November 19

On November 19, 1977, TAP Air Portugal Flight 425, a Boeing 727 (registration CS‑TBR) arriving from Lisbon, overran the short, rain‑slick runway at Funchal (Santa Catarina) Airport in Madeira. Of the 164 people on board (156 passengers and 8 crew), 131 were killed and 33 survived. The accident — a long touchdown on a wet runway followed by an overrun, descent down a steep embankment, breakup and post‑impact fire — exposed the limits of both human judgment and airport infrastructure in demanding coastal conditions.

Operation Uranus was the Soviet double-pincer counteroffensive that began on November 19, 1942, striking the thinly held Axis flanks north and south of Stalingrad. Within days Soviet armored formations linked near Kalach-on-Don and trapped roughly a quarter-million Axis troops in a ring that would not finally collapse until early February 1943. The operation marked a decisive turning point on the Eastern Front and exposed the dangers of overextended lines and poorly equipped allied contingents.

On November 19, 1941, the Royal Australian Navy light cruiser HMAS Sydney (II) and the German auxiliary cruiser HSK Kormoran met about 150 nautical miles west of Shark Bay. Kormoran, disguised as the Dutch merchant Straat Malakka, revealed concealed armament at close range; a short, violent engagement followed. Sydney was catastrophically damaged and sank with all 645 hands. Kormoran was heavily damaged, scuttled, and many of her crew were later rescued. The loss shocked Australia, spawned decades of questions, and was finally clarified after discovery of both wrecks in March 2008.