Famous people born on May 19 — and what else happened that day
If your birthday is May 19, you share it with Malcolm X, Pete Townshend, Kevin Garnett — and you were born under Taurus, the sign of the steady, loyal, and a lover of life’s comforts.
Birthday basics for May 19
Taurus ♉
Zodiac sign
Emerald
Birthstone
Lily of the Valley
Birth flower
139th
Day of the year
May 19 is the 139th day of the year (140th in leap years), with 226 days still to come.
Famous people born on May 19
Malcolm X — American civil rights leader and powerful orator (born 1925).
Pete Townshend — English guitarist and songwriter of The Who (born 1945).
Kevin Garnett — American basketball Hall of Famer and NBA champion (born 1976).
Also sharing the day:
Nora Ephron (b. 1941) — writer-director behind When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle.
André the Giant (b. 1946) — French wrestling legend and gentle giant of The Princess Bride.
Sam Smith (b. 1992) — English singer whose debut album In the Lonely Hour swept the 2015 Grammys.
May 19 in history
1884 — The Ringling brothers opened their first circus in Baraboo, Wisconsin.
1962 — Marilyn Monroe famously sang 'Happy Birthday' to President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden.
2018 — Prince Harry married Meghan Markle at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.
1743 — Jean-Pierre Christin introduced the centigrade temperature scale, ancestor of today's Celsius scale.
1780 — New England's mysterious "Dark Day" turned midday skies black, likely from vast wildfire smoke.
1961 — The Soviet probe Venera 1 passed Venus in the first spacecraft flyby of another planet.
May 19 birthday questions
What zodiac sign is May 19?
Anyone born on May 19 is a Taurus — steady, loyal, and a lover of life’s comforts.
What is the birthstone for May 19?
The birthstone for a May 19 birthday is Emerald, and the birth flower is the Lily of the Valley.
Who is the most famous person born on May 19?
Malcolm X is among the best known — American civil rights leader and powerful orator (born 1925).
What happened on May 19?
In 1884, The Ringling brothers opened their first circus in Baraboo, Wisconsin.
What day of the year is May 19?
May 19 is the 139th day of the year (140th in leap years), with 226 days still to come.
Make their day unforgettable
Know someone born on May 19? See the full story of their exact birthday — the headlines, the #1 song, what things cost — and turn it into a personalized front-page newspaper they can keep.