Unix Timestamp: 1155945600
Saturday, August 19. 2006, 12:00:00 AM UTC

French forces engage in heavy fighting with Taliban insurgents 50 kilometres east of Kabul, Afghanistan with 10 French soldiers dead. //afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g_h4Wj1hGIFHdZnvHx5hh7J_mjaw (AFP via Google News) //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7569942.stm (BBC News)

Voters in Thailand go to the polls for a referendum to decide whether to accept or reject a new constitution. A majority of voters appear to have supported it.//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6953456.stm (BBC), //news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-08/20/content_6566394.htm (Xinhua)

20 killed, 136 wounded by an explosion on board an Israeli bus in Jerusalem. Among the victims are several children. The explosion was caused by a Palestinian suicide bomber. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Hebron claims responsibility for the attack. There are conflicting reports that Hamas is responsible for the bombing. Israeli government reportedly freezes road map for peace negotiations. In the following days, two additional victims died of their wounds, raising the death toll to 22. //www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,95150,00.html//www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNewsstoryID=3302933//reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNewsstoryID=3303310//www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1061318328538_25///?hub=TopStories, see also: Jerusalem bus 2 massacre

In Belgrade, tens of thousands of Serbians rally to demand the resignation of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević.

Mandarin Airlines Flight 642 crashes in Hong Kong.

GPS Week Numbers Reset to 0

In Norway, Varg Vikernes is arrested and charged with the murder of Euronymous, of Mayhem he receives a 21-year sentence for this and other crimes.

Dissolution of the Soviet Union: Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is put under house arrest while vacationing in the Crimea during a coup. The attempted coup, led by Vice President Gennady Yanayev and 7 hard-liners, collapses in less than 72 hours. This is the most popular date to be said when the Soviet Empire fell.

Leonard Bernstein conducts his final concert, ending with Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

A truce begins in the Iran–Iraq War.

Two weeks after it was stolen, the Picasso painting "Weeping Woman" is found in a locker at the Spencer Street Station in Melbourne, Australia.

In one of aviation's worst disasters, 301 people are killed when Saudia Flight 163 catches fire in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Groucho Marx, Comedic legend, star of stage and screen dies of pneumonia at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California the age of 86 (1890–1977).

U.S. President Gerald Ford edges out challenger Ronald Reagan to win the Republican Party presidential nomination in Kansas City.

The first orca to be named, Shamu, dies.

August 22 ndash A right-wing coup ignites a rebellion in Bolivia. Miners and students join troops to support president Juan Jose Torres, but eventually Hugo Banzer takes over.

A bomb made of two hand grenades by communist rebels explodes in the Liberal Party caign party in Plaza Miranda in Quiapo, Manila the Philippines, injuring several anti-Marcos political candidates.

The USS Manatee (AO-58) spills of fuel oil on President Nixon's Western White House beach in San Clemente, California.

Bangladesh and eastern Bengal are flooded thousands flee the area.

International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (Intelsat) (effective 12 February 1973).

Border clashes occur between Tanzania and Uganda.

The People's Republic of China announces that it has shot down United States planes violating its airspace.

West Germany receives 36 East German prisoners it has purchased through the border posts of Herleshausen and Wartha.

A truce is declared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The People's Republic of China announces that it has shot down United States planes violating its airspace.

An earthquake in eastern Turkey destroys whole cities.

At the Auschwitz trial in Frankfurt, 66 ex-SS personnel receive life sentences, 15 others smaller ones.

The Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) is established.

Hurricane Diane hits the northeastern United States, killing over 200 people, and causing over $1.0 billion in damage.

The French government ousts King Mohammed V of Morocco and exiles him to Corsica.

The United States returns to West Germany 382 ships it had captured during World War II.

Cold War: The CIA helps to overthrow the government of Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran, and retain Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi on the throne ("see" Operation Ajax).

Violence between Muslims and Hindus in Calcutta leaves 3,000 dead.

Chinese Civil War: Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek meet in Chongqing to discuss an end to hostilities between the Communists and the Nationalists.

WWII: An insurrection starts in Paris.

WWII: Dieppe Raid: Allied forces raid Dieppe, France.

Hitler, after evaluating the pace of the non-aggression negotiations with the Soviet Union, orders the Kriegsmarine to begin the opening operations for "Fall Weiss", the invasion of Poland. The , as well as dozens of u-boats, cast off for their advance positions. According to William L. Shirer, Hitler spends the next few days worrying that the Russians will not come to terms in time for the rest of the invasion plans to unfold as scheduled.

The first of the Moscow Trials begins in the Soviet Union.

August 25 ndash Second Silesian Uprising: The Poles in Upper Silesia rise up against the Germans.

Afghanistan gains independence from the United Kingdom.

American frontier murderer and outlaw John Wesley Hardin is killed by an off-duty policeman in a saloon in El Paso, Texas.

S Andromedae, the only supernova seen in the Andromeda Galaxy so far by astronomers, and the first ever noted outside the Milky Way, is discovered.

Dakota War of 1862: During an uprising in Minnesota, Lakota warriors decide not to attack heavily defended Fort Ridgely and instead turn to the settlement of New Ulm, killing white settlers along the way.

First ascent of Weisshorn, fifth highest summit in the Alps.

California Gold Rush: The "New York Herald" breaks the news to the East Coast of the United States that there is a gold rush in California (although the rush started in January).

The French government gives Louis Daguerre a pension and gives the daguerreotype for the whole world.

Navarino Massacre: Greek rebels massacre 3,000 inhabitants of the city of Navarino.

Gervasio Antonio de Posadas joins Argentina's second triumvirate.

War of 1812: The "USS Constitution" defeats the Britishfrigate "Guerrière" off the coast of Nova Scotia. The British shot is said to have bounced off the "Constitution"'s sides, earning her the nickname Old Ironsides.

The '45 Jacobite Rising begins at Glenfinnan.

Dr Edward Stanley preaches a sermon in the nave of Winchester Cathedral to commemorate the return of the Chapter following the English Restoration.

English Civil War ndash Raglan Castle in Wales surrenders to General Fairfax after a 2-month siege it is later destroyed.

Eighty Years\\\\' War: The Spanish garrison of Wesel is surprised by a small Dutch army, and the city is taken by the Dutch Republic. As Wesel functioned as principal supply base of Hendrik van den Bergh's army, the loss of supply forces him to retreat to the Spanish Netherlands, leaving him unable to intervene in the ongoing siege of 's-Hertogenbosch.

Petru Cercel enters Bucharest, and becomes Prince of Wallachia.

King James VI of Scotland signs a charter creating Tounis College (now the University of Edinburgh). For some unknown reason, the charter is dated a year earlier, as 1582.

The world's oldest, intact, still-surviving amusement park, Dyrehavsbakken, is founded.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi commences construction of Osaka Castle in Japan.

The first documented battle of India's independence against a European colonial ruler is fought by the "Desai"s of Cuncolim in Goa, against the Portuguese.

The Bunch Of Grapes pub is built on Narrow Street, London.ref name=walks//www.walksoflondon.co.uk/38/the-london-charles-dicken.shtml The London Charles Dickens Knew, walksoflondon.co.uk. Referred to by Charles Dickens in Our Mutual Friend as "The Six Jolly Fellowship Porters", it still stands today renamed The Grapes

Mary, Queen of Scots, is denied passage through England after returning from France. She arrives at Leith, Scotland on August 19.

September ndash The Protestant reformer John Knox has a three-day debate in Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland with Quintin Kennedy, commendator of Crossraguel Abbey, on transubstantiation. The result is inconclusive but Kennedy is fighting a losing battle against the Reformation, which had been confirmed by the Scottish government in 1560.

In Ming Dynasty China, the costs of the courier system are met by a tax in silver on land instead of corvée labor service.

Duarte Barbosa returns to Lisbon.

Pope Julius II personally leads troops against the French invaders of Italy.

Sigismund I the Old succeeds his brother as King of Poland.

Johannes Trithemius becomes abbot of the monastery of St. Jacob at Würzburg.

The Portuguese mariner Tristão da Cunha sights the islands of Tristan da Cunha, naming them after himself.

Maximilian I succeeds his father, Frederick III, as Holy Roman Emperor.

Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor marries Mary of Burgundy,

Pope Pius II succeeds Pope Callixtus III as the 210th pope.

Andronicus Comnenus is imprisoned for conspiring against Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus.

Baldwin III of Jerusalem takes control of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from his mother Melisende, and also captures Ascalon.

Raynald of Chatillon marries Constance of Antioch and becomes Prince of Antioch.