August 19

Events

1768: Greeks and Italians rebel at the New Smyrna, Florida colony on account of their mistreatement and poor conditions.
1849: A revolt against British rule with the aim of union with Greece is put down by the British in Kefallonia.
1973: George Papadopoulos is sworn in as President after the abolition of the Monarchy by the military Junta.
1974: US Ambassador, Rodger Davies, and his Cypriot secretary, Antoinette Varnava, are killed in Lefkosia during anti-US riots in the aftermath of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.
2023: A massive fire breaks out near the city of Alexandroupolis, Thrace. Eventually, it will burn 93,000 hectares of land, making it the largest blaze to hit an EU country since records began. Twenty people will lose their lives.

2002: Periklis Iakovakis smashes Thanassis Kalogiannis' 15 year-old record (48.80) in the 400m race with 48.66 in Leeds.
2001: Greece win the World Juniors Water Polo Championship by beating Croatia 8-7 in Istanbul
2008: Kostas Douvalidis breaks the Greek record for the 110m hurdles with 13.46 as he qualifies for the Beijing Games semifinals.
2016: Katerina Stefanidi wins gold for Greece, at the Rio Olympics, in the women's pole vault with a 4.85m jump.