19 Jan 1915
- Two German Navy Zeppelins made the first airship attack on the United Kingdom.
19 Jan 1918
- The German battlecruiser Goeben and cruiser Breslau (both under the Turkish flag) and screened by four torpedo boats, under the command of Admiral von Rebeur Paschwitz sortied out of the Bosphorus (Istanbul Strait) into the Mediterranean Sea with the intent on bombarding the British naval base of Mudros bay on the island of Lemnos, Greece. Within half an hour of leaving the Dardanelles the Goeben struck a mine. The damage was not that serious but did force the accompanying torpedo boats to turn back.
19 Jan 1919
- In the German elections, Chancellor Ebert's Social Democrats won a large plurality with 38 percent of the total vote.
19 Jan 1920
- The United States Senate voted against joining the League of Nations.
19 Jan 1921
- USS Arizona arrived at Colón, Panama Canal Zone and entered the canal.
» In-depth article
19 Jan 1932
- Joseph Goebbels and Adolf Hitler travelled to Munich, Germany together; en route, Goebbels attempted to convince Adolf Hitler to run for the office of the President of Germany.
» In-depth article
19 Jan 1935
- The US Marine Corps' Fleet Marine Force units began their participation in the Fleet Landing Exercise No. 1 at Culebra, Puerto Rico under Brigadier General Charles H . Lyman and in the joint exercises with the Special Service and Training Squadrons of the US Fleet in the Caribbean area.
19 Jan 1938
- Nikolai Voznesensky became the Chairman of the State Planning Committee of the Soviet Union.
» In-depth article
19 Jan 1940
- German submarine U-9 torpedoed and sank Swedish merchant ship Patricia, which escaped U-9's first attack on two hours prior, in the North Sea at 0145 hours. 19 men were killed; 4 survivors were later picked up by Swedish merchant ship Frigg.
- German submarine U-55 sank Norwegian vessel Telnes off the Orkney Islands, Scotland; 18 lives were lost.
- British destroyer Grenville hit a naval mine and sank in the Thames Estuary at 1250 hours, killing 77. 108 survivors were rescued by two destroyers that braved the minefield.
- German submarine U-59 torpedoed and sank French steamer Quiberon off Great Yarmouth, England, United Kingdom at 2100 hours. All men aboard were killed.
- German submarine U-44 began tracking Greek steamer Ekatontarchos Dracoulis at 2200 hours in the Bay of Biscay. Around midnight, U-44 fired a torpedo at the Greek ship, but the torpedo detonated prematurely before reaching the target.
- British submarine Sunfish fired 4 torpedoes at German submarine U-14 off Helgoland, Germany; all torpedoes missed.
- Senator William Borah, leader of the isolationists in the United States, died suddenly of cerebral hemorrhage in Washington DC.
19 Jan 1941
- Mussolini visited Hitler at Berchtesgaden in Germany, accepting German assistance in North Africa, but not Albania. Hitler noted that he would launch an invasion of Greece if British troops there began to threaten the oil refineries at Ploiesti, Romania.
» In-depth article - British and Commonwealth troops attacked Italian Eritrea. 4th and 5th Indian Infantry Divisions captured the railway junction at Kassala, Sudan, on the border with Italian Eritrea. This allowed the column led by British General William Platt to march south.
» In-depth article - German Luftwaffe aircraft bombed RAF Feltwell in England, United Kingdom.
» In-depth article - Emperor Haile Selassie of Abyssinia crossed the border between Sudan and Italian Eritrea, traveling toward his home country behind advancing British and Commonwealth troops.
» In-depth article - British transport ships Clan Cumming, Clan MacDonald, and Empire Song departed Pireaus, Greece for Alexandria, Egypt at 0800 hours. At 1153 hours, 25 miles south of Pireaus, Italian submarine Neghelli attacked, damaging Clan Cumming with a torpedo. Escorting destroyer HMS Greyhound sank Neghelli with depth charges, killing the entire crew of 46. Escorting destroyer HMS Janus escorted Clan Cumming back to Pireaus while the rest of the convoy sailed on.
- German Luftwaffe Stuka dive bombers attacked Valletta Harbour, Malta for the fourth consecutive day in their attempt to finish off the damaged British carrier HMS Illustrious, which was only further damaged with near missed. Destroyers HMS Imperial and HMS Decoy were also damaged by the attack. One Stuka aircraft was shot down by a Fulmar aircraft, which was also shot down later in the battle.
» In-depth article
19 Jan 1942
- Japanese troops landed at Sandakan, British North Borneo unopposed at 0700 hours.
» In-depth article - Jaroslav Krejcí was named the prime minister of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.
- German submarine U-66 sank Canadian ship Lady Hawkins 150 miles off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, United States at 0743 hours; 251 were killed, 71 survived. On the same day, German submarine U-123 sank US ship City of Atlanta (43 were killed, 3 survived) and US ship Norvana in the same general area, killing 43 of 46 aboard; US tanker Malay was damaged in the same attack.
» In-depth article - US Secretary of War Henry Stimson formally asked Chiang to approve a US commander for Chinese troops fighting in Burma; Chiang agreed, albeit with ambiguous language.
» In-depth article - The headquarters of the Indian 45th Brigade in Malaya was destroyed by a Japanese air raid at 1000 hours, wounding General Duncan and killing all of his staff officers. Elsewhere in British Malaya, Australian 8th Division withdrew from Gemas to prevent being cut off by a Japanese flanking maneuver.
» In-depth article - Soviet 3rd and 4th Shock Armies advanced toward Toropets and Kholm, Russia.
» In-depth article - Japanese troops captured the airfield at Tavoy, Burma.
» In-depth article - The US 2nd Marine Brigade (detached from 2nd Marine division) with 8th Marines arrived in American Samoa.
- USS Astoria departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii.
» In-depth article - USS Pensacola arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii.
» In-depth article - Photos dated 19 Jan 1942
19 Jan 1943
- Japanese troops landed at Wewak, New Guinea.
» In-depth article - Parkash Singh of Indian 14th Division daringly rescued wounded comrades on the Mayu Peninsula in Burma. For his, and similar deeds on 6 Jan 1943, he was to be awarded the Victoria Cross medal.
- Filipp Golikov was promoted to the rank of colonel general.
» In-depth article - Tatsuta Maru departed Hong Kong at 1300 hours with 1,180 men aboard, including 663 Canadian prisoners of war from the Sham Sui Po PW Camp.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement - USS Ranger launched USAAF P-40 aircraft off Accra, Gold Coast to reinforce Allied forces fighting in North Africa.
» In-depth article - USS Gar ended her fifth war patrol.
» In-depth article - USS Pollack sank a Japanese cargo ship off Honshu, Japan with one of two torpedoes fired.
» In-depth article - Repair ship Akashi began repairing destroyer Arashi at Truk, Caroline Islands.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement - USS Grampus completed her fifth war patrol.
» In-depth article
19 Jan 1944
- The Irish government announced the arrest of two Irish traitors, parachuted in from German aircraft.
- German troops managed to avoid being encircled at Novgorod, Russia.
- The three-day ANZAC Conference began in Canberra, Australia.
» In-depth article - Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru departed Yokosuka, Japan for her 17th voyage with the Japanese Navy.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement - USS San Juan arrived off Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii and rejoined USS Saratoga's task group.
» In-depth article - Photos dated 19 Jan 1944
19 Jan 1945
- Red Army captured Kraków and Lódz, Poland and entered East Prussia from the south.
» In-depth article - Hitler ordered that any attacks or retreats by divisions or larger units must be approved by him beforehand.
» In-depth article - German V-2 rocket hit Town Quay, Barking, London, England, United Kingdom at 2300 hours.
- Richard Bienert was named the prime minister of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.
- Allied aircraft attacked Japanese positions at Monywa, Burma while the Indian 20th Division assaulted the port city on the Chindwin River. Meanwhile, Indian 4th Corps began its secret march southward for Meiktila, Burma.
» In-depth article - Photos dated 19 Jan 1945
19 Jan 1946
- General Douglas MacArthur established the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo, Japan to try Japanese war criminals.
» In-depth article
19 Jan 1977
- Iva Toguri D'Aquino was pardoned by Gerald Ford on Ford's final day in office as the US President.
» In-depth article
Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis
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