19 Nov 1899
19 Nov 1917
  • The destroyer USS Chauncey was lost after a collision with USS Caya in the Straits of Gibraltar.
19 Nov 1931
  • Chinese General Ma Zhanshan evacuated to Hailun, Heilongjiang Province, China, establishing new defensive positions at Hailun and Baiquan.
    » In-depth article
19 Nov 1932
  • German President Paul von Hindenburg met with Adolf Hitler during which Hitler demanded Chancellorship. Hindenburg offered Hitler Chancellorship which had no power to dissolve the Reichstag (thus forcing the Nazi Party to work with rival parties), or the Vice Chancellor position under Franz von Papen.
    » In-depth article
19 Nov 1936
  • Perch (Porpoise-class) was commissioned into service.
    » In-depth article
  • Photos dated 19 Nov 1936
    Indianapolis
19 Nov 1937
  • The Wufu defensive line between Shanghai and Nanjing in China was overrun by Japanese troops. to the rear, Lieutenant General Shun Tada ordered Lieutenant General Heisuke Yanagawa to stop the Japanese 10th Army's advance toward Nanjing, but Yanagawa did not comply with the order.
    » In-depth article
  • Lord Halifax met Adolf Hitler at Berchtesgaden in southern Germany; he failed to achieve any official agreements with the German leader, and gave Hitler the confidence that the current British government would be likely to concede to future German demands. Upon his return, Halifax reported that Hitler did not appear to be pursuing war.
    » In-depth article
19 Nov 1939
  • The Heinkel He 177, the German Luftwaffe's only real heavy bomber of the war, took its first flight.
    » In-depth article
19 Nov 1940
  • 357 German aircraft bombed Birmingham, England, United Kingdom overnight, dropping 403 tons of high explosive bombs and 810 incendiary bombs. About 900 were killed and 2,000 injured.
    » In-depth article
  • German bombers attacked an Allied convoy in the North Sea 12 miles off the coast of East Anglia, England, United Kingdom, sinking minesweeping trawler HMT Fontenoy and damaging 3 freighters. Sloop HMS Lowestoft shot down one German bomber.
  • Italian troops were driven across the Kalamas River in northwestern Greece by Greek troops. To the south, British cruiser HMS York arrived at Suda Bay, Crete, Greece and disembarked a battalion of troops.
    » In-depth article
  • RAF bombers attacked the Skoda armament plant at Pilsen, Czechoslovakia with little effect.
19 Nov 1941
  • During this month, the excavated fossils of the Peking Man were packed up at the Cenozoic Research Laboratory of the Beiping Union Medical College, and the US Marines stationed in China, who already received orders to be withdrawn, were supposed to bring the bones back to the United States for safekeeping. During the hurried transit between Beiping and the port of Qinghuangdao, the boxes vanished, and had not been found to this day.
  • British newspaper The Times estimated that 82,000 Polish people had been killed since Poland became occupied.
  • Italian Ariete Division halted the advance of British 22nd Armoured Brigade at Bir el Gubi, Libya; 40 British Crusader tanks were destroyed or disabled. Elsewhere, British 7th Armoured Brigade continued its advance toward Tobruk, capturing Sidi Rezegh airfield in the process. To the north, tanks of the British 4th Armoured Brigade engaged German tanks of the 21st Panzer Division.
    » In-depth article
  • A ground echelon from US Marine Aircraft Group 21 was dispatched to Midway Island to prepare the island to receive aircraft.
  • Franz Halder noted in his diary that, in a meeting Adolf Hitler held with his top military leaders on this date, Hitler no longer talked about ending the war in 1941; instead, plans for Soviet targets east of Moscow, Russia were made for spring and summer of 1942. Meanwhile, 70 miles west of Moscow, German 4th Panzer Army attempted to penetrate the gap between the Soviet 30th and 16th Armies which were pushed back on the previous day, but stubborn Soviet resistance slowed the German advance in the area of Istra.
    » In-depth article
  • The Japanese embassy in Washington DC, United States was instructed that, should war be decided with the United States, Japanese public radio broadcast would include the code phrase "higashi no kaze ame" (“east wind rain”), with the Soviet Union "ita no kaze kumori" ("north wind cloudy"), and with the United Kingdom "nishi no kaze hare" ("west wind clear"). This clear preparation for a likely war was intercepted by the Americans.
  • In northern Russia, Soviet 4th and 52nd Armies continued to attack Tikhvin, held by the Germans, 120 kilometers east of Leningrad. Meanwhile, near Leningrad, General Feofan Nikolaevich Lagunov drove an American-built M1 Scout Car across the frozen Lake Ladoga and declared it safe to use as a truck route.
    » In-depth article
  • German 2nd Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla attacked Allied convoy FS.650 10 miles east of Lowestoft, England, United Kingdom, sinking tanker War Mehtar and transports Aruba and Waldinge. German torpedo boat S.41 collided with a convoy escort and sank. British destroyer HMS Garth was damaged by friendly fire during the engagement.
  • The Jager Report (issued on 1 Dec 1941) noted that 6 prisoners of war and 8 Polish Jews were killed in Vilnius, Lithuania.
    » In-depth article
  • Shokaku departed the Inland Sea with Zuikaku for Hittokappu Bay in the Kurile Islands to join the ships massing for the Hawaii Operation.
    » In-depth article
    » Tabular Record of Movement
  • HMAS Sydney was intercepted by German raider Kormoran 140 miles west of Shark Bay, Australia, with Kormoran firing the first shot at 1730 hours. Both ships were heavily damaged after the 20-minute battle.
    » In-depth article
  • Photos dated 19 Nov 1941
    An Italian soldier surrendering to an Indian soldier in North Africa at the onset of Operation Crusader, Nov 1941Alfred Rosenberg speaking at a press conference regarding his appointment to the eastern territories, 19 Nov 1941; also present were Gauleiter Alfred Meyer and state press chief Wilhelm Weiss
19 Nov 1942
  • Having fought the Germans to a standstill, the Soviets launched a surprise counter-attack north ans south of Stalingrad, Russia designed to encircle Paulus's German 6th Army bogged down in the city.
    » In-depth article
  • A raid on the German heavy water plant at Telemark, Norway, came to grief when the gliders carrying 34 commandos crashed. After torturous interrogations, all survivors were shot by the Germans.
  • Axis forces under General Walter Nehring attacked and penetrated the Vichy-French defense line at Majaz al Bab, Tunisia.
    » In-depth article
  • Adolf Galland was promoted to the rank of Generalmajor.
    » In-depth article
  • Archibald Wavell announced that British involvement in the planned upcoming offensive into Burma would be scaled back to a ground invasion of Akyab island only.
    » In-depth article
19 Nov 1943
  • En route to a gas chamber at Auschwitz II in Poland, Bina Braun and Rosa Theberger attempted to escape but was caught and shot, and the rest were gassed. The list of 394 prisoners killed on this day was stolen and smuggled to the resistance leader in Auschwitz I camp, who sent the list on to Krakow, Poland on 21 Nov and then to London, England, United Kingdom.
  • At 2159 hours near Tarawa, submarine USS Nautilus was mistaken for Japanese ship and was fired upon by destroyer USS Ringgold, blasting a hole in the conning tower.
    » In-depth article
  • The US submarine Sculpin was scuttled by her crew after being severely damaged by Japanese destroyers off Truk, Caroline Islands.
    » In-depth article
  • Photos dated 19 Nov 1943
    Battleship Colorado firing her after 16-in guns at Japanese positions at Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands, late Nov 1943; note crewmen were not in battle dress, so photo might be taken during practice
19 Nov 1944
  • Evacuating Germans faced an 85-mile traffic jam after the RAF destroyed the Drina bridge near Visegrad, Yugoslavia.
  • US 95th Division fought its way into Metz, France.
  • French 1st Armored Division reached the Rhine River near Strasbourg, France.
  • German V-2 rocket hit a car park at Southborough Lane, Bromley in southeast London, England, United Kingdom, across from a crowded pub, at 2115 hours. 23 were killed and 63 were injured.
  • Czechoslovakian communists issued a resolution from the city of Mukachevo, Slovak Republic requesting the separation of Subcarpathian Ruthenia from Czechoslovakia so that it could join Ukraine. The resolution was backed by the Soviet Union, but the Soviet Union agreed to put off negotiations for such a border change until the end of the war.
  • The first successful test of a rocket-powered Ohka aircraft was conducted, leading to the formal authorization of production.
    » In-depth article
  • USS Kete departed East China Sea due to heavy weather and malfunctioning bow planes.
    » In-depth article
  • Japanese submarine I-37 was sunk by American ships off Ulithi, Caroline Islands; the four Kaiten submarines aboard that she was supposed to deliver for Operation Gen were also lost.
    » In-depth article
  • USS Pintado arrived at Tanapag Harbor, Saipan, Mariana Islands.
    » In-depth article
  • USS Baya departed Fremantle, Australia for her second war patrol in the South China Sea.
    » In-depth article
19 Nov 1945
  • The US Congress voiced its opinion to withdraw US Marines from China.
  • Commander Keiji Koeu was relieved as the commanding officer of destroyer Yukikaze.
    » In-depth article
19 Nov 1948
  • USS Blackfin was decommissioned from service at Mare Island Navy Yard in California, United States.
    » In-depth article
  • Photos dated 19 Nov 1948
    Decommissioning of USS Blackfin, Mare Island Navy Yard, California, United States, 19 Nov 1948
19 Nov 1951
  • USS Charr completed her conversion at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California, United States.
    » In-depth article
19 Nov 1990

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis

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Japanese-Americans being relocated resting outside the broken-down bus that had been transporting them, near Poston, Arizona, United States, 1942
Japanese-Americans being relocated resting outside the broken-down bus that had been transporting them, near Poston, Arizona, United States, 1942



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