Here are three events that happened on this date and a trivia question.
August 19, 1848
The New York Herald is the first newspaper on the U.S. East Coast to report on the discovery of gold in California.
August 19, 1991
Conservative Soviet hard-liners stage a coup against president Mikhail S. Gorbachev. On the ABC News program Nightline, Ted Koppel reports:
Almost exactly 24 hours ago the world was told that Mikhail Gorbachev had been forced to step down as president of the Soviet Union for “health reasons.” President Bush didn’t even engage in the normal diplomatic courtesy of pretending to believe that explanation. The U.S. government is proceeding along the assumption that there has been a coup in the Soviet Union…..Boris Yeltsin remains prominently and defiantly in Moscow, denouncing the new government and calling on Soviet citizens to engage in acts of civil disobedience. The stage, in other words, is set for what could be a very dangerous confrontation.
(Video: “The Soviet Coup: Day One, August 19th 1991”
From the “World Monitor”, a newscast produced for The Discovery Channel by The Christian Science Monitor)
August 19, 2004
Internet search engine Google has announced it will go public at $85 a share, paving the way for the widely awaited but troubled stock offering to finally stumble to market on Thursday.
….But based on the midpoint of Wednesday’s revised range, Google now would be worth about $24 billion. Top rival Yahoo!, by way of comparison, has a market value of about $39 billion. Most analysts have argued that Yahoo! should trade at a premium to Google since it is a more diversified company.
….In addition to Yahoo!, Cohen said, Google will face increased pressure from Microsoft, which has been stepping up its research and development efforts in its MSN Internet business.
“This long saga is about to come to a close, but in many ways it’s the beginning of another saga, which is how will the company will do competitively?” said Cohen.
— “Google IPO priced at $85 a share:
Troubled stock debut to go ahead Thursday”
A story excerpt from CNN/Money
Media History Trivia Question
In what year was the Soviet newspaper Pravda founded? (Answer)
