June 15 - Definition and Overview

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, 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.[1] (http://www.bl.uk/collections/treasures/magna.html)
• 1246 - With the death of Duke Frederick II, the Babenberg dynasty ends in Austria.
• 1389 - Battle of Kosovo: Turks defeat Serbs and Bosnians.[2] (http://www.kosovo.com/kosbitka.html)
• 1409 - 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.
• 1667 - The first human blood transfusion is administered by Dr. Jean Baptiste. He transfuses 12 ounces 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 (kite + key + lightning).
• 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.
• 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. [3] (http://www.scouting.org/factsheets/02-507.html)
• 1919 - John Alcock and Arthur Brown complete first nonstop transatlantic flight at Clifden, County Galway, Ireland.
• 1934 - The 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 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.
• 1979 - Rocky II opens in theaters, starring and directed by Sylvester Stallone.
• 1992 - During a spelling bee at a Trenton, New Jersey elementary school, U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle corrects a student's spelling of the word potato by indicating it should have an e at the end.
• 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.
• 1995 - While on trial for murder, O.J. Simpson puts on a pair of gloves that were found soaked with blood at the murder scene. The gloves appear to not fit. [4] (http://www.cnn.com/resources/video.almanac/1995/index3.html)
• 1996 - The Los Angeles radio station KROQ opens the fourth annual of their live concert Weenie Roast with Everclear, Foo Fighters, Fugees, Garbage, Goldfinger, Kiss, Korn, Lush, No Doubt, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, 311 and The Verve Pipe.
• 1999 - George Morber Senior and Carolyn Frederick are murdered by Angel Maturino Resendiz in Gorham, Illinois. They are his eighth and ninth victims, in his seventh and final incident.
• 1999 - Nicholas Vitalich is arrested outside a supermarket in San Diego, California, USA for assault with a deadly weapon after slapping his girlfriend with a large tuna.
• 2002 - The Los Angeles radio station KROQ opens the tenth annual of their live concert Weenie Roast with Bad Religion, Hoobastank, Jack Johnson, Jimmy Eat World, Moby, New Found Glory, P.O.D., Papa Roach, Puddle of Mudd, The Strokes, System of a Down, Unwritten Law, The Vines, The Violent Femmes and Rob Zombie.

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, IL (d. 1883)
• 1805 - William Butler Ogden, first mayor of Chicago, IL (d. 1877)
• 1843 - Edvard Grieg (d. 1907)
• 1914 - Yuri Andropov, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (d. 1984)
• 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
• 1937 - Waylon Jennings, singer (d. 2002)
• 1938 - Billy Williams, baseball star
• 1939 - Brian Jacques, 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
• 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
• 1981 - Mary Carey, American erotic actress and former gubernatorial candidate.

Deaths

• 923 - Robert I of France (b. c. 865)
• 1246 - Frederick II the Quarrelsome, last Babenberg Duke of Austria
• 1381 - Wat Tyler, leader of 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)
• 1968 - Sam Crawford, Baseball Hall of Famer (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

• Commemoration of Evelyn Underhill (Anglican mystic and poet)
• Roman Empire - ninth and final day of the Vestalia in honor of Vesta
• Roman Catholic Church - Feast of Saint Germaine Cousin, patron of shepherdesses and of victims of child abuse
• Saint Vitus' Day - Vitus Diena held in medieval Latvia

June 14 - June 16 - May 15 - July 15 -- listing of all days