June 15: Day of the year

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.

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 Carta.
• 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.

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

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)

• 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