Today is Thursday, June 15, the 166th day of 2006. There are 199 days left in the year. On this date in 1215, England's King John puts his seal to Magna Carta ("the Great Charter") at Runnymede.

Today is Thursday, June 15, the 166th day of 2006. There are 199 days left in the year. On this date in 1215, England's King John puts his seal to Magna Carta ("the Great Charter") at Runnymede.
In 1520, Pope Leo X threatens to excommunicate Martin Luther if he does not recant his religious beliefs. In 1775, the Second Continental Congress votes unanimously to appoint George Washington head of the Continental Army. In 1836, Arkansas becomes the 25th state. In 1844, Charles Goodyear receives a patent for his process to strengthen rubber. In 1849, James Polk, the 11th president of the United States, dies in Nashville, Tenn. In 1864, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton signs an order establishing a military burial ground, which becomes Arlington National Cemetery. In 1904, more than a thousand people die when fire erupts aboard the steamboat General Slocum in New York's East River. In 1944, American forces begin their successful invasion of Saipan during World War II. Meanwhile, B-29 Superfortresses make their first raids on Japan. In 1978, King Hussein of Jordan marries 26-year-old American Lisa Halaby, who becomes Queen Noor. In 1994, Israel and the Vatican establish full diplomatic relations.
June 15, 1981: While members of Warren's downtown revitalization board outwardly support downtown renewal, real progress is stalled by a lack of direction, an architect says.
U.S. Rep. Lyle Williams unveils a mobile unit he is leasing that will be manned by congressional aides and will provide congressional services throughout the 19th District.
Professors and students at Youngstown State University are using a $23,000 synthesizer on the third floor of Bliss Hall to compose music, mixing traditional music sounds with other sounds ranging from thunder to a police siren.
June 15, 1966: Youngstown Air Force pilot Lt. Peter Bernstein, a veteran of 650 combat missions in Vietnam, hands out a Jeep-load of clothes and gifts to children in Thu Thua. The gifts were sent by people in the Youngstown area and from other sections of the country after Lt. Bernstein's appeal appeared in American newspapers.
New car sales for the first 10 days of June are down 5.1 percent from the same period a year earlier, but General Motors, alone among the "Big Four," shows a sales increase.
The Rev. John H. Burt of Pasadena, Calif., former rector of St. John's Episcopal Church in Youngstown, will return to Ohio after accepting election as coadjutor bishop of the Ohio Episcopal Diocese.
June 15, 1956: Youngstown's arterial highway program gets a multimillion shot in the arm with the report that at least two portions of the freeway system will be constructed as interstate highways. The city is listed to receive $32 million in federal highway funds.
Three officers of Local 1330, United Steelworkers of America, are accused in a declaration by two other members of the union of violating the USW constitution by participating in subversive activities against the government. Named in the complaint sent to international President David J. McDonald are Sam Camens, president of the local at the Ohio Works of U.S. Steel; Nathaniel C. Lee, treasurer, and Marvin Weinstock, a grievance officer.
An eye specialist assails the wrap-around windshields that have become a part of American car design as a visual "hazard of the first magnitude" because they distort vision and cause driver fatigue.
June 15, 1931: A terrific rain and electrical storm sweeps through Youngstown's South Side, causing thousands of dollars in property damage and driving thousands of persons to shelter.
The Carnegie Foundation for the advancement of teaching finds some progress has been made in reducing the professional recruitment of college athletes, but says the day may never come when college sport is completely free of such abuses.
Dr. Frank G. Sayers, pastor of the First Baptist Temple for nearly three years, tenders his resignation and will accept a call from the Rochester Baptist Temple in Rochester, N.Y.