If It Doesn't Fit, You Must Acquit

June 15, 1995

The prosecution in the Simpson murders asks O.J. Simpson to try on one of the gloves found at the murder scene and his home. Simpson appeared to have difficulty putting the glove on over the latex gloves he was wearing. The defense would then use the famous statement, "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit."
The prosecution claimed they believed the gloves shrank from having been soaked in the blood of the victims. They had presented a witness who testified that in 1990 his then wife Nicole Brown Simpson had purchased a pair of those gloves in the same size for Simpson and presented a receipt and a photo of Simpson wearing the same type of gloves. A former vice president of the company that made the gloves testified the following September that the gloves had indeed shrunk from their original size and that "the gloves in the original condition would easily go onto the hand of someone of Mr. Simpson's size."
Football Hall of Fame running back O.J. Simpson was later found not guilty for the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman. The trial was dubbed "The Trial of the Century" due to its immense media coverage. An estimated 100 million people nationwide tuned in to watch or listen to the verdict announcement. No additional arrests or convictions related to the murders have been made.

First Black Female Pilot

June 15, 1921

American daredevil pilot Bessie Coleman earns her aviators license. She was the world's first black female aviator to obtain a pilot's license (1921). Her father was of mostly Cherokee descent, making her also the first female of native American descent to earn a pilot's license. U.S. pilot schools were unwilling to take a black female student, so she learned French and went to Paris to earn her license.
She died in a plane crash while preparing for a show. While flying as a passenger with a student pilot, the plane suffered a mechanical failure and spun out of control. Not seat belted in, she fell out of the plane and plummeted to her death. The pilot died in the crash.

1896 Sanriku Earthquake

June 15, 1896

The 8.5 magnitude Sanriku Tsunami earthquake was one of the most destructive seismic events in Japanese history. It originated about 103 miles (166 km) off the coast of Honshu, resulting in two tsunamis which destroyed about 9,000 homes and caused at least 22,000 deaths. The waves reached a record height of 125 feet (38.2 meters), a record that stood until the waves from the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake.
Warning stones, called "tsunami stones", were installed to warn future generations not to build in the destruction area. One read, "High dwellings are the peace and harmony of our descendants. …Remember the calamity of the great tsunamis. Do not build any homes below this point." This warning was ignored and the area was redeveloped, resulting in almost 16,000 deaths during the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, which also broke the wave height record by more than 6 feet 7 inches (2 meters).

First Attempt at Motion Pictures

June 15, 1878

Leland Stanford had commissioned Eadweard Muybridge to film a horse galloping in order to determine if a horse ever lifts all four hooves from the ground while galloping - a much debated issue at the time. Muybridge used 12 cameras, each taking one picture. Muybridge's work proved that horses did lift all four hooves off the ground, though this occurs only when the feet are beneath the body, not when the fore and hindlimbs are extended, as sometimes depicted in older paintings.
The famous French sculptor Auguste Rodin responded to the contradiction of how horses are portrayed in artwork as opposed to how they actually gallop, "It is the artist who is truthful and it is photography which lies, for in reality time does not stop."

First Black to Graduate from West Point

June 15, 1877

Henry O. Flipper becomes the first black graduate of West Point. He went on to become the first nonwhite officer to lead the buffalo soldiers of the 10th Cavalry. He was court-martialed and discharged from the Army (1882). His descendants applied for a review of Flipper's court-martial which led to a pardon from President Bill Clinton (1999).

First Known Aviation Fatality

June 15, 1785

French balloon aviators Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and Pierre Romain become the first known aviation fatalities when their balloon crashed while attempting to cross the English Channel.

First American Witchcraft Execution

June 15, 1648

Margaret Jones is convicted and executed in Charlestown (now a section of Boston), Massachusetts. One of the tests for witchcraft given her consisted of observing her for 24 hours, during which time an imp was seen feeding off her. The test was from the book The Discovery of Witches (1647) by Matthew Hopkins. It claimed that if a person was a witch then imps would have to feed off the witch every 24 hours. Imps were witch's familiars, who depended upon the witch for daily sustenance. Former Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony John Winthrop claimed to have seen the imp "In the clear light of day."
She was first victim of a witch-hunt that lasted from 1648 to 1693. About eighty people throughout New England were accused of practicing witchcraft, with over 20 executed for the crime.

Magna Carta

June 15, 1215

The Magna Carta Libertatum (known as the Magna Carta) is signed by King John, at Runnymede. Magna Carta Libertatum is Medieval Latin for "Great Charter of Freedoms". It was created to make peace between the unpopular king and a group of rebel barons and promised the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment, access to swift justice, and limitations on feudal payments to the Crown. It was to be implemented through a council of 25 barons. Neither side stood behind their commitments, and the charter was annulled by Pope Innocent III, leading to the First Barons' War.
It also stipulated that there should be a standard measure for the volume of wine, ale and grain, and for weight.

Biblical Solar Eclipse

June 15, 763 B.C.

According to the Bible, Amos 8:9 - "And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day."
Some scholars believe the date of this event corresponds to the eclipse on June 15, 763 B.C. as recorded in the Assyrian historical record known as the Eponym Canon.
Note: Other scholars put this event as corresponding to the Solar Eclipse of 784 B.C., which was a total eclipse as seen from Jerusalem at 1 p.m.

Waylon Jennings

Born June 15, 1937 d. 2002

American Grammy-winning Country Music Hall of Fame singer. He was supposed to be on the plane that crashed in 1959 and killed Buddy Holly in what became known as the Day the Music Died. But, he had offered his seat to J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson who had the flu and didn't want to ride the cold bus. He had jokingly commented to Holly before the flight, "I hope your ol' plane crashes", a comment that he regretted the rest of his life.
Music: Turn the Page (1985) Mammas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys, and the theme song for TV's The Dukes of Hazzard (he also narrated the show).