History of 19 June
1903 – The young school teacher, Benito Mussolini, was placed under investigation by police in Bern, Switzerland.
1910 – The first Father’s Day was celebrated in Spokane, Washington.
1911 – In Pennsylvania, the first motion-picture censorship board was established.
1912 – The U.S. government established the 8-hour work day.
1917 – During World War I, King George V ordered the British royal family to dispense with German titles and surnames.
1933 – France granted Leon Trotsky political asylum.
1934 – The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration was established.
1934 – The U.S. Congress established the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The commission was to regulate radio and TV broadcasting (later).
1937 – The town of Bilbao, Spain, fell to the Nationalist forces.
1939 – In Atlanta, GA, legislation was enacted that disallowed pinball machines in the city.
1942 – Norma Jeane Mortenson (Marilyn Monroe) and her 21-year-old neighbor Jimmy Dougherty were married. They were divorced in June of 1946.
1942 – British Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrived in Washington, DC, to discuss the invasion of North Africa with U.S. President Roosevelt.
1943 – Henry Kissinger became a naturalized United States citizen.
1943 – The National Football League approved the merger of the Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
1944 – The U.S. won the battle of the Philippine Sea against the Imperial Japanese fleet.
1951 – U.S. President Harry S. Truman signed the Universal Military Training and Service Act, which extended Selective Service until July 1, 1955, and lowered the draft age to 18.
1952 – “I’ve Got a Secret” debuted on CBS-TV.
1958 – In Washington, DC, nine entertainers refused to answer a congressional committee’s questions on communism.
1961 – Kuwait regained complete independence from Britain.
1961 – The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a provision in Maryland’s constitution that required state officeholders to profess a belief in God.
1964 – The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was approved after surviving an 83-day filibuster in the U.S. Senate.
1965 – Air Marshall Nguyen Cao Ky became South Vietnam’s youngest premier at age 34.
1968 – 50,000 people marched on Washington, DC. to support the Poor People’s Campaign.
1973 – The Case-Church Amendment prevented further U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia.
1973 – Pete Rose (Cincinnati Reds) got his 2,000th career hit.
1973 – The stage production of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” opened in London.
1973 – Gordie Howe left the NHL to join his sons Mark and Marty in the WHA (World Hockey League).
1978 – Garfield was in newspapers around the U.S. for the first time.
1981 – “Superman II” set the all-time, one-day record for theater box-office receipts when it took in $5.5 million.
1981 – The European Space Agency sent two satellites into orbit from Kourou, French Guiana.
1983 – Lixian-Nian was chosen to be China’s first president since 1969.
1987 – The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Louisiana law that required that schools teach creationism.
1989 – The movie “Batman” premiered.
1997 – William Hague became the youngest leader of Britain’s Conservative party in nearly 200 years.
1998 – Gateway was fined more than $400,000 for illegally shipping personal computers to 16 countries subject to U.S. export controls.
1998 – A study released said that smoking more than doubles risks of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s.
1998 – Switzerland’s three largest banks offered $600 million to settle claims they’d stolen the assets of Holocaust victims during World War II. Jewish leaders called the offer insultingly low.
1999 – Stephen King was struck from behind by a mini-van while walking along a road in Maine.
1999 – The Dallas Stars won their first NHL Stanley Cup by defeating the Buffalo Sabres in the third overtime of game six.
2000 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a group prayer led by students at public-school football games violated the 1st Amendment’s principle that called for the separation of church and state.
2007 – The al-Khilani Mosque bombing in Baghdad leaves 78 people dead and another 218 injured.
2009 – Mass riots involving over 10,000 people and 10,000 police officers break out in Shishou, China, over the dubious circumstances surrounding the death of a local chef.
2009 – War in North-West Pakistan: The Pakistani Armed Forces open Operation Rah-e-Nijat against the Taliban and other Islamist rebels in the South Waziristan area of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
2012 – WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange requested asylum in London’s Ecuadorian Embassy for fear of extradition to the US after the publication of previously classified documents including footage of civilian killings by the US army.
2018 – The 10,000,000th United States Patent is issued.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Mohammed Al-Khuwalidi, Saudi Arabian long jumper
- 1981 – Moss Burmester, New Zealand swimmer
- 1982 – Alexander Frolov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1982 – Chris Vermeulen, Australian motorcycle racer
- 1983 – Macklemore, American rapper
- 1983 – Aidan Turner, Irish actor
- 1984 – Paul Dano, American actor
- 1984 – Wieke Dijkstra, Dutch field hockey player
- 1985 – Ai Miyazato, Japanese golfer
- 1985 – José Ernesto Sosa, the Argentinian footballer
- 1985 – Dire Tune, Ethiopian runner
- 1986 – Aoiyama Kosuke, Bulgarian sumo wrestler
- 1986 – Lázaro Borges, Cuban pole vaulter
- 1986 – Diego Hypólito, Brazilian gymnast
- 1986 – Marvin Williams, American basketball player
- 1987 – Rashard Mendenhall, American football player
- 1988 – Jacob deGrom, American baseball player
- 1990 – Moa Hjelmer, Swedish sprinter
- 1990 – Xavier Rhodes, American football player
- 1992 – C. J. Mosley, American football player