June 19th is

Garfield the Cat Day *

National Watch Day

World Sickle Cell Day *

National Martini Day

Sauntering Day *

International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict *

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MORE! Laura Hobson, Abe Fortas and Merata Mita, click

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WORLD FESTIVALS AND NATIONAL HOLIDAYS

Indonesia – Denpasar City, Bali:
Bali Arts Festival (through July 15)

Chile – Punta Arenas:
Carnaval de Invierno (Winter Carnaval)

Hungary – Day of Independence

Palawan – Feast of the Forest

Trinidad and Tobago – Labour Day

Uruguay – José Artigas Day & Día del Nunca Más
(“nation’s father”Never Again Day – military dictatorship end)

United States – Texas: Juneteenth
(1865 – news of abolition of slavery reaches slaves in Texas)

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On This Day in HISTORY

325 – The original Nicene Creed was presented at the First Council of Nicaea, convened by Roman Emperor Constantine I

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

1306 – The English Earl of Pembroke’s army attacks in the middle of the night, and defeats Robert the Bruce’s Scottish army at the Battle of Methven, west of Perth

Robert the Bruce

1464 – French King Louis XI restricts the postal service of the University of Paris, and takes charge of their post stations, intending to reserve the post system for the use of the State only, but private correspondence gradually begins to be carried, although it is opened and read to prevent the spread of unauthorized ideas

1586 – Ralph Lane, the first English colonists’ leader at Roanoke Island, N.C., decides after several set-backs, including a three-day hurricane, to load his men aboard ships in Sir Francis Drake’s fleet, which arrived at Roanoke earlier in June, returning to England

1588 – The Spanish Armada is damaged in a storm at Coruna

1595 – Hargobind born, the sixth Nanak, one of the ten Gurus of the Sikh religion

1623 – Blaise Pascal born, French mathematician, physicist and religious philosopher

1764 – José Gervasio Artigas Arnal born, national hero of Uruguay, often called the father of Uruguayan nationhood. The outbreak in Spain of the Peninsular War (1807-1814) and the capture by the French of King Ferdinand VII sparked political unrest across the Spanish Empire, and the Spanish American wars of independence between rebels and royalists began. Artigas thought the gauchos had been treated unfairly, and he became a leader of the rebellion in 1810, beginning at the Banda Oriental del Uruguay (eastern bank of the Uruguay River, territories that were north of the Rio de la Plata, which would become the nation of Uruguay) 

1783 – Thomas Sully born, American portrait painter

The Coleman Sisters, 1844, by Thomas Sully

1816 – William Henry Webb born, American naval architect and shipbuilder

Clipper Challenger, designed by William Henry Webb

1833 – Mary Tenney Gray born, American suffragist, editorial writer, club-woman, and philanthropist; she was on the editorial staff of the New York Teacher, the Leavenworth Home Record (dedicated to the welfare and elevation of women), and the Kansas Farmer, and was a contributor or correspondent to leading magazines and newspapers in Kansas; in 1859, she lobbied for voting rights for women to be included in the state constitution at the Wyandotte Convention, but was unsuccessful; became a leader in women’s clubs formed for art, education, literary and philanthropic purposes, and was a co-founder and first president of the Social Science Club of Kansas and Western Missouri, which was a state-wide association of most of the local clubs in the area, the first of its kind in what was then the West, holding conventions where women could hear speakers and combine the efforts of their organizations; she read papers at the conventions, and at many other state gatherings, such as her paper, “Women and Kansas City’s Development.”  After her death, the Kansas Federation of Women’s Clubs dedicated a monument to her memory in Kansas City

1843 – Mary Sibbet Copley Thaw born, American philanthropist and charity worker who funded archaeology research, including supporting the work of women archaeologists like Alice Fletcher and Zelia Nuttall; founded the Thaw Fellowship at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard

1856 – Elbert Hubbard born, American editor-publisher and author; founder of the Roycroft artisan community, influential in the American Arts and Crafts Movement

1856 – Elisabeth Marbury born, pioneering American theatrical and literary agent whose clients included Oscar Wilde, James M. Barrie, George Bernard Shaw, Edmond Rostand, dancers Vernon and Irene Castle, and children’s author Frances Hodgson Burnett (The Secret Garden)

1862 – U.S. Congress enacts legislation emancipating slaves in the territories and banning slavery there hereafter

1867 – The first running of the Belmont Stakes, at Jerome Park in the Bronx, at a mile and five furlongs, was won by a filly named Ruthless ridden by Gilbert Patrick, later inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame. He was still winning races at age 67, but died of pneumonia at age 70

1881 – Maginel Wright Enright born, American graphic artist, and children’s author and illustrator, who illustrated some of L. Frank Baum’s earliest books, well before his Ozseries, which he often wrote under pen names, she also designed high-fashion shoes for Capezio, and covers for magazines like McClure’s and Ladies’ Home Journal

Women’s World, Midsummer 1921 cover, by Maginel Wright Enright

1883 – Gladys Mills Phipps born, American thoroughbred racehorse owner-breeder,  founder of the Phipps family horseracing dynasty, dubbed “First Lady of the Turf”

1885 – Adela Pankhurst born, British suffragette, daughter of Emmeline Pankhurst, head of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU); after she moved to Australia in 1913, she broke with her mother’s policy of supporting the WWI British war effort, and made anti-war and anti-conscription speeches

1900 – Laura Hobson born, American novelist and short story writer; best known for her novel Gentleman’s Agreement

1902 – Guy Lombardo born in Canada, American band leader; “Mr. New Year’s Eve”

1903 – Mary Callery born, American artist known for her Modern and Abstract Expressionist sculpture; part of the New York art movement from the 1940s through the 1960s; also a collector in 1930s Paris of work by Picasso, Duchamps, Alexander Calder,  Matisse and other leading artists; commissioned in the 1960s to create a sculpture for the top of the proscenium arch at the Met (Metropolitan Opera House) in Manhattan

Mary Callery sculpture for the Metropolitan Opera House

1910 – Paul Flory born, American chemist, 1974 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

1910 – In Spokane, Washington, Father’s Day is celebrated for the first time 

1910 – Abe Fortas born, American lawyer; Supreme Court justice (1965-1969)

1912 – The Federal Public Works Act of 1912 is passed, making the 8-hour work day standard on federal government projects

1917 – During WWI, King George V changes the British royal family’s German surname, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, to Windsor

1917 – Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo born, trade-unionist, Rhodesian black nationalist, and Zimbabwean (formerly British Rhodesia) politician. Nkomo received some of his education in South Africa (1945-1947), where he met Nelson Mandela and other South African anti-apartheid leaders. He became president of the National Democratic Party (1960). When the white Rhodesian government banned the NDP, Nkomo was jailed (1964-1974). He was also the founder and leader of the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU). He served as Vice President of Zimbabwe (1987-1999) until his death from cancer at age 82

1919 – Pauline Kael born, influential American film critic for The New Yorker magazine (1968-1991)

1922 – Marilyn P. Johnson born, U.S. career diplomat; after serving in the U.S. Navy during WWII, she taught English as a foreign language in schools in Cameroon and Mali; joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1964, and worked in Bamako, Mali, Tunis, Tunisia and Niger in cultural affairs and public affairs; Deputy Assistant Director of the Information Centers Program (1971-1974); after two years learning Russian, she was assigned as the cultural affairs officer in Moscow (1976-1978); U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Togo (1978-1981)

1926 – Erna Schneider Hoover born, American mathematician and inventor; she invented a computerized telephone switching method which revolutionized modern communication, by monitored call traffic centers and prioritizing tasks, preventing system overloads during peak calling times. Working at Bell Laboratories for over 32 years, Hoover was an important pioneer for women in the field of computer technology. A graduate with honors from Wellesley College in 1948, she earned a PhD from Yale University in philosophy and foundations of mathematics in 1951. Hoover was a professor at Swarthmore College (1951-1954), but was unable to win a tenure-track position, probably because she became a married woman in 1953. Her husband, Charles Wilson Hoover Jr. was very supportive of her career aspirations. In 1954, she became a senior technical associate at Bell Labs, and was promoted in 1956. At this time, switching systems were moving from electronic to computer-based technologies. Hoover was able to use her knowledge of symbolic logic and feedback theory to develop the Stored Program Control System, which programmed the call center mechanisms to use data about incoming calls to impose order on the whole system, giving priority to input and output processes over less urgent processes like record keeping and billing. The idea came to her in the hospital after she gave birth to her second daughter. The Bell Lab Lawyers handling the patent had to go to her house so she could sign the papers while she was on maternity leave  

1934 – The Federal Communications Commission is created

1940 – Shirley Muldowney born, American race car driver; first woman licensed by the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) to drive a Top Fuel Dragster; first 3-time winner of Top Fuel titles (1977, 1980 and 1982)

1942 – Merata Mita born, New Zealand filmmaker and key figure in the growth of the Māori film industry; first Māori woman to solely write and direct a dramatic feature film, Mauri, in 1988, after making the landmark documentary films Bastion Point: Day 507 in 1980, and Patu! in 1983

1945 – Aung San Sun Kyi born, Burmese politician and activist, Chair of the National League for Democracy, recipient of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, and the Nobel Peace Prize

1952 – The game show I’ve Got A Secret debuts on CBS-TV

1954 – Kathleen Turner born, American film and stage actress and director, feminist and social justice and human rights activist; winner of two Golden Globes and nominated for an Academy Award and twice for Tony Awards. Her very busy career as an actress was drastically impacted in the 1990s by rheumatoid arthritis, which became so severe she could barely walk. The medication used to treat the disease altered her appearance, but the disease continued to progress for eight years before new treatments became available, which put her arthritis into remission. Turner has been an active supporter of Planned Parenthood since the early 1970s, serves on the board of People for the American Way, and volunteers for Amnesty International and Citymeals-on-Wheels. She has also worked to raise awareness of rheumatoid arthritis

1955 – Mary Schapiro born, first woman permanent appointment as Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC, 2009-2012); Chair and CEO of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA, 2006-2009); National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD, 1996-2005); Chair of Commodity Futures Trading Commission (1994-1996)

1957 – Anna Lindh born, Swedish Social Democratic politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs (1998-2003); Chair of the Council of the European Union (2001); Minister for the Environment (1994-1996); Member of the Riksdag (Parliament, 1982-1985 and 1998-2003). Lindh was assassinated in September 2003, stabbed to death by a man born in Sweden to Serbian parents, who was found to be mentally ill

1957 – Jean Rabe born, American author of scifi and fantasy tie-in books and stories for games and movies, such as Dragonlance, and Star Wars; editor of numerous science fiction anthologies

1961 – U.S. Supreme Court strikes down a provision in Maryland’s constitution requiring state officeholders to profess a belief in God

1962 – Nat “King” Cole records “Ramblin’ Rose

1964 – The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is approved after surviving an 83-day filibuster on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Never before had the Senate been able to muster enough votes to cut off a filibuster on a civil rights bill. And only five times in the 47 years since the cloture rule was established had the Senate agreed to cloture for any measure

1965 – Sadie Frost born, English stage and film actress and film producer; founder of  Blonde to Black Pictures

1978 – The first appearance of Garfield the Cat * – in the comic strip by Jim Davis

1979 – Sauntering Day * is created by W.T. Rabe in response to the jogging craze; a reminder to slow down – as Henry David Thoreau said, “It is a great art to saunter”

1987 – U.S. Supreme Court declares unconstitutional a Louisiana law requiring any public school teaching the theory of evolution to teach creation science as well

1993 – Rod Stewart’s “Have I Told You Lately” is #1 on the charts

2000 – U.S Supreme Court, in a 6-3 ruling, bars officials from letting students lead stadium crowds in prayer before football games

2008 – Democrat Barack Obama announces he will bypass public financing for the presidential election, even though Republican John McCain was accepting it

2008 – The first World Sickle Cell Day * is established by the UN General Assembly to raise awareness of the disease and its cure

2012 – Julian Assange of Wikileaks is granted asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London after he is wanted for questioning in Sweden for four alleged sexual offenses, including rape; Swedish prosecutors dropped their investigation in May 2017, but Assange stayed in the Ecuadorian embassy until 2019, when he was forcibly removed under arrest after Ecuador revoked his political asylum and invited Metropolitan police officers inside their Knightsbridge premises

2015 – International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict * is proclaimed by the UN General Assembly, commemorating the adoption in 2008 of Resolution 1820, “to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls, including by ending impunity and by ensuring the protection of civilians, in particular women and girls, during and after armed conflicts, in accordance with the obligations States have undertaken under international humanitarian law and international human rights law”

2018 – The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issues its 10,000,000th patent

2019 – Joy Harjo, Muscogee Creek Nation poet, author and musician, is named as the U.S. Library of Congress 2019-2020 Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry. She is the first Native American to be named as U.S. Poet Laureate

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