In Runnymede, England, King John signs the Magna Carta, or "Great Charter", granting liberties to his barons. The document shapes concepts ofdemocracy and constitutional law around the world for centuries to come.

1904. In New York City, more than a thousand people die when fire erupts aboard the steamboat General Slocum in the East River.

1978. Jordan's King Hussein marries Lisa Halaby, a 26-year-old American who takes the name of Queen Noor.

1864. Arlington National Cemetery is established in Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington D.C. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton signs an order creating the military burial ground during America's Civil War. And 1996.

“It was just one of those things…” Ella Fitzgerald, the jazz vocalist known as the First Lady of Song, dies in Beverly Hills, California. She was 79.

Today in History, June 15th. Camille Bohannon, the Associated Press.