18 Odd But True Events From June 15

What do the Eadweard Muybridge, the Magna Carta and Christopher Columbus have in common? All three share an important anniversary on June 15th. 

763 BC – Assyrians record a solar eclipse that is later used to establish the chronology of Mesopotamian history.

1215 – King John of England puts his seal to the Magna Carta.

1502 – Christopher Columbus lands on the island of Martinique on his fourth voyage.

1520 – Pope Leo X threatens to excommunicate Martin Luther in Exsurge Domine.

1648 – Margaret Jones is hanged in Boston for witchcraft in the first such execution for the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

1667 – The first human blood transfusion is administered by Dr. Jean-Baptiste Denys.

1752 – Benjamin Franklin proves that lightning is electricity (This is the "traditional date" of the event, the exact date is unknown).

1844 – Charles Goodyear receives a patent for vulcanization, a process to strengthen rubber.

1846 – The Oregon Treaty establishes the 49th parallel as the border between the United States and Canada, from the Rocky Mountains to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

1864 – Arlington National Cemetery is established when 200 acres of former Confederate General Robert E. Lee's estate in Arlington, Virginia are officially set aside as a military cemetery by U.S. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton.

1877 – Henry Ossian Flipper becomes the first African American cadet to graduate from the United States Military Academy.

1878 – Based on a bet with Stanford University founder (and horseman) Leland Stanford, Photographer Eadweard Muybridge takes a series of photographs to prove that all four feet of a horse leave the ground when it runs. This landmark study will form the basis of motion pictures.

1888 – Crown Prince Wilhelm becomes Kaiser Wilhelm II; he will be the last Emperor of the German Empire. Due to the death of his predecessors Wilhelm I and Frederick III, 1888 is the Year of the Three Emperors.

1921 – Bessie Coleman earns her pilot's license, becoming the first female pilot of African-American descent.

1978 – King Hussein of Jordan marries American Lisa Halaby, who takes the name Queen Noor.

1992 – The United States Supreme Court rules in United States v. Álvarez-Machaín that it is permissible for the United States to forcibly extradite suspects in foreign countries and bring them to the United States for trial, without approval from those other countries.

1994 – Israel and Vatican City establish full diplomatic relations.

2012 – Nik Wallenda, of the famous Flying Wallendas Clan, becomes the first person to successfully tightrope walk directly over Niagara Falls.

Image courtesy of www.shoeboxblog.com.

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