| Date | Weekday | Event |
|---|
| October 19, 1781 | Friday | Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown at 2 p.m.; the fighting is over. |
|
| October 19, 1812 | Monday | Napoleon begins his retreat from Moscow. |
| October 19, 1845 | Sunday | Wagner's opera Tannh„user performed for 1st time. |
| October 19, 1853 | Wednesday | 1st flour mill in Hawaii begins operations |
| October 19, 1859 | Wednesday | Wilhelm Tempel discovers diffuse nebula around Pleid star Merope. |
| October 19, 1872 | Saturday | world's largest gold nugget (215 kg) found in New South Wales. |
| October 19, 1879 | Sunday | Thomas A. Edison successfully demenstrates the electric light |
| October 19, 1936 | Monday | H.R. Ekins of the "NY World-Telegram" beats 2 other reporters in a race around the world on commercial flights by 18 1/2 days. |
| October 19, 1949 | Wednesday | Yanks trade Joe Gordon to Cleveland for Allie Reynolds |
| October 19, 1953 | Monday | 1st jet transcontinental non-stop scheduled service |
| October 19, 1953 | Monday | Singer Julius LaRosa is fired on television by Arthur Godfrey. |
| October 19, 1960 | Wednesday | The US imposes an embargo on exports to Cuba. |
| October 19, 1963 | Saturday | Beatles record "I Want to Hold Your Hand" |
| October 19, 1967 | Thursday | Mariner 5 flew by Venus |
| October 19, 1968 | Saturday | Golden Gate Bridge charges tolls only for southbound cars |
| October 19, 1987 | Monday | Billy Martin hired as manager of N.Y. Yankees for 5th time. |
| October 19, 1987 | Monday | Dow-Jones loses 508.32 points more than 4« times previous record. |
| October 19, 1987 | Monday | Black Monday - Dow Jones down 508.32 points worst day on Wall St |