May 19

1795: Johns Hopkins, endower of the college named after him, was born. 1942: Sir Joseph Larmor, the first to calculate the rate at which energy is radiated by an accelerated electron, and the first to explain the splitting of spectrum lines by a magnetic field, died. 1961: The Venera 1 spacecraft became the first manmade object to fly past a planet (Venus). 1964: The State Department disclosed that 40 hidden microphones had been found in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. 1967: The Soviet Union ratified a treaty with the United States and Britain banning nuclear weapons from outer space.  1987: Chet Fleming was issued a patent for "keeping a head alive." 1998: Millions of pagers went silent when the Galaxy IV satellite began tumbling in its orbit. 1999: "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace" was released in the U.S., setting a new record for opening day sales at 28.5 million. 2005: "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" debuted in theaters.