On This Day: April 19

Updated April 18, 2012, 2:28 pm

On April 19, 1995, a truck bomb exploded outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people and injuring 500. (Timothy McVeigh was later convicted of federal murder charges and executed.)

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On April 19, 1883, Getulio Vargas, the Brazilian president who used dictatorial powers to modernize his country, was born. Following his death on Aug. 24, 1954, his obituary appeared in The Times.

Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »

On This Date

By The Associated Press

1775 The American Revolutionary War began with the battles of Lexington and Concord.

1897 The first Boston Marathon was run.

1933 The United States went off the gold standard.

1943 Tens of thousands of Jews living in the Warsaw Ghetto began an uprising against Nazi forces.

1951 Gen. Douglas MacArthur, relieved of his command by President Harry S. Truman, bid farewell to Congress, quoting a line from a ballad: “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.”

1961 The Federal Communications Commission authorized regular FM stereo broadcasting starting on June 1, 1961.

1993 A 51-day siege at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, ended when fire destroyed the structure after federal agents smashed their way in. Dozens of people, including sect leader David Koresh, were killed.

1994 A Los Angeles jury awarded $3.8 million to beaten motorist Rodney King.

2001 The Mel Brooks musical “The Producers” opened on Broadway.

2005 Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany was elected pope and took the name Benedict XVI.

2011 Cuba’s Communist Party picked 79-year-old Raul Castro to replace his ailing brother Fidel as first secretary during a key Party Congress.

Current Birthdays

By The Associated Press

Tennis player Maria Sharapova turns 25 years old today.

AP Photo/Evan Agostini

Actress Ashley Judd turns 44 years old today.

AP Photo/Dan Steinberg

1937 Elinor Donahue, Actress (“Father Knows Best”), turns 75

1942 Alan Price, Rock musician (The Animals), turns 70

1946 Tim Curry, Actor, turns 66

1947 Mark “Flo” Volman, Singer (The Turtles, Flo and Eddie), turns 65

1952 Tony Plana, Actor (“Ugly Betty”), turns 60

1965 Suge Knight, Record company executive (Tha Row), turns 47

1978 James Franco, Actor (“Milk,” “Spider-Man”), turns 34

1979 Kate Hudson, Actress, turns 33

1981 Hayden Christensen, Actor, turns 31

1981 Catalina Sandino Moreno, Actress, turns 31

1981 Troy Polamalu, Football player, turns 31

Historic Birthdays

Getulio Vargas 4/19/1883 – 8/24/1954 Brazilian president (1930-45, 1951-54).Go to obituary »

72 Roger Sherman 4/19/1721 – 7/23/1793
American statesman and signer of the Declaration of Independence

84 Jose Echegaray y Eizaguirre 4/19/1832 – 9/4/1916
Spanish mathematician, statesman, and Nobel Prize-winning dramatist (1904)

86 Lucretia Garfield 4/19/1832 – 3/14/1918
American first lady (1881)

57 Ole Evinrude 4/19/1877 – 7/12/1934
Norwegian-American inventor

70 Richard von Mises 4/19/1883 – 7/14/1953
Austrian-born American mathematician and aerodynamicist

54 Eliot Ness 4/19/1903 – 5/16/1957
American crime fighter; headed the “Untouchables” in Chicago

85 Sir Thomas Hopkinson 4/19/1905 – 6/20/1990
English editor and pioneering photojournalist

87 Glenn T. Seaborg 4/19/1912 – 2/25/1999
American Nobel Prize-winning nuclear chemist (1951)

34 Jayne Mansfield 4/19/1933 – 6/29/1967
American motion picture actress

1775	The American Revolutionary War began with the battles of Lexington and Concord.
1897	The first Boston Marathon was run.
1933	The United States went off the gold standard.
1943	Tens of thousands of Jews living in the Warsaw Ghetto began an uprising against Nazi forces.
1951	Gen. Douglas MacArthur, relieved of his command by President Harry S. Truman, bid farewell to Congress, quoting a line from a ballad: “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.”
1961	The Federal Communications Commission authorized regular FM stereo broadcasting starting on June 1, 1961.
1993	A 51-day siege at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, ended when fire destroyed the structure after federal agents smashed their way in. Dozens of people, including sect leader David Koresh, were killed.
1994	A Los Angeles jury awarded $3.8 million to beaten motorist Rodney King.
2001	The Mel Brooks musical “The Producers” opened on Broadway.
2005	Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany was elected pope and took the name Benedict XVI.
2011	Cuba’s Communist Party picked 79-year-old Raul Castro to replace his ailing brother Fidel as first secretary during a key Party Congress.

1937	Elinor Donahue, Actress (“Father Knows Best”), turns 75
1942	Alan Price, Rock musician (The Animals), turns 70
1946	Tim Curry, Actor, turns 66
1947	Mark “Flo” Volman, Singer (The Turtles, Flo and Eddie), turns 65
1952	Tony Plana, Actor (“Ugly Betty”), turns 60
1965	Suge Knight, Record company executive (Tha Row), turns 47
1978	James Franco, Actor (“Milk,” “Spider-Man”), turns 34
1979	Kate Hudson, Actress, turns 33
1981	Hayden Christensen, Actor, turns 31
1981	Catalina Sandino Moreno, Actress, turns 31
1981	Troy Polamalu, Football player, turns 31

72	Roger Sherman 4/19/1721 – 7/23/1793 American statesman and signer of the Declaration of Independence
84	Jose Echegaray y Eizaguirre 4/19/1832 – 9/4/1916 Spanish mathematician, statesman, and Nobel Prize-winning dramatist (1904)
86	Lucretia Garfield 4/19/1832 – 3/14/1918 American first lady (1881)
57	Ole Evinrude 4/19/1877 – 7/12/1934 Norwegian-American inventor
70	Richard von Mises 4/19/1883 – 7/14/1953 Austrian-born American mathematician and aerodynamicist
54	Eliot Ness 4/19/1903 – 5/16/1957 American crime fighter; headed the “Untouchables” in Chicago
85	Sir Thomas Hopkinson 4/19/1905 – 6/20/1990 English editor and pioneering photojournalist
87	Glenn T. Seaborg 4/19/1912 – 2/25/1999 American Nobel Prize-winning nuclear chemist (1951)
34	Jayne Mansfield 4/19/1933 – 6/29/1967 American motion picture actress