Learn English - Today in History

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June 19th

1787	The U.S. Constitutional Convention voted to strike down the Articles of Confederation and form a new government.
1846	Two amateur baseball teams played under new rules at Hoboken, N.J., planting the first seeds of organized baseball. The New York Nine beat the Knickerbockers, 23-1.
1856	The first Republican national convention ended in Philadelphia with the nomination of explorer John Charles Fremont of California for president. James Buchanan, a Federalist nominated by the Democrats, was elected.
1867	Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, installed as emperor of Mexico by French Emperor Napoleon III in 1864, was executed on the orders of Benito Juarez, the president of the Mexican Republic.
1867	The first running of the Belmont Stakes took place at Jerome Park, N.Y.
1905	Pittsburgh showman Harry Davis opened the world's first nickelodeon, showing the silent Western film The Great Train Robbery. The storefront theater boasted 96 seats and charged 5 cents and prompted the advent of movie houses across the United States.
1943	World War II's Battle of the Philippine Sea began, as Japan tried unsuccessfully to prevent further Allied advancement in the South Pacific.
1953	Convicted spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed.
1977	Elvis Presley made his final live concert recordings, at a series of appearances in Nebraska. He died two months later.
1987	The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the 1981 Louisiana law that required schools to teach the creationist theory of human origin espoused by fundamentalist Christians.
1991	The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a plan to prohibit the export of military supplies to Iraq.
2000	The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that prayers led by students at public high school football games are not permitted under the constitutional separation of church and state.
2005	A suicide bomber killed at least 23 people, including some Iraqi police officers, in a crowded Baghdad restaurant. The next day saw suicide car bombers kill a reported 26 policemen and security forces in Baghdad and Irbil.
2005	Opponents of Syrian domination won a majority of seats in the final round of Lebanon's parliamentary elections.
2006	Japan threatened severe action if North Korea launches a long-range missile as it was believed preparing to do.
2007	10,000 U.S. and 3,000 Iraqi troops launched a major offensive targeting the Sunni jihadist terrorist group known as al-Qaida in Iraq in Iraq's Baquba area.
2008	Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, became the first at that level to bypass public financing since the program was established. Obama said he believed the move would provide better resources to defend his campaign from attacks by Republicans.