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, 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.

1934 – The Communications Act of 1934 establishes the United States' Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

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

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

1961 – Kuwait declares independence from the United Kingdom.

1964 – The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is approved after surviving an 83-day filibuster in the United States Senate.

1990 – The current international law defending indigenous peoples, Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989, is ratified for the first time by Norway.

1991 – The last Soviet army units in Hungary are withdrawn.

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.

2018 – The 10,000,000th United States Patent is issued.

and if today is your birthday, Happy Birthday To You! You get to celebrate with…

1861 – José Rizal, Filipino journalist, author, and poet (d. 1896)

1896 – Wallis Simpson, American wife of Edward VIII (d. 1986)

1897 – Moe Howard, American comedian (d. 1975)

1902 – Guy Lombardo, Canadian-American violinist and bandleader (d. 1977)

1903 – Lou Gehrig, American baseball player (d. 1941)

1914 – Alan Cranston, American journalist and politician (d. 2000)

1914 – Lester Flatt, American bluegrass singer-songwriter, guitarist, and mandolin player (d. 1979)

1917 – Joshua Nkomo, Zimbabwean guerrilla leader and politician, Vice President of Zimbabwe (d. 1999)

1919 – Pauline Kael, American film critic (d. 2001)

1928 – Nancy Marchand, American actress (d. 2000)

1945 – Radovan Karadžić, Serbian-Bosnian politician and convicted war criminal, 1st President of Republika Srpska

1945 – Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese politician, Nobel Prize laureate

1945 – Tobias Wolff, American short story writer, memoirist, and novelist

1947 – Salman Rushdie, Indian-English novelist and essayist

1948 – Nick Drake, English singer-songwriter (d. 1974)

1948 – Phylicia Rashad, American actress

1950 – Ann Wilson, American singer-songwriter and musician

1962 – Paula Abdul, American singer-songwriter, dancer, actress, and presenter

1963 – Laura Ingraham, American radio host and author

1978 – Zoe Saldana, American actress

1983 – Macklemore, American rapper

Almanac - Friday 6/19/20

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