15 June History
- 1184 - King Magnus of Norway is defeated by his rival, Sverre.
- 1215 - King John signs the Magna Carta.
- 1381 - The English peasant revolt is crushed in London.
- 1389 - Ottoman Turks crush Serbia in the Battle of Kosovo.
- 1607 - Colonists in North America complete James Fort in Jamestown.
- 1752 - Benjamin Franklin and his son test the relationship between electricity and lightning by flying a kite in a thunder storm.
- 1775 - George Washington is named Commander in Chief by Congress.
- 1779 - American General Anthony Wayne captures Stony Point, New York.
- 1836 - Arkansas is admitted into the Union as the 25th state.
- 1846 - Great Britain and the United States agree on a joint occupation of Oregon Territory.
- 1849 - James K. Polk, the 11th president of the United States, dies.
- 1862 - General J.E.B. Stuart completes his "ride around McClellan."
- 1864 - The Battle for Petersburg begins.
- 1866 - Prussia attacks Austria.
- 1877 - Henry O. Flipper becomes the first African American to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
- 1898 - The U.S. House of representatives approves the annexation of Hawaii.
- 1916 - President Woodrow Wilson signs a bill incorporating the Boy Scouts of America.
- 1917 - Great Britain pledges the release of all Irish captured during the Easter Rebellion of 1916.
- 1920 - Three African Americans are lynched in Duluth, Minnesota, by a white mob of 5,000.
- 1928 - Republicans, convening in Kansas City, name Herbert Hoover their candidate for President.
- 1932 - Gaston Means is sentenced to 15 years for fraud in the Lindbergh baby kidnapping.
- 1940 - The French fortress of Verdun is captured by Germans.
- 1944 - U.S. Marines begin the invasion of Saipan in Pacific.
- 1947 - The All-Indian Congress accepts a British plan for the partition of India.
- 1958 - Greece severs military ties to Turkey because of the Cyprus issue.
- 1964 - The last French troops leave Algeria.
- 1977 - The first general election in Spain since 1936 results in victory for the UCD (Union of Democratic Centre).
15 June Birthdays
- 1330 - Edward the Black Prince, the eldest son of Edward III.
- 1767 - Rachel Robards Jackson, first lady to President Andrew Jackson.
- 1843 - Edvard Grieg, Norwegian composer.
- 1902 - Erik H. Erikson, psychologist (Childhood and Society).
- 1914 - Saul Steinberg, American cartoonist.
- 1922 - Morris "Mo" Udall, U.S. Congressman.