Today is Saturday, June 15, the 167th day of 2024. There are 199 days left in the year.
Today in history
On June 15, 1904, more than 1,000 people died when fire erupted aboard the steamboat General Slocum in New York’s East River.
Also on this date
In 1215, England’s King John put his seal to Magna Carta (“the Great Charter”) at Runnymede.
In 1775, the Second Continental Congress voted unanimously to appoint George Washington head of the Continental Army.
In 1864, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton signed an order establishing a military burial ground which became Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
In 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an act making the National Guard part of the U.S. Army in the event of war or national emergency.
In 1938, Johnny Vander Meer pitched 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 leaving the Boston Bees hitless by a score of 3-0.
In 1944, American forces began their successful invasion of Saipan (sy-PAN’) during World War II. B-29 Superfortresses carried out their first raids on Japan.
In 1960, the Billy Wilder movie “The Apartment,” starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, premiered in New York.
In 1985, the Shiite Muslim hijackers of a TWA Boeing 727 beat and shot one of their hostages, U.S. Navy diver Robert Stethem (STEE’-them), 23, throwing him out of the plane to die on the tarmac at Beirut airport.
Fun fact
At full sprint a cheetah spends more time in the air than in contact with the ground.
Today’s birthdays
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 (shee jihn-peeng) is 71. Actor-comedian Jim Belushi is 70. Actor Julie Hagerty is 69. Actor Polly Draper is 69. Rock musician Brad Gillis (Night Ranger) is 67. Baseball Hall of Famer Wade Boggs is 66. Actor Eileen Davidson is 65. Actor Helen Hunt is 61. Rock musician Scott Rockenfield (Queensryche) is 61. Actor Courteney Cox is 60. Country musician Michael Britt (Lonestar) is 58. Actor-rapper Ice Cube is 55. Actor Leah Remini is 54. Actor Jake Busey is 53. Actor Neil Patrick Harris is 51. Actor Greg Vaughan is 51. 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. Actor Sterling Jerins is 20.
The Edge is compiled by Katie Clohessy. She can be contacted at kclohessy@lmtribune.com.
