August 19 in Pop Culture History
295 BC – The first temple to Venus, the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility, was dedicated by Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges
1612 – The “Samlesbury witches”, three women from the Lancashire village of Samlesbury, England, were put on trial, accused of practicing witchcraft, with all three of the Samlesbury women acquitted.
1692 – In Salem, Province of Massachusetts Bay, five people, one woman and four men, including a clergyman, are executed after being convicted of witchcraft at the Salem Witch Trials.
1812 – American frigate USS Constitution defeated the British frigate HMS Guerriere off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, earning the nickname “Old Ironsides”.
1848 – The New York Herald published the news to the East Coast of the US about the Gold Rush in California .
1909 – The first automobile race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
1934 – The first All-American Soap Box Derby was held in Dayton, Ohio.
1950 – #1 Hit August 19, 1950 – November 17, 1950: Gordon Jenkins and The Weavers – Goodnight Irene
1960 – With Korabl-Sputnik 2, the Soviet Union launched the satellite with the dogs Belka and Strelka, 40 mice, two rats and a variety of plants. All of the creatures survived
1964 – Syncom 3, the first geostationary communication satellite, was launched.
1967 – #1 Hit August 19, 1967 – August 25, 1967: The Beatles – All You Need Is Love
1973 – The (real) Texas Chain Saw Massacre occured
1991 – Black groups targeted Hasidic Jews on the streets of Crown Heights in New York, New York for three days, after two black children were hit by a car driven by a Hasidic man.
2006 – #1 Hit August 19, 2006 – September 8, 2006: Fergie – London Bridge
