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Today In History: June 15, over 1,000 killed in New York steamboat accident
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In 1775, the Second Continental Congress voted unanimously to appoint George Washington as head of the Continental Army.
In 1864, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton signed an order establishing a military burial ground which 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, killing more than 22,000 people.
In 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.
In 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an act making the National Guard part of the US Army in the event of war or national emergency.
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In 1934, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 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 at Ebbets Field, four days after no-hitting the Boston Bees by a score of 3-0.
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 US 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.
