June 15
June 15 is the 166th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (167th in leap years), with 199 days remaining.
Events
- 763 BC - Assyrians record a solar eclipse that will be used to fix the chronology of Mesopotamian history.
- 923 - Battle of Soissons: King Robert I of France is killed and King Charles the Simple is arrested by the supporters of Duke Rudolph of Burgundy.
- 1215 - King John of England puts his seal to the Magna Carta.
- 1219 - Dannebrog - oldest national flag in the world - and flag of Denmark. Fell from the sky during the Battle of Lyndanisse in Estonia, and turned the Danes luck.
- 1246 - With the death of Duke Frederick II, the Babenberg dynasty ends in Austria.
- 1389 - Battle of Kosovo: The Ottoman Empire defeats Serbs and Bosnians.
- 1409 - Western Schism: The Catholic church is led into a double schism as Petros Philargos is elected Pope Alexander V by the Council of Pisa, joining Pope Gregory XII in Rome and Pope Benedict XII in Avignon.
- 1520 - Pope Leo X threatens to excommunicate Martin Luther.
- 1667 - The first human blood transfusion is administered by Dr. Jean Baptiste. He transfuses 12 fluid ounces (350 ml) of sheep blood to a 15-year-old boy. The boy later dies and Baptiste is accused of murder.
- 1752 - Benjamin Franklin proves that lightning is electricity.
- 1775 - American Revolutionary War: George Washington is appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army.
- 1785 - Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, co-pilot of the first-ever manned flight (1783), and his companion, Pierre Romain, become the first-ever casualties of an air crash when their hot air balloon explodes during their attempt to cross the English Channel.
- 1804 - New Hampshire approves the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratifying the document.
- 1808 - Jozef Bonaparte becomes King of Spain.
- 1836 - Arkansas is admitted as the 25th U.S. state.
- 1844 - Charles Goodyear receives a patent for vulcanization, a process to strengthen rubber.
- 1846 - The Oregon Treaty establishes the 49th parallel as the border between the United States and Canada, from the Rocky Mountains to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
- 1859 - Pig War: Ambiguity in the Oregon Treaty leads to the "Northwestern Boundary Dispute" between U.S. and British/Canadian settlers.
- 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Petersburg begins – Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant and troops led by Confederate General Robert E. Lee battle for the last time.
- 1864 - Arlington National Cemetery is established when 200 acres (0.8 km²) around Arlington Mansion are officially set aside as a military cemetery by U.S. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton.
- 1877 - Henry Ossian Flipper becomes the first African American cadet to graduate from the United States Military Academy.
- 1904 - A fire aboard the steamboat General Slocum in New York City's East River kills 1000.
- 1905 - Princess Margaret of Connaught marries Gustav, Crown Prince of Sweden.
- 1909 - Representatives from England, Australia and South Africa meet at Lords and form the Imperial Cricket Conference.
- 1911 - Tabulating Computing Recording Corporation (IBM) is incorporated.
- 1913 - US troops under General John 'Black Jack' Pershing massacre at least 2,000 Philippine men, women and children at Bud Bagsak.
- 1916 - U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signs a bill incorporating the Boy Scouts of America.
- 1919 - John Alcock and Arthur Brown complete first nonstop transatlantic flight at Clifden, County Galway, Ireland.
- 1924 - Native Americans are proclaimed United States citizens.
- 1934 - The U.S.'s Great Smoky Mountains National Park is founded.
- 1944 - World War II: Battle of Saipan: The United States invades Saipan.
- 1954 - UEFA (the Union des Associations Européennes de Football) is formed in Basle, Switzerland.
- 1955 - The Eisenhower administration stages the first annual "Operation Alert" (OPAL) exercise, an attempt to assess the USA's preparations for a nuclear attack.
- 1957 - Eindhoven University of Technology is founded.
- 1962 - Students for a Democratic Society complete the Port Huron Statement.
- 1969 - Hee Haw debuts on CBS television, quickly becoming an institution.
- 1978 - King Hussein of Jordan marries 26-year-old Lisa Halaby.
- 1992 - The United States Supreme Court rules in US vs. Alvarez-Machain that it is permissible for the USA to abduct suspects in foreign countries and bring them to the USA for trial, without approval from those other countries. No reciprocal right is recognized for the reverse to happen in the USA.
- 1994 - Israel and Vatican City establish full diplomatic relations.
- 1996 - In Manchester, UK, a terrorist bomb injures over 200 people and devastates a large part of the city centre.
- 1999 - George Morber Senior and Carolyn Frederick are murdered by Ángel Maturino Reséndiz in Gorham, Illinois, USA. They are his eighth and ninth victims, in his seventh and final incident.
Births
- 1330 - Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales (d. 1376)
- 1594 - Nicolas Poussin, painter (d. 1665)
- 1767 - Rachel Donelson Jackson, First Lady of the United States, wife of Andrew Jackson
- 1789 - Josiah Henson, ex-slave, settlement founder (d. 1883)
- 1801 - Benjamin Raymond, mayor of Chicago (d. 1883)
- 1805 - William Butler Ogden, first mayor of Chicago (d. 1877)
- 1843 - Edvard Grieg, Norwegian composer (d. 1907)
- 1882 - Ion Antonescu, Romanian prime minister and dictator (d. 1946)
- 1902 - Erik Erikson, psychoanalyst (d. 1994)
- 1906 - Léon Degrelle, Belgian Rexist who joined the Waffen SS (d. 1994)
- 1914 - Yuri Andropov, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (d. 1984)
- 1917 - John Fenn, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1917 - Lash La Rue, actor (d. 1996)
- 1921 - Errol Garner, jazz musician (d. 1977)
- 1928 - Irenaeus Eibl-Eibesfeldt, behaviorist
- 1932 - Mario Cuomo, former Governor of New York
- 1936 - William Joseph Levada, Roman Catholic Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and former archbishop of San Francisco in Calfornia
- 1937 - Waylon Jennings, U.S. singer (d. 2002)
- 1938 - Billy Williams, U.S. baseball star
- 1939 - Brian Jacques, British author
- 1941 - Harry Nilsson, singer, composer (d. 1994)
- 1943 - Xaviera Hollander, prostitute, author
- 1943 - Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark
- 1946 - Noddy Holder, Slade lead singer
- 1947 - John Hoagland, war photographer
- 1948 - Mike Holmgren, American football coach
- 1949 - Dusty Baker, baseball player, coach
- 1954 - James Belushi, actor
- 1958 - Wade Boggs, baseball player
- 1963 - Helen Hunt, actress
- 1964 - Courteney Cox, actress
- 1965 - Bernard Hopkins, boxer
- 1969 - Ice Cube, singer, actor
- 1969 - Oliver Kahn, German football goalkeeper
- 1971 - Edwin Brienen, Dutch director
- 1972 - Andy Pettitte, baseball pitcher
- 1973 - Neil Patrick Harris, actor
- 1980 - Cara Zavaleta, model
- 1981 - Mary Carey, American erotic actress and former gubernatorial candidate.
- 1981 - Billy Martin, American musician
Deaths
- 923 - Robert I of France (b. c. 865)
- 1246 - Frederick II of Austria (b. 1219)
- 1381 - Wat Tyler, leader of the Peasants' Revolt
- 1467 - Philip the Good of Burgundy (b. 1396)
- 1521 - Tamás Bakócz Hungarian archbishop, cardinal and statesman (b 1442)
- 1750 - Marguerite De Launay, Baronne Staal, French writer (b. 1684)
- 1772 - Louis-Claude Daquin, French composer (b. 1694)
- 1849 - James Knox Polk, 11th President of the United States (b. 1795)
- 1869 - Marquis Ferdinando Bartolommei, Italian revolutionist and statesman
- 1888 - Friedrich III of Germany (Hohenzollern) (b. 1831)
- 1889 - Mihai Eminescu, Romanian poet (b. 1850)
- 1941 - Evelyn Underhill, Anglican mystic and poet (b. 1875)
- 1962 - Alfred Cortot, Swiss pianist (b. 1877)
- 1965 - E. A. Speiser, American Bible scholar (b. 1902)
- 1968 - Sam Crawford, Baseball Hall of Fame (b. 1880)
- 1976 - Jimmy Dykes, Major League Baseball player and manager (b. 1896)
- 1984 - Meredith Willson, composer (b. 1902)
- 1985 - Andy Stanfield, American athlete (b. 1927)
- 1989 - Victor French, actor
- 1993 - John Connally, former Governor of Texas, United States Secretary of the Treasury, United States Secretary of the Navy (b. 1917)
- 1993 - James Hunt, English motor-racing driver (b. 1947)
- 1995 - John Vincent Atanasoff, computer pioneer (b. 1903)
- 1996 - Ella Fitzgerald, jazz singer (b. 1917)
- 1997 - Kim Casali, English cartoonist
- 2003 - Hume Cronyn, stage and film actor (b. 1911)
- 2003 - Volker Kriegel, jazz musician
Holidays and observances
External links
June 14 - June 16 - May 15 - July 15 – listing of all days
See also: June 15, 1215, 1219, 1246, 1330
