Holidays Calendar for October 19, 2026
Islanders of Niue don't have many public holidays during the year. One of the few public holidays is Constitution Day, that is celebrated on October 19.
National Heroes' Day is observed in Jamaica on the third Monday in October. This day commemorates all national heroes and key figures from the history of Jamaica.
Maurice Bishop Day is a public holiday in Grenada celebrated annually on October 19. It was created to honor the second prime minister of Grenada who was executed in 1983 along with several members of his cabinet.
Heroes and Forefathers Day is a public holiday in the British Virgin Islands, celebrated annually on the third Monday of October. It was established in 2021 to replace Saint Ursula’s Day.
Sukkot is a seven-day Jewish holiday. Its celebration starts on the 15th day of Tishrei. Along with Pesach and Shavuot, it belongs to Shalosh Regalim (the Three Pilgrimage Festivals), on which the Israelites were required to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Temple.
Gin and tonic is one of the most famous cocktails in the world, so it is not surprising that there is an entire holiday dedicated to it. International Gin and Tonic Day is celebrated annually on October 19.
World Pediatric Bone and Joint Day, sometimes shortened to World PB&J Day, is observed annually on October 19. It was created to raise awareness about musculoskeletal disorders in children and their effects on children’s health and development.
Moldovan lawyers celebrate their professional holiday on October 19. On Lawyers’ Day, all Moldovan judges, advocates, prosecutors, notaries, counsels, legal executives, law professors, and other legal professionals receive congratulations from their colleagues, friends and family.
Rescuer Day is one of the official professional holidays celebrated in Kazakhstan. It is observed annually on October 19 to commemorate the establishment of the State Committee for Emergency Situations of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Thai Technology Day is celebrated in Thailand on October 19 every year. It was established in 2000 to commemorate the day when King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) conducted a demonstration of an artificial rainmaking technology.
Peruvian-African Friendship Day is annually organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru in cooperation with the embassies of African countries on October 19. Celebration of this day enhances the cultural, economic and political relations between Peru and African countries.
Oxfordshire Day is an annual holiday celebrating the historic English county of Oxfordshire. It is observed on October 19 to promote the history and culture of Oxfordshire, coinciding with the feast day of Saint Frideswide, the patron saint of the University of Oxford and the city of Oxford.
The All-Ukrainian Day of Human Responsibility is celebrated annually on October 19. The Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) officially established it in 2021 to commemorate the birth anniversary of Bohdan Hawrylyshyn.
National Day of Remembrance for Steadfast Clergy (Narodowy Dzień Pamięci Duchownych Niezłomnych), also translated as National Day of Remembrance for the Unbroken Clergy, is observed in Poland on October 19. It was established as a tribute to Polish priests who defended their faith and fought against injustice.
October 19 is National Seafood Bisque Day. Bisque is a smooth and creamy soup of French origin typically made with seafood, namely crustaceans (crab, lobster, crayfish, or shrimp).
National Psoriatic Arthritis Day, also known as National Psoriatic Arthritis Awareness Day and National PsA Day, is observed in Canada on October 19 every year. It was launched to raise awareness of a long-term inflammatory arthritis that affects up to 30% of people with psoriasis.
This Day in History
- 2023 Died: Atsushi Sakurai, Japanese musician and singer-songwriter best known as the vocalist of the rock band Buck-Tick, which pioneered the visual kei music scene and movement.
- 2014 Died: Stephen Paulus, American composer, author of famous operas and choral music. He is best known for the opera The Postman Always Rings Twice.
- 2007 An explosion occurred in the Glorietta 2 section of the Glorietta shopping complex at Ayala Center in Makati, Metropolitan Manila, Philippines, killing 11 people.
- 2005 The first trial of Saddam Hussein began before the Iraqi Special Tribunal. The trials lasted until November 5, 2006, when Hussein was sentenced to death by hanging for crimes against humanity.
- 2003 Died: Alija Izetbegović, Bosnian politician, Islamic philosopher and author, who was the first president of the Presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- 2003 Died: Margaret Murie, American naturalist, writer, adventurer, and conservationist, known as the "Grandmother of the Conservation Movement". She was 101 years old.
- 2001 Indonesian fishing boat SIEV X, carrying over 400 asylum seekers to Christmas Island, sank in international waters during a storm. Only 45 passengers were rescued.
- 1987 Stock markets around the world crashed when the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 22.6% (508 points). This event is known as Black Monday (or Black Tuesday in some parts of the world due to time zone differences).
- 1986 Died: Samora Machel, Mozambican commander and politician, the 1st President of Mozambique. He led his country from 1975 until his death in an aircraft crash.
- 1982 Born: Gillian Jacobs, American actress. She is best known for her roles as Britta Perry in Community, Mickey Dobbs in Love, and Mary Jayne Gold in Transatlantic.
- 1982 Born: Rebecca Ferguson, Swedish actress. He is known for her roles in the Mission: Impossible franchise, The Greatest Showman, Doctor Sleep, The Girl on the Train, Dune, and other films.
- 1966 Born: Jon Favreau, American actor and filmmaker. Among other things, he is known for his involvement with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (portraying Happy Hogan and directing Iron Man and Iron Man 2).
- 1962 Born: Evander Holyfield, American boxer, former Undisputed World Champion in both the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions. He retired in 2014.
- 1960 The United States government imposed a near-total trade embargo against Cuba, with exception for food and medicine.
- 1956 The Soviet Union and Japan signed a Joint Declaration that officially ended the state of war between the two countries that had existed since August 1945.
- 1952 Born: Verónica Castro, Mexican actress, singer, producer, former model and television host. She is best known for her roles in the telenovelas Rosa salvaje and Los ricos también lloran.
- 1950 The People's Republic of China joined the coalition of North Korea and the Soviet Union in Korean War, sending thousands of troops across the Yalu River to fight against United Nations forces.
- 1943 Researchers at Rutgers University isolated streptomycin, the first antibiotic remedy for tuberculosis.
- 1940 Born: Michael Gambon, Irish-English actor. Over his six-decade-long career, he received three Olivier Awards and four BAFTA TV Awards, and was knighted for services to drama.
- 1937 Died: Ernest Rutherford, New Zealand physicist and chemist, often referred to as the father of nuclear physics. In 1908 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
- 1936 Died: Lu Xun, Chinese writer, literary critic, lecturer, and state servant. Writing in vernacular and Literary Chinese, he was a leading figure of modern Chinese literature.
- 1922 Born: Jack Anderson, American newspaper columnist considered one of the founders of modern investigative journalism. He won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting.
- 1916 Born: Jean Dausset, French immunologist. In 1980 he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery and characterization of the genes making the major histocompatibility complex.
- 1910 Born: Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Indian-American theoretical physicist who made significant contributions to the scientific knowledge about the structure of stars, stellar evolution and black holes.
- 1908 Born: Geirr Tveitt, Norwegian composer and pianist. His best known works include the ballet Baldur's Dreams and the opera Dragaredokko.
- 1899 Born: Miguel Ángel Asturias, Guatemalan poet-diplomat, novelist, playwright and journalist. Winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1967, his work helped bring attention to the importance of indigenous cultures.
- 1882 Born: Umberto Boccioni, Italian painter and sculptor, one of principal figures of the Futurism movement in Italy. His life was short, but his works influenced artists long after his death.
- 1862 Born: Auguste Lumière, French engineer, industrialist, biologist, and illusionist. Together with his brother Louis he filmed the first true motion picture, La Sortie de l'Usine Lumière à Lyon.
- 1851 Born: Empress Myeongseong, also known as Queen Min, the official wife of Gojong, the 26th king of Joseon and the first emperor of the Korean Empire.
- 1805 Austrian General Mack surrendered his army to the Grande Armée of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Ulm during the War of the Third Coalition.
- 1745 Died: Jonathan Swift, Anglo-Irish satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer, poet, and Anglican cleric. His best-known work is the satirical book Gulliver's Travels.
- 1723 Died: Godfrey Kneller, German-born British painter. The leading portraitist in England during the late Stuart and early Georgian eras, he served as court painter to successive English and British monarchs.
- 1682 Died: Thomas Browne, English polymath and author of varied works which reveal his wide learning in diverse fields including science and medicine, religion and the esoteric.
- 1469 Ferdinand II of Aragon married Isabella I of Castile. This marriage paved the way to the unification of Aragon and Castile into a single country, Spain.
- 1216 Died: John, King of England, also known as John Lackland. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Empire.