June 16, 1916: The merger of Famous Players and Jesse Lasky Feature Play Co. brings together Lasky, Adolph Zukor and Samuel Goldfish (Goldwyn).
June 13, 1935: RKO’s Becky Sharp is released, becoming the first feature film to be shot entirely in three-color Technicolor.
June 13, 1936: Thirteen-year-old Edna Mae Durbin is signed to a contract by Universal. A month later her name will be changed to “Deanna.”
June 16, 1943: Over the objections of her playwright father, Eugene, 18-year-old Oona O’Neill weds 54-year-old Charlie Chaplin.
June 16, 1960: Unprecedented secrecy surrounds the opening of Alfred Hitchcock‘s Psycho, with the director stipulating no patron be admitted once the film starts.
June 17, 1970: Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, sexploitation maestro Russ Meyer‘s first major studio film (co-written by critic Roger Ebert), opens.
June 12, 1981: Movie audiences are introduced to daredevil archeologist Indiana Jones, as Spielberg and Lucas‘ Raiders of the Lost Ark premieres.
June 12, 1981: Financially ailing United Artists is sold by its parent company, Transamerica, to MGM for $370 million.
June 15, 1988: The diamond-themed comedy Bull Durham, with Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon, spurs a revival of interest in minor-league baseball.
June 12, 1995: Batman Forever opens with Val Kilmer taking over the role of the Dark Knight. Its opening weekend box office gate will be a record $52 million.
June 12, 1997: The Lost World: Jurassic Park shatters the opening weekend box office record with $72 million and will reach $100 million in just 5 ½ days.