What Happened Today in History on June 15

Emperor Augustus introduces the law "leges Juliae" against bachelors and childless marriages in Rome. Augustus enacted these reforms to address what he saw as a moral and social crisis among Rome's elite with the goals of increasing the birth rate among the upper classes and to reinforce traditional Roman virtues and family values. while encouraging marriage and discouraging celibacy.

The Assyrian solar eclipse, also known as the Bur-Sagale eclipse, is recorded in Assyrian eponym lists that most likely dates to the tenth year of the reign of king Ashur-dan III. The eclipse is identified as the one that occurred on 15 June 763 BC in the proleptic Julian calendar and helped and was helpful to understand the chronology of Mesopotamian history and correlate it to certain events mentioned in the Old Testament. More

Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, known as El Cid, conquers the city of Valencia from the Moors on June 15, 1094, after a siege which began in 1093. He ruled it for the remainder of his life, holding it against counterattacks from the Almoravid army.  Expand +

al-Idrisi, a highly accomplished geographer and cartographer is born in Ceuta, what is now, an autonomous Spanish City bordering Morocco, on the North African Coast. Born into a noble family, he received an extensive education in Córdoba.  Expand +

King John affixes his royal seal to the Magna Carta at Runnymede, England. The document was basically a negotiated peace treaty between the King and his barons who were unhappy with King John's rule due to heavy taxation and perceived abuses of power. The sealing of the agreement failed to resolve the conflict and civil war broke out shortly after. The Magna Carta laid the foundation for future legal and constitutional developments, including the concept of the rule of law and limitations on governmental power. More

According to Danish legend, in the early 13th century, the Danish king Valdemar Sejr (Valdemar the Victorious) led his army on a crusade in present-day Estonia. During a battle on June 15, 1219, the Danes were on the defensive when suddenly a red banner with a white cross fell from the sky. As a result, the luck changed, the Danish army won, and Denmark got its flag. It is considered to be the world's oldest national flag still in use, by now over 800 years. The name of the Danish flag is Dannebrog. The word itself translates to "Danish cloth" or "well-made cloth". More

Osman I, founder of the Ottoman Empire, is born in the town of Söğüt, northwestern Anatolia. He was the son of Ertuğrul and the founder of the Ottoman dynasty and empire, which began as a small principality in the region and grew into a world power over the following centuries.

Dante Alighieri becomes one of the six priors of Florence, Italy.

The Battle of Kosovo takes place between the Ottoman Empire led by Sultan Murad I, and a coalition of Balkan states led by Serbian Prince Lazar. Both leaders were killed during the battle. Ultimately, the Ottomans were able to regroup under Murad's son, Bayezid I. The battle was costly on both sides and it ultimately led to Serbia becoming an Ottoman vassal state.

Pope Leo X issues the bull Exsurge Domine (“Arise O Lord”) in response to the teachings of Martin Luther which opposed the views of the Catholic Church; giving Luther 60 days to recant.  Expand +

The Continental Congress votes to appoint George Washington, the commander of the colonies' first official army. and he accepts the assignment and signs his commission. More

Arkansas was admitted to the U.S and becomes the 25th State. More

The Oregon Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C. by Representatives of Great Britain and the United States, establishing the U.S.-Canadian border at the 49th parallel and settling a long-standing dispute with Britain over who controlled the Oregon territory. The United States gained formal control over the future states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana; and the British retained Vancouver Island and navigation rights to part of the Columbia River. Tribes were not consulted as the 49th Parallel becomes the boundary. so many Native people on either side of the line wake up in a different country, living under different laws than those they knew the night before. More

Arlington officially becomes a national cemetery by order of Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. The original cemetery was 200 acres, and as of early 2020, has grown to 639 acres. Arlington became a segregated cemetery, just like all national cemeteries at the time, and remained segregated by race and rank until 1948, when President Harry S. Truman desegregated the military. Approximately 400,000 veterans and their eligible dependents are buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Service members from every one of America’s major wars, from the Revolutionary War to today's conflicts, are interred at ANC. More

The Battle of Petersburg, also known as the Siege of Petersburg, begins. It was a series of battles and trench warfare that took place during the American Civil War in and around Petersburg, Virginia, lasting 292 days from June 1864 to April 1865. It was a crucial campaign in the American Civil War, as Petersburg was a major supply hub for the Confederate capital of Richmond and the Confederate forces. The siege ultimately led to the fall of both cities as the Union forces broke through Confederate lines, leading to the evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond on April 2, 1865 and effectively ending the war, as Lee surrendered a week later at Appomattox Court House. Both sides suffered significant losses during the Petersburg campaign with an estimated 70,000 casualties. More

The Meiji Great Sanriku Tsunami hits the pacific coast of the north-eastern Japan, called as the Sanriku Region. The highest tsunami run-up height was 125 feet (38 m) at Ryori Shirahama in Iwate Prefecture. The death toll was 22,000. The economic damage amounted to about 10% of the then national budget. After this tsunami, several villages were relocated to higher ground. More

The British Terra Nova Expedition led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott, sails from Cardiff, Wales for Antarctica. Scott wanted to continue the scientific work that he had begun when leading the Discovery Expedition from 1901 to 1904, and wanted to be the first to reach the geographic South Pole. He and four companions attained the pole on 17 January 1912, where they found that a Norwegian team led by Roald Amundsen had preceded them by 34 days. Scott's party of five died on the return journey from the pole. More

The United States Congress passes the Espionage Act, building on the 1911, Defense Secrets Act, with important new elements added. More