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Born on This Day

Bruce Willis

1955 -

Actor best known for playing wisecracking action heroes in movies like "Pulp Fiction" and the "Die Hard" series.

Glenn Close

1947 -

Award-winning actress in memorable films like "The Big Chill," "Fatal Attraction" and "Dangerous Liaisons."

Wyatt Earp

1848 - 1929

American West lawman who led the 1881 gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona.

Bruce WillisGetty Images

Glenn CloseFilmMagic

Wyatt EarpGetty Images

1983

MAR19

First Lady Nancy Reagan appears as herself in the hit sitcom “Diff’rent Strokes” to talk to classroom kids about drugs. This episode precedes the kickoff of Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign by more than three years.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on March 19th

Battle of Bentonville begins in North Carolina

On March 19, 1865, at the Battle of Bentonville, North Carolina, Confederate General Joseph Johnston makes a desperate attempt to stop Union General William T. Sherman’s drive through the Carolinas in the Civil War’s last days; however, Johnston’s motley force cannot stop the advance of Sherman’s mighty army. Following his famous March to the Sea […]

First U.S. air combat mission begins

Eight Curtiss “Jenny” planes of the First Aero Squadron take off from Columbus, New Mexico, in the first combat air mission in U.S. history. The First Aero Squadron, organized in 1914 after the outbreak of World War I, was on a support mission for the 7,000 U.S. troops who invaded Mexico to capture Mexican revolutionary […]

Nevada legalizes gambling

In an attempt to lift the state out of the hard times of the Great Depression, the Nevada state legislature votes to legalize gambling. Located in the Great Basin desert, few settlers chose to live in Nevada after the United States acquired the territory at the end of the Mexican War in 1848. In 1859, […]

Harlem riot of 1935

A riot breaks out in Harlem when local residents suspect that a Black boy has been beaten, and possibly killed, by a white business owner. Although the rumors turn out to be false, the riot highlights the struggles of Harlem’s historically Black community against discrimination during the Great Depression. On March 19, 1935, Lino Rivera, […]

East Germany approves new constitution

In a precursor to the establishment of a separate, Soviet-dominated East Germany, the People’s Council of the Soviet Zone of Occupation approves a new constitution. This action, together with the U.S. policy of pursuing an independent pathway in regards to West Germany, contributed to the permanent division of Germany. The postwar status of Germany had […]

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First Academy Awards telecast on NBC

On March 19, 1953, for the first time, audiences are able to sit in their living rooms and watch as the movie world’s most prestigious honors, the Academy Awards, are given out at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, California. Organized in May 1927, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was envisioned as […]

Elvis Presley puts a down payment on Graceland

With a $1,000 cash deposit against a sale price of $102,500, Elvis Presley agrees to purchase the home called Graceland on March 19, 1957. In the spring of 1957, Elvis Presley was completing his second Hollywood movie, Loving You, and his first movie soundtrack album. He had two studio albums and 48 singles already under […]

Texas Western defeats Kentucky in barrier-breaking NCAA final

In College Park, Maryland on March 19, 1966, underdog Texas Western College defeats Kentucky, 72-65, in the NCAA men’s college basketball final—the first NCAA title for an all-Black starting five. “I wasn’t out to be a pioneer when we played Kentucky,” Texas Western coach Don Haskins told the Los Angeles Times years later. “I was simply playing the […]

National emergency declared in Cambodia

The National Assembly grants “full power” to Premier Lon Nol, declares a state of emergency, and suspends four articles of the constitution, permitting arbitrary arrest and banning public assembly. Lon Nol and First Deputy Premier Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak had conducted a bloodless coup against Prince Norodom Sihanouk the day before and proclaimed the establishment […]

Bodies found in Yosemite serial killer case

On March 19, 1999, law enforcement officials discover the charred bodies of forty-two-year-old Carol Sund and sixteen-year-old Silvina Pelosso in the trunk of their burned-out rental car, a day after the vehicle was located in a remote area several hours from Yosemite National Park. Cary Stayner, a handyman at the lodge where the women were […]

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