Today is Friday June 19, 2015 193 day of 2015, 172 remaining Sunrise: 5:47 a.m. Sunset: 8:34 p.m. 14 hours and 46 minutes of daylight today Moonrise: 8:58 a.m. Moonset: 10:53 p.m. Special Celebrations today: Today is : Dry Martini Day and World Sauntering DAy on this day in.... 0240 BC - Eratosthenes estimated the circumference of the Earth using two sticks. 1586 - English colonists sailed away from Roanoke Island, NC, after failing to establish England's first permanent settlement in America. 1778 - U.S. General George Washington's troops finally left Valley Forge after a winter of training. 1821 - The Ottomans defeated the Greeks at the Battle of Dragasani. 1846 - The New York Knickerbocker Club played the New York Club in the first baseball game at the Elysian Field, Hoboken, NJ. It was the first organized baseball game. 1862 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln outlined his Emancipation Proclamation, which outlawed slavery in U.S. territories. 1864 - The USS Kearsarge sank the CSS Alabama off of Cherbourg, France. 1865 - The emancipation of slaves was proclaimed in Texas. 1867 - In New York, the Belmont Stakes was run for the first time. 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. If today is your birthday you share it with: Guy Lombardo Lou Geherig Salman Rushdie Phylicia Rashad Kathleen Turner Paula Abdul Tags: Daily Almanac/tides
Daily Almanac: June 19, 2015
