Historical Events on Thursday, 19th June

19/06/2020

Animal rights advocate Regan Russell is run over and killed by a transport truck outside of a pig slaughterhouse in Burlington, Ontario.

On June 19, 2020, 65-year-old Canadian animal rights activist and protester Regan Russell was run over and killed by the driver of a livestock transport truck after a demonstration outside Sofina Foods Inc. subsidiary Fearman's Pork Inc., a pig slaughterhouse in Burlington, Ontario. The driver of the truck was convicted of careless driving causing death.

---

19/06/2018

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

A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time, in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention. In most countries, patent rights fall under private law and the patent holder must sue someone infringing the patent in order to enforce their rights.

---

Antwon Rose II is fatally shot in East Pittsburgh by East Pittsburgh Police Officer Michael Rosfeld after being involved in a near-fatal drive-by shooting.

Antwon Rose II was a 17-year-old African-American who was fatally shot in East Pittsburgh on June 19, 2018, by police officer Michael Rosfeld after being suspected of attempted murder by participating in a drive-by shooting. According to the police report, Rose had an empty handgun magazine in his pocket and gunshot residue on his hand. Allegheny County Medical Examiner Daniel Wolfe said the residue was likely the result of Rose firing a gun. He was transported to UPMC McKeesport where he was later declared deceased.

---

19/06/2012

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange requests 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; he will remain there until 2019.

WikiLeaks is a non-profit media organisation and publisher of leaked documents. It is funded by donations and media partnerships. It has published classified documents and other media provided by anonymous sources. It was founded in 2006 by Julian Assange. Kristinn Hrafnsson is its editor-in-chief. Its website states that it has released more than ten million documents and associated analyses. WikiLeaks' most recent publication of original documents was in 2019 and its most recent publication was in 2021. From November 2022, numerous documents on the organisation's website became inaccessible. In 2023, Assange said that WikiLeaks is no longer able to publish due to his imprisonment and the effect that US government surveillance and WikiLeaks' funding restrictions were having on potential whistleblowers.

---

19/06/2009

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.

The Shishou Incident was a popular protest and riot in the city of Shishou, Hubei Province, in central China between June 19–21, 2009. The protests were the result of dubious circumstances surrounding the death of 24-year-old chef Tu Yuangao (涂遠高) of the local Yonglong Hotel (永隆大酒店).

---

War in North-West Pakistan: The Pakistani Armed Forces open Operation Rah-e-Nijat against the Taliban and other Islamist rebels in the South Waziristan area of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

Since 2004, an ongoing insurgency has being fought in the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by Islamist militant groups such as the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Jundallah, Lashkar-e-Islam (LeI), the Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM), Al-Qaeda, and their Central Asian allies such as the Islamic State – Khorasan Province (ISKP), Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, East Turkistan Movement, Emirate of Caucasus, and elements of organised crime. Before being transformed into an insurgency in 2017, the conflict was a war.

---

19/06/2007

The al-Khilani Mosque bombing in Baghdad leaves 78 people dead and another 218 injured.

The al-Khilani mosque bombing occurred on 19 June 2007 when a truck bomb exploded in front of the Shia Al-Khilani Mosque in Baghdad, Iraq. At least 78 people were killed and another 218 injured in the blast. The explosion occurred just two days after a four-day curfew banning vehicle movement in the city was lifted after the al-Askari Mosque bombing (2007), and just hours after 10,000 US troops began the Arrowhead Ripper offensive to the north of Baghdad. Because the site was a Shia mosque, the bombing is presumed to have been the work of Sunnis. The Sinak area where the explosion took place was also the targeted by a suicide car bomber on 28 May 2007, which resulted in 21 deaths.

---

19/06/2005

Following a series of Michelin tire failures during the United States Grand Prix weekend at Indianapolis, and without an agreement being reached, 14 cars from seven teams in Michelin tires withdrew after completing the formation lap, leaving only six cars from three teams on Bridgestone tires to race.

Compagnie Générale des Établissements Michelin SCA, commonly referred to as Michelin, is a French multinational tyre manufacturer based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes région of France.

---

19/06/1991

The last Soviet army units in Hungary are withdrawn.

The Southern Group of Forces (YUGV) was a Soviet Armed Forces formation formed twice following the Second World War, most notably around the time of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.

---

19/06/1990

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

The Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 is an International Labour Organization Convention, also known as ILO Convention 169, or C169. It is the major binding international convention concerning Indigenous peoples and tribal peoples, and a forerunner of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

---

The Communist Party of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic is founded in Moscow.

The Communist Party of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, was a communist political party in the Russian SFSR. The Communist Party of the Russian SFSR was founded in 1990. At this point, the Communist Party of the Russian SFSR being the republican branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, organized around 58% of the total Communist Party membership. Politically, it became a centre for communist opponents of Gorbachev's leadership.

---

19/06/1988

Pope John Paul II canonizes 117 Vietnamese Martyrs.

Pope John Paul II was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death in 2005. He was the first non-Italian pope since Adrian VI in the 16th century, as well as the third-longest-serving pope in history, after St. Peter and Pius IX.

---

19/06/1987

Basque separatist group ETA commits one of its most violent attacks, in which a bomb is set off in a supermarket, Hipercor, killing 21 and injuring 45.

ETA, an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, was an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization active in Spain and France between 1959 and 2018. It was founded in 1959, during Francoist Spain, by a group of Basque nationalist students seeking to promote Basque identity and independence. Over time, ETA evolved into a clandestine paramilitary group that conducted a campaign of assassinations, bombings, and kidnappings primarily in Spain, particularly in the Basque Country and surrounding regions. ETA was considered the main organization of the Basque National Liberation Movement and played a central role in the Basque armed conflict, in which more than 850 people were killed, 2,600 were wounded, and nearly 90 were kidnapped. The group announced a definitive end to its armed activity in 2011 and formally dissolved in 2018.

---

Aeroflot Flight N-528 crashes at Berdiansk Airport in present-day Ukraine, killing eight people.

Aeroflot Flight N-528 was a regular commercial flight from Odesa to Berdyansk that crashed at 11:22 local time while attempting to land in poor weather conditions.

---

19/06/1985

Members of the Revolutionary Party of Central American Workers, dressed as Salvadoran soldiers, attack the Zona Rosa area of San Salvador.

The Revolutionary Party of Central American Workers was a political party in Central America.

---

19/06/1982

The People's Armed Police is de facto founded; It is officially established 10 months later on April 5, 1983

The People's Armed Police Force, abbreviated PAP, is a Chinese paramilitary organization primarily responsible for internal security, riot control, counter-terrorism, disaster response, law enforcement and maritime rights protection as well as providing support to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) during wartime.

---

19/06/1978

Garfield's first comic strip, originally published locally as Jon in 1976, goes into nationwide syndication.

Garfield is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis. Originally published locally as Jon in 1976, then in nationwide syndication from 1978, it chronicles the life of the title character Garfield the cat, Odie the dog, and their owner Jon Arbuckle. As of 2013, it was syndicated in roughly 2,580 newspapers and journals; the comic held the Guinness World Record for being the world's most widely syndicated comic strip.

---

19/06/1965

Nguyễn Cao Kỳ becomes Prime Minister of South Vietnam at the head of a military junta; General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu becomes the figurehead chief of state.

Nguyễn Cao Kỳ was a South Vietnamese military officer and politician who served as the chief of the Republic of Vietnam Air Force in the 1960s, before leading the nation as the prime minister of South Vietnam in a military junta from 1965 to 1967. Then, until his retirement from politics in 1971, he served as vice president to bitter rival General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, in a nominally civilian administration.

---

19/06/1964

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

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a landmark civil rights and labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requirements, racial segregation in schools and public accommodations, and employment discrimination. The act is considered one of the most significant legislative achievements in American history.

---

19/06/1961

Kuwait declares independence from the United Kingdom.

Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia. With a coastline of approximately 500 km (311 mi), it is situated at the head of the Persian Gulf in the northeastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, bordering Iraq to the north and Saudi Arabia to the south. Kuwait is geographically the closest Gulf country to mainland Iran. The country is a small city-state; most of the population reside in the urban agglomeration of Kuwait City, the capital and largest city. As of 2024, Kuwait has a population of 4.82 million, of which 1.53 million are Kuwaiti citizens while the remaining 3.29 million are foreign nationals from over 100 countries. In 2024, Kuwait had the world's seventh largest number of foreign nationals as a percentage of the population, where its citizens make up fewer than 30% of the overall population.

---

19/06/1960

Charlotte Motor Speedway holds its first NASCAR race, the inaugural World 600.

Charlotte Motor Speedway is a 1.500 mi (2.414 km) quad-oval intermediate speedway in Concord, North Carolina. It has hosted various major races since its inaugural season of racing in 1960, including NASCAR, IndyCar, and IMSA SportsCar Championship races. The facility is owned by Speedway Motorsports, LLC (SMI), with Greg Walter serving as its general manager.

---

19/06/1953

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

The Cold War was a period of international geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc. It began in the aftermath of the Second World War and ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The term cold war is used because there was no direct fighting between the two superpowers, though each supported opposing sides in regional conflicts known as proxy wars. In addition to the struggle for ideological and economic influence and an arms race in both conventional and nuclear weapons, the Cold War was expressed through technological rivalries such as the Space Race, espionage, propaganda campaigns, embargoes, and sports diplomacy.

---

19/06/1947

Pan Am Flight 121 crashes in the Syrian Desert near Mayadin, Syria, killing 15 and injuring 21.

Pan Am Flight 121 was a scheduled Pan American World Airways flight from Karachi to Istanbul. On the evening of 18 June 1947, the Lockheed L-049 Constellation serving the flight, known as the Clipper Eclipse, suffered an engine failure. This led to the overheating of the remaining engines until one caught fire, which spread to the aircraft. The heat from burning magnesium parts separated the engine from the aircraft, leaving it unable to maintain altitude. Early in the morning of 19 June 1947 the plane crashed in the Syrian desert 4 miles from the town of Mayadin. Fifteen people were killed, including 7 crew and 8 passengers. The three surviving crew members were third officer Gene Roddenberry, the chief purser, and one flight attendant. After rescuing passengers from the burning wreckage, Roddenberry took control as the ranking flight officer and organized scout parties to find aid. By midday, the Syrian Army took the survivors to the hospital at Deir ez-Zor. The majority returned to the United States quickly while Roddenberry remained in Syria for two weeks to answer questions about the crash from the local government.

---

19/06/1945

The Smoke Tragedy left 355 workers dead in the underground copper mine of El Teniente, Chile.

The 1945 El Teniente mining accident, known locally as the Smoke Tragedy, is the largest mining accident in metal extraction in the history of Chile and, as of 2005, worldwide. It happened on June 19, 1945, in Chile's El Teniente mine in the Andes, which belonged to Braden Copper Company, a subsidiary of Kennecott Copper Corporation, both of the United States. A total of 355 men died, largely because of a nearby fire whose smoke trapped the workers in tunnels and resulted in carbon monoxide poisoning. Another 747 men were injured by the smoke.

---

19/06/1943

The Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL merge for one season due to player shortages caused by World War II.

The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays its home games at Lincoln Financial Field in the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. The franchise was established in 1933 as a replacement for the bankrupt Frankford Yellow Jackets when a group led by Bert Bell secured the rights to an NFL franchise in Philadelphia. Since their formation, the Eagles have appeared in the playoffs 32 times, won 17 division titles, appeared in four pre-merger NFL Championship Games, winning three of them, and appeared in five Super Bowls, winning Super Bowls LII and LIX.

---

19/06/1934

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

The Communications Act of 1934 is a United States federal law signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 19, 1934, and codified as Chapter 5 of Title 47 of the United States Code, 47 U.S.C. § 151 et seq. The act replaced the Federal Radio Commission with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). It also transferred regulation of interstate telephone services from the Interstate Commerce Commission to the FCC.

---

19/06/1921

The village of Knockcroghery, Ireland, is burned by British forces.

Knockcroghery is a village and townland in County Roscommon, Ireland. It is located on the N61 road between Athlone and Roscommon town, near Lough Ree on the River Shannon. The townland of Knockcroghery is in the civil parish of Killinvoy and the historical barony of Athlone North.

---

19/06/1913

Natives Land Act, 1913 in South Africa implemented.

The Natives Land Act, 1913 was an Act of the Parliament of South Africa that was aimed at regulating the acquisition of land. It largely prohibited the sale of land from whites to blacks and vice-versa.

---

19/06/1910

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

Father's Day is a day set aside for honoring one's father, as well as fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society. "Father's Day" complements similar celebrations honoring family members, such as Mother's Day and, in some countries, Siblings Day, and Grandparents' Day. The day is held on various dates across the world, and different regions maintain their own traditions of honoring fatherhood.

---

19/06/1903

Benito Mussolini, at the time a radical Socialist, is arrested by Bern police for advocating a violent general strike.

Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician, journalist, and dictator who led Italy as Il Duce from 1922 until his overthrow in 1943. He founded the fascist movement in 1919, with the creation of the Fasci Italiani di Combattimento, which became the National Fascist Party (PNF) in 1921. Mussolini was appointed Prime Minister of Italy after the March on Rome in 1922, establishing a totalitarian dictatorship. He oversaw Italy's participation in World War II as an ally of Nazi Germany, and was summarily executed near the end of the war in 1945.

---

19/06/1875

The Herzegovinian rebellion against the Ottoman Empire begins.

The Herzegovina uprising was an uprising led by the Christian Serb population against the Ottoman Empire, firstly and predominantly in Herzegovina, from where it spread into Bosnia and Raška. It broke out in the summer of 1875, and lasted in some regions up to the beginning of 1878. It was followed by the Bulgarian April Uprising of 1876, and coincided with the Serbian-Turkish wars (1876–1878), all of those events being part of the Great Eastern Crisis (1875–1878).

---

19/06/1867

Maximilian I of the Second Mexican Empire is executed by a firing squad in Querétaro, Querétaro.

Maximilian I was an Austrian archduke who became emperor of the Second Mexican Empire from 10 April 1864 until his execution by the Mexican Republic on 19 June 1867.

---

19/06/1865

Over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, slaves in Galveston, Texas, United States, are officially informed of their freedom. The anniversary was officially celebrated in Texas and other states as Juneteenth. On June 17, 2021, Juneteenth officially became a federal holiday in the United States.

The Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States president Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War. The Proclamation changed the legal status of more than 3.5 million enslaved African Americans in the secessionist Confederate states from enslaved to free. As soon as slaves escaped the control of their enslavers, either by fleeing to Union lines or through the advance of federal troops, they were permanently free. In addition, the Proclamation allowed for former slaves to "be received into the armed service of the United States". The Emancipation Proclamation played a significant part in the end of slavery in the United States.

---

19/06/1862

President Abraham Lincoln signs the Territorial Slavery Act of 1862, which prohibits slavery in all current and future United States territories.

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War, defeating the Confederate States and playing a major role in the abolition of slavery.

---

19/06/1850

Princess Louise of the Netherlands marries Crown Prince Karl of Sweden–Norway.

Louise of the Netherlands, also called Lovisa, was Queen of Sweden and Norway from 8 July 1859 until her death in 1871 as the wife of King Charles XV & IV.

---

19/06/1846

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.

The history of baseball in the United States dates to the 19th century, when boys and amateur enthusiasts played a baseball-like game by their own informal rules using homemade equipment. The popularity of the sport grew and amateur men's ball clubs were formed in the 1830–1850s. Semi-professional baseball clubs followed in the 1860s, and the first professional leagues arrived in the post-American Civil War 1870s.

---

19/06/1821

Decisive defeat of the Filiki Eteria by the Ottomans at Drăgășani (in Wallachia).

Filiki Eteria or Society of Friends was a secret political and revolutionary organization founded in 1814 in Odessa, whose purpose was to overthrow Ottoman rule in Greece and establish an independent Greek State. Society members were mainly young Phanariot Greeks from Constantinople and the Russian Empire, local political and military leaders from the Greek mainland and islands, as well as several Orthodox Christian leaders from other nations that were under Hellenic influence, such as Karađorđe from Serbia, and Tudor Vladimirescu from Romania. One of its leaders was the prominent Phanariote Prince Alexander Ypsilantis. The Society initiated the Greek War of Independence in the spring of 1821.

---

19/06/1816

Battle of Seven Oaks between North West Company and Hudson's Bay Company, near Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

The Battle of Seven Oaks—also known as the Seven Oaks Massacre and the Seven Oaks Incident—was a violent confrontation of the Pemmican War between the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) and the North West Company (NWC) which occurred on 19 June 1816 near modern-day Winnipeg, Manitoba.

---

19/06/1811

The Carlton House Fête is held in London to celebrate the establishment of the Regency era.

The Carlton House Fête was hosted on 19 June 1811 by the Prince Regent, the future George IV, at his London residence Carlton House. Ostensibly held to honour the exiled Louis XVIII and French royal family, it functioned as a celebration of the establishment of George as Regent on behalf of his father George III. The lavish event set the tone amongst High Society during the Regency era.

---

19/06/1800

War of the Second Coalition Battle of Höchstädt results in a French victory over Austria.

The War of the Second Coalition (1798–1802) was the second war between revolutionary France and a coalition of European monarchies, led by Britain, Austria and Russia, and including the Ottoman Empire, Portugal, Naples and various German monarchies. Prussia did not join the coalition, while Spain supported France.

---

19/06/1785

The Boston King's Chapel adopts James Freeman's revised prayer book, without the Nicene Creed, establishing it as the first Unitarian congregation in the United States.

King's Chapel is an independent Unitarian congregation in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association and describes itself as "Unitarian Christian in theology, Anglican in worship, and congregational in governance." It is housed in what was for a time after the American Revolution called the "Stone Chapel", an 18th-century structure at the corner of Tremont Street and School Street. The chapel building, completed in 1754, is one of the finest designs of the noted colonial architect Peter Harrison, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960 for its architectural significance. The congregation has worshipped according to a Unitarian version of the Book of Common Prayer since 1785, currently in its ninth edition.

---

19/06/1718

At least 73,000 people died in the 1718 Tongwei–Gansu earthquake due to landslides in the Qing dynasty.

An earthquake occurred on June 19, 1718, in Tongwei County, Gansu Province, Qing dynasty, present-day China. The estimated surface wave magnitude (Ms ) 7.5 earthquake was designated a maximum Modified Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), causing tremendous damage and killing 73,000 people.

---

19/06/1586

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

Roanoke Island is an island in Dare County, bordered by the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It was named after the historical Roanoke, a Carolina Algonquian people who inhabited the area in the 16th century at the time of English colonization.

---

19/06/1306

The Earl of Pembroke's army defeats Bruce's Scottish army at the Battle of Methven.

Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, was an Anglo-French nobleman. Though primarily active in England, he also had strong connections with the French royal house. One of the wealthiest and most powerful men of his age, he was a central player in the conflicts between Edward II of England and his nobility, particularly Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster. Pembroke was one of the Lords Ordainers appointed to restrict the power of Edward II and his favourite Piers Gaveston. His position changed with the great insult he suffered when Gaveston, as a prisoner in his custody whom he had sworn to protect, was removed and beheaded at the instigation of Lancaster. This led Pembroke into close and lifelong cooperation with the king. Later in life, however, political circumstances combined with financial difficulties would cause him problems, driving him away from the centre of power.

---

19/06/1179

The Battle of Kalvskinnet takes place outside Nidaros (now Trondheim), Norway. Earl Erling Skakke is killed, and the battle changes the tide of the civil wars.

Trondheim, historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of January 1, 2026, it had a population of 218,460. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is the fourth largest urban area. Trondheim lies on the south shore of Trondheim Fjord at the mouth of the River Nidelva. Among the significant technology-oriented institutions headquartered in Trondheim are the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), the Foundation for Scientific and Industrial Research (SINTEF), the Geological Survey of Norway (NGU), and St. Olavs University Hospital.

---

19/06/0325

The original Nicene Creed is adopted at the First Council of Nicaea.

The Nicene Creed, also called the Creed of Constantinople, is the defining statement of belief of Nicene Christianity and in those Christian denominations that adhere to it.

---