1865 Emancipation Day, also known as Juneteenth, is born when Union General Granger declares that slaves are free in Texas.

1897 Three Stooges member Moe Howard is born. He died in 1975.

1910 Father’s Day was celebrated for the first time, in Spokane, Washington.

1934 The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is established to supervise radio, telegraph, and telephone communications.

1941 Cheerios cereal is introduced.

1949 NASCAR sanctions the first “strictly stock” race, which will evolve into the modern Nextel Cup. Jim Roper wins the event.

1953 Julius & Ethel Rosenberg are executed by electric chair at Sing Sing Prison in New York after being convicted of spying for the Soviet Union. He was 36, and she was 37.

1974 KISS singer-guitarist Paul Stanley collapses on stage at The Electric Ballroom in Atlanta, Georgia. He returns after the band takes a short break.

1978 The Garfield cartoon strip debuts in national newspapers.

1987 The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down a Louisiana law requiring any public school teaching the theory of evolution to also teach creationism science.

1999 U2‘s Bono is among the 35,000 or so people who form a human chain around a building in Cologne, Germany, where the G7 summit is being held. They call on the world leaders to cancel all outstanding debts owed by the world’s poorest countries.

2000 The Supreme Court reaffirms, 6-to-3, that prayer in public schools has to be private, barring student-led prayer before football games.

2000 Cult singer Ian Astbury joins Doors guitarist Robbie Krieger and keyboardist Ray Manzarek onstage at the Whisky in Los Angeles for an impromptu set of Doors classics. They later become the Doors Of The 21st Century.

2001 311 releases its sixth album, titled From Chaos.

2001 Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro releases his first solo album, Trust No One.

2001 Stone Temple Pilots issues its fifth and, to date, final album, Shangri-La-Dee-Da.

2003 Radiohead‘s Hail To The Thief debuts at Number Three on the Billboard Top 200 album chart.

2007 The White Stripes release their sixth album, titled Icky Thump.

A. Young Lust

B. Permanent Vacation

C. Love in an Elevator

D. Dude (Looks Like a Lady)

Menacing stage props and theatrical antics have been Alice Cooper’s specialty since the ’60s. The shock-rock pioneer helped clear the way for Madonna’s pop excess, Rob Zombie’s horror-movie camp and Lady Gaga’s headline-fetching outfits. Cooper’s newest tour shares billing with Marilyn Manson, the most notorious shock-rocker of the ’90s. It’s their first co-headlining venture, and their show on Monday at Merriweather Post Pavillion will also feature an over-the-top set from GWAR, Richmond’s heavily costumed metal act famous for drenching audiences in fake blood.

Cooper answered questions about his over-the-top stage shows, finding sobriety and how it feels to be a rock star at 65:

(Credit: EPA/OLIVIER MAIRE)

Q: You and Marilyn Manson teamed up with GWAR for Monday’s show. It sounds like a shock-rock dream come true. Are they joining you on any other dates?

A: “That’s the only show we’re doing with them, even though I really like those guys. They take the theatrics to [another level]. I hope people see the humor, because it’s really funny. The first 20 shows, it’s Alice and Marilyn. It’s the tour that people have been waiting for — the teacher and the mentor, the whole thing. The two shows work well together though, it’s great. His show is more of a really raw, industrial, dark kind of a show, whereas Alice is much more of a Vaudevillian classic — in some places, it’s really scary, and in the next places it’s slapstick — and it’s pure classic rock. I’ve probably got the best touring band in the world right now, it’s the best guys I’ve ever played with. Then you throw GWAR in the mix, and it’s like we should probably call this Halloween 2.”

Do you generally try to keep up with other elaborate stage performers?

“We did some things with Slipknot, and any time someone is doing something new, I try to see it. I went to see Lady Gaga, and I said ‘Jeez this is really good.’ She basically does what I do. I created a character, Alice Cooper, and I write songs for that character. I perform as that character, but I’m not that character. Gaga does the same. She created her own character, she writes the song and she writes the show and she performs it as Gaga. There’s a separate life there, and I think that’s maybe the only way you can survive that.”

Do you find there are some people who don’t separate life and performance very well?

“People always ask me about why Jimi [Hendrix], Janis [Joplin], and Jim Morrison all died at 27. I say, ‘Well, they were trying to be Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison all the time, and you can’t.’ The fact that Jim Morrison got to 27 is a miracle. You can’t do that much abuse to yourself and survive. When he was on stage or writing, he was absolutely brilliant. Courtney Love is like that: When she’s acting or making records or on stage, she’s brilliant. When she’s off stage is when the trouble happens. So, these guys were my best friends, they were my big brothers, and they were falling off one by one. So, I started to realize we were the next generation: Me and Ozzie [Osbourne] and Steven Tyler were the next generation. I can see the problem there, and I started to figure it out.”

Did everybody figure it out?

“Yeah, and I can say that because we’re all here. We’re all in our 60s now and we’re still touring, we’re still doing the big shows. I’ve got more energy now than I did when I was 30. I mean, there was a different work ethic then. Our big brothers died at 27 and we’re in our 60s, so we had to have learned something. Look at Iggy Pop. Keith Richards, how is he still alive?”

He seems immortal.

“If there’s ever a nuclear war or a meteor hits the world and it’s over, there’ll [still] be cockroaches and Keith Richards.”

Does touring with hugely theatrical acts like GWAR and Manson force you to up the ante with your own stage show?

“I do that every night anyway. Sometimes we tour with Cheap Trick, sometimes we tour with Iron Maiden, we’re doing a lot of co-headlining tours these days. With that, you’re best friends, but every night, you’re trying to blow them offstage. That’s just part of the fun of it. When I went out with Rob Zombie, every night he would add something to his show. I would watch him and think, ‘Oh, really? I have to add something to my show.’ We’re best of friends, but we’re still trying to up each other. That makes it healthy, and the audience gets a bigger better show every time.”

As an avowed Christian, do you have any issues touring with the author of ‘Antichrist Superstar’?

“You know, the funny thing about it is, I never have approached him about anything on that. I’ve defended my faith and he defends his, so we meet in the middle somewhere. I stay away from politics and religion on stage, but it’s an interesting talk when we talk to each other. It’s basically about how do you separate the character from daily life. We both have different views on how that works, and I told him, ‘What I think is, eventually you’re going to have to separate it.’ In order to fuel that 24-hour character, you either have to drink or drug yourself into it, and pretty soon that won’t last. I tried it, and I was on my way out just trying to maintain the character. I had to say, ‘I’m going to play this character, I’m not going to be this character.’ ”

There have been so many musicians that haven’t been able to separate that persona from their lives, and there have been a lot of consequences to that.

“It’s an unnatural lifestyle. Usually, the story is you’re in a high school band, you play in a garage, and you put some guys together, and you never expect to make a record. You make a hit record, and it’s like winning the lottery, you become a touring band. It’s like becoming a touring golf pro — there’s 100,000 guys who are good, there’s those guys who actually get paid to do it. I tell bands this all the time, that golden age is over.

“To maintain that lifestyle for 45 years, you just have to learn how to navigate it. It took a lot of mistakes to be able to enjoy it now. A lot of guys have come close — Ozzie has come close, Eddie Van Halen has come close — all those guys come close to almost checking out, but you finally find a way to live with it.

“Here’s a kid from the Midwest and the middle of nowhere, and all the sudden you’re driving around in limousines with unlimited money and unlimited everything. That’s the fastest prescription for killing yourself I can think of.”

As a recovering alcoholic, does being around drug and alcohol abuse make touring difficult?

“When I came out of the hospital, it was a whole different thing. I was the classic alcoholic, my doctor said I was a textbook alcoholic. He said, ‘You drink in order to get things done, it’s like a medicine for you.’ I said, ‘You’re right.’ I was always on a golden buzz: I drank all day, but I never slurred my speech or anything. When I came out of the hospital, I kept waiting for the craving to come, and it never came. It was a miracle. I tell people I’m not a cured alcoholic, I’m a healed alcoholic. I never went to AA or anything like that, and I give all credit to God for that. Even the doctor said, ‘This is a miracle that you’re not falling back on alcohol every time there’s a stressful situation.’ So, it’s gone. It’s just gone.”

You’ve put out a lot of records: 28 studio albums at this point. How do you approach putting together a set list?

“It’s the hardest thing in the world. Well, I thought it was hard for me until I went and saw [Paul] McCartney. I saw his setlist backstage and it was 38 songs. Every single song was something I wanted to hear. He said, ‘Well, that’s our odd number days. Here’s our even number days.’ And it was just as good.

“So, we play 28 songs from different eras. You have to play the hits, that’s what people came for — there’s 14 songs right there. And then you think, ‘What do the hardcore fans want to hear, and what will surprise them.’”

(Source: The Washington Post)

A. The Wall

B. Wish You Were Here

C. Ummagumma

D. Animals

1812 The War of 1812 began when Congress declared war against Britain.

1815 Napoleon Bonaparte’s army was defeated by British and Prussian troops at Waterloo in Belgium.

1873 Suffragette Susan B. Anthony was fined $100 for attempting to vote.

1928 Aviator Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean as she completed a flight from Newfoundland to Wales in about 21 hours.

1940 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill urged his countrymen to conduct themselves in a manner that would prompt future generations to say, “This was their finest hour.”

1948 Columbia Records unveiled the new long-playing 33-1/3 record.

1967 The Who performs on the final night of the Monterey International Pop Festival. The Jimi Hendrix Experience also make their U.S. debut. Besides the group’s musicianship, the audience is wowed by Hendrix’s stage antics, including setting his guitar on fire.

1968 The U.S. Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional to deny housing because of race.

1977 New York Yankees outfielder Reggie Jackson half-heartedly went after a fly ball during a loss to the Boston Red Sox and was taken out of the game by manager Billy Martin. The two then nearly came to blows in the dugout over it, during an argument broadcast on national TV.

1977 “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac hits Number One on the pop chart.

1977 “Feels Like The First Time” by Foreigner peaks at Number Four on the pop chart.

1977 “Peace Of Mind” by Boston peaks at Number 38 on the pop chart.

1977 Talking Heads bassist Tina Weymouth and drummer Chris Frantz are married.

1980 The Blues Brothers, starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, premieres in New York City.

1983 Dr. Sally Ride became the first American woman in space on the Challenger shuttle.

1996 Federal prosecutors charged Theodore Kaczynski in four of the Unabomber attacks.

2000 Golfing phenom Tiger Woods won the U.S. Open by a record 15 strokes.

2000 Actress Nancy Marchand (The Sopranos) died at age 71.

1856 In Philadelphia, the Republican Party opened its first convention.

1885 The Statue of Liberty arrived in New York City.

1928 Amelia Earhart began a trans-Atlantic flight from Newfoundland to Wales – the first by a woman.

1962 A young Jack Nicklaus, who had just turned pro five months before, beat heavily-favored crowd favorite Arnold Palmer in an 18-hole playoff by three strokes to win his first of many U.S. Open titles.

1963 The U.S. Supreme Court struck down rules requiring the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer or reading of Biblical verses in public schools.

1967 “She’d Rather Be With Me” by the Turtles peaks at Number Three on the pop chart, where it stays for two weeks.

1967 “Somebody To Love” by the Jefferson Airplane peaks at Number Five on the pop chart, the same day the band plays the Monterey International Pop Festival.

1967 Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits by Bob Dylan peaks at Number 10 on the album chart.

1972 Five burglars broke into the Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate office building in Washington, D.C., and were arrested while trying to install eavesdropping equipment. This event ultimately resulted in the first resignation of a U.S. president, Richard Nixon.

1972 Exile On Main Street by the Rolling Stones hits Number One on the album chart, where it stays for four weeks.

1980 Led Zeppelin begins a three-week European tour. It’s their first on the continent since 1973, and it turns out to be their last tour.

1984 “Born In The U.S.A.” by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band is released.

1991 For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge by Van Halen is released.

1994 O.J. Simpson was charged with two counts of murder in the killings of his ex-wife Nicole and her friend, Ronald Goldman. He led a convoy of police cruisers on a slow-speed chase over 60 miles of Southern California freeways that was telecast live to the nation before he surrendered at his estate.

1994 The United States played host to the World Cup soccer tournament for the first time.

1996 ValuJet Airlines suspended its flight schedule indefinitely after a federal inspection found “several serious deficiencies” in the discount carrier’s operation. ValuJet resumed operations 15 weeks later.

1998 The Senate snuffed out Congress’ first bill to curb teen smoking, with Democrats accusing Republicans of being owned by Big Tobacco, and Republicans charging the measure was laden with too many amendments.

1999 The Republican-controlled House narrowly voted to loosen restrictions on sales at gun shows, marking a victory for the National Rifle Association.

1999 Joseph Stanley Faulder, a former auto mechanic who killed a woman during a 1975 burglary, was lethally injected in Huntsville, Texas and became the first Canadian to be executed in the United States in almost 50 years.

2000 In Cuba, more than 300,000 people turned out to protest the continued stay of Elian Gonzalez in the United States; it was the largest such demonstration since the previous December, when Cuba launched a national campaign of mass gatherings demanding the boy’s return.

A. George Harrison

B. Paul McCartney

C. John Lennon

D. Ringo Starr

1829 Native American leader Geronimo is born. He dies in 1909.

1858 Senate candidate Abraham Lincoln gave a speech calling for an end to the fight over slavery. He famously said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

1884 The first roller coaster opens at Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York.

1890 Stan Laurel (of Laurel & Hardy fame; he’s the skinny one) is born. He dies in 1965.

1893 Cracker Jacks are invented by R.W. Rueckheim.

1897 The government signed a treaty of annexation with Hawaii.

1903 Ford Motor Company was incorporated.

1907 Actor Jack Albertson (Chico & The Man‘s Ed, a.k.a “The Man”) is born. He dies in 1981.

1949 Raging Bull Jake La Motta captured the middleweight boxing championship with a win over Marcel Cerdan.

1959 Actor George Reeves (he played Superman on TV and Brent Tarleton in Gone With The Wind) is found dead of a gunshot wound at age 45. It’s ruled a suicide, although some people still question the ruling.

1963 John Lennon and Paul McCartney compose “She Loves You.”

1967 The Monterey International Pop Festival kicks off. Over the course of the three-day event, over 50,000 people see acts including Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, the Who, the Grateful Dead, the Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, Buffalo Springfield, the Mamas & the Papas, Booker T. & the MG’s, and Otis Redding.

1972 Actors Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner married for the second time.

1978 The movie Grease, starring Olive Newton-John and John Travolta, opens nationwide.

1979 “The Logical Song” by Supertramp peaks at Number Six on the pop chart, where it stays for four weeks.

1982 Pretenders lead guitarist James Honeyman-Scott dies of a cocaine overdose at age 29.

1987 Bernhard Goetz was acquitted of attempted murder in the New York City subway shooting of four young black men he said were going to rob him. He was eventually convicted of illegal weapons possession.

1996 Russians held their first independent presidential election. President Boris Yeltsin won after surviving a run-off.

1996 On this Father’s Day, just after the Chicago Bulls beat the Seattle Supersonics to win the NBA championship, Michael Jordan sank to the court’s floor and burst into tears, a release of the grief he felt for the loss of his father, who had been murdered in a random roadside attack three years before.

1996 Van Halen parts company with Sammy Hagar.

1998 Massachusetts’ highest court cleared the way for Louise Woodward to return home to England, upholding a judge’s ruling that freed the au pair convicted of killing a baby.

1998 The Detroit Red Wings took home the Stanley Cup for the second consecutive year after completing a sweep of the Washington Capitals with a 4-to-1 victory in game four.

1999 Vice President Al Gore announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination.

1999 Kathleen Ann Soliah, a fugitive member of the Symbionese Liberation Army, was captured in St. Paul, Minn., where she was living as Sara Jane Olson.

1999 Thabo Mbeki took the oath as president of South Africa, succeeding Nelson Mandela.

2000 Federal regulators approved the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE Corporation, creating the nation’s largest local phone company.