Happy Fathers Day! June 15: In 1215 King John of England puts his seal to the Magna Carta; in 1648 Margaret Jones is hanged in Boston for witchcraft in the first such execution for the Massachusetts Bay Colony; in 1752 Benjamin Franklin proves that lightning is electricity (traditional date, the exact date is unknown); in 1775 George Washington is appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army; in 1776 Delaware votes to suspend government under the British Crown and separate officially from Pennsylvania; in 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; in 1804 New Hampshire approves the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratifying the document; in 1836 Arkansas is admitted as the 25th U.S. state; in 1844 Charles Goodyear receives a patent for vulcanization, a process to strengthen rubber; in 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; in 1864 Arlington National Cemetery is established when 200 acres around Arlington Mansion (formerly owned by Confederate General Robert E. Lee) are officially set aside as a military cemetery by U.S. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton; in 1877 Henry Ossian Flipper becomes the first African American cadet to graduate from the United States Military Academy; in 1878 Eadweard Muybridge takes a series of photographs to prove that all four feet of a horse leave the ground when it runs; in 1888 Crown Prince Wilhelm becomes Kaiser Wilhelm II, the last Emperor of the German Empire; in 1919 John Alcock and Arthur Brown complete the first nonstop transatlantic flight when they reach Clifden, County Galway, Ireland; in 1934 Great Smoky Mountains National Park is founded; in 1970 Charles Manson goes on trial for the Sharon Tate murders; in 1991 Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines erupts in the second largest volcanic eruption of the 20th Century. Birthdays: Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset, son of Henry VIII (1519); Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (1843); singer/guitarist Waylon Jennings (1937); singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson (1941); The Lennon Sisters Janet Lennon (1946); actor/comedian Jim Varney (1949); Kansas singer/keyboardist Steve Walsh (1951); actor Jim Belushi (1953); actress Julie Hagerty (1955); actress Helen Hunt (1963); actress Courteney Cox (1964); actor Neil Patrick Harris (1973). Music: In 1958 The Platters perform their new hit Twilight Time on the Ed Sullivan Show; in 1964 Ringo Starr rejoins the Beatles on tour in Melbourne following a bout of tonsillitis; in 1966 Capitol releases the Beatles newest US album, a compilation of sorts entitled Yesterday and Today (featuring the original butcher smock cover); in 1993, with his latest release, My World, Ray Charles becomes the first musician to land an album on the Billboard charts in six consecutive decades; in 1963 Jan and Dean release Surf City; in 1963 Kyu Sakamotos Sukiyaki hits #1.
Posted on: Sun, 15 Jun 2014 12:35:12 +0000
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