On this day, June 19

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.”

1905 The “Nickelodeon,” the country’s first all-motion picture house, was opened by Harry Davis and John P. Harris at 43335 Smithfield St., Downtown. The showing of two short films, “Poor But Honest” and “The Baffled Burglar,” was a success, with people marveling at the moving figures.

1946 Pittsburgh boxer Billy Conn was knocked out at Yankee Stadium in New York City in the eighth round of his second attempt to take the heavyweight boxing championship from Joe Louis.

1987 In the first season game of the newly formed Arena Football League, 12,177 fans packed the Civic Arena was to watch the Pittsburgh Gladiators defeat the Washington Commandos, 48-46. Some items are from Stefan Lorant’s “Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City” (digital.library.pitt.edu/chronology).

— Compiled by Rick Nowlin

Today’s birthdays: Pop singer Tommy DeVito (The Four Seasons), 91. Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, 74. Author Sir Salman Rushdie, 72. Actress Phylicia Rashad, 71. Rock singer Ann Wilson (Heart), 69. Actress Kathleen Turner, 65. Singer-dancer-choreographer Paula Abdul, 57. British politician Boris Johnson, 55. Actress Poppy Montgomery, 44. Actress Zoe Saldana, 41. Rapper Macklemore, 37. New York Mets pitcher Jacob DeGrom, 31. Actor Chuku Modu, 29.

Thought for today: “Exuberance is better than taste.”

— Gustave Flaubert, French author (1821-1880)