A Day in the Past

On this day: 15 June

125 things happened on 15 June, from 763 BC to 2024. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.

Printable worksheet Take the quiz

In the UK 6

UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Around the world 20

1520 506 years ago

Leo X issued the papal bull Exsurge Domine, censuring 41 propositions from Martin Luther's Ninety-five Theses and subsequent writings, and threatening him with excommunication unless he recanted.

Find out more: Pope Leo X (Wikipedia)
1992 34 years ago

The United States Supreme Court rules in United States v. Álvarez-Machaín that it is permissible for the United States to forcibly extradite suspects in foreign countries and bring them to the United States for trial, without approval from those other countries.

Find out more: Supreme Court of the United States (Wikipedia)

Quick quiz

Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!

  1. In which year did this happen: “King John of England and a group of rebel barons agreed on the text of Magna”?

    1. 1765
    2. 1846
    3. 1215
    Show the answer

    C: 1215. 1215 — that’s 811 years ago. Find it on the page

  2. In which year did this happen: “Eadweard Muybridge took a series of photographs to prove that all four feet of”?

    1. 1215
    2. 1949
    3. 1878
    Show the answer

    C: 1878. 1878 — that’s 148 years ago. Find it on the page

  3. Which of these happened first?

    1. Mary, Queen of Scots, and her new husband Bothwell are confronted by
    2. King John of England and a group of rebel barons agreed on the text of Magna
    3. Eadweard Muybridge took a series of photographs to prove that all four feet of
    Show the answer

    B: King John of England and a group of rebel barons agreed on the text of Magna. 1567: Mary, Queen of Scots, and her new husband Bothwell are confronted by · 1215: King John of England and a group of rebel barons agreed on the text of Magna · 1878: Eadweard Muybridge took a series of photographs to prove that all four feet of Find it on the page

  4. “Mary, Queen of Scots, and her new husband Bothwell are confronted by” happened in 1567. How many years ago was that?

    1. 469 years
    2. 449 years
    3. 459 years
    Show the answer

    C: 459 years. 2026 − 1567 = 459. Find it on the page

Born on this day 40

Famous people whose birthday is 15 June.

Remembering 22

Well-known people who died on 15 June.

Special days 19

Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 15 June somewhere in the world.

For older readers 18 Show stories about war, disasters, crime and other difficult history

Content note: these entries mention things like war, violence, deaths, disasters or crime. They are part of history, but they can be upsetting. Grown-ups and teachers: you may want to read them first. They come straight from Wikipedia and have not been rewritten for children.

Where these facts come from

Stories with a heading have been written for young readers by A Day in the Past, using the linked articles as sources. Other entries show text from Wikipedia’s “June 15” page and its “On this day” feed, written by Wikipedia contributors and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Each “Read more” link goes to the article an entry is based on. Photos are credited under each picture. Spotted a mistake? Please tell us.