Sunday · September 27, 2026
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On this day › August 19

What happened on August 19 in American history

August 19 is the 231st day of the year (the 232nd in leap years). Patriot Compass has published 7 stories from August 19 spanning 1782 to 2004. Among them: in 1782, Boone's militia rides into ambush at Blue Licks; 77 Kentuckians dead; and in 1812, Constitution shatters Guerriere off Nova Scotia; Dacres strikes his colors.

1782Member story · 1776 Club

Boone's militia rides into ambush at Blue Licks; 77 Kentuckians dead

Hugh McGary spurs across the ford shouting for cowards to stay behind; five minutes of gunfire ended the argument.
1812

Constitution shatters Guerriere off Nova Scotia; Dacres strikes his colors

A cannonball bounces off her hull and a sailor gives the ship a nickname that outlasts the war.
1848

The Herald tells New York: there is gold in California

Seven months after Marshall's discovery, the East Coast finally reads the story that soon emptied its farms and offices.
1953

Tehran mobs and army units seize the capital; Mosaddegh is under arrest by nightfall

A forged royal decree and CIA cash turned the streets against the prime minister who nationalized Iran's oil.
1960Member story · 1776 Club

Moscow court gives U-2 pilot Powers ten years; three in prison, the rest in a labor camp

The CIA pilot who survived a missile strike over Sverdlovsk now faces a Soviet sentence instead.
1964Member story · 1776 Club

A Delta rocket lofts Syncom 3 toward a fixed point over the Pacific

Parked near the International Date Line, it carries a new wideband channel built for television.
2004Member story · 1776 Club

Google goes public; shares price at $85 in an auction Wall Street didn't design

Nasdaq lists the search company under GOOGL as the sale raises $1.67 billion.