Civil Rights Act Signed: Johnson Bans Discrimination Forever
President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on July 2 after it passed the Senate on June 19 following a 54-day filibuster, the longest in Senate history. The filibuster was broken only by a cloture vote of 71-29, the first successful cloture on a civil rights bill. The act banned discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in employment, public accommodations, and federally funded programs. Title VII created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The word "sex" was reportedly added by Virginia Representative Howard Smith, who intended it as a poison pill to kill the bill; it passed anyway and became the foundation of workplace gender equality law. Johnson reportedly told aide Bill Moyers after signing, "We have lost the South for a generation."
June 19, 1964
62 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on June 19
Emperor Constantine presided over the First Council of Nicaea, where bishops established the original Nicene Creed to standardize Christian doctrine. This agree…
Earl Erling Skakke was killed at the Battle of Kalvskinnet outside Nidaros, removing the most powerful opponent of King Sverre Sigurdsson and shifting the balan…
The badge came first. The fine came second. King Louis IX — Saint Louis, the man the Church would later canonize — signed the order in 1269 requiring every Jew …
The Earl of Pembroke’s forces crushed Robert the Bruce’s army at the Battle of Methven, forcing the future king into a desperate life as a fugitive in the Scott…
Starving and demoralized, the English colonists abandoned their Roanoke Island outpost and boarded Sir Francis Drake’s fleet to return home. This failed attempt…
The 1718 Tongwei–Gansu earthquake triggered massive landslides that buried entire villages across the Qing dynasty’s Gansu province. This disaster killed at lea…
Talk to History
Have a conversation with historical figures who witnessed this era. Ask questions, explore perspectives, and bring history to life.