Historical timeline for March 19

The Swiss Government brokers a deal for UBS to buy out rival Credit Suisse in an attempt to calm the 2023 banking crisis.

The first President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, resigns from office after nearly three decades, leaving Senate Chairman Kassym-Jomart Tokayev as the acting President and successor.

An explosion occurs in Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey, killing five people and injuring 36.

Flydubai Flight 981 crashes while attempting to land at Rostov-on-Don international airport, killing all 62 on board.

A series of bombings and shootings kills at least 98 people and injures 240 others across Iraq.

Libyan Civil War: After the failure of Muammar Gaddafi's forces to take Benghazi, the French Air Force launches Opération Harmattan, beginning foreign military intervention in Libya.

GRB 080319B: A cosmic burst that is the farthest object visible to the naked eye is briefly observed.

Catalina affair: A Swedish DC-3 shot down by a Soviet MiG-15 in 1952 over the Baltic Sea is finally recovered after years of work.

The Konginkangas bus disaster kills 23 and injures 14 people in Äänekoski, Finland.

March 19 Shooting Incident: The Republic of China (Taiwan) president Chen Shui-bian is shot just before the country's presidential election on March 20.

United States President George W. Bush addresses the nation, announcing the invasion of Iraq.

An Ariana Afghan Airlines Boeing 727 crashes on approach to Kabul International Airport, killing all 45 on board.

The ethnic clashes of Târgu Mureș begin four days after the anniversary of the Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire.

The Egyptian flag is raised at Taba, marking the end of Israeli occupation since the Six Days War in 1967 and the Egypt–Israel peace treaty in 1979.

Falklands War: Argentinian forces land on South Georgia Island, precipitating war with the United Kingdom.

The United States House of Representatives begins broadcasting its day-to-day business via the cable television network C-SPAN.

The 385-metre-tall (1,263 ft) TV-mast at Emley Moor transmitting station, United Kingdom, collapses due to ice build-up.

The wreck of the SS Georgiana, valued at over $50,000,000 and said to have been the most powerful Confederate cruiser, is discovered by teenage diver and pioneer underwater archaeologist E. Lee Spence, exactly 102 years after its destruction.

Over 500,000 Brazilians attend the March of the Family with God for Liberty, in protest against the government of João Goulart and against communism.

The Algerian War of Independence ends.