Today in History

August 19
1909

The Indianapolis 500 race track opens for the

first time.

1991

Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev is

overthrown by a coup.

1945

Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh take

power in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Today in Philippine History

Manuel Quezon was born in Baler, Aurora

On August 19, 1878, Manuel Luis Quezon was born in Baler, in the
district of El Principe (present day Baler, Aurora) to Spanish parents Lucio Quezon and
Maria Dolores Molina. Quezon served as president of the Commonwealth of the
Philippines from 1935 to 1944.
In 1907, he was elected to the first Philippine Assembly (later became the
House of Representatives) where he served as majority floor leader and chairman of
the committee on appropriations. From 19091916, he served as one of the
Philippines' two resident commissioners to the U.S. House of Representatives,
lobbying for the passage of the Philippine Autonomy Act or Jones Law.
Quezon returned to Manila in 1916 to be elected into the Philippine Senate
and later became Senate President, serving continuously for 19 years until 1935. He
headed the first Independent Mission to the U.S. Congress in 1919 securing passage
of the Tydings-McDuffie Independence Law in 1934.
In 1922, Quezon became the leader of Nacionalista Party.
In 1935 Quezon won the Philippine's first national presidential election under
the banner of the Nacionalista Party. The losing presidential candidates during the
1935 election were, Emilio Aguinaldo (National Socialist), Gregorio Aglipay (Republican), and Pascual Racuyal

(independent).