Almanac - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

TOP TEN LISTS

World's Most Dangerous Animals

Deadliest animals in the world ranked by estimated number of human fatalities per year

Best Selling Musicians

Top selling musicians of all time ranked by estimated number of albums sold

Best Selling Books of All-Time

Best selling novels worldwide ranked by estimated number of copies sold

Fastest Manned Aircraft in the World

Fastest manned aircraft (excluding spacecraft) ranked by top speed

World's Most Practiced Religions

Major religions of the world ranked by estimated number of followers

Worst Genocides of the Twentieth Century

The ten worst genocides of the 20th century listed by dictators responsible; ranked by number of deaths

World's Fastest Land Animals

The fastest land animals in the world ranked by maximum speed

Home Top Ten Lists Timelines

Today in History

Thursday, 19 February 2026

2010

A student at Amador Valley High School commits suicide by jumping in front of a Union Pacific Railroad freight train traumatizing thousands.

2002

NASA's Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system.

2001

The Oklahoma City bombing museum is dedicated at the Oklahoma City National Memorial.

1999

President Bill Clinton issues a posthumous pardon for U.S. Army Lt. Henry Ossian Flipper.

1986

Akkaraipattu massacre: the Sri Lankan Army massacres 80 Tamil farm workers the eastern province of Sri Lanka.

The Soviet Union launches its Mir spacecraft. Remaining in orbit for 15 years, it is occupied for 10 of those years.

1985

Iberia Airlines Boeing 727 crashes into Mount Oiz in Spain, killing 148.

Artificial heart recipient William J. Schroeder becomes the first such patient to leave hospital.

1978

Egyptian forces raid Larnaca International Airport in an attempt to intervene in a hijacking, without authorisation from the Republic of Cyprus authorities. The Cypriot National Guard and Police forces kill 15 Egyptian commandos and destroy the Egyptian C-130 transport plane in open combat.

1976

Executive Order 9066 is rescinded by President Gerald R. Ford's Proclamation 4417

FACTOIDS