Today in History: An earthquake in Mexico City killed over 10,000 in 1985

The following is a chronological list of ten significant global events that occurred on September 19:

-634 – Siege of Damascus (Damascus, Syria): Rashidun Arab forces under General Khalid ibn al-Walid captured the city of Damascus from the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire on September 19, 634. Damascus was the first major Byzantine city to fall in the Muslim conquests, marking a key milestone in the early expansion of Islamic rule.

-1356 – Battle of Poitiers (near Poitiers, France): An English army led by Edward, the Black Prince, defeated the French royal forces and captured King John II of France in the Battle of Poitiers on September 19, 1356. This major victory in the Hundred Years’ War left France in disarray and gave England a strong negotiating position in subsequent peace talks.

-1777 First Battle of Saratoga (Freeman’s Farm, New York, USA): On September 19, 1777, during the American Revolutionary War, British General John Burgoyne won a tactically costly victory against the American Continental Army at Freeman’s Farm – the first Battle of Saratoga. The British suffered heavy losses in this clash, weakening their forces; weeks later they were surrounded and forced to surrender at Saratoga, a turning point that helped bring France into the war on the American side.

-1783 – First Hot Air Balloon Flight (Versailles, France): The Montgolfier brothers conducted the world’s first flight carrying living creatures in a hot-air balloon on September 19, 1783. In front of King Louis XVI at Versailles, they launched a balloon carrying a sheep, a duck, and a rooster, which rose into the sky and landed safely – a pioneering aeronautical feat that proved humans could finally leave the ground.

-1870 Siege of Paris Begins (Paris, France): The Prussian army encircled Paris on September 19, 1870, beginning a four-month siege during the Franco-Prussian War. Paris held out under bombardment until its capitulation in January 1871; this defeat of France not only ended the war but also led to the unification of Germany and the collapse of Napoleon III’s Second French Empire.

-1893 – New Zealand Grants Women the right to Vote (Wellington, New Zealand): On September 19, 1893, New Zealand’s Governor signed into law the Electoral Act 1893, making New Zealand the first self-governing country in the world to grant women the right to vote in national elections. This landmark suffrage victory – achieved after years of organized campaigning – was a pioneering moment in the global women’s rights movement.

-1918 – Battle of Megiddo Offensive (Megiddo, Ottoman Palestine): British General Edmund Allenby launched a major offensive against Ottoman forces in Palestine on September 19, 1918, initiating the Battle of Megiddo. The British and Allied troops overwhelmed the Ottoman defenses – a cavalry push deep into enemy lines cut off Turkish retreat routes – leading to the fall of Damascus soon after. This decisive victory effectively crushed Ottoman military power in the region and hastened the end of World War I in the Middle East.

-1955 – Coup Ousts Juan Perón (Buenos Aires, Argentina): A military revolt by segments of the Argentine army and navy erupted on September 19, 1955, overthrowing President Juan Domingo Perón after a decade in power. Perón was forced to flee into exile in Paraguay as the coup, known as the “Revolución Libertadora,” ended his populist regime. The fall of Perón’s government marked a significant shift in Argentina’s political landscape during the Cold War era.

-1985 – Mexico City Earthquake (Mexico City, Mexico): On the morning of September 19, 1985, a catastrophic magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck Mexico, with its epicenter off the Pacific coast of Michoacán. The quake devastated Mexico City – more than 400 buildings collapsed – and caused widespread destruction of infrastructure. The disaster killed an estimated 10,000 people and left tens of thousands injured or homeless, making it one of the deadliest urban earthquakes of the 20th century.

-1991 – Discovery of Ötzi the Iceman (Ötztal Alps, Italy–Austria border): Two German hikers hiking in the Tyrolean Ötztal Alps on September 19, 1991, stumbled upon a frozen human body protruding from the melting glacier ice. Initially assumed to be a modern mountaineer’s corpse, the remains were soon identified as “Ötzi,” a 5,300-year-old Copper Age man naturally mummified in ice. This extraordinary archaeological discovery – Europe’s oldest intact human mummy – has given scientists invaluable insights into prehistoric human life and sparked worldwide fascination.