Thursday, June 19, 2008
Today is Thursday, June 19, the 171st day of 2008. There are 195 days left in the year. On this date in 1865, Union troops commanded by Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrive in Galveston, Texas, with news that the Civil War is over, and that all remaining slaves in Texas are free. (This event is celebrated as “Juneteenth.”)
In 1862, slavery is outlawed in U.S. territories. In 1910, Father’s Day is celebrated for the first time, in Spokane, Wash. In 1917, during World War I, King George V orders the British royal family to dispense with German titles and surnames; the family takes the name “Windsor.” In 1934, the Federal Communications Commission is created; it replaces the Federal Radio Commission. In 1938, four dozen people are killed when a railroad bridge in Montana collapses, sending a train known as the “Olympian” hurtling into Custer Creek. In 1952, the celebrity-panel game show “I’ve Got A Secret” makes its debut on CBS-TV with Garry Moore as host. In 1953, Julius Rosenberg, 35, and his wife, Ethel, 37, convicted of conspiring to pass U.S. atomic secrets to the Soviet Union, are executed at Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, N.Y. In 1964, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is approved by the Senate, 73-27, after surviving a lengthy filibuster. In 1977, Pope Paul VI proclaims a 19th-century Philadelphia bishop, John Neumann, the first male U.S. saint. In 1986, University of Maryland basketball star Len Bias, the first draft pick of the Boston Celtics, suffers a fatal cocaine-induced seizure.
June 19, 1983: Joseph Christo-pher, president of Girard City Council and foreman of the jury that acquitted Mahoning County Sheriff James A. Traficant Jr. of bribery and tax evasion, says he held his breath when the jury was being polled until juror No. 2, the last hold-out for conviction, reaffirmed her vote to acquit.
Pending any major cutbacks in state funding, Youngstown State University expects a record $52.8 million budget to hold up during the 1983-84 academic year.
General Motors’ J-car, which debuted a year ago as a bust, is turning into a success story. As sales have picked up, so has employment at the Lordstown plant and 5,300 to 5,400 workmen are turning out 6,750 Cavaliers and Pontiac 2000s each week.
June 19, 1968: A runaway car with a 2-year-old who released the emergency brake behind the wheel, drifts down an embankment into Homestead Park, scattering about 100 children before coming to rest against a sandbox where 15 youngsters were playing.
Two Cardinal Mooney and two Boardman high school students remain in contention for major speech titles at the National Forensic League Tournament as it enters its fourth round at Macalester College, St. Paul, Minn.
A 19-year-old New York Avenue youth is charged with eight counts after a wild police chase over the North Side during which he attempted to force a police cruiser off the road.
June 19, 1958: Dr. Howard Jones, president of Youngstown University, turns the first shovel of dirt for the new $14. million science building on Bryson Street.
The annual Youngstown Day at ThistleDown Race Track in Cleveland draws a big crowd, including Mayors Frank X. Kryzan of Youngstown, Michael Kovach of Campbell and Harold Milligan of Struthers.
Youngstown City Council authorizes parking meters in Market Street from the bridge to Princeton Avenue and prohibits all curbside parking on Belmont Avenue from Park Avenue to Gypsy Lane.
June 19, 1933: Thousands of Youngstown children converge on opening day for about 20 city playgrounds. Twenty-seven playground directors are working under the direction of Tommy Pemberton.
Members of the Greater Youngstown Association, B.H. Printz, E.L., McKelvey, C.F. Owsley, C.E. Semple and F.W. Green, urge the city to provide a downtown fire station.
Ensign Burton Davis of Youngstown is summoned to Philadelphia where he will serve on the U.S. Cruiser Indianapolis, which is to carry President Roosevelt in the later days of his vacation.