Emancipation Proclamation

On This Day January 1

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On This Day September 22

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Celebrity Birthdays

1927 – Retired Los Angeles Dodgers manager and National Baseball Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda

1954 – Actress-model-singer Shari Belafonte (“Hotel,” “Beyond Reality,” “Babylon 5: Thirdspace”)

1956 – Singer Debby Boone, best known for her Grammy-winning 70s smash “You Light Up My Life”

1958 – Rock guitarist-singer and 2015 Rock And Roll Hall of Fame inductee Joan Jett

1958 – Golden Globe-winning Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli

1960 – Actor Scott Baio (“Happy Days,” “Joanie Loves Chachi,” “Charles in Charge”)

1987 – Actor Tom Felton, best known for playing the villainous Draco Malfoy in the “Harry Potter” movie series

History Highlights

1862 – President Abraham Lincoln issues a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation establishing January 1, 1863 as the date that more than three million slaves in the U.S. would be freed. While the proclamation only frees between 20,000 and 50,000 slaves within the 10 states still in rebellion, it provides the legal framework for the eventual emancipation of all others.

1953 – The world’s first four-level interchange (“Stack”) opens in Los Angeles at the intersection of the Harbor, Hollywood, Pasadena, and Santa Ana freeways. The Saturday Evening Post called it “a mad motorist’s dream.”

1975 – U.S. President Gerald Ford survives a second assassination attempt in less than three weeks while leaving a San Francisco hotel. Sara Jane Moore had aimed and was getting ready to fire the first shot when a bystander thwarted her plans.

1976 – “Charlie’s Angels” premieres on ABC with Kate Jackson, Jaclyn Smith and the late Farrah Fawcett as a trio of detectives working for their unseen boss, Charlie, who telephoned in their assignments.

1980 – The Iran-Iraq War begins as Iraqi armed forces invade western Iran along the nations’ joint border. The conflict drags on for eight years.

1982 – “Family Ties” debuts on NBC, starring Michael J. Fox as Alex, the smart, conservative and financially driven teenage son of parents played by Meredith Baxter and Michael Gross.

1994 – NBC introduces “Friends,” starring Courtney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer and Matt Le Blanc. The sitcom becomes one of primetime TV’s most popular shows during a 10-season run.

Musical Milestones

1956 – Elvis Presley is king of the singles chart with “Don’t Be Cruel.” The song remains at No. 1 for 11 weeks. In 2002, it is inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

1962 – “Sherry,” by The Four Seasons, is in the midst of a five-week domination of the pop chart. It is the group’s first No. 1 single. It also spends a week atop the R&B chart.

1969 – The Band release their self-titled album, also known as “The Brown Album,” featuring the tracks “Rag Mama Rag,” “Up on Cripple Creek” and ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.” In 2009, the album was preserved into the National Recording Registry.

1973 – “Let’s Get it On,” by Marvin Gaye, returns to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for a second week and becomes his most successful Motown single.

1979 – The Knack hold first place on the singles chart with “My Sharona.”

1984 – “Missing You,” by John Waite, is on top of the singles chart.

1985 – The first Farm Aid concert takes place in Champaign, Illinois, organized by Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp to benefit financially struggling American farmers.

1990 – Wilson Phillips has the No. 1 single with “Release Me.”

2001 – “I’m Real,” by Jennifer Lopez featuring Ja Rule, begins its third week as a No. 1 single.

2007 – Soulja Boy begins his second and final week on top of the singles chart with “Crank That.”

On this Day June 19

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Celebrity Birthdays

1930 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Gena Rowlands (“Gloria,” “A Woman Under the Influence”)

1947 – Novelist and essayist Salman Rushdie (“Grimus,” “Midnight’s Children,” “Shame,” “The Satanic Verses,” “East, West”)

1948 – Tony-winning actress Phylicia Rashad, best known for playing Clair Huxtable on “The Cosby Show”

1950 – Ann Wilson of the rock duo Heart

1954 – Actress Kathleen Turner (“Peggy Sue Got Married,” “Romancing The Stone,” “The War of the Roses”)

1962 – Grammy and Emmy-winning singer, dancer, choreographer and former “American Idol” judge Paula Abdul

1972 – Actress Robin Tunney (“The Craft,” “Vertical Limit,” “The Mentalist”)

History Highlights

1865 – Union soldiers land in Galveston, Texas with news that the Civil War has ended and that enslaved African Americans were now free. The announcement comes two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which took effect on January 1, 1863. Some historians blame the delay on poor communication of that era while others believe Texan slave owners intentionally withheld the information. June 19 is observed around the U.S. as Juneteenth. On June 17, 2021, it became a federal holiday.

1905 – The world’s first nickelodeon opens in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and draws some 450 guests. The storefront theater boasted 96 seats and charged each patron a nickel.

1934 – Congress establishes the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to regulate broadcasting in the United States.

1953 – Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were convicted of conspiring to pass U.S. atomic secrets to the Soviets, die in the electric chair at Sing Sing Prison in New York. Both deny wrongdoing and proclaim their innocence right up to the time of their execution. The Rosenbergs were the first American civilians executed for espionage during the Cold War.

1973 – In separate games, Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds and Willie Davis of the L.A. Dodgers achieve their 2,000th career hits.

1978 – Cartoonist Jim Davis introduces readers of 41 newspapers around the U.S. to a pleasantly plump, lazy, lasagna-loving cat named Garfield.

1981 – A caped superhero returns to U.S. movie theaters with the release of “Superman II,” starring Christopher Reeve as “The Man of Steel.”

2013 – Actor James Gandolfini, best known for his role as crime boss Tony Soprano in the HBO series “The Sopranos,” dies of a heart attack at age 51 while vacationing in Italy.

Musical Milestones

1961 – Pat Boone tops the pop chart for a week with “Moody River.”

1965 – “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch),” by the Four Tops, is No. 1 on both the singles and R&B charts. Rolling Stone magazine has ranked the song #415 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

1971 – Carole King’s “It’s Too Late” begins a five-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100. The song, from her now-classic “Tapestry” album, captures a Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1972.

1976 – Paul McCartney & Wings have a No. 1 single with “Silly Love Songs.”

1982 – Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson are in the middle of a seven-week reign over the singles chart with “Ebony and Ivory.”

1999 – “If You Had My Love,” by Jennifer Lopez, holds the top spot on the pop chart.

2004 – Usher maintains a firm grip on the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Burn.” The single remains a chart-topper for seven weeks.

2010 – “California Gurls,” by Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg, kicks off six weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100.