June 19th

Steve Fossett takes off on his record-breaking balloon flight. The American adventurer lifted off from Northam in Western Australia to commence history's first solo flight around the world in any aircraft. On July 3, after having traveled 33,195 km (20,626 mi), he touched down again in Queensland, Australia.

Tiger Woods wins golf's US Open by 15 shots, a record for all majors, with a US Open to-par record score of -12.

Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar surrenders to police.

The Supreme Court struck down a Louisiana law requiring any public school teaching the theory of evolution to teach creationism as well.

Garfield, the lazy cat makes his debut. The first Garfield comic strip by Jim Davis appeared in 41 newspapers on that day. It currently holds the Guinness World Record for the world's most widely syndicated comic strip.

Pope Paul VI proclaimed John Neumann, the first male saint from the United States.

The U.S. Senate passes the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 18 Senators unsuccessfully launched a filibuster to prevent passage of the law against discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Richard Russel stated, “We will resist to the bitter end any measure or any movement which would have a tendency to bring about social equality and intermingling and amalgamation of the races in our (Southern) states.” The bill was signed into law on July 2, 1964.

World War II: First day of the 2 day Battle of the Philippine Sea, US naval forces defeat Japanese fleet.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was created.

South Africa implements the Natives Land Act. The law limited the areas of land that could be owned by black people to “native reserve” areas, which comprised less than 10 percent of the country's total area. It was in force until Apartheid was dismantled in the 1990s.

The first running of the Belmont Stakes.

Gen. Gordon Granger informed the citizens of Galveston, Tex., that the slaves were freed. The celebration of the day became known as Juneteenth.

Congress abolished slavery in the U.S. territories.

Robert Peel founds the London Metropolitan Police (Bobbies).