (86). |
| 19–28 August 1981 | UK [athletics] | In nine days the English runners Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe establish three new world records for the mile; the record is cut by over 1 second to 3 min 47.53 sec. Coe runs 3 min 48.53 sec in Zürich, Switzerland. Ovett then runs 3 min 48.40 sec in Koblenz, West Germany, before Coe regains the record with a run of 3 min 47.33 sec in Brussels, Belgium. |
| 19 August 1982 | Lebanon [diplomacy] | The Israeli cabinet accepts a US plan to evacuate Palestine Liberation Organization guerrillas and Syrian troops from Beirut. The first convoys of guerrillas leave for Cyprus on 21 August, and Yassir Arafat leaves for Tunisia on August 30. |
| 19 August 1987 | Zimbabwe [law and government] | Zimbabwe's House of Assembly agrees a change to the constitution, abolishing the 20 seats reserved for whites under the 1979 Lancaster House Agreement. |
| 19 August 1991 | USSR [political events] | Reactionary communists led by Gennady Yanayev stage a coup against the Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev, who is placed under house arrest in the Crimea; radio and television stations are shut down and military rule imposed in many cities. |
| 19 August 2005 | Finland [ships and shipping] | The 158,000-ton cruise liner Freedom of the Seas is launched in Finland, taking over from the Queen Mary 2 as the world's largest passenger ship. |
