This Day in History

[DanaC]

1778 – American Revolutionary War: British troops abandon Philadelphia.

One of the courts martial I examined for my thesis was for desertion. The soldier had fallen for a woman in Philadelphia, and couldn't bear to leave when the troops abandoned the city.

[Gravdigr]

June 19

Today is Juneteenth.

Today is also Father's Day (in the U.S.).

1269 – King Louis IX of France orders all Jews found in public without an identifying yellow badge to be fined ten livres of silver.

1586 – English colonists leave Roanoke Island, after failing to establish England's first permanent settlement in North America.

1846 – The first officially recorded, organized baseball game is played under Alexander Cartwright's rules on Hoboken, New Jersey's Elysian Fields with the New York Base Ball Club defeating the Knickerbockers 23–1. Cartwright umpired.

1862 – The U.S. Congress prohibits slavery in United States territories, nullifying Dred Scott v. Sandford.

1865 – Over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, slaves in Galveston, Texas, United States, are finally informed of their freedom. The anniversary is still officially celebrated in Texas and 41 other contiguous states as Juneteenth.

1910 – The first Father's Day is celebrated in Spokane, Washington.

1944 – World War II: First day of the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

1949 -- The first ever NASCAR race was held at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

1953 – Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are executed at Sing Sing, in New York.

1973 - Edgar Winter's US No.1 hit 'Frankenstein' was awarded a Gold record. Winter named the song because of how many cuts and patches were contained in the original studio tape.

1978 – Garfield, holder of the Guinness World Record for the world's most widely syndicated comic strip, makes its debut.

1980 - US singer Donna Summer became the first act to be signed by David Geffen to his new Geffen record label.

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.

2012 – WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange requested asylum in London's Ecuadorian Embassy for fear of extradition to the US after publication of previously classified documents including footage of civilian killings by the US army.

2014 - Gerry Goffin, who penned chart-topping songs with his then-wife Carole King died at the age of 75 in Los Angeles. He wrote dozens of hits over two decades, including 'The Loco-Motion', 'Will You Love Me Tomorrow' and '(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman'. After their divorce in 1968, Goffin continued writing songs, including a hit for Whitney Houston 'Saving All My Love for You' in 1985.

Births

1623 – Blaise Pascal; 1816 – William H. Webb (founder Webb Institute); 1834 – Charles Spurgeon; 1865 – Dame May Whitty; 1877 – Charles Coburn; 1893 – Madeleine Astor (Titanic survivor); 1896 – Wallis Simpson; 1897 – Moe Howard; 1902 – Guy Lombardo; 1903 – Lou Gehrig (39 years later he will be diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, now commonly known in the United States as "Lou Gehrig's Disease"); 1910 – Sydney Allard (Allard Motor Company Limited); 1910 – Abe Fortas; 1914 – Alan Cranston, Lester Flatt; 1921 – Louis Jourdan; 1928 – Nancy Marchand (played Tony Soprano's mother); 1930 – Gena Rowlands; 1938 – Wahoo McDaniel; 1940 – Shirley Muldowney; 1945 – Aung San Suu Kyi; 1947 – Salman Rushdie; 1950 – Ann Wilson (Heart); 1953 – Simon Wright; 1954 – Kathleen Turner; 1956 – Doug Stone; 1957 – Jean Rabe; 1959 – Mark DeBarge; 1962 – Paula Abdul; 1964 – Boris Johnson; 1969 – Lara Spencer; 1972 – Poppy Montgomery, Robin Tunney; 1976 – Scott Avett (The Avett Brothers); 1978 – Zoe Saldana; 1983 – Macklemore

Deaths

1937 – J. M. Barrie; 1953 – Ethel Rosenberg, Julius Rosenberg; 1966 – Ed Wynn; 1975 – Sam Giancana; 1995 – Peter Townsend (no, not that one, he's a 'Townshend'); 2010 – Manute Bol; 2012 – Richard Lynch; 2013 – James Gandolfini; 2013 – Slim Whitman; 2015 – James Salter