Daily News E-dition

ON THIS DAY JUNE 15

1667 The first fully documented human blood transfusion is performed by Dr Jean-baptiste Denys, when a small amount of sheep’s blood is given to a 15-year-old boy, who survives the procedure.

1752 Benjamin Franklin proves that lightning is electricity.

1785 Two French balloonists die in the world’s first fatal aviation accident.

1844 Charles Goodyear receives a patent for vulcanisation, a process to strengthen rubber. 1864 Land around Confederate rebel General Robert E Lee’s home in Arlington, Virginia, is turned into a national military cemetery.

1896 Japan’s deadliest tsunami kills more than 22 000 people.

1901 SA Constabulary Sergeant J Rogers earns a Victoria Cross near Thaba Nchu.

1916 The first Boeing product, a seaplane, makes its appearance.

1904 A fire on the steamboat SS General Slocum in New York kills 1 000 people.

1924 J Edgar Hoover takes over the FBI, and leads them for 37 years until his death. He largely made the bureau what it is today, but FBI directors have since been limited to a single 10-year term.

1944 US forces begin invading Saipan.

1974 Defence Minister PW Botha says the defence force has taken over from the police in protecting the country’s northern borders. 1978 Jordan’s King Hussein marries American Lisa Halaby, who becomes Queen Noor.

1986 Pravda says high-level Chernobyl staff have been ‘fired for stupidity’ after the nuclear reactor’s deadly meltdown.

1991 Mount Pinatubo erupts in the second largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, killing more than 800 people.

1996 The IRA detonates a truck bomb in Manchester, England, devastating the city centre and injuring 200 people.

2012 Nik Wallenda becomes the first to tightrope walk over Niagara Falls.

| THE HISTORIAN

METRO METRO

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2021-06-15T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-06-15T07:00:00.0000000Z

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