Today in History – December 15 in History
What happened on this day in history – December 15 in History around the world
1862 | Nathan Bedford Forrest crosses the Tennessee River at Clifton with 2,500 men to raid the communications around Vicksburg, Mississippi. | |
1862 | In New Orleans, Louisiana, Union Major General Benjamin F. Butler turns his command over to Nathaniel Banks. The citizens of New Orleans hold farewell parties for Butler, “The Beast” – but only after he leaves. | |
1864 | The battle at Nashville begins. | |
1890 | As U.S. Army soldiers attempt to arrest Sitting Bull at his cabin in Standing Rock, South Dakota, shooting breaks out and Lt. Bullhead shoots the great Sioux leader. | |
1903 | The British parliament places a 15-year ban on whale hunting in Norway. | |
1920 | China wins a place on the League Council; Austria is admitted. | |
1924 | The Soviet Union warns the United States against repeated entry of ships into Soviet territorial waters. | |
1938 | Washington sends its fourth note to Berlin demanding amnesty for Jews. | |
1944 | The battle for Luzon begins. | |
1946 | Vietnam leader Ho Chi Minh sends a note to the new French Premier, Leon Blum, asking for peace talks. | |
1961 | Adolf Eichmann, the former German Gestapo official accused of a major role in the Nazi murder of 6 million Jews, is sentenced by a Jerusalem court to be hanged. | |
1965 | The United States drops 12 tons of bombs on an industrial center near Haiphong Harbor, North Vietnam. | |
1967 | President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the meat bill in the presence of Upton Sinclair, the author of the controversial book The Jungle. | |
1972 | The Commonwealth of Australia orders equal pay for women. | |
1973 | The American Psychiatric Association votes to remove homosexuality from its official list of psychiatric disorders. | |
1976 | The oil tanker MV Argo Merchant causes one of the worst marine oil spills in history when it runs aground near Nantucket, Massachusetts. | |
1978 | US President Jimmy Carter announces the United States will recognize the People’s Republic of China and will sever all relations with Taiwan. | |
1981 | In what is often called the first modern suicide bombing, a suicide car bomb kills 61 people at the Iraqi embassy in Beirut, Lebanon; Iraq’s ambassador to Lebanon is among the casualties. | |
1993 | The Downing Street Declaration, issued jointly by UK and the Republic of Ireland, affirms the UK would transfer Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland only if a majority of Northern Ireland’s people approved. | |
2001 | The Leaning Tower of Pisa reopens after an 11-year, $27 million project to fortify it without eliminating its famed lean. | |
2005 | F-22 Raptor Stealth fighter enters active service with the US Air Force. | |
Born on December 15 | ||
37 | Nero Claudius Caesar, emperor of Rome, blamed for the great fire of Rome. | |
1832 | Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, designer of the famous tower in Paris. | |
1883 | William A. Hinton, developer of the “Hinton Test” for diagnosing syphilis. | |
1892 | J. Paul Getty, American oilman and art collector.. | |
1907 | Oscar Niemeyer, Brazilian architect who designed the Uited Nations Headquarters building. | |
1911 | Nicholas P. Dallis, a psychiatrist turned comic strip writer who created the long-running strips Rex Morgan, M.D., Judge Parker, and Apartment 3-G. | |
1916 | Maurice Wilkins, New Zealand-English physicist and molecular biologist; received Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1962). | |
1919 | Max Yasgur, whose New York farm became the site of the Woodstock music festival in August 1969. | |
1923 | Uziel Gal, German-Israeli firearm designer, best known for designing the Uzi submachine gun. | |
1933 | Tim Conway, actor, screenwriter, producer, known for his comedic roles in TV and film that he frequently improvised (The Carol Burnett Show TV series). | |
1942 | Dave Clark, singer, songwriter, drummer, producer; lead singer of The Dave Clark Five. | |
1979 | Adam Brody, actor (Gilmore Girls and The O.C. TV series). |