Today in History, October 19th
On October 19, 1781, Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, effectively ending the fighting of the American Revolution.
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October 19 is best known as the day in 1781 when Lord Cornwallis surrendered his British army at Yorktown, Virginia, effectively ending the fighting of the American Revolution. The date also brought the Black Monday stock crash of 1987 and the release of the Guildford Four in 1989.
The big story: Cornwallis Surrenders at Yorktown (1781)
Lord Cornwallis was one of Britain’s best generals, which made his position in fall 1781 all the more awkward. He had dug in at Yorktown, on the Virginia coast, expecting the Royal Navy to supply or rescue him. Instead a French fleet under the Comte de Grasse took control of the Chesapeake and beat back a British fleet in early September. Meanwhile George Washington and the French general Rochambeau marched about 200 miles south from New York in 15 days. By September 28 Yorktown was encircled, and through early October some 14,000 American and French troops chipped away at the British defenses. On October 19 Cornwallis gave up roughly 8,000 soldiers and sailors. He skipped the ceremony, claiming illness, and sent his deputy, General Charles O’Hara, to hand over his sword. A British relief fleet showed up too late. Fighting at sea and elsewhere went on, but in the colonies the war was effectively over. The Treaty of Paris made it official on September 3, 1783.
More events on October 19
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1789 | John Jay was sworn in as the first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. |
| 1812 | Napoleon’s starving army began its retreat from Moscow, a month after occupying the burned-out city. |
| 1864 | Confederate soldiers based in Canada raided St. Albans, Vermont, and robbed three banks. |
| 1864 | Union General Philip Sheridan rallied his troops after a surprise attack and won the Battle of Cedar Creek in Virginia. |
| 1914 | The First Battle of Ypres began in Belgium, the first of three battles for the city and the start of trench warfare on the Western Front. |
| 1982 | Carmaker John Z. DeLorean was arrested and charged in a cocaine-trafficking scheme. |
| 1985 | The first Blockbuster video-rental store opened in Dallas, Texas. |
| 1987 | On “Black Monday,” the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.6 percent, its largest one-day percentage drop on record. |
| 1989 | The Guildford Four, convicted over 1975 pub bombings in England, were cleared and freed after nearly 15 years in prison. |
| 1991 | A small fire broke out in the Oakland hills in California. Crews thought it was under control, but it flared up the next day into a firestorm that destroyed about 3,000 homes and killed 25 people. |
| 2003 | Pope John Paul II beatified Mother Teresa, the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize winner. |
Born on October 19
- 1931: John le Carré (David Cornwell), British author of Cold War spy novels.
- 1944: Peter Tosh, Jamaican reggae singer and songwriter.
- 1945: John Lithgow, stage, film and TV actor.
- 1962: Evander Holyfield, heavyweight boxing champion.
Sources
- Victory at Yorktown, History.com
- What Happened on October 19, History.com
- Fire sweeps through Oakland hills, History.com
- On This Day: October 19, Britannica
- John le Carré, Britannica
- Peter Tosh, Britannica
- John Lithgow, Britannica
- Evander Holyfield, Britannica
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