To renew a subscription please login first

July 19

Published in On this Day listing

1920 Nineteen were killed and over 50 wounded in four days of continuous sectarian violence in Derry.
1997 The IRA announced a restoration of its cease-fire, with a complete cessation of military operations.
1916 The Battle of Fromelles, in which a British and Australian offensive was crushed by the Germans. Over 2,000 Australians were killed or injured, making it the worst day in that country’s military history.
1974 The Llyn Peninsula earthquake, near Caernarvon in Wales, with a magnitude of 5.4, rocked Ireland’s eastern seaboard. It was the strongest earthquake ever recorded in Ireland.
1984 Shop workers in Dunnes Stores, Henry Street, Dublin, refused to handle the sale of South African produce following directions from their trade Union, IDATU. The strike lasted until April 1987, when the Irish government banned the import of South African goods.

On this Day

1920 Recruitment began, mainly from among demobilised British Army officers, into a new force—the ‘Auxiliary Division’—to augment the RIC.
1939 Michael Longley, poet, notable for ‘Gorse Fires’ (1991), ‘The Weather in Japan’ (2000) and ‘The Stairwell’ (2014), born in Belfast of English parents.
2004 Bob Tisdall (96), Olympic gold medal-winner in the 400m hurdles (Los Angeles, 1932) in a world record time of 51.7 seconds—which was not recognised under the rules at the time because he had hit a hurdle—died.
1866 The SS Great Eastern completed the laying of a transatlantic telegraph cable between Valentia Island, Co. Kerry, and Heart’s Content, Newfoundland.