What Happened on June 15

Significant Events

  • 763 BC Assyrians record a solar eclipse that will be used to fix the chronology of Mesopotamian history
  • 1215 King John signs Magna Carta at Runnymede, near Windsor, England
  • 1775 George Washington appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, the day after Congress establishes the force
  • 1896 Tsunami strikes Shinto festival on beach at Sanriku, Japan; 27,000 are killed, 9,000 injured and 13,000 houses destroyed
  • 1940 World War II: France surrenders to NAZI Germany, German troops occupy Paris
  • 1991 Climactic eruption of the Mount Pinatubo volcano in the Philippines, the second-largest volcanic eruption on Earth of the 20th century
  • 2015 Real estate mogul Donald Trump launches his campaign for US President
More Historical Events

June 15 in Film & TV

  • 1878 World's first moving pictures caught on camera (used 12 cameras, each taking 1 picture) done to see if all 4 of a horse's hooves leave the ground

June 15 in Music

  • 1965 Bob Dylan records single "Like a Rolling Stone" (#1 in Rolling Stone magazine's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time")

June 15 in Sport

  • 1980 80th US Golf Open: Jack Nicklaus shoots a record 272 at Baltusrol GC New Jersey, his fourth and last US Open

Did You Know?

Dannebrog is the flag of Denmark and the oldest national flag in the world. According to legend, it fell from the sky during the Battle of Lyndanisse (now Tallinn) in Estonia, and turned the Danes' luck

On June 15, 1219

Famous Birthdays

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Would You Believe?

Near earth asteroid 2002 MN missed the Earth by 75,000 miles (120,000 km), about one-third of the distance between the Earth and the Moon

On June 15, 2002

Famous Weddings

  • 1777 First American flag seamstress Betsy Ross (25) weds mariner Joseph Ashburn
  • 1905 Princess Margaret of Connaught marries Gustav, Crown Prince of Sweden.
  • 1928 "King Kong" actress Fay Wray (20) weds playwright-screenwriter John Monk Saunders (30)
  • 1953 Sci-Fi author Arthur C. Clarke (35) weds Marilyn Torgenson in New York
  • 1966 English writer of blockbuster novels, Jackie Collins weds 2nd husband Oscar Lerman

Famous Divorces

  • 1978 US Senator Edward W. Brooke (58) divorces first wife Remigia Ferrari-Scacco after 31 years of marriage
  • 1989 Singer-songwriter Courtney Love (24) divorces vocalist James Moreland only 4 months after getting married
  • 2011 Actress and model Elizabeth Hurley (45) divorces businessman Arun Nayar due to husband's unreasonable behavior
More Weddings & Divorces

Famous Deaths

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June in History