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19 February| 19 February 1405 | Mongol Empire, Egypt, Mameluke Sultanate, Syria, Central Asia, Asia Minor, Middle East [political events] | When Timur Leng (Tamerlane), grand amir of the Mongols, dies while leading an expedition to China, his heirs retain only Transoxiana and Khorasan, with his son, Shah Rukh, ruling from Heart. The Mamelukes recover Syria, while the dynasty of Black Sheep Turkomans from Azerbaijan establishes a dominion from eastern Anatolia to Baghdad, Persia, and the Safavid dynasty appears in Persia. | | 19 February 1405 | Central Asia [births and deaths] | Timur Leng (Tamerlane), ruthless Turkic leader who conquered Persia, India, and Anatolia, dies in Otrar, near Chimkent, Transoxiana. | | 19 February 1473 | Poland [births and deaths] | Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish astronomer, who put forward the theory that the Earth revolved about its axis and around the Sun, born in Torun, Poland (–1543). | | 19 February 1614 | France [political events] | Rebel French nobles led by Henri II de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, supported by the Dukes of Nevers, Mayenne, Bouillon, and Longueville, raise armies in rebellion against the regime of the queen mother Marie de' Medici and her Italian favourite Concino Concini; there is widespread support for the rebels in view of the unpopularity of the projected Spanish marriage of the young Louis XIII, the evidence of maladministration, and the failure to summon the Estates General (parliament). | | 19 February 1907 | Central America [wars] | War breaks out between Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador when Nicaraguan president José Santos Zelaya tries to use force to create a Central American confederation under his leadership. The conflict continues until December. | | 19 February 1921 | USA [transport] | The US Red Cross announces that 20,000 children die in automobile accidents each year. | | 19–26 February 1944 | Germany, UK [World War II (1939–45)] | German aircraft make their heaviest raids (known as the ‘Little Blitz’) on London, England, since May 1941. | | 19 February–24 March 1945 | Japan, USA [World War II (1939–45)] | US marines capture the Japanese island of Iwo Jima after fierce fighting, which results in over 21,000 US casualties. | | 19 February 1959 | Cyprus [political events] | The prime ministers of Greece, Turkey, and Britain sign an agreement in London, England, granting Cyprus independence. As a republic, the president of Cyprus is to be Greek and the vice-president Turkish, and the two communities are to be allowed considerable autonomy. Britain will retain two military bases on the island. Enosis (union with Greece) is ruled out. | | 19 February 1980 | UK [legislation] | The Employment Bill is published in Britain, outlawing secondary picketing and requiring unions to hold secret ballots before strikes. | | 19 February 1986 | USSR [space exploration] | The USSR launches the core unit of the Mir 1 space station; it is intended to be permanently occupied. | | 19 February 1996 | Spain [political events] | One million people demonstrate in Madrid, Spain, against the violence of the Basque separatist group ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna, ‘Basque Nation and Liberty’). | | 19 February 1997 | China [political events] | Deng Xiaoping, China's ‘paramount leader’ since 1980–97, chief architect of China's social reform, dies in Beijing, China (93). |
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