THURSDAY, March 19, 2026

1279-Mongolian victory at the naval Battle of Yamen ends the Song Dynasty in China

1644-Two hundred members of the Peking imperial family and court commit suicide out of loyalty to the last Ming Emperor, Chongzhen

1863-Confederate cruiser SS Georgiana is destroyed on her maiden voyage with a cargo of munitions and medicines valued at over $1,000,000. The wreck is discovered exactly 102 years later by teenage diver and pioneer underwater archaeologist E. Lee Spence.

1920-U.S. Senate rejects the Treaty of Versailles for the second time, refusing to ratify the League of Nations' covenant and maintaining a policy of isolation

1932-Sydney Harbour Bridge opens in Sydney, Australia

2003-Airstrikes by an American and British-led coalition signal the beginning of the invasion of Iraq without United Nations support and in defiance of world opinion