Today in History, November 19th
On November 19, 1863, Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address. Plus Apollo 12's Moon landing, Pelé's 1,000th goal, and more.
Published · Last updated
November 19 is best known as the day Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address in 1863. It is also the day Apollo 12 touched down on the Moon in 1969, and the day Pelé scored his 1,000th goal that same year.
The big story: Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address (1863)
About four months after the Battle of Gettysburg, a crowd gathered in Pennsylvania to dedicate a cemetery for the Union dead. Local attorney David Wills had arranged the land and asked the president for a few remarks to consecrate it. Lincoln was not the main act. Edward Everett, the most celebrated orator of the day, spoke first, for roughly two hours. Lincoln followed with a speech of fewer than 275 words that took two or three minutes. In that short span, he recast the war as a test of whether a nation built on liberty and equality could survive, not simply a fight to hold the Union together. Reaction at the time split along party lines, and some newspapers were unimpressed. The verdict of history went the other way. The address became one of the best-known statements of democratic ideals in the English language, and it remains a fixture of American classrooms. Everett’s speech, by contrast, is mostly remembered for being long.
More events on November 19
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1703 | The mysterious prisoner known as the Man in the Iron Mask died in the Bastille in Paris. His identity has fueled legends and novels ever since. |
| 1794 | Chief Justice John Jay concluded the Jay Treaty with Great Britain, easing tensions between the young United States and its former ruler. |
| 1942 | Soviet forces launched a massive counterattack at Stalingrad, which would soon encircle the German Sixth Army. |
| 1969 | Apollo 12 astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean landed in the Ocean of Storms, close enough to walk to the robotic Surveyor 3 lander. |
| 1969 | Brazilian soccer star Pelé scored the 1,000th goal of his career. |
| 1975 | One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest opened in U.S. theaters. It went on to sweep the five top Academy Awards. |
| 1985 | Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev began their first summit meeting, a step toward thawing Cold War relations. |
| 1990 | Milli Vanilli became the first act stripped of a Grammy, after it came out that the duo had not sung on their album. |
| 2002 | The U.S. Senate approved creating the Department of Homeland Security, one of the largest federal reorganizations in decades. |
| 2004 | A brawl between NBA players and fans broke out at a Pacers–Pistons game, an incident remembered as the “Malice at the Palace.” |
| 2007 | Amazon began selling the Kindle, the wireless e-reader that helped make e-books mainstream. |
Born on November 19
- 1711: Mikhail Lomonosov, Russian scientist and writer.
- 1831: James A. Garfield, 20th president of the United States, born near Orange, Ohio.
- 1888: José Raúl Capablanca, Cuban chess world champion.
- 1917: Indira Gandhi, India’s first female prime minister.
- 1962: Jodie Foster, Academy Award-winning American actress and director.
Keep reading
Sources
- President Lincoln delivers Gettysburg Address, History.com
- On This Day: November 19, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- This Day in History: November 19, History.com
- Nov. 19, 1969: Apollo 12 lands on the Moon, Astronomy
- Apollo 12 Makes a Pinpoint Landing on the Moon, NASA
- James A. Garfield, Encyclopaedia Britannica
Thank you for those bits of educaton today .. Wow 6 years already since i was standing in line for the wii… And got my kindle
Ha ha, ya…it doesn’t seem that long ago. Thanks for stopping by!