On this Day... January 19

CEBU, Philippines –  In 1807, "The Great Confederate" Robert E. Lee, was born, the son of Light Horse Harry, the commander of Washington cavalry and a former governor of Virginia. In the Civil War he was offered the military leadership by both sides, but though opposed to slavery he believed in the right to secede, and became commander-in-chief of the Army of North Virginia. His fair-mindedness became legend. At the Battle of Sharpsburg he ordered an exhausted gun crew back into action, and when one of the crew questioned the order, Lee recognized the voice as his son's. It made no difference. "God bless you, my son," he said, "you must go in."

• In 1978, a missing diamond ring turned up in a corpse. Worth $35, 000, it was discovered during an autopsy lodged in the stomach of a Michigan jailbird, Peter the Greek. He had swallowed the jewel when being shown a collection of gems in a Manhattan hotel. Both the room and Peter were thoroughly searched, but obviously the ring was never found. He was eventually jailed for perjury. Only when he died a year later, of natural causes, was his treasure discovered.

- from Today's the Day! By Jeremy Beadle

In Christian history

• In 1798, Samuel Austin Worcester, was born. Worcester was an American Congregational missionary to the Cherokee Indians in Georgia and Arkansas.

- from This Day in Christian History By William D. Blake

In the Philippines 

• 1974, the Philippine tourism industry opened a "second front" in the south with the inauguration of the new Zamboanga international airport and terminal, becoming Mindanao's third-busiest after Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao City and Lumbia Airport in Cagayan de Oro City.

- kahimyang.info

In Cebu

• In1846, Dominican Romualdo Gimeno was appointed as the 16th Bishop of Cebu.

• In 1858, San Fernando, Cebu, was established as a parish, with San Isidro Labrador as patron saint.

- from Cebuano Studies Center, University of San Carlos