Today in history: June 15, More than 1,000 dead in steamship disaster in New York

TODAY IN HISTORY

In 1215, the English King John sealed the Magna Carta (“Magna Carta”) in Runnymede.

In 1775, the Second Continental Congress unanimously appointed George Washington Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army.

In 1864, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton signed an order establishing a military cemetery that later became Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

In 1904, over 1,000 people died when a fire broke out on board the steamship General Slocum in New York’s East River.

In 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a law making the National Guard a part of the U.S. Army in the event of war or a national emergency.

In 1938, Johnny Vander Meer threw his second consecutive no-hitter, leading the Cincinnati Reds to a 6-0 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers in the first night game at Ebbets Field, four days after holding the Boston Bees hitless 3-0.

In 1944, American forces began World War II with their successful invasion of Saipan. B-29 Superfortresses made their first attacks on Japan.

In 1960, the Billy Wilder film “The Apartment” starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine premiered in New York.

In 1985, Shiite hijackers of a TWA Boeing 727 beat and shot one of their hostages, 23-year-old U.S. Navy diver Robert Stethem, and threw him from the plane, where he died on the tarmac of Beirut airport.

In 1991, one of the largest volcanic eruptions of the 20th century occurred on Mount Pinatubo in the north of the Philippines, killing about 800 people.

In 1996, Ella Fitzgerald, the “First Lady of Singing,” died at the age of 79 in Beverly Hills, California.

In 2002, an asteroid with a diameter of between 46 and 100 meters missed the Earth by almost 120,000 kilometers – less than a third of the distance to the Moon.

In 2018, former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort was jailed to await two criminal trials; a federal judge lifted his house arrest on charges of witness tampering during special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. (Manafort was set to be sentenced to more than seven years in prison on federal charges, but was eventually pardoned by then-President Donald Trump.)

In 2020, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that a landmark civil rights law protects gay, lesbian and transgender people from workplace discrimination.

In 2022, John Hinckley Jr., who shot and wounded President Ronald Reagan in 1981, was released from judicial supervision, officially ending his decades of supervision by legal and mental health professionals.

BIRTHDAYS

R&B singer Ruby Nash Garnett (Ruby and the Romantics) is 90.

Funk musician Leo Nocentelli (The Meters) is 78.

Actor Simon Callow is 75.

Singer Russell Hitchcock (Air Supply) is 75.

Rock singer Steve Walsh is 73.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is 71.

Actor and comedian Jim Belushi is 70.

Country singer Terri Gibbs is 70.

Actress Julie Hagerty is 69.

Actress Polly Draper is 69.

Rock musician Brad Gillis (Night Ranger) is 67.

Wade Boggs, a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, is 66 years old.

Actress Eileen Davidson is 65.

Actress Helen Hunt is 61.

Rock musician Scott Rockenfield (Queensryche) is 61.

Actor Courteney Cox is 60.

Country musician Michael Britt (Lonestar) is 58.

The actor and rapper Ice Cube is 55.

Actress Leah Remini is 54.

Actor Jake Busey is 53.

Actor Neil Patrick Harris is 51.

Actor Greg Vaughan is 51.

Actress Elizabeth Reaser is 49.

Rock singer Dryden Mitchell (Alien Ant Farm) is 48.

Former child actor Christopher Castile is 44.

Rock musician Billy Martin (Good Charlotte) is 43.

Actor Jordi Vilasuso is 43.

Rock musician Wayne Sermon (Imagine Dragons) is 40.

Actor Denzel Whitaker is 34.

Olympic gold medalist in gymnastics Madison Kocian is 27.

Actor Sterling Jerins is 20.