What Happened Today in History on June 19

The USS Kearsarge sinks the CSS Alabama during the American Civil War. The battle took place in international waters off the coast of France, although close enough to be visible from shore. The Alabama was commanded by Capt. Raphael Semmes (later Rear Adm.) and the USS Kearsarge by Cpt. John A. Winslow (later promoted to Commodore) Expand +

Union General Gordon Granger announces in Galveston, Texas, that all slaves in Texas are free; almost two and half years after the January 1, 1863 Emancipation Proclamation and two months after General Lee's surrender. The Texas announcement event is now celebrated as "Juneteenth".
On December 6, 1865 , the 13th Amendment ratification to the Constitution formally ended slavery throughout the entire nation. More

Maximilian was executed on a hill outside Querétaro, bringing an end to France's short lived Mexican empire. Maximilian I, was an Austrian archduke who became emperor of the Second Mexican Empire. His tenure as emperor was just three years from 10 April 1864 until his execution by the Mexican Republic. More

The WWII Battle of the Philippine Sea, the last and the largest of five major "carrier-versus-carrier" engagements between American and Japanese naval forces begins. The two day battle eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy's ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions. It took place during the United States' amphibious reconquest of the Mariana Islands during the Pacific War. The battle ended the next day with a U.S. victory. More

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed by electrocution at Sing Sing Prison in New York. They had been found guilty of providing vital information on the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union. More

Kuwait gains full independence from the United Kingdom. This followed the termination of the Anglo-Kuwaiti Treaty of 1899, which had established a British protectorate over Kuwait. While the UK recognized Kuwait's independence in 1961, Iraq did not formally recognize Kuwait's independence and borders until October 1963.

Construction of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault begins. The vault is intended to safeguard the seeds of the world’s food plants in the event of a global crisis. The secure facility is built into the side of a mountain on Spitsbergen, the largest of the Svalbard islands, a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. The vault was formally open with its first consignment of seeds on February 26, 2008. More