YEARS AGO FOR JUNE 19

Today is Wednesday, June 19, the 170th day of 2019. There are 195 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1775: George Washington is commissioned by the Continental Congress as commander in chief of the Continental Army.

1865: Union troops arrive in Galveston, Texas, with news that the Civil War is over, and that all remaining slaves in Texas are free – an event celebrated to this day as “Juneteenth.”

1868: “Tales from the Vienna Woods,” a waltz by Johann Strauss “the Younger,” is first performed publicly by Strauss’ orchestra.

1934: The Federal Communications Commission is created; it replaces the Federal Radio Commission.

1944: During World War II, the two-day Battle of the Philippine Sea begins, resulting in a decisive victory for the Americans over the Japanese.

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 New York.

1964: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is approved by the U.S. Senate, 73-27, after surviving a lengthy filibuster.

2006: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warns North Korea it will face consequences if it test-fires a missile thought to be powerful enough to reach the West Coast of the United States.

2017: Otto Warmbier, a 22-year-old American college student, dies in a Cincinnati hospital after his release by North Korea in a coma after more than a year in captivity.

VINDICATOR FILES

1994: Bruce Palmer, a former Youngstown police officer wounded in the line of duty five years ago and a student teacher at Poland Middle School, graduates from Youngstown State University with an education degree.

Moraine State Park in western Pennsylvania is the site of a pioneer program aimed at repopulating Pennsylvania’s inland waters with osprey.

The city of Youngstown has spent $500,000 to purchase property the state will use for a proposed supermax prison on the city’s East Side, but Mayor Patrick Ungaro says the investment will be recovered from income taxes paid during the first year of construction of the facility.

1979: Anchor Motor Freight drivers vote 293 to 76 to remain off the job, risking fines and possible jail terms for violating a federal judge’s back-to-work order. Meanwhile, their spouses are walking the picket line.

Most of the speakers at a House subcommittee’s hearing on inflation held in Youngstown say that President Carter’s wage and price guidelines have been ineffective.

Dolores S. Fitzer, 46, internationally recognized accompanist and chamber orchestra musician, dies in North Side Hospital. She was a member of the Dana School of Music faculty at Youngstown State University for 17 years.

1969: Nicholas A. D’Amato, 54, superintendent of Campbell schools since 1960 and president of the Youngstown Area Community Action Council, dies of kidney failure in Memorial Hospital, New York, after undergoing surgery.

Youngstown City Council approves an $80,000 bond issue for improvements to Youngstown Municipal Airport. A matching amount will be available from federal aviation funds.

1944: William C. Reilly, retired vice president of Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. and known as “The Boss” by thousands of district steel workers, dies at his Tod Avenue home after a long illness.

Fifty-three Mahoning County folks view eastern Ohio from Civil Air Patrol airplanes as rewards for outstanding work in the Fourth War Loan Drive. All were first-time fliers.

Columbiana Valley Golf Course holds its first tournament. First-place winners were V.B. Lee of Poland and Grant Hess and Fritz Filler of Salem.