THIS DAY IN HISTORY: On November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address at a dedication ceremony for a military cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

November 19 is the birthday of Italian film director GILLO PONTECORVO (1919-2006). Two of Pontecorvo's greatest films are "Burn" about a failed slave revolt starring Marlon Brando and BATTLE OF ALGIERS, a searing documentary-style film about the Algerian resistance against the French in the Algerian War of the 1950s and 60s.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY: On November 19, 1959, the Ford Motor Company announced that it was discontinuing the Edsel.

November 19 is the birthday of Russian composer MIKHAIL IPPOLITOV-IVANOV (1859-1935). His works include operas, orchestral music, chamber music and a large number of songs. His style is similar to that of his teacher Rimsky-Korsakov. With the exception of his orchestral suite “Cauasian Sketches” (1894), which includes the much-excerpted "Procession of the Sardar,” his music is rarely heard today.

As well as his entirely original works, Ippolitov-Ivanov completed Modest Mussorgsky’s opera Zhenitha. 

November 19 is the birthday of American photographer LOUISE DAHL-WOLFE (1895-1989). She is known primarily for her work for Harper's Bazaar, in association with fashion editor Diana Vreeland. At Harper's Bazaar she pioneered a new standard in color photography. To see samples of her work, CLICK HERE.