Today is Monday, June 15, the 166th day of 2026. 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 PS General Slocum in New York’s East River; it remained the deadliest individual event in the New York area until 9/11.

Also on this date:

In 1215, England’s King John placed his seal on the Magna Carta (“the Great Charter”), which curtailed the absolute power of the monarchy.

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 that became Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

In 1895, a tsunami triggered by a magnitude 8.5 earthquake struck the coast of northeastern Japan with waves reaching a height of 125 feet (38 meters), killing more than 22,000 people.

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 1934, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, now the most-visited national park in the United States, was established by Congress.

In 1938, Johnny Vander Meer of the Cincinnati Reds became the only baseball pitcher to toss two consecutive no-hitters, leading the Reds to a 6-0 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers in the first night game ever held at Ebbets Field, four days after no-hitting the Boston Bees by a score of 3-0.

In 1982, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Plyler v. Doe that states cannot deny students a free K-12 public education because of their immigration status, citing the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.

In 1991, Mount Pinatubo in the northern Philippines exploded in one of the most powerful volcanic eruptions of the 20th century, killing more than 800 people.

In 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court, with a 6-3 vote in its Bostock v. Clayton County decision, ruled that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects gay, lesbian and transgender people from discrimination in employment.

Today’s Birthdays: Baseball Hall of Famer Billy Williams is 88. Former MLB player and manager Dusty Baker is 77. Actor Simon Callow is 77. Singer Russell Hitchcock (Air Supply) is 77. Chinese President Xi Jinping is 73. Actor-comedian Jim Belushi is 72. Actor Julie Hagerty is 71. Baseball Hall of Famer Wade Boggs is 68. Actor Helen Hunt is 63. Actor Courteney Cox is 62. Rapper-actor Ice Cube is 57. Actor Leah Remini is 56. Actor Neil Patrick Harris is 53. Olympic gymnastics gold medalist Madison Kocian is 29. Actor Sissy Sheridan is 22.