Today in history

On June 15, 1775, the Second Continental Congress voted unanimously to appoint George Washington head of the Continental Army.

In 1215, England’s King John put his seal to Magna Carta (“the Great Charter”) at Runnymede.

In 1219, forces led by King Valdemar II of Denmark defeated the Estonians in the Battle of Lyndanisse.

In 1836, Arkansas became the 25th state.

In 1849, James Polk, the 11th president of the United States, died in Nashville, Tenn.

In 1864, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton signed an order establishing a military burial ground, which became Arlington National Cemetery.

In 1902, the 20th Century Limited, an express passenger train between New York and Chicago, began service. ( The Limited made its last run in Dec. 1967.)

In 1904, more than 1,000 people died when fire erupted aboard the steamboat General Slocum in New York’s East River.

In 1944, American forces began their successful invasion of Saipan during World War II. B- 29 Superfortresses carried out their first raids on Japan.

In 1962, Students for a Democratic Society, at the conclusion of a five- day convention in Michigan, issued the Port Huron Statement calling for disarmament, enfranchisement of “publicly disinherited groups” and social change.

In 1978, King Hussein of Jordan married 26- year- old American Lisa Halaby, who became Queen Noor.

In 1991, Mount Pinatubo in the northern Philippines exploded in one of the biggest volcanic erup- tions of the 20th century, killing about 800 people.

In 1992, Vice President Dan Quayle, relying on a faulty flash card, erroneously instructed Trenton, N. J., sixth- grade student William Figueroa to spell “potato” as “potatoe” during a spelling bee.

Ten years ago: A jury in Houston convicted accounting firm Arthur Andersen of obstruction of justice ( the verdict was ultimately overturned by the U. S. Supreme Court). An asteroid with a diameter of between 50 and 120 yards narrowly missed the Earth by 75,000 miles – less than a third of the distance to the moon.

Five years ago: During his ethics trial, a tearful Mike Nifong announced he would resign as district attorney of Durham County, N. C., after admitting that he’d made improper statements about three Duke University lacrosse players who were once charged with raping a stripper. ( The players were later declared innocent by state prosecutors.) Hamas both mocked and reached out to its defeated Fatah rivals on its first day in full control of Gaza. Retired “Price Is Right” host Bob Barker won his 19th Daytime Emmy. In Tulsa, Okla., a crane lifted out a water- damaged 1957 Plymouth Belvedere that had been buried in an underground concrete vault half a century earlier to celebrate 50 years of statehood.

Education is a private matter between the person and the world of knowledge and experience, and has little to do with school or college. – Lillian Smith, American author

( 1897- 1966).