19 May

19 May 1536	England [crime and punishment]	When Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII of England, is beheaded, having been found guilty of adultery and incest, Thomas Cranmer, the archbishop of Canterbury, declares her marriage invalid. Her brother Lord Rochford and other alleged lovers are also executed.
19 May 1585	Spain, England [political events]	English shipping in Spanish ports is confiscated, serving as a declaration of war on England; Queen Elizabeth I of England launches a counter-embargo and orders reprisals.
19 May 1635	France, Sweden, Spain [Thirty Years War (1618–48)]	In accordance with its treaty obligations to Sweden, France formally declares war on Spain, using a Spanish raid on the southern French town of Trèves as a pretext, and opening a new phase of the Thirty Years' War.
19 May 1643	France, Spain, Spanish Netherlands [Thirty Years War (1618–48)]	The French army, under Marshal Enghien, defeats the Spanish at Rocroi on the border of the Spanish Netherlands. The battle marks the end of the superiority enjoyed by the Spanish infantry in Europe after more than a century.
19 May 1649	UK [political events]	England is declared to be a ‘Commonwealth or Free State’ by the Rump Parliament. Supreme authority is placed in the hands of the House of Commons and the executive powers of the monarchy are entrusted to a 40-member Council of State.
19 May 1769	Rome [religion]	Lorenzo Ganganelli is elected as Pope Clement XIV after a three-month struggle in the College of Cardinals between those who supported the Jesuits, and those who opposed them (his supporters).
19 May 1792	Russia, Poland [wars]	Russian forces invade Poland, to forestall constitutional changes designed to stabilize the Polish monarchy and thus weaken Russian influence in the country.
19 May 1795	Scotland [births and deaths]	James Boswell, Scottish diarist, friend and biographer of the English writer and critic Samuel Johnson, dies in London, England (56).
19 May 1861	Australia [births and deaths]	Nellie Melba, Australian soprano, born in Richmond, near Melbourne, Australia (–1931).
19 May 1879	USA, UK [births and deaths]	Nancy Witcher Langhorne, Lady Astor, British politician and the first woman to sit in the House of Commons, born in Danville, Virginia (–1964).
19 May 1898	Wales [births and deaths]	William Ewart Gladstone, prime minister of Britain 1868–74, 1880–85, 1886, and 1892–94, a Liberal, dies in Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales (88).
19 May 1906	Portugal [law and government]	João Franco becomes prime minister of Portugal with dictatorial powers, following conflict between the king and liberals.
19 May 1910	USA [astronomy]	Halley's Comet – which comes near the Earth roughly every 75 years – returns, with the Earth passing through the comet's tail. In the USA, it is regarded by some as announcing the end of the world.
19 May 1921	USA [work and unemployment]	The University of Chicago announces that the average college graduate earns $5,762 per year after ten years of work.
19 May 1925	[births and deaths]	Malcolm X, US black militant leader, born in Omaha, Nebraska (–1965).
19 May 1930	South Africa [suffrage]	White women are enfranchised in South Africa.
19 May 1934	Bulgaria [law and government]	Fascists in Bulgaria seize power in collaboration with King Boris.
19 May 1935	[births and deaths]	T(homas) E(dward) Lawrence (‘Lawrence of Arabia’), British scholar, military strategist, and author, dies in Clouds Hill, Dorset, England (46).
19 May 1974	Northern Ireland [work and unemployment]	A Protestant general strike begins in Northern Ireland against the power-sharing executive created by the Sunningdale Agreement of 9 December 1973.
19 May 1999	UK [poetry]	English poet Andrew Motion succeeds Ted Hughes as UK poet laureate.
19 May 2004	England [physiology]	The world's first stem-cell bank opens in Hertfordshire, England, based at the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control. Stem cell research, although controversial, has the potential to accelerate the development of regenerative medicine.

May 19

19 May