August 19 is:
National Soft-Serve Ice Cream Day
The Häagen-Dazs brand was established by two Americans – Reuben and Rose Mattus – and the name was made up to sound Danish and sophisticated. The Danish language does not actually use umlauts.
Aviation Day (Birthday of Orville Wright in 1871)
August 19, 43 BC: Augustus became Roman consul.
August 19, 14: Augustus died.
From Today in Science:
In 1839, Louis Daguerre announced the invention of the daguerreotype photographic process, the first process to allow an image to be chemically fixed as a permanent picture. On 7 Jan 1839 an announcement was made of the discovery, but details were not divulged until 19 Aug, when the process was announced publicly, and the French government having bought the rights to the process from him, freely gave them to the world. However, this process had also been patented in England and Wales on 14 Aug 1839, only five days previously.
From Today in Science:
Birthday of Charles E Hires (August 19, 1851). American manufacturer, the inventor of his brand of root beer, sold by the Hires Co., which then dominated the market. Root beer dates all the way back to colonial settlers. As a Philadelphia pharmacist, he sampled a herb tea while visiting New Jersey. Upon his return, he created a similar drink, “Hires’ Herb Tea,” with sassafras as the main flavoring ingredient. He sold the mixture at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in tiny packets that contained his mixture of various herbs, barks, and berries, for housewives to brew as “root beer.” In 1880, Hires introduced a “new and improved” liquid version which was more convenient. He began advertising in an 1884 issue of Harper’s Weekly. By 1892 almost 3 million bottles were sold each year.
From Today in Science:
In 1856, Gail Borden of Brooklyn, NY, was issued a U.S. patent for his process for condensed milk (No. 15,553). Condensed milk could be preserved for long periods of storage, and in this form milk became more readily available in large cities than had been possible before. His company’s advertising slogan “The milk from contented cows” was one of the great American advertising campaigns. The Borden company is today one of the largest dairy product concerns in the world. The familiar flat-topped cans of Borden’s condensed milk are still available, as are Borden’s ice cream, cheese and other products – all with the seal of approval by Borden’s famous mascot, Elsie, the cow.
From Today in Science:
Birthday of Orville Wright (August 19, 1871), American aviator and inventor who with his brother, Wilbur, invented the first powered airplane, Flyer, capable of sustained, controlled flight (17 Dec 1903). At Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville made the first ever manned powered flight, airborn for 12-sec. By 1905, they had improved the design, built and and made several long flights in Flyer III, which was the first fully practical airplane (1905), able to fly up to 38-min and travel 24 miles (39-km). Their Model A was produced in 1908, capable of flight for over two hours of flight. They sold considerable numbers, but European designers became strong competitors. After Wilbur died of typhoid in 1912, Orville sold his interest in the Wright Company in 1915.
American frontier murderer and outlaw, John Wesley Hardin, was shot from behind and killed by an off-duty policeman in a saloon in El Paso, Texas on August 19, 1895.
August 19, 1919: Afghanistan became independent.
Birthday of William J. Clinton (August 19, 1946), 42nd president of the United States.
Aug 19, 2010 – Operation Iraqi Freedom ended, with the last of the United States brigade combat teams crossing the border to Kuwait.