June 15 is World Gin Day
Smile Power Day
Fly a Kite Day
Feast day of Saint Bernard, born about 1020 in France, died in June of 1081. Patron saint of mountaineers, skiers, skateboarding, backpacking and the Alps. Legend has it that he decided to devote himself to the service of the Church and refused an honorable marriage proposed by his father. It is said that he had to sneak out of the castle on the night before an arranged wedding, and that during his flight from the castle, he threw himself from his window, only to be captured by angels and lowered gently to the ground 40 feet below. As an archdeacon, Bernard set up a hospice at the highest point of a pass across the Pennine Alps, 8000 feet above sea level. The pass was used by French and German pilgrims on their way to Rome and was subject to avalanches, and snow drifts. It is because of this that the rescue St. Bernard dogs were named.
Magna Carta Day , anniversary of the day in 1215 that King John signed the Magna Carta.
In 1752, Benjamin Franklin proved that lightning is electricity (traditional date, the exact date is unknown).
1775 – American Revolutionary War: George Washington was appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army.
1776 – Delaware Separation Day – Delaware voted to suspend government under the British Crown and separate officially from Pennsylvania.
1804 – New Hampshire approves the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratifying the document. The Twelfth Amendment refined the process whereby a President and a Vice President are elected by the electors of the Electoral College.
Arkansas admission day in 1836 as the twenty-fifth state
- Capital: Little Rock
- Nickname: The Natural State/Wonder State/Land of Opportunity
- Bird: Mockingbird
- Flower: Apple Blossom
- Tree: Pine
- Motto: The People Rule
See our page about Arkansas for more interesting facts and trivia about Arkansas.
1846 – The Oregon Treaty established the 49th parallel as the border between the United States and Canada, from the Rocky Mountains to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Death of James K. Polk , eleventh President of the United States on June 15, 1849. He died in Nashville, Tennessee at age 53. He lived only 103 days after leaving the presidency.
Arlington National Cemetery was established. George Washington Parke Custis, grandson of Martha Washington, acquired the land that now is Arlington National Cemetery in 1802, and began construction of Arlington House. The estate passed to Custis’ daughter, Mary Anna, who had married United States Army officer Robert E. Lee. Upon her death, the Arlington estate passed to her eldest son, George Washington Custis Lee. On July 16, 1862, Congress passed legislation authorizing the U.S. federal government to purchase land for national cemeteries for military dead, and put the U.S. Army Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs in charge of this program. Within weeks, his staff reported that Arlington Estate was the most suitable property in the area. The property was high and free from floods (which might unearth graves), it had a view of the District of Columbia, and it was aesthetically pleasing. It was also the home of the leader of the armed forces of the Confederate States of America, and denying Robert E. Lee use of his home after the war was a valuable political consideration. Meigs formally authorized establishment of burials on June 15, 1864.