This Day in History

On May 19, 1943, in his second wartime address to the U.S. Congress, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill pledged his country’s full support in the fight against Japan; that evening, Churchill met with President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House, where the two leaders agreed on May 1, 1944, as the date for the D-Day invasion of France (the operation ended up being launched more than a month later).

On this date:

In 1536, Anne Boleyn, the second wife of England’s King Henry VIII, was beheaded after being convicted of adultery.

In 1649, England was declared a republic by Parliament following the execution of King Charles I. (The monarchy was restored in 1660.)

In 1780, a mysterious darkness enveloped much of New England and part of Canada in the early afternoon.

In 1913, California Gov. Hiram Johnson signed the Webb-Hartley Law prohibiting “aliens ineligible to citizenship” from owning farm land, a measure targeting Asian immigrants, particularly Japanese.

In 1927, the silent movie “Wings,” a World War I drama starring Clara Bow, Charles “Buddy” Rogers and Richard Arlen, had its world premiere in San Antonio, Texas, where it was filmed. (“Wings” went on to win the first Academy Award for best picture.)

In 1935, T.E. Lawrence, also known as “Lawrence of Arabia,” died in Dorset, England, six days after being injured in a motorcycle crash.

In 1958, British actor Ronald Colman died in Santa Barbara, California, at age 67.

In 1962, actress Marilyn Monroe sang “Happy Birthday to You” to President John F. Kennedy during a Democratic fundraiser at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

In 1973, Secretariat won the Preakness Stakes, the second of his Triple Crown victories.

In 1981, five British soldiers were killed by an Irish Republican Army landmine in County Armagh, Northern Ireland.

In 1993, the Clinton White House set off a political storm by abruptly firing the entire staff of its travel office; five of the seven staffers were later reinstated and assigned to other duties.