# June 15

**June 15** is the 166th day of the year (167th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 199 days remaining until the end of the year.

## Events

### Up to 1900

* 763 BC – The Assyrians record a solar eclipse that is later used to fix the chronology of Mesopotamian history.
* 923 – Battle of Soissons: King Robert I of France is killed and Charles the Simple is arrested by supporters of Duke Rudolph of Burgundy.
* 1184 – King Magnus V of Norway is killed in battle.
* 1215 – King John of England puts his seal to Magna Carte
* 1219 – Northern Crusades: Danish victory at Battle of Lyndanisse (present-day Tallinn) leads to the Danish Duchy of Estonia being established. In Legend, it was also the first time that the Dannebrog was used.
* 1300 – The city of Bilbao in the Basque Country is founded.
* 1389 – Battle of Kosovo: The Ottoman Empire defeats the Serbs and Bosnians.
* 1502 – Christopher Columbus reaches the island of Martinique.
* 1520 – Pope Leo X threatens to excommunicate Martin Luther.
* 1580 – Philip II of Spain declares William the Silent an outlaw.
* 1667 – The first blood transfusion is administered by Doctor Jean-Baptiste Denys.
* 1741 – Vitus Bering sets sail on his voyage from Petropavlovsk, Russia that will lead him to Alaska.
* 1775 – American Revolutionary War: George Washington is appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army.
* 1776 – Delaware votes to suspend government under the British crown, and separates from Pennsylvania.
* 1785 – Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier, co-pilot of the first-ever manned flight (in 1783), and his companion, Pierre Romain, become the first-ever air crash casualties when their hot-air balloon explodes during their attempt to cross the English Channel.
* 1804 – New Hampshire ratifies the United States Constitution, after approving the 12th Amendment.
* 1808 – Joseph Bonaparte becomes King of Spain.
* 1836 – Arkansas becomes the 25th State of the United States.
* 1844 – Charles Goodyear receives a patent for vulcanization, a process to strengthen rubber.
* 1846 – The Oregon Treaty establishes the 49th parallel as being the longest part of the Canada–United States border.
* 1859 – The shooting of a pig in the San Juan Islands on the Pacific Ocean coast of North America leads to the so-called "Pig War" between the United States and Canada, which was then under British control.
* 1862 – Australian bushranger Frank Gardiner and his gang, hold up a coach carrying gold at Eugowra, New South Wales. This is the biggest robbery in Australian history.
* 1864 – Arlington National Cemetery is established in the United States.
* 1877 – Henry Ossian Flipper becomes the first African American cadet to graduate from the United States Military Academy.
* 1878 – Eadward Muybridge takes a series of photographs that prove that all four of a horse's legs leave the ground when it is running. This is also a key milestone in the development of moving pictures.
* 1888 – Wilhelm II becomes Kaiser of Germany.
* 1896 – A tsunami in Japan kills more than 22,000 people.

### 1901 – 2000

* 1904 – The paddle stramer *General Slocum* sinks on the East River in New York City, killing 1,388 people.
* 1910 – Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated expedition to Antarctica leaves Cardiff.
* 1916 – Woodrow Wilson signs a bill incorporating the Boy Scouts of America.
* 1919 – John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown complete the first trans-Atlantic flight when they land in Ireland.
* 1920 – A border treaty between Germany and Denmark gives northern Schleswig to Denmark.
* 1934 – Great Smoky Mountains National Park is established in the Appalachian Mountains.
* 1937 – A German expedition led by Karl Wien loses 16 members in an avalanche on Nanga Parbat in the Himalayas.
* 1940 – World War II: Allied troops start to evacuate Paris, following the German take-over.
* 1944 – World War II: The US invades the Japanese-occupied island of Saipan.
* 1954 – UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) is founded.
* 1969 – Georges Pompidou is elected President of France.
* 1970 – Charles Manson goes on trial for the Sharon Tate murders.
* 1972 – Red Army Faction co-founder Ulrike Meinhof is captured by police in Langenhagen.
* 1977 – In the first Spanish election since the Francisco Franco dictatorship, Adolfo Suarez is elected Prime Minister of Spain.
* 1978 – King Hussein of Jordan marries American Lisa Halaby, who chooses to be known as Queen Noor of Jordan.
* 1991 – After showing activity since April 2, the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines enters its most destructive phase.
* 1994 – Formal relations between Israel and Vatican City are officially established.
* 1996 – The Provisional IRA explode a large bomb in the centre of Manchester.

### From 2001

* 2002 – A near-Earth asteroid misses the Earth by 121,000 kilometres.
* 2006 – Microsoft announces the resignation of its "Chief Software Architect" Bill Gates.
* 2008 – Kosovo's Constitution takes effect, following the declaration of independence in February, which Serbia disagrees with.
* 2011 – 2011 Vancouver Stanley Cup riot: Rioting occurs in Vancouver, Canada, following the Vancouver Canucks ice hockey team's defeat in the final of the Stanley Cup.
* 2012 – Nik Wallenda successfully walks on a tightrope across Niagara Falls.
* 2013 – The 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup begins with the Brazil national football team defeating the Japan national football team 3–0.
* 2018 – The Glasgow School of Art's Mackintosh building is hit by a second fire in just over four years, causing a lot of damage to it.

## Births

### Up to 1900

* 1330 – Edward, the Black Prince, heir to the throne of England (d. 1376)
* 1479 – Lisa del Giocondo, Italian model (d. 1542)
* 1519 – Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset, son of Henry VIII of England (d. 1536)
* 1534 – Henri I de Montmorency, French nobleman (d. 1614)
* 1542 – Richard Grenville, English captain and explorer (d. 1591)
* 1594 – Nicolas Poussin, French painter (d. 1665)
* 1623 – Cornelis de Witt, Dutch politician (d. 1672)
* 1640 – Bernard Lamy, French mathematician (d. 1715)
* 1749 – Georg Joseph Vogler, German composer, organist and theorist (d. 1814)
* 1763 – Franz Danzi, German cellist, composer and conductor (d. 1826)
* 1765 – Martin Baum, American businessman and politician (d. 1831)
* 1765 – Johann Gottlieb Friedrich von Bonnenberger, German mathematician (d. 1831)
* 1767 – Rachel Jackson, wife of Andrew Jackson before he became US President (d. 1828)
* 1792 – Thomas Livingstone Mitchell, Australian explorer (d. 1855)
* 1798 – Alexander Gorchakov, Russian diplomat (d. 1883)
* 1801 – Benjamin Wright Raymond, Mayor of Chicago (d. 1883)
* 1805 – William Butler Ogden, Mayor of Chicago (d. 1877)
* 1835 – Adah Isaacs Menken, American actress, painter and poet (d. 1868)
* 1843 – Edvard Grieg, Norwegian composer (d. 1907)
* 1848 – Gheevarghese Mar Gregorios of Parumala, Indian bishop and saint (d. 1902)
* 1867 – Konstantin Balmont, Russian songwriter (d. 1942)
* 1875 – Herman Smith-Johannsen, Norwegian-born cross country skier and supercentenarian (d. 1987)
* 1876 – Margaret Abbott, American golfer (d. 1955)
* 1882 – Ion Antonescu, Romanian military leader (d. 1946)
* 1882 – Morgan Foster Larson, Governor of New Jersey (d. 1961)
* 1884 – Harry Langdon, American actor (d. 1944)
* 1888 – Ramón López Velarde, Mexican poet (d. 1921)
* 1890 – Wilhelm Leuschner, German political activist and member of the Resistance (d. 1944)
* 1894 – Trygve Gulbranssen, Norwegian writer (d. 1962)
* 1894 – Robert Russell Bennett, American composer and arranger (d. 1981)
* 1894 – Nikolai Chebotaryov, Ukrainian mathematician (d. 1947)
* 1900 – Otto Luening, German-born American composer (d. 1996)

### 1901 – 1950

* 1902 – Erik Erikson, German-born psychoanalyst (d. 1994)
* 1906 – Gordon Welchman, British mathematician (d. 1985)
* 1908 – Sam Giancana, American mafioso (d. 1975)
* 1910 – David Rose, American songwriter, composer and orchestra leader (d. 1990)
* 1911 – Wilbert Awdry, British children's writer (d. 1997)
* 1914 – Yuri Andropov, Soviet political leader (d. 1984)
* 1915 – Thomas Huckle Weller, American virologist (d. 2008)
* 1916 – Horacio Salgan, Argentine pianist, composer, orchestra leader and arranger
* 1916 – Herbert Simon, American economist (d. 2001)
* 1917 – John Bennett Fenn, American chemist (d. 2010)
* 1920 – Alberto Sordi, Italian actor and director (d. 2003)
* 1923 – Erland Josephson, Swedish actor (d. 2012)
* 1923 – Ninian Stephen, 20th Governor-General of Australia (d. 2017)
* 1923 – Erroll Garner, American jazz pianist and composer (d. 1977)
* 1924 – Ezer Weizman, President of Israel (d. 2005)
* 1925 – Richard Baker, English broadcaster (d. 2018)
* 1926 – Shigeru Kayano, Japanese activist (d. 2006)
* 1927 – Hugo Pratt, Italian writer and artist (d. 1995)
* 1930 – John Fretwell, English diplomat (d. 2017)
* 1930 – Marcel Pronovost, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2015)
* 1932 – Mario Cuomo, American politician, former Governor of New York (d. 2015)
* 1933 – Mohammad-Ali Rajai, 2nd President of Iran (d. 1981)
* 1933 – Yasukazu Tanaka, Japanese footballer
* 1934 – Rubén Aguirre, Mexican actor (d. 2016)
* 1934 – Mikel Laboa, Basque singer and songwriter (d. 2008)
* 1936 – Claude Brasseur, French actor
* 1936 – William Levada, American cardinal (d. 2019)
* 1937 – Waylon Jennings, American musician (d. 2002)
* 1937 – Anna Hazare, Indian activist
* 1938 – Billy Williams, American baseball player
* 1939 – Brian Jacques, British writer (d. 2011)
* 1941 – Harry Nilsson, American singer and composer (d. 1994)
* 1942 – John E. McLaughlin, American deputy director of the CIA
* 1943 – Johnny Hallyday, French rock musician and singer (d. 2017)
* 1943 – Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, former Prime Minister of Denmark
* 1943 – Muff Winwood, English musician
* 1945 – Robert Sarah, Guinean cardinal
* 1945 – Miriam Defensor Santiago, Filipina politician (d. 2016)
* 1946 – Brigitte Fossey, French actress
* 1946 – Noddy Holder, British singer (Slade)
* 1946 – Demis Roussos, Greek singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
* 1948 – Henry McLeish, 2nd First Minister of Scotland
* 1948 – Alan Huckle, English politician and diplomat, Governor of Anguilla
* 1948 – José Huerta, Peruvian politician (d. 2019)
* 1949 – Simon Callow, English actor
* 1949 – Simone Rethel, German actress
* 1949 – Jim Varney, American actor (d. 2000)
* 1950 – Lakshmi Mittal, Indian industrialist

### 1951 – 1975

* 1951 – John Redwood, English politician
* 1953 – Rita Lee, American model
* 1953 – Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China
* 1954 – James Belushi, American actor
* 1954 – Beverley Whitfield, Australian swimmer (d. 1996)
* 1955 – Julie Hagerty, American actress
* 1955 – David Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy (d. 1984)
* 1955 – Mauril Bélanger, Canadian politician
* 1956 – Robin Curtis, American actress
* 1956 – Yevgeny Kiselyov, Russian journalist
* 1958 – Wade Boggs, American baseball player
* 1958 – Riccardo Paletti, Italian racing driver (d. 1982)
* 1959 – Alan Brazil, Scottish footballer
* 1959 – Eileen Davidson, American actress
* 1961 – Laurent Cantet, French director
* 1963 – Mario Gosselin, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1963 – Helen Hunt, American actress
* 1963 – Blanca Portillo, Spanish actress
* 1963 – Nigel Walker, Welsh rugby player
* 1964 – Courteney Cox, American actress
* 1964 – Michael Laudrup, Danish footballer
* 1964 – Gavin Greenaway, English composer and conductor
* 1965 – Karim Massimov, 7th Prime Minister of Kazakhstan
* 1966 – Raimonds Vejonis, 9th President of Latvia
* 1968 – Samira Ahmed, British journalist and presenter
* 1969 – Oliver Kahn, German goalkeeper
* 1969 – Ice Cube, American rapper
* 1969 – Bashar Warda, Iraqi archbishop
* 1970 – Leah Remini, American actress
* 1971 – Edwin Brienen, Dutch-German actor, director and producer
* 1971 – Bif Naked, Indian-Canadian singer-songwriter, actress and poet
* 1972 – Marcus Hahnemann, American goalkeeper
* 1973 – Neil Patrick Harris, American actor, singer and director
* 1973 – Tore André Flo, Norwegian footballer
* 1973 – Greg Vaughan, American actor
* 1974 – Chakri, Indian movie composer and singer (d. 2014)

### From 1976

* 1976 – Gary Lightbody, Northern Irish singer (Snow Patrol)
* 1977 – Michael Doleac, American basketball player
* 1978 – Wilfred Bouma, Dutch footballer
* 1979 – Danielle Lineker, British model
* 1979 – Yulia Nesterenko, Belarussian athlete
* 1980 – Iker Romero, Spanish handball player
* 1980 – Almudena Cid Tastado, Spanish rhythmic gymnast
* 1980 – Mary Carey, American pornographic actress
* 1981 – John Paintsil, Ghanaian footballer
* 1981 – Emma Snowsill, Australian triathlete
* 1981 – Billy Martin, American musician (Good Charlotte)
* 1982 – Mike Delany, New Zealand rugby player
* 1982 – Katie Chapman, English footballer
* 1982 – Atli Gregersen, Faroese footballer
* 1983 – Laura Imbruglia, Australian musician
* 1984 – Amber Coffman, American musician
* 1984 – Tim Lincecum, American baseball player
* 1985 – Nadine Coyle, Northern Irish singer (Girls Aloud)
* 1986 – Stoya, American pornographic actress, writer and model
* 1988 – Barakat Al-Hartini, Omani sprinter
* 1988 – Miku Ishida, Japanese singer and actress
* 1990 – Miwa, Japanese singer-songwriter and musician
* 1990 – Denzel Whitaker, American actor
* 1992 – Mohamed Salah, Egyptian footballer
* 1992 – Dafne Schippers, Dutch heptathlete and sprinter
* 1993 – Kanna Arihara, Japanese singer (Cute)
* 1994 – Rina Hidaka, Japanese voice actress
* 1994 – Iñaki Williams, Spanish footballer

## Deaths

### Up to 1900

* 707 – Emperor Mommu of Japan
* 923 – King Robert I of France (b. 866)
* 991 – Theophanu, consort of Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 960)
* 1073 – Emperor Go-Sanjo of Japan (b. 1073)
* 1184 – King Magnus V of Norway (b. 1156)
* 1189 – Minamoto no Yoritomo, Japanese warrior (b. 1159)
* 1246 – Frederick II of Austria (b. 1219)
* 1381 – Wat Tyler, English peasant leader (b. 1341)
* 1383 – John VI Cantacuzenus, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1292)
* 1389 – Murad I, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1326)
* 1389 – Lazar of Serbia, Serbian saint (b. 1329)
* 1416 – John, Duke of Berry (b. 1340)
* 1467 – Philip III, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1396)
* 1586 – Primoz Trubar, Slovenian religious reformer (b. 1508)
* 1768 – James Short, Scottish mathematician and optician (b. 1710)
* 1772 – Louis-Claude Daguin, French composer (b. 1694)
* 1785 – Jean Francois Pilatre de Rozier, French physicist and balloonist (b. 1757)
* 1849 – James K. Polk, 11th President of the United States (b. 1795)
* 1888 – Kaiser Friedrich III of Germany (b. 1831)
* 1889 – Mihai Eminescu, Romanian poet (b. 1850)
* 1890 – Unryu Kyukichi, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1822)

### 1901 – 2000

* 1917 – Kristian Birkeland, Norwegian physicist (b. 1867)
* 1934 – Alfred Bruneau, French composer (b. 1857)
* 1938 – Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, German painter and printmaker (b. 1880)
* 1945 – Carl Gustaf Ekman, Swedish politician (b. 1872)
* 1961 – Giulio Cabianca, Italian racing driver (b. 1923)
* 1962 – Alfred Cortot, French-Swiss pianist (b. 1877)
* 1971 – Wendell Meredith Stanley, American chemist (b. 1904)
* 1976 – Jimmy Dykes, American baseball player and manager (b. 1896)
* 1982 – Art Pepper, American saxophonist (b. 1925)
* 1989 – Maurice Bellemare, Canadian politician (b. 1912)
* 1991 – Arthur Lewis, British economist (b. 1915)
* 1991 – Happy Chandler, 44th and 49th Governor of Kentucky and Commissioner of Baseball (b. 1898)
* 1993 – John Connally, Governor of Texas (b. 1917)
* 1993 – James Hunt, English racing driver (b. 1947)
* 1994 – Manos Hadjidakis, Greek composer (b. 1925)
* 1995 – John Vincent Atanasoff, American computer pioneer (b. 1903)
* 1996 – Ella Fitzgerald, American singer (b. 1917)
* 1996 – Fitzroy MacLean, Scottish soldier, writer and politician (b. 1911)

### From 2001

* 2001 – Jay Moriarty, American surfer (b. 1978)
* 2002 – Choi Hong Hi, founder of Taekwondo (b. 1918)
* 2003 – Hume Cronin, Canadian actor (b. 1911)
* 2005 – Suzanne Flon, French actress (b. 1918)
* 2007 – Sherri Martel, American professional wrestler (b. 1958)
* 2008 – Stan Winston, American filmmaker (b. 1946)
* 2010 – Heidi Kabel, German actress (b. 1914)
* 2013 – Heinz Flohe, German footballer (b. 1948)
* 2013 – Kenneth G. Wilson, American physicist (b. 1936)
* 2013 – José Froilán González, Argentine racing driver (b. 1922)
* 2014 – Ray Fox, American NASCAR engine builder and team owner (b. 1916)
* 2014 – Casey Kasem, American radio presenter, DJ and voice actor (b. 1932)
* 2014 – Daniel Keyes, American author (b. 1927)
* 2015 – Jean Doré, Canadian politician, 39th Mayor of Montreal (b. 1944)
* 2015 – Kirk Kerkorian, American businessman (b. 1917)
* 2015 – Blaze Starr, American burlesque dancer, stripper and model (b. 1932)
* 2015 – Jeanna Friske, Russian actress, singer and socialite (b. 1974)
* 2015 – Harry Rowohlt, German writer (b. 1945)
* 2015 – Mighty Sam McClain, American soul-blues singer (b. 1943)
* 2016 – Lois Duncan, American writer (b. 1934)
* 2016 – Claude Confortès, French actor (b. 1928)
* 2017 – Aleksey Batalov, Russian actor (b. 1928)
* 2017 – Ibrahim Abouleish, Egyptian pharmacologist (b. 1937)
* 2017 – Ajmer Singh Aulakh, Indian playwright (b. 1942)
* 2017 – P. N. Bhagwati, Indian judge (b. 1921)
* 2017 – Wilma de Faria, Brazilian politician (b. 1945)
* 2017 – Bill Dana, American comedian, actor and screenwriter (b. 1924)
* 2018 – Leslie Grantham, English actor (b. 1947)
* 2018 – Enoch zu Guttenberg, German conductor (b. 1946)
* 2018 – Matt Murphy, American blues guitarist (b. 1929)
* 2019 – Marta Harnecker, Chilean sociologist, political scientist, journalist and activist (b. 1937)
* 2019 – Wilhelm Holzbauer, Austrian architect (b. 1930)
* 2019 – Kevin Killian, American poet, author and playwright (b. 1952)
* 2019 – Franco Zeffirelli, Italian film director (b. 1923)
* 2020 – Giulio Giorello, Italian philosopher and mathematician (b. 1945)
* 2020 – Nagendra Nath Jha, Indian politician (b. 1935)
* 2020 – Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran, Bangladeshi politician (b. 1951)
* 2020 – Marinho, Brazilian footballer (b. 1957)
* 2020 – Anton Schlembach, German Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1932)

## Observances

* Separation Day (Delaware)
* Statehood Day (Arkansas)
* Arbor Day (Costa Rica)
* Flag Day (Denmark)
* National Salvation Day (Azerbaijan)
* Engineers' Day (Italy)
* Global Wind Day
* World Elder Abuse Awareness Day
* Saint Vitus' Day