Following are some of the major events to have occurred on May 19:
1906 – The Simplon Tunnel opened, connecting Italy and Switzerland through the Alps.
1934 – Coup in Bulgaria.
1935 – T. E. Lawrence, known as Lawrence of Arabia, died after a motorcycle accident. He described his military exploits during World War One in the book “Seven Pillars of Wisdom”.
1994 – Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis died.
2001 – Arab foreign ministers, meeting in Egypt, recommended the suspension of political contacts with the Israeli government until it halted military assaults against the Palestinians.
2002 – John Gorton, former prime minister of Australia, died.
2003 – Indonesia’s military launched a big offensive on rebel bases in Aceh after peace talks failed the day before.
2004 – The world’s first embryonic stem cell bank opened in Britain.
2007 – Romanian referendum rejects attempt by parliament to impeach reformist President Traian Basescu.
2015 – Pipeline rupture spills some 21,000 gallons of oil along California coastline.
2016 – Egypt Air flight 804 en route from Paris to Cairo crashes in Mediterranean Sea.
