Holidays Calendar for June 19, 2021

In Trinidad and Tobago, Labor Day is celebrated on June 19 each year. This public holiday commemorates the labor riots of 1937, which launched the country's modern trade union movement.

On June 19, Uruguayans celebrate the birthday of José Artigas, country's national hero referred to as the “father of Uruguayan nationhood”. This public holiday is also known as Never Again Day (Día del nunca más).

Emancipation Day is an annual observance in many countries across the world that commemorates the emancipation of slaves. In the United States, it is a federal holiday observed on June 19, commemorating the emancipation of slaves in Texas on that day in 1865. Its official name is Juneteenth National Independence Day.

The King’s Official Birthday (known as the Queen’s Official Birthday during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II) is observed in most Commonwealth countries. In the United Kingdom, the sovereign’s birthday is officially celebrated on the first, second, or third Saturday in June, although King Charles III was born on November 14. Other Commonwealth realms may celebrate it on other days.

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World Sickle Cell Day (World Sickle Cell Awareness Day) is an annual global public health campaign held on June 19. It focuses on raising awareness of sickle-cell disease, also known as sickle-cell anemia, which is the most frequent genetic disorder worldwide.

International Surfing Day is an unofficial observance that celebrates the sport of surging, surfing lifestyle, and sustainability of ocean resources. It is usually observed on the third Saturday of June, falling close to the summer solstice.

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World Albatross Day is observed annually on June 19. It was created to highlight the threatened or near threatened status of 21 of 22 species of the albatross and raise awareness of the dangers these majestic birds face.

The martini is one of the most iconic cocktails in the world, so it is not surprising that there is a holiday dedicated to it. World Martini Day is celebrated annually on the third Saturday of June.

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World Juggling Day is observed annually on the Saturday closest to June 17. It was established by the International Jugglers’ Association to celebrate its founding anniversary and popularize juggling across the globe.

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Farmer’s Day is an official professional holiday that has been observed in Ukraine since 2020. It is celebrated on June 19 because on this day in 2003, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) adopted the Law of Ukraine “On Farmers”.

Arbor Day (Tree Planting Day) is celebrated in many countries, but each country has chosen its own date for the holiday. For example, Arbor Day in Paraguay is celebrated on June 19.

The Feast of the Forest (Pista ng Kagubatan) is a special working holiday celebrated in the Philippine province of Palawan on June 19 every year. It was established to highlight the importance of forests to the province.

In 2015, a new public holiday was added to the official calendar of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. On June 19, North Koreans celebrate Kim Jong-il's entry to the WPK (Worker's Party of Korea) Central Committee in 1964.

Day of Independent Hungary is an official remembrance day in the Republic of Hungary observed on June 19. It commemorates the end of the Soviet occupation of Hungary and honors the martyrs of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.

The Philippine provinces of Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur celebrate their respective foundation anniversaries, Surigao del Norte Day (Araw ng Surigao del Norte) and Surigao del Sur Day (Araw ng Surigao del Sur), on the same date, June 19, because they were created by splitting the province of Surigao in half.

José Rizal is widely regarded as the greatest national hero of the Philippines, so it is not surprising that there are not one, but two holidays dedicate to him: Joze Rizal’s death anniversary is a nationwide public holiday, whereas Joze Rizal’s birthday is a special non-working holiday in his native province of Laguna.

World Sauntering Day is an unofficial holiday observed on June 19 each year. It focuses on encouraging people to slow down and enjoy life rather than blindly rush through it.

International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict is a United Nations observance held annually on June 19. It aims to raise awareness of the need to put an end to all kinds of conflict-related sexual violence.

FreeBSD Day, also known as National FreeBSD Day, is observed annually on June 19. It was inaugurated by the FreeBSD Foundation to commemorate the launch of a pioneering open-source technology that is used to this day.

 

This Day in History

  • 2020 65-year-old Canadian animal rights activist and protester Regan Russell was run over and killed by a livestock transport truck after a demonstration outside a pig slaughterhouse in Burlington, Ontario.
  • 2020 Died: Ian Holm, English actor of stage and screen. His well-known film roles include Ash in Alien, Father Vito Cornelius in The Fifth Element, and Bilbo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film series.
  • 2020 Died: Carlos Ruiz Zafón, Spanish novelist. He is probably best known for The Cemetery of Forgotten Books novel series (The Shadow of the Wind, The Angel's Game, The Prisoner of Heaven, The Labyrinth of Spirits).
  • 2016 Died: Anton Yelchin, American film and television actor, known for portraying Pavel Chekov in the Star Trek reboot film series, and for several other prominent roles.
  • 2014 Felipe VI ascended to the Spanish throne following the abdication of his father, King Juan Carlos I. His wife Letizia thus became Queen consort of Spain.
  • 2013 Died: Slim Whitman (stage name of Ottis Dewey Whitman, Jr), American singer-songwriter and musician noted for his yodeling and falsetto.
  • 2013 Died: James Gandolfini, American actor and producer who is primarily remembered for his role as Tony Soprano in the TV series The Sopranos.
  • 2012 WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange applied for political asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. He was granted asylum on August 16 that same year.
  • 2012 Died: Richard Lynch, American film and television actor primarily remembered for portraying villains. His career spanned over 40 years.
  • 2007 A truck bomb exploded in front of the Shia al-Khilani Mosque in the city of Baghdad, Iraq, killing at least 78 people and injuring another 218.
  • 2004 Born: Millie Gibson, English actress best known for her roles as Kelly Neelan in Coronation Street, and as Ruby Sunday, the Fifteenth Doctor's companion, in Doctor Who.
  • 2002 American adventurer Steve Fossett began his solo flight around the world in a balloon. He was the first person to fly around the world alone, nonstop.
  • 1995 Died: Peter Townsend, English pilot who served as Equerry to King George VI from 1944 to 1952 and for Queen Elizabeth II in 1952-1953.
  • 1993 Died: William Golding, English novelist, poet, and playwright who was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize in Literature. His best known novel is Lord of the Flies.
  • 1986 Died: Coluche (stage name of Michel Gérard Joseph Colucci), French actor and comedian famous for his irreverent sense of humor.
  • 1984 Born: Paul Dano, American actor and filmmaker who gained recognition for his roles in the films L.I.E., Little Miss Sunshine, and There Will Be Blood.
  • 1983 Born: Aidan Turner, Irish actor best known for starring as John Mitchell in Being Human, Kili in The Hobbit film series, and the title character in Poldark.
  • 1983 Born: Macklemore (stage name of Benjamin Hammond Haggerty), American rapper who rose to international success collaborating with producer Ryan Lewis as the duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.
  • 1982 Acting President of the American University of Beirut David S. Dodge was kidnapped from the campus by pro-Iranian Shiite Muslim extremists.
  • 1978 The comic strip Garfield was launched. As of 2013, it held the Guinness World Record for being the world's most widely syndicated comic strip.
  • 1978 Born: Zoe Saldana, American actress and dancer best known for her roles as Neytiri in Avatar and Nyota Uhura in J. J. Abrams' Star Trek reboot.
  • 1975 Born: Hugh Dancy, English actor who rose to prominence for his role as the title character in the 2000 television film adaptation of David Copperfield.
  • 1970 The Patent Cooperation Treaty was signed. The document provides a unified procedure for filing patent applications to protect inventions.
  • 1967 Born: Bjørn Dæhlie, Norwegian retired cross-country skier and businessman who won a total of 29 medals in the Olympics and World Championships.
  • 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed the Senate. This document is considered to be a landmark piece of civil rights legislation in the United States.
  • 1962 Born: Paula Abdul, American-Canadian singer-songwriter, dancer, choreographer, actress and TV personality who won a Grammy Award in 1990.
  • 1954 Born: Kathleen Turner, American film and stage actress, singer, stage director and activist. She was an A-list film star during the 1980s.
  • 1953 Died: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, American communists. They were executed for conspiracy to commit atomic espionage for the Soviet Union.
  • 1947 Born: Salman Rushdie, Indian-born British-American novelist. and essayist whose second novel, Midnight's Children (published in 1981), won the Booker Prize.
  • 1945 Born: Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese opposition politician who was awarded the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle for democracy and human rights.
  • 1944 The Battle of the Philippine Sea began during the Second World War. It was fought between the United States and Japan, resulting in a decisive American victory.
  • 1937 Died: James Matthew Barrie, Scottish novelist and playwright best known as the creator of Peter Pan, a mischievous boy who never grows up.
  • 1910 Born: Paul Flory, American chemist who was awarded the 1974 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research in the field of macromolecules.
  • 1891 Born: John Heartfield (born Helmut Herzfeld), German artist who is considered to be a pioneer in the use of art as a political weapon.
  • 1867 Died: Maximilian I of Mexico, the only monarch of the Second Mexican Empire. He was the younger brother of the Austrian emperor Franz Joseph I.
  • 1821 The coronation of King George IV of the United Kingdom took place at Westminster Abbey. His estranged wife, Queen Caroline, was not allowed to attend.
  • 1786 Died: Nathanael Greene, major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. He was a gifted and dependable officer.
  • 1623 Born: Blaise Pascal, French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and theologian. He helped to create projective geometry and probability theory.
  • 1566 Born: James VI of Scotland and I of England and of Ireland, who united the Scottish and English crowns (the two kingdoms still were individual sovereign states).