TODAY IN HISTORY
SUNDAY JUN 19, 2022
1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was approved by the U.S. Senate, 73-27, after surviving a lengthy filibuster.
1775
George Washington was commissioned by the Continental Congress as commander in chief of the Continental Army.
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.”
1910
The first-ever Father’s Day was celebrated in Spokane, Washington.
1911
Pennsylvania became the first state to establish a motion picture censorship board.
1917
During World War I, King George V ordered the British royal family to dispense with German titles and surnames; the family took the name “Windsor.”
1934
The Federal Communications Commission was created; it replaced the Federal Radio Commission.
1944
During World War II, the two-day Battle of the Philippine Sea began, resulting in a decisive victory for the Americans over the Japanese.
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.
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.
1986
University of Maryland basketball star Len Bias, the first draft pick of the Boston Celtics, suffered a fatal cocaine-induced seizure.
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.
2014
Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California won election as House majority leader as Republicans shuffled their leadership in the wake of Rep. Eric Cantor’s primary defeat in Virginia.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS
Actor Gena Rowlands is 92. Hall of Fame race car driver Shirley Muldowney is 82. Singer Elaine “Spanky” McFarlane (Spanky and Our Gang) is
80. Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi (soo chee) is 77. Author Sir Salman Rushdie is 75. Actor Phylicia Rashad is 74. Rock singer Ann Wilson (Heart) is 72. Musician Larry Dunn is 69. Actor Kathleen Turner is 68. Country singer Doug Stone is
66. Singer Mark “Marty” DeBarge is 63. Singer-dancer-choreographer Paula Abdul is 60. Actor Andy Lauer is 59. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is 58. Rock singer-musician Brian Vander Ark (Verve Pipe) is
58. Actor Samuel West is 56. Actor Mia Sara is 55. TV personality Lara Spencer is 53. Rock musician Brian “Head” Welch is 52. Actor Jean Dujardin is 50.