By: History.com Editors

1807

Robert E. Lee born

History.com Editors

Published: November 13, 2009

Last Updated: January 31, 2025

Confederate General Robert Edward Lee is born in Westmoreland County, Virginia. Lee commanded the Army of Northern Virginia during most of the Civil War and his battlefield leadership earned him a reputation as a renowned military leader.

Lee was born at his family home of Stratford Hall in northeastern Virginia on January 19, 1807. A member of the state’s aristocracy, Lee enrolled at West Point at the age of 18. He was second in his graduating class and attained top marks in artillery, infantry and cavalry studies.

Robert E. Lee

The general leads to Confederate forces in the Civil War, and in the process gains mythic status.

Once Lee graduated, he married Mary Custis, the great-granddaughter of Martha Washington from her first marriage, in 1831. The family raised seven children including three sons and four daughters.

In 1846, Lee served the U.S. military in its war against Mexico, where he stood out as a brave commander and brilliant tactician. In the aftermath, Lee was hailed a hero and rose to military prominence.

Lee was added to a shortlist of names to lead the Confederate army should the country go to war with itself around October 1859. Lincoln later offered Lee the post of Union commander during the war, but he turned it down to attend to matters at home. It was only after Virginia voted to secede from the nation on April 17, 1861, that Lee decided to help lead Confederate forces.

Lee challenged Union forces during the war’s bloodiest battles, including Antietam and Gettysburg, before surrendering to Union General Ulysses S. Grant in 1865 at Appomattox Court House in Virginia, marking the end of the devastating conflict.

He died at age 63 on October 12, 1870, following a stroke.

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Timeline

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1809

Edgar Allan Poe is born

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1840

Charles Wilkes claims portion of Antarctica for U.S.

During an exploring expedition, Captain Charles Wilkes sights the coast of eastern Antarctica and claims it for the United States. Wilkes’ group had set out in 1838, sailing around South America to the South Pacific and then to Antarctica, where they explored a 1,500-mile stretch of the eastern Antarctic coast that later became known as Wilkes Land. In 1842, the expedition returned to New York, having circumnavigated the globe.

1915

First air raid on Britain

During World War I, Britain suffers its first casualties from an air attack when two German zeppelins drop bombs on Great Yarmouth and King’s Lynn on the eastern coast of England.

1952

PGA approves participation of Black golfers

On January 19, 1952, Professional Golfers Association president Horton Smith announces that a seven-man committee “almost unanimously” votes to allow Black golfers to compete in PGA co-sponsored events. With the announcement, Smith hopes that Black golfers participate in the next two events, the Phoenix Open and Tucson Open. “I shall feel our efforts here will have gone for little if the plan doesn’t work out the next two events,” he says.

1953

Lucille Ball gives birth on TV—and in real life

On January 19, 1953, in one of the most widely publicized births in TV history, actress and comedienne Lucille Ball welcomes her second child at Los Angeles’ Cedars of Lebanon Hospital on the same night Lucy Ricardo, her character on the hit TV show “I Love Lucy,” also gives birth. The “Lucy Goes to the Hospital” episode (Season 2, Episode 16) drew more viewers than any other television episode up to that date; at least 68 percent of American households tuned into CBS to watch the birth of "Little Ricky."

1966

Indira Gandhi becomes Indian prime minister

Following the death of Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi becomes head of the Congress Party and thus prime minister of India. She was India’s first female head of government and by the time of her assassination in 1984 was one of its most controversial.

1972

Sandy Koufax becomes youngest player elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

On January 19, 1972, 36-year-old Sandy Koufax, the former Los Angeles Dodgers star, becomes the youngest player elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. "This is the only thing that's made having to retire early a little easier," says Koufax, who retired at age 30. "This is the biggest honor I've ever been given, not just in baseball, but in my life."

1977

President Ford pardons Tokyo Rose

President Gerald R. Ford pardons Tokyo Rose. Although the nickname originally referred to several Japanese women who broadcast Axis propaganda over the radio to Allied troops during World War II, it eventually became synonymous with a Japanese-American woman named Iva Toguri. On the orders of the Japanese government, Toguri and other women broadcast sentimental American music and phony announcements regarding U.S. troop losses in a vain attempt to destroy the morale of Allied soldiers. After the war, she had been convicted of treason.

1993

Fleetwood Mac reunites to play “Don’t Stop” at Bill Clinton’s first inaugural ball

On January 19, 1993, the band Fleetwood Mac reunites to perform at the recently elected U.S. President Bill Clinton’s first inaugural gala.

1993

Production begins on “Toy Story”

On January 19, 1993, production begins on Toy Story, the first full-length feature film created by the pioneering Pixar Animation Studios. Originally a branch of the filmmaker George Lucas’s visual effects company, Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), Pixar first put itself on the map with special effects produced for films such as Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), which featured the first fully three-dimensional digital or computer-generated image (CGI). In 1986, Pixar became an independent company after it was purchased by Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Computer.

1999

First BlackBerry device hits the market

On January 19, 1999, the first BlackBerry pager, BlackBerry 850, is released. BlackBerry devices go on to drive explosive growth for upstart Canadian producer Research in Motion (RIM), dominating the U.S. smartphone market for much of the 2000s. But they eventually lose their market share to Apple's iPhone.

2004

The Howard Dean scream

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2007

First McDonald’s drive-through in Beijing opens

On January 19, 2007, Beijing, China, the capital city of the planet’s most populous nation, gets its first drive-through McDonald’s restaurant. The opening ceremony for the new two-story fast-food eatery, located next to a gas station, included traditional Chinese lion dancers and a Chinese Ronald McDonald.

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Citation Information

Article title: Robert E. Lee born
Author: History.com Editors
Website Name: History
URL: https://www.history.com/articles/robert-e-lee-born

Date Accessed: March 23, 2025
Publisher: A&E Television Networks
Last Updated: January 31, 2025
Original Published Date: November 13, 2009

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