Abolition of slavery announced in Texas on “Juneteenth”

In what is now known as Juneteenth, on June 19, 1865, Union soldiers arrive in Galveston, Texas with news that the Civil War is over and slavery in the United States is abolished.

A mix of June and 19th, Juneteenth has become a day to commemorate the end of slavery in America. Despite the fact that President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was issued more than two years earlier on January 1, 1863, a lack of Union troops in the rebel state of Texas made the order difficult to enforce. 

Some historians blame the lapse in time on poor communication in that era, while others believe Texan slave-owners purposely withheld the information.

READ MORE: What Is Juneteenth?

Upon arrival and leading the Union soldiers, Major Gen. Gordon Granger announced General Order No. 3: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.”

On that day, 250,000 enslaved people were freed, and despite the message to stay and work for their owners, many now-former slaves left the state immediately and headed north or to nearby states in search of family members they’d been ripped apart from.

For many African Americans, June 19 is considered an independence day. Forty-seven states recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday, but efforts to make it a national holiday have so far stalled in Congress. 

READ MORE: What Abraham Lincoln Thought About Slavery

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Elvis Presley makes first appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show”

The King of Rock and Roll teams up with TV’s reigning variety program, as Elvis Presley appears on “The Ed Sullivan Show” for the first time on September 9, 1956.

After earning big ratings for “The Steve Allen Show,” the Dorsey Brothers “Stage Show” and “The Milton Berle Show,” Sullivan finally reneged on his Presley ban, signing the controversial singing star to an unprecedented $50,000 contract for three appearances.

With 60 million viewers—or 82.6 percent of TV viewers at the time—tuning in, the appearance garnered the show’s best ratings in two years and became the most-watched TV broadcast of the 1950s.

Although “The Ed Sullivan Show” was filmed in New York, Presley performed remotely from CBS’s Los Angeles studio (he was filming his first movie, “Love Me Tender,” in California). At the time, his first album, “Elvis Presley” had already debuted and “Heartbreak Hotel” was a hit single, but he wasn’t quite yet “The King.”

On the variety show, Presley, then 21, was introduced by British actor Charles Laughton, who was filling in for Sullivan that night, as the legendary host was at home recovering from a serious car accident. Presley performed “Don’t Be Cruel,” Little Richard’s “Ready Teddy” and “Hound Dog” and viewers got a full head-to-toe look at the singer despite fears of “vulgar” hip-shaking gyrations. He also sang “Love Me Tender” and, according to Variety, “For the first time in the history of the record business, a single record has achieved one million sales before being released to the public.”

Presley, clad in a plaid jacket, told the audience performing on the show was “probably the greatest honor I have ever had in my life,” before kicking things off with “Don’t Be Cruel.” He said, “Thank you, ladies,” to the screaming fans and then introduced “Love Me Tender” as “completely different from anything we’ve ever done.”

During his second segment, Presley sang “Ready Teddy” and “Hound Dog.” Laughton’s closing remarks that night? “Well, what did someone say? Music hath charms to soothe the savage beast?”

“When it was over, parents and critics, as usual, did a lot of futile grumbling at the vulgarity of this strange phenomenon that must somehow be reckoned with,” a reviewer for Time magazine wrote at the time.

Other guests that night included singers Dorothy Sarnoff and Amru Sani, a comedy act from novelty quartet The Vagabonds, a tap dancing duo and an acrobat act.

During his second performance on October 28, 1956, Presley once again performed “Don’t Be Cruel” and “Hound Dog” along with “Love Me Tender.” And during his third and final performance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” on January 6, 1957, he sang seven songs, including the gospel song “Peace in the Valley,” over three segments, but the episode is most famously remembered for TV censors refusing to show Elvis below the waist.

At the end of his performance, however, Sullivan called Presley “a real decent, fine boy. … We’ve never had a pleasanter experience on our show with a big name than we’ve had with you.” 

READ MORE: 7 Fascinating Facts About Elvis Presley

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Wingate Oaks Center Volunteer Named Florida's 2019 Senior Volunteer of the Year

Wingate Oaks Center Volunteer Named Florida's 2019 Senior Volunteer of the Year

Congratulations to Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) Volunteer Ora Lee Greene for being named Florida’s 2019 Outstanding Senior Volunteer of the Year for the South Florida Region.

Ora Lee Greene began volunteering in 1994 at Wingate Oaks Center with students who have multiple disabilities, including significant cognitive impairments, physical disabilities, and hearing or vision loss. Student by student, she has changed their lives by providing guidance, coaching and a heavy dose of love as they learn and grow.

Grandma Ora Lee, as she is affectionately called, works with the students individually to support acquisition of communication skills, often with assistive technology, sitting next to children who have difficulty redirecting themselves and helping them throughout both content area lessons and group Speech Therapy. When Grandma Ora Lee started working as a Foster Grandparent, she wanted to “be able to make a difference in the life of one child.”

Greene was recently honored at the School Board meeting on June 25, 2019, during a special presentation in recognition of Florida School Volunteer Appreciation Month. The special presentation was attended by individuals who were eager to honor Grandma Ora Lee, including Wingate Oaks Center Principal Donald Cottrell. “It took me about 30 seconds to understand what Wingate Oaks had in Grandma Ora Lee,” said Cottrell. “She is the Grandma that every child deserves.”

BCPS celebrates Ora Lee Greene, who shows that volunteering at 95-year-old is possible once you have a heart to serve.

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Prince George, first child of Prince William and Kate Middleton, is born

Year
2013
Month Day
July 22

Weighing in at a healthy 8 pounds, 6 ounces, the first child of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (more informally known as Prince William and Kate Middleton), is born on July 22, 2013, at St. Mary’s Hospital in London, England.

The new prince’s birth had been a highly anticipated event, with reporters camping out outside the hospital to get the first glimpse of the new arrival. Though the official birth announcement came, according to tradition, via a statement posted on a gilded easel outside Buckingham Palace, the Duke and Duchess put a more modern spin on things by appearing outside the hospital to introduce their baby to the world.

Two days later, the royal family announced his full name: His Royal Highness Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge. His first name paid tribute to his great-great-great grandfather, King George V, as well as his great-great grandfather, King George VI. Alexander was seen as a possible nod to his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II (who was christened Elizabeth Alexandra Mary), or to Queen Victoria, whose full name was Alexandrina Victoria. Louis was thought to honor his great-great-uncle, Louis Mountbatten, who played matchmaker to the queen and her husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and was very close to Prince Charles.

Prince George entered the world as third in the line of succession to the British throne. His paternal grandfather, Prince Charles of Wales, stands to inherit the crown from his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, while Prince William, Charles’s elder son with Princess Diana, is second in line. George’s birth marked the first time in more than 100 years—since Queen Victoria’s reign—that three generations of direct heirs were alive at the same time.

According to one estimate, between royal baby-themed goods and party supplies, Brits likely spent some £240 million (roughly $300 million) celebrating Prince George’s arrival. His birth kicked off a royal baby boom: His younger sister, Princess Charlotte, arrived in 2015, followed by a younger brother, Prince Louis, in 2018. In 2019, George’s uncle, Prince Harry, and his wife, Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, welcomed their first child, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. 

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Catherine the Great assumes power

Year
1762
Month Day
July 09

On July 9, 1762, the wife of Russia’s new emperor, Peter III, rallies the army regiments of St. Petersburg against her husband and is proclaimed Empress Catherine II, the sole ruler of Russia.

More commonly known as Catherine the Great, she would stay on the throne for the next 34 years, longer than any other female ruler in Russian history.

The former Sophie von Anhalt-Zerbst was born in 1729 in what is now Poland. Her father was a minor Prussian prince; her mother was a member of the house of Holstein-Gottorp, one of Germany’s most celebrated families. At 15, Sophie scored an invitation to Russia from Empress Elizabeth, the daughter of Peter the Great, who was searching for a bride for her nephew and chosen heir to the throne, the Grand Duke Peter, who was also Sophie’s cousin on her mother’s side. They were married the following year, and Sophie converted to Orthodox Christianity, adopting the name Catherine.

READ MORE: 8 Things You Didn’t Know About Catherine the Great

Peter and Catherine’s marriage was unhappy from the beginning, and neither one was faithful. Catherine later hinted in her memoirs that her husband hadn’t fathered any of her four children, but most historians believe he did father her first son, Paul, born in 1754.

Soon after the Empress Elizabeth died and Peter ascended to the throne in early 1762, his many enemies plotted to overthrow Peter and replace him with 7-year-old Paul. Instead, the ambitious Catherine acted quickly to seize the advantage for herself. With the help of her lover, Gregory Orlov, she won the military’s support and had herself proclaimed Russia’s sole ruler in July 1762, forcing her husband to abdicate his throne. Peter was assassinated just eight days later by Catherine’s supporters, casting some doubt on her legitimacy as ruler.

Despite this turbulent beginning, Catherine’s reign would be remembered as a time of significant progress and achievement for Russia. Like Peter the Great, she worked to Westernize the nation and make it strong enough to hold its own against the great powers of Europe. Under Catherine, Russia’s borders expanded to the west and south, encompassing Crimea as well as much of Poland. 

Notorious for her many lovers, Catherine showed less affection for her son, Paul, whom she supposedly considered passing over as heir in favor of his son, Alexander. But before she could do so, Catherine died of a stroke in 1796, leaving Paul to inherit the throne. He was assassinated five years later, opening the way for Catherine’s adored grandson, Alexander I, to become the next ruler in the Romanov dynasty

READ MORE: Why Catherine the Great’s Enemies Turned Her into a Sex Fiend

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