Juneteenth 1865: slavery over; legacy bigotry just getting warmed up
Outhouses at 1586 settlement added to National Register of Historic Crappers
Twisted History: June 19, 2025
On this day in 1865, “Juneteenth,” word of the abolition of slavery reached Texas. Not mentioned on the original Juneteenth was the master plan to replace slavery with a legacy of rampant civil rights abuse and good old American bigotry.
On this day in 1586, English colonists left Roanoke Island, N.C., after failing to establish England's first permanent settlement in America. However, the outhouses they left behind are now listed on the National Register of Historic Crappers.
On this day in 1990, during his trial for smoking crack on an FBI videotape, Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry Jr. decided not to run for re-election. But after his conviction for misdemeanor drug possession, he changed his mind and D.C. voters decided to give him another crack at the job.
(Video: SNL wisecracker Norm McDonald cracking Marion Barry crack jokes)
Today’s Birthdays:
Lou Gehrig (1903-1941): record-setting New York Yankees baseball player, first man to have a horrible terminal disease after him.
Ann Wilson, 75: rock singer with various bands most notably Heart, the Pacemakers and the Aorta Sisters.
Kathleen Turner, 70: actress; starred in “Romancing the Kidney Stone,” earned Oscar nomination for “Peggy Sue Got Married, Divorced, Remarried and Buried.”
(Video: Kathleen Turner in the 1994 satirical dark comedy slasher film “Serial Mom”)
Zoe Saldana, 46: actress, played a blue-skinned character in “Avatar” and a green-skinned character in the “Avengers” franchise; next up: playing a crimson-skinned creature in “Avatar 5: Red Moon Rising.”