TUESDAY, May 19, 2026

1536-Anne Boleyn, second wife of English King Henry VIII, is beheaded at the Tower of London on charges of adultery, incest and treason 1643-Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven form the United Colonies of New England 1649-England is declared a Commonwealth by an act of the Rump Parliament, making England a republic for the next 11 years 1885-German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck takes possession of Cameroon and Togoland 1898-U.S. Congress passes the Private Mailing Card Act, allowing private publishers and printers to produce postcards, which have to be labeled "Private Mailing Cards" until 1901, known as "souvenir cards" 1919-Mustafa Kemal Ataturk lands at Samsun on the Black Sea coast, beginning the Turkish War of Independence 1964-U.S. diplomats find at least 40 secret microphones in Moscow embassy