TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS FRIDAY, JUNE 19, the 171st day of 2020. There are 195 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1964, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was approved by the U.S. Senate, 73-27, after surviving a lengthy filibuster.
In 1775, George Washington was commissioned by the Continental Congress as commander in chief of the Continental Army.
In 1865, Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, with news that the Civil War was over, and that all remaining slaves in Texas were free — an event celebrated to this day as “Juneteenth.”
In 1944, during World War II, the twoday Battle of the Philippine Sea began, resulting in a decisive victory for the Americans over the Japanese.
In 1952, the U.S. Army Special Forces, the elite unit of fighters known as the Green Berets, was established at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The celebrity-panel game show “I’ve Got A Secret” debuted on CBS-TV.
In 1953, Julius Rosenberg, 35, and his wife, Ethel, 37, convicted of conspiring to pass U.S. atomic secrets to the Soviet Union, were executed at Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, New York. In 1975, former Chicago organized crime boss Sam Giancana was shot to death in the basement of his home in Oak Park, Illinois; the killing has never been solved.
In 1987, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Louisiana law requiring any public school teaching the theory of evolution to teach creation science as well.
In 2013, actor James Gandolfini, 51, died while vacationing in Rome.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Pop singer Tommy DeVito (The Four Seasons) is 92. Actress Gena Rowlands is 90. Hall of Fame race car driver Shirley Muldowney is 80. Singer Elaine “Spanky” McFarlane (Spanky and Our Gang) is 78. Author Sir Salman Rushdie is 73. Actress Phylicia Rashad is 72. Rock singer Ann Wilson (Heart) is 70. Musician Larry Dunn is 67. Actress Kathleen Turner is 66. Singer-dancerchoreographer Paula Abdul is 58. Actor Andy Lauer is 57. Actress Mia Sara is 53. Actor Jean Dujardin and actress Robin Tunney are 48. Actor Bumper Robinson is 46. Actress Zoe Saldana and former NBA star Dirk Nowitzki are 42. Actor Paul Dano is 36. New York Mets pitcher Jacob DeGrom is 32. Actor Giacomo Gianniotti is 31.