This Day in History: June 19

1306 Battle of Methven

The Earl of Pembroke's army defeats Robert Bruce's Scottish army at the Battle of Methven.

1829 Metropolitan Police Act 1829

Robert Peel introduced the Metropolitan Police Act of 1829 into Parliament to establish a unified police force for London, the city's first modern police force.

1862 Slavery outlawed in US territories

Slavery is outlawed in US territories.

1865 Juneteenth

Union General Gordon Granger declared slaves were free in Texas. Now, the date of the end of slavery is celebrated across the US as Juneteenth.

1913 Natives Land Act

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

1944 Battle of the Philippine Sea

World War II: The first day of the two-day Battle of the Philippine Sea sees US naval forces defeat the Japanese fleet.

1987 ETA bombing

An ETA car bomb kills 21 in Barcelona. The 1987 Hipercor bombing was one of the bloodiest attacks by the Basque separatist organization, Euskadi Ta Askatasuna or ETA.

1991 Pablo Escobar surrenders

Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar surrenders to the police.

1978 Garfield debuts

The first Garfield comic strip by Jim Davis appears in 41 newspapers on this day. It currently holds the Guinness World Record for the world's most widely syndicated comic strip.

2002 Steve Fossett's balloon flight

American adventurer Steve Fossett takes 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.