August 19, South African sprinter indicted in girlfriend's murder

Today is Tuesday, Aug. 19, the 231st day of 2025. There are 134 days left in the year.

Today in History:

On Aug. 19, 2013, South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius was indicted in Pretoria, South Africa, on charges of murder and illegal possession of ammunition for the shooting death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, at his home on Valentine’s Day 2013; Pistorius maintained he’d mistaken her for an intruder. (Pistorius would be found guilty of murder and sentenced to prison; he was released on parole in January 2024.)

Also on this date:

In 1692, four men and one woman were hanged after being convicted of witchcraft at Salem in the Province of Massachusetts Bay; the story of one of the men, John Proctor, inspired Arthur Miller’s play “The Crucible.”

In 1807, Robert Fulton’s North River Steamboat arrived in Albany, two days after leaving New York on its maiden voyage.

In 1812, the USS Constitution defeated the British frigate HMS Guerriere off Nova Scotia during the War of 1812, earning the nickname “Old Ironsides.”

In 1814, during the War of 1812, British forces landed at Benedict, Maryland, with the objective of capturing Washington, D.C.

In 1854, 31 U.S. soldiers were killed after one of the soldiers fatally shot Brule Lakota Chief Conquering Bear, sparking the First Sioux War.

In 1909, Indianapolis Motor Speedway hosted its first automobile race.

In 1934, German voters approved the vesting of sole executive power in Adolf Hitler.

In 1955, torrential rains caused by Hurricane Diane resulted in severe flooding in the northeastern U.S., claiming some 200 lives.

In 1960, a tribunal in Moscow convicted American U2 pilot Francis Gary Powers of espionage. (Although sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment, Powers was returned to the United States in 1962 as part of a prisoner exchange.)

In 1980, 301 people aboard Saudia Flight 163 died as the jetliner made a fiery emergency return to the Riyadh airport.

In 2010, the last American combat brigade exited Iraq, seven years and five months after a U.S.-led invasion marked the beginning of the Iraq War.