THIS DAY IN HISTORY

[IceWizard]

Abolition of slavery announced
in Texas on "Juneteenth"







1865
June 19



In what is now known as Juneteenth, on June 19, 1865, Union soldiers arrive in
Galveston, Texas with news that the Civil War is over and slavery in the United States
is abolished.

A mix of June and 19th, Juneteenth has become a day to commemorate the end of
slavery in America. Despite the fact that President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation
Proclamation was issued more than two years earlier on January 1, 1863, a lack of
Union troops in the rebel state of Texas made the order difficult to enforce.

Some historians blame the lapse in time on poor communication in that era, while
others believe Texan slave-owners purposely withheld the information.

Upon arrival and leading the Union soldiers, Major Gen. Gordon Granger announced
General Order No. 3: "The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a
proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves
an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters
and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between
employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present
homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect
at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere."

On that day, 250,000 enslaved people were freed, and despite the message to stay and
work for their owners, many left the state immediately and headed north or to nearby
states in search of family members who had been taken to other regions during slavery.

For many African Americans, June 19 is considered an independence day. Before 2021,
nearly all 50 states recognized Juneteenth as a state holiday. On June 17, 2021,
President Biden signed legislation officially declaring it a federal holiday.





ALSO ON THIS DAY



CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
1968
“Solidarity Day” rally at Resurrection City

On June 19, 1968, a long-term anti-poverty demonstration known as
Resurrection City reaches its high-water mark. On “Solidarity Day,”
over 50,000 people flock to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
to protest, sing, hear speeches and demonstrate on behalf of national ... read more





CRIME
1982
Vincent Chin is murdered

Chinese American Vincent Chin, 27, is beaten in the head with a baseball
bat by two white autoworkers in Detroit on June 19, 1982. Chin died in a
hospital four days later, on June 23.  During his bachelor party at a club
on the night of June 19, Chin and three friends were ... read more





21ST CENTURY
2006
Construction on Global Seed Vault begins

On June 15, 2006, on the remote island of Spitsbergen halfway between
mainland Norway and the North Pole, the prime ministers of Norway,
Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland lay the ceremonial first stone
of the Global Seed Vault. The vault, which now has the capacity to hold ... read more





21ST CENTURY
2014
Felipe VI becomes king of Spain after
Juan Carlos I abdicates

When the clock struck midnight on June 19, 2014, King Juan Carlos I of Spain’s
nearly 40-year reign came to an end. Two weeks after abdicating the Spanish
throne amidst sagging approval ratings, Juan Carlos symbolically removed
his red sash—signifying his status as leader of the ... read more





ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
2013
James Gandolfini, TV’s Tony Soprano, dies at 51

On June 19, 2013, James Gandolfini, the actor best known for his role as
New Jersey crime boss Tony Soprano on the TV series “The Sopranos,”
which debuted in 1999 and ran for six seasons, dies of a heart attack
while vacationing in Rome, Italy. He was 51. The son of working-class ... read more





19TH CENTURY
1867
Emperor of Mexico executed

Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, installed as emperor of Mexico by
French Emperor Napoleon III in 1864, is executed on the orders of
Benito Juarez, the president of the Mexican Republic. In 1861, the liberal
Mexican Benito Juarez became president of a country in financial ... read more





US POLITICS
1856
First Republican national convention ends

In Music Fund Hall in Philadelphia, the first national convention of the
Republican Party, founded two years before, comes to its conclusion.
John Charles Fremont of California, the famous explorer of the West,
was nominated for the presidency, and William Lewis Dayton of New ... read more





COLD WAR
1953
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg executed for espionage

On June 19, 1953, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were convicted of
conspiring to pass U.S. atomic secrets to the Soviets, are executed at
Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, New York. Both refused to admit any
wrongdoing and proclaimed their innocence right up to the time of their ... read more





WORLD WAR II
1944
United States scores major victory against
Japanese in Battle of the Philippine Sea

On June 19, 1944, in what would become known as the “Marianas Turkey Shoot,”
U.S. carrier-based fighters decimate the Japanese Fleet with only a minimum
of losses in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. The security of the Marianas Islands,
in the western Pacific, were vital to ... read more


WESTWARD EXPANSION
1868
Father De Smet talks peace with Sitting Bull

Attempting to convince local Native Americans to make peace with the United States,
the Jesuit missionary Pierre-Jean De Smet meets with the Sioux leader Sitting Bull
in present-day Montana. A native of Belgium, De Smet came to the United States
in 1821 at the age of 20. He ... read more


ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1971
Carole King has her first #1 hit as a performer

Carole King began her career in music as a young newlywed and college
graduate, working a 9-to-5 shift alongside her then-husband, Gerry Goffin,
in Don Kirshner’s songwriting factory, Aldon Music. It was there, working in
a cubicle with a piano, staff paper and tape recorder that ... read more





ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1905
First nickelodeon opens

On June 19, 1905, some 450 people attend the opening day of the world’s
first nickelodeon, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and developed by
the showman Harry Davis. The storefront theater boasted 96 seats and
charged each patron five cents. Nickelodeons (named for a ... read more





CRIME
1892
A bloody fingerprint elicits a mother’s
evil tale in Argentina

Francesca Rojas’ two young children are killed in their home in the small
town of Necochea, Argentina. According to Rojas, a man named Velasquez
had threatened her when she rejected his sexual advances earlier in the
day. Upon returning home later, Rojas claimed to have seen ... read more


CIVIL WAR
1864
USS Kearsarge sinks CSS Alabama

The most successful and feared Confederate commerce raider of the war,
the CSS Alabama, sinks after a spectacular battle off the coast of France
with the USS Kearsarge. Built in an English shipyard and sold to the
Confederates in 1861, the Alabama was a state-of-the-art ship—220 ... read more


INVENTIONS & SCIENCE
2005
Controversy at U.S. Grand Prix

After 14 Formula One race car drivers withdraw due to safety concerns
over the Michelin-made tires on their vehicles, German driver Michael
Schumacher wins a less-than-satisfying victory at the United States Grand
Prix on June 19, 2005. The race, held at the Indianapolis Motor ... read more





WORLD WAR I
1917
Britain’s King George V changes royal surname

On June 19, 1917, during the third year of World War I, Britain’s King
George V orders the British royal family to dispense with the use of
German titles and surnames, changing the surname of his own family,
the decidedly Germanic Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, to Windsor.
The second son of ... read more