June 15
June 15 is the 167th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 199 days remain until the year's end. It falls in spring (northern hemisphere) and under the astrological sign of Gemini.
External references
Curated jump-off points to the major almanacs, encyclopaedias and primary sources for this date.
Astronomy
On June 15 the Sun's declination is approximately +23.3°. At this latitude the Sun is north of the celestial equator, giving the Northern Hemisphere longer days than nights.
For specific rise/set times at your location, see the U.S. Naval Observatory, or the NASA APOD archive for any imagery published on a June 15.
Position in the year
Holidays & observances
No widely-observed holidays catalogued for this day in our base set. See the external almanacs above for region-specific observances.
Events
A selection of widely-documented historical events that took place on this date. Years marked BCE follow standard astronomical convention.
1215 — King John of England sealed Magna Carta at Runnymede. ↗(811 years ago)more
Magna Carta, sometimes spelled Magna Charta, is a royal charter of rights sealed by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Stephen Langton, to make peace between the unpopular king and a group of rebel barons who demanded that the King confirm the Charter of Liberties, it p...
1389 — The Battle of Kosovo: Ottoman forces defeated a Serbian-led coalition. ↗(637 years ago)more
The Battle of Kosovo took place on 15 June 1389 between an army led by the Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović and an invading army of the Ottoman Empire under the command of Sultan Murad I. It was one of the largest battles of the Late Middle Ages.
1752 — Benjamin Franklin reportedly demonstrated that lightning is electricity with a kite experiment. ↗(274 years ago)more
The kite experiment is a scientific experiment in which a kite with a pointed conductive wire attached to its apex is flown near thunder clouds to collect static electricity from the air and conduct it down the wet kite string to the ground.
1844 — Charles Goodyear was granted a patent for vulcanised rubber. ↗(182 years ago)more
Charles Goodyear was an American self-taught chemist and manufacturing engineer who developed vulcanized rubber, for which he received patent number 3633 from the United States Patent Office on June 15, 1844.
Notable births
1843 — Edvard Grieg, Norwegian composer. ↗(183 years ago)more
Edvard Hagerup Grieg was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of Norwegian folk music in his own compositions brought the music of Norway to fame, as well as helping to develop a national identity, much as Jean Sibe...
1969 — Ice Cube, American rapper and actor. ↗(57 years ago)more
O'Shea Jackson, known professionally as Ice Cube, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor, and film producer. His efforts on N.W.A's 1989 album Straight Outta Compton contributed to gangsta rap's popularity, and his political rap solo albums AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (1990), Death Certificate (1991), and The Predator (1992) were all critically and commerci...
Notable deaths
1971 — Wendell Meredith Stanley, American biochemist and Nobel laureate. ↗(55 years ago)more
Wendell Meredith Stanley was an American biochemist, virologist and Nobel laureate. Stanley's work contributed to lepracidal compounds, diphenyl stereochemistry, and the chemistry of the sterols. His research on the virus causing the mosaic disease in tobacco plants led to the isolation of a nucleoprotein which displayed tobacco mosaic virus activity.
Numerical & calendrical curiosities
| Day-of-year (167) | 167 · prime |
|---|---|
| Days remaining (199) | 199 |
| Date code DDMMYYYY | 15062026 · no palindrome in next 200 years |
| Sun declination | +23.34° (Cooper approximation) |
| Distance from solstice | 5 days |