Traditional weather lore has it that St. Dunstan was a great brewer who sold himself to the devil on the condition that the devil would blight the apple trees to stop the production of cider, Dunstan’s rival drink. This is said to be the cause of the wintry blast that usually comes about this time.
Daily Calendar for Tuesday, May 19, 2026
Daily Calendar
View daily calendar information including holidays, advice, and daily features.
Tuesday, May 19, 2026
Died
- Anne Boleyn (Henry VIII’s second wife) –
- Robert B. Thomas (founder of The Old Farmer’s Almanac) –
- Nathaniel Hawthorne (writer) –
- T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia”“) –
- Ogden Nash (poet) –
- Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (U.S. First Lady) –
- Walter Lord (author) –
- Charles Grodin (actor, talk show host) –
Born
- Johns Hopkins (philanthropist) –
- Carl Akeley (artist, biologist, & conservationist) –
- Malcolm X (civil rights activist) –
- Lorraine Hansberry (playwright) –
- Francis Richard Scobee (astronaut) –
- Nora Ephron (author & director) –
- Pete Townshend (musician) –
- Andre the Giant (wrestler & actor) –
- Jodi Picoult (author) –
- Kevin Garnett (basketball player) –
- Connor Wong (baseball player) –
Events
- Dark Day in New England –
- Author Oscar Wilde released from jail –
- Parks Canada, the world’s first national park service, was established as part of the Department of the Interior. –
- First Jumping Frog Jubilee in Calaveras County, California –
- 7.1-magnitude earthquake occurred in Imperial Valley, California –
- Boston Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester threw a no-hitter against the Kansas City Royals. It was the first major league no-hitter of the season –
- In Kansas, paraplegic Anna Sarol — with the assistance of braces, a walker, and her siblings — took steps across the graduation stage to receive her high school diploma. She had worked towards this moment ever since a gymnastics accident nearly four years before had left her paralyzed from the waist down. –
Weather
- Dark Day: Darkness fell at noon throughout New England due to smoke from western forest fires. –
- 99 degrees F at Central Park, New York City –
- Heavy rain and golf ball-size hail destroyed 80 percent of the crops in northwestern Texas –