On This Day for October 19 - Surrender of Lord Cornwallis, Jonathan Swift is featured, and more

This message contains graphics. If you do not see the graphics, click here to view. October 19 FEATURED BIOGRAPHY Jonathan Swift READ MORE   FEATURED EVENT 1781 Surrender of Lord Cornwallis READ MORE   Advertisement Advertisement   MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY 2003: Pope John Paul II beatified Mother Teresa, who had won the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize for her charity work. [ Test your knowledge of saints.] 1987: The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted nearly 23 percent, the largest one-day percentage drop in the stock market's history. [Take our quiz about economic news.] 1914: During World War I, the First Battle of Ypres began in western Flanders; the Allies and Germans settled into the trench warfare that would characterize the remainder of the war on the Western Front. [Sort fact from fiction in our World War I quiz.] 1897: American industrialist George M. Pullman, inventor of the Pullman sleeping car used on railroads, died. [Take our quiz about American industry and innovation.] 1864: Confederate soldiers based in Canada crossed into St. Albans, Vermont, and robbed three banks in order to agitate the Union during the American Civil War. [ How much do you know about the American Civil War?] 1812: Napoleon began his disastrous retreat from Russia. [Take our quiz about Napoleon Bonaparte.] SEE ALL EVENTS ON THIS DAY ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY 1962 Evander Holyfield American boxer 1969 Trey Parker American screenwriter, actor, and producer 1945 John Lithgow American actor 1931 John le Carré British writer 1910 Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar American astronomer 1944 Peter Tosh Jamaican singer and songwriter SEE ALL BIOS ON THIS DAY   Advertisement   FOLLOW: To unsubscribe from Britannica e-mails, click here. Encyclopædia Britannica 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 Chicago, Illinois 60654 United States © 2020 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. Privacy Policy • Help