Today is Monday, June 15, the 166th day of 2009. There are 199 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Monday, June 15, the 166th day of 2009. 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 1775, the Second Continental Congress votes unanimously to appoint George Washington head of the Continental Army. In 1844, Charles Goodyear receives a patent for his process to vulcanize 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 1,000 people die when fire eruprts 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. B-29 Superfortresses make their first raids on Japan. In 1969, the variety show “Hee Haw,” a fast-paced mixture of country music and comedy skits, premieres on CBS-TV. 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, 1984: Korean and Vietnam War era veterans searching for jobs have a leg up on the competition thanks to a government program that pays part of their starting salaries, but a tight job market in the Youngstown area and a slow-starting bureaucracy have retarded its use.

After six months of wage negotiations with the city, Struthers police are asking a state arbitrator to step in. Police asked for 7 percent pay raises; the city offered 3 percent and a $75 increase in the clothing allowance, but want to cut severance payment for unused sick leave from 50 percent to 35 percent.

A federal grand jury in Cleveland has asked Mahoning County Sheriff James A. Traficant Jr. to provide all department records surrounding an incident at Mr. C’s Lounge in New Middletown in which two deputies allegedly terrorized people in the bar.

June 15, 1969: Carl E. Knodle will retire as president of First Federal Savings & Loan Association, turning over the post to George W. Collier, a vice president.

The credit crunch of 1969 is tightening its grip on the Youngstown area economy, threatening to pinch off some much needed industrial and economic growth. One businessman complains that increasing interest rates may curb inflation, but it could also spur a recession or depression.

June 15, 1959: Bert Holloway, superintendent of the Niles Municipal Water and Light Department for 50 years before retiring in 1954, dies at the age of 85.

Richard Harter, 15-year-old Cleveland boy convicted of killing a Youngstown railroader, resumes his seventh grade studies — as one of more than 4,000 inmates in the Ohio Penitentiary.

June 15, 1934: Warren police raid three gambling joints, including a room adjacent to James Mun_sene’s Hollyhock Gardens on Pine Street, the city’s largest night club.

More than $700,000 will be paid out as dividends to depositors of Central Savings & Loan Co. and Home Savings & Loan Co.

Homer Sanders, 45, of Taylor Avenue, Sharon, tells police he found the dead body of 4-year-old Leah Minerva Dailey in a house he was fumigating on Andrews Avenue and took it to a nearby field, where he cremated it.