Independent New Hampshire Journalism · Northfield, NHJapan and the Soviet Union signed a joint declaration in Moscow, the French army pulled out of Moscow, and Iraq opened the Dujail trial; four more October 19 entries follow.
Seven October 19 entries, each dated from a published record. The lead is a treaty clause from 1956 that set a condition on two islands, followed by a royal marriage, an army leaving a burned city, a canal-zone deal, a disputed crash, a market collapse and a war-crimes trial.
October 19, 1956
Japan and the Soviet Union End Their State of War, and Put Two Islands Off Until a Peace Treaty
Delegations from Japan and the Soviet Union negotiated in Moscow from October 13 to October 19, 1956. The paper they signed on the last day ended a war and set a condition on two islands. The text of the Joint Declaration lists the Japanese side as Prime Minister Ichiro Hatoyama, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ichiro Kono and Shunichi Matsumoto, a member of the House of Representatives. The Soviet delegation included N. A. Bulganin, chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers, and N. S. Khrushchev, listed as a member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet.
Read clause by clause, it is a working document. Article 1 ends the state of war on the date the declaration takes effect. Article 2 restores diplomatic and consular relations. Article 4 commits Moscow to back Japan’s application to join the United Nations. Article 5 orders the release and repatriation of Japanese citizens convicted in the Soviet Union. Article 6 drops Soviet reparations claims against Japan.
Article 9 is the clause on territory. Moscow agreed to transfer the Habomai Islands and Shikotan to Japan, with the handover to come only “after the conclusion of a Peace Treaty.” Article 10 made the whole declaration take effect on the day the two sides exchanged ratifications.
That exchange followed fast. A Japanese Foreign Ministry document compendium records ratification on December 7, 1956, and the exchange of instruments in Tokyo on December 12. Six days later, on December 18, 1956, Japan joined the United Nations as its 80th member state, according to the Foreign Ministry.
The National Diet Library notes the trip had enemies at home: the former Yoshida faction inside the Liberal Democratic Party opposed Hatoyama’s visit to Moscow. He went anyway, leaving on October 7.
Japan’s Foreign Ministry describes the 1956 declaration as signed “in place of a peace treaty” and names four islands in the territorial question: Habomai, Shikotan, Kunashiri and Etorofu.
October 19, 1469
Isabella of Castile Marries Ferdinand of Aragon in Valladolid
The marriage of the Infanta Isabella to Ferdinand, crown prince of Aragon, was celebrated in Valladolid on October 19, 1469, according to the biography published by Spain’s Royal Collections Gallery, which credits the Royal Academy of History for the text. The same account notes that Isabella had been recognized as heir to the Crown of Castile over the disputed claim of Joanna, called La Beltraneja. The couple had five children, among them the future Joanna I.
October 19, 1812
The French Army Pulls Out of Moscow
Napoleon entered Moscow on September 15, 1812, a week after the battle of Borodino, expecting city officials to meet him and talk peace. The Fondation Napoléon’s campaign timeline says there was no delegation and hardly anyone left in a city of about 200,000.
On October 19 the French evacuated Moscow and its surroundings. As the army left, Mortier, the governor of Moscow, set explosives around the Kremlin on Napoleon’s orders. The foundation says light rain and some intervention by Muscovites meant not every fuse fired, though large parts of the Kremlin were destroyed. The last regiments were out of the city at about 1 a.m. on October 23.
October 19, 1954
Britain and Egypt Sign the Suez Canal Base Agreement
On October 19, 1954, representatives of Egypt and the United Kingdom signed a final agreement that abrogated and replaced the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936, according to an editorial note in the State Department’s Foreign Relations of the United States. It followed a “Heads of Agreement” initialed on July 27, 1954, meant to guide the final talks. That July document set a seven-year term, provided for British troop withdrawal from the canal zone, allowed 1,200 civilian technicians to maintain the base and recognized the canal as an integral part of Egypt. Ratifications were exchanged in Cairo on December 6, 1954. The State Department note cites the agreement’s text as British Cmd. 9298.
October 19, 1986
Mozambique’s First President Dies in a Plane Crash Near Mbuzini
Samora Machel, the FRELIMO leader who became independent Mozambique’s first president, was killed when his Tupolev TU 134A went down in the Lebombo mountains near Mbuzini on the night of October 19, 1986. The plane was returning from a summit of African leaders in Zambia, and it crashed in South African territory near the borders with Swaziland and Mozambique. South African History Online reports that nine of the 34 people aboard survived.
The inquiries split. South Africa’s Margo Commission, chaired by Justice Cecil Margo, blamed the Soviet flight crew; Mozambique and the Soviet Union withdrew from it. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission later said the questions of a false beacon and of a missing South African warning required further investigation.
October 19, 1987
Black Monday: the Dow Falls 22.6 Percent in a Day
Stock markets in and around Asia started falling before U.S. trading opened on Monday, October 19, 1987. By the close in New York the Dow Jones Industrial Average had lost 508 points, or 22.6 percent, the Federal Reserve History essay on the crash reports. The essay cites New Zealand’s market, which fell 60 percent, as the most severe case.
Before markets opened the next morning, the Federal Reserve announced its readiness “to serve as a source of liquidity to support the economic and financial system,” as quoted in a Federal Reserve staff history by Mark Carlson. Carlson records that the New York Stock Exchange rebounded at the open despite steep overnight declines in foreign markets.
October 19, 2005
Iraq Opens the Dujail Trial of Saddam Hussein
On October 19, 2005, the trial of former President Saddam Hussein, three other senior former officials and four lower-level Ba’th Party members opened in Iraq, all charged with crimes against humanity. Human Rights Watch’s report on the case says it concerned the town of Dujail, where Saddam Hussein survived an assassination attempt on July 8, 1982. The prosecution said nearly 800 people were detained afterward. Of those detained, 148 men were referred to the Revolutionary Court and are recorded as sentenced to death in 1984, and most were executed in 1985. Dujail was the first case before the Iraqi High Tribunal.
Your Turn
Tell us: Which October 19 document would you want to read in full, and what would you look for first? Reply in the comments or write to granitestatereport@gmail.com.
Fact check
| # | Claim | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Japan-USSR Joint Declaration was signed in Moscow on October 19, 1956, after talks from October 13 to 19. | VERIFIED | Joint Declaration text (GRIPS/University of Tokyo database) |
| 2 | Japanese signers were Ichiro Hatoyama, Ichiro Kono and Shunichi Matsumoto; Soviet signers N. Bulganin and D. Shepilov signed by authorization of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. | VERIFIED | Joint Declaration text |
| 3 | Articles 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6: war ends on entry into force, relations restored, UN support, release of convicted Japanese, reparations renounced. | VERIFIED | Joint Declaration text |
| 4 | Article 9: Habomai and Shikotan to transfer after a peace treaty; Article 10: effect on exchange of ratifications. | VERIFIED | Joint Declaration text |
| 5 | Ratified December 7, 1956; instruments exchanged in Tokyo December 12, 1956. | VERIFIED | Japan MOFA compendium, Period V |
| 6 | Japan joined the UN on December 18, 1956, as the 80th member state. | VERIFIED | Japan MOFA, Japan and the United Nations |
| 7 | Hatoyama’s delegation left for Moscow October 7; the former Yoshida faction opposed the visit. | VERIFIED | National Diet Library, Modern Japan in archives 6-8 |
| 8 | MOFA describes the declaration as signed in place of a peace treaty and names four islands. | VERIFIED | Japan MOFA, Northern Territories overview |
| 9 | Isabella and Ferdinand’s marriage was celebrated in Valladolid on October 19, 1469; five children. | ATTRIBUTED | Royal Collections Gallery (Patrimonio Nacional), biography credited to the Royal Academy of History; date given as published, not converted between calendars |
| 10 | Napoleon entered Moscow September 15, 1812; the French evacuated Moscow October 19; last regiments out about 1 a.m. October 23. | ATTRIBUTED | Fondation Napoléon timeline |
| 11 | Mortier, governor of Moscow, set explosives around the Kremlin; rain and Muscovites meant not every fuse fired; large parts were destroyed. | ATTRIBUTED | Fondation Napoléon timeline |
| 12 | Egypt and the UK signed a final agreement October 19, 1954, replacing the 1936 treaty; Heads of Agreement initialed July 27; ratifications exchanged in Cairo December 6. | VERIFIED | FRUS 1952-54, vol. IX, pt. 2, editorial note |
| 13 | Heads of Agreement terms: seven years, troop withdrawal, 1,200 technicians, canal integral part of Egypt; final text Cmd. 9298. | VERIFIED | FRUS editorial note |
| 14 | Machel killed October 19, 1986, near Mbuzini in a TU 134A returning from Zambia; nine of 34 survived. | ATTRIBUTED | South African History Online; the page also gives a figure for those killed that does not reconcile with its survivor count, so only the survivor count is used |
| 15 | Margo Commission blamed the crew; Mozambique and the USSR withdrew; TRC called for further investigation. | ATTRIBUTED | South African History Online |
| 16 | Dow fell 508 points, 22.6 percent, on October 19, 1987; Asian markets fell first; New Zealand cited at 60 percent. | VERIFIED | Federal Reserve History, Bernhardt and Eckblad |
| 17 | Fed liquidity statement issued before markets opened October 20; NYSE rebounded at the open. | VERIFIED | Carlson, FEDS 2007-13, Federal Reserve Board |
| 18 | Dujail trial opened October 19, 2005, with eight defendants charged with crimes against humanity; first IHT case; 1982 attempt; 148 sentenced in 1984. | VERIFIED | Human Rights Watch, Judging Dujail (2006) |
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Editor’s note. This edition draws on the published text of the 1956 Joint Declaration, the Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Diet Library, the U.S. State Department’s Office of the Historian, the Federal Reserve Board and Federal Reserve History, Human Rights Watch, Spain’s Royal Collections Gallery, the Fondation Napoléon, South African History Online and the Library of Congress. The 1469 date is given as the Royal Collections Gallery publishes it; dates for 1812 follow the Fondation Napoléon chronology. South African History Online gives two casualty figures for the 1986 crash that do not reconcile; this edition uses its survivor count.
Corrections: Granite State Report corrects verified errors promptly and appends a dated note identifying what changed and when. The corrections policy and the corrections register are public, and correction notes are never removed.
