On this Day: June 19

Musical Milestones

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.

History Highlights

1865 – Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, land at Galveston, Texas with news that the war has ended and that the enslaved were now free. This was two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which became official on January 1, 1863. June 19 is observed around the U.S. as Juneteenth.

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. 

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”)

Own a Piece of This Day

SHOP HERE:

Essential Collection

The Four Tops

Tapestry

Carole King

Garfield At Large

Jim Davis

The Sopranos: The Complete Series

Starring James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Lorraine Bracco and Michael Imperioli, and directed by John Patterson and Timothy Van Patten 

The Notebook

Starring Ryan Gossling, Rachel McAdams, James Garner and Gena Rowlands, and directed by Nick Cassavetes

The War of the Roses

Starring Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito, and directed by Danny DeVito

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