Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date

1215

King John put his seal to Magna Carta ('the Great Charter') at Runnymede, England, granting his barons more liberty.

1775

The Second Continental Congress voted unanimously to appoint George Washington head of the Continental Army.

1836

Arkansas became the 25th state.

1844

Charles Goodyear received a patent for his process to strengthen rubber.

1846

The United States and Britain signed a treaty settling a boundary dispute between Canada and the United States in the Pacific Northwest.

1864

Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton signed an order establishing a military burial ground, which became Arlington National Cemetery.

1904

More than 1,000 people died when fire erupted aboard the steamboat General Slocum in New York City's East River.

1919

British aviators John Alcock and Arthur Brown completed the first nonstop transatlantic flight, paving the way for the popular London to New York route passengers user today.

1944

American forces began their successful invasion of Saipan during World War II. Meanwhile, B-29 Superfortresses made their first raids on Japan.

1978

King Hussein of Jordan married 26-year-old American Lisa Halaby, who became Queen Noor.

1992

Vice President Dan Quayle, relying on a faulty flash card, erroneously instructed a Trenton, N.J., elementary school student to spell ''potato'' as ''potatoe'' during a spelling bee.

1994

Israel and the Vatican established full diplomatic relations.

1994

During his murder trial, O.J. Simpson struggled to don a pair of gloves that prosecutors said were worn the night Simpson's ex-wife, Nicole, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, were killed.

1998

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that state prison inmates are protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

1849

James Polk, the 11th president of the United States, died in Nashville, Tenn.

1993

Former Texas Gov. John Connally, who was wounded in the gunfire that killed President Kennedy, died at age 76.

1996

Ella Fitzgerald, the ''first lady of song,'' died in Beverly Hills, Calif., at age 78.