On October 19, 2005, former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was put on trial for crimes against humanity committed during his time in office. He was convicted and sentenced to death on November 6, 2006. The execution took place on the following December 30. Learn more about the Trial of Saddam Hussein from the US Law Library of Congress.

On October 19, 1765, the Stamp Act Congress, meeting in New York in the wake of Parliament's passage of the controversial Stamp Act imposing a tax for the upkeep of British troops in North America, approved a Declaration of Rights enumerating the rights and grievances of the American colonies.