15th
December, on this day
0687 St
Sergius I begins his reign as Catholic Pope succeeding Conon
1488
Bartholomeus Diaz returns to Portugal after sailing round Cape
of Good Hope
1582 Leidse
University names Rembert
Dodoens professor of botany/medicine
1593 State of Holland grants patent on windmill with crankshaft
1612
Simon Marius, is 1st to observe Andromeda galaxy through a telescope
1640 Duke of Bragança crowned King John
IV of Portugal
1660 Andres Malong, a native chieftain of Pangasinan, Philippines,
leads a revolt against the Spanish regime.
1664 English colonising Connecticut
1667 Brandenburg declares himself neutral in Devolutie War
1688 Lord Delamere sides with King James II
1711 Plague breaks out in Copenhagen
1719 Cardinal
Alberoni is banished from Spain by King
Philip V
1745 Battle at Kesseldorf: Prussia beats Saksen and Austria
1791 Bill of Rights ratified when Virginia gave its approval
1791 1st US law school established at University of Pennsylvania
1792 1st life insurance policy issued in US (Philadelphia)
1794 Revolutionary
Tribunal abolished in France
1806 French troops commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte enter Warsaw in
Poland
1810 1st Irish magazine in US, The Shamrock, is published
1815 Rossini gets assignment for Il barbiere di Siviglia
1820 1st general pharmacopoeia
in US published, Boston
1836 Patent Office burns in Washington DC
1840 The remains of Napoleon I are brought to Les
Invalides in Paris
1854 1st street-cleaning machine in US 1st used in Philadelphia
1859 GR Kirchoff describes chemical composition of Sun
1863 Skirmish at Bean's Station, TN (Knoxville Campaign)
1864 Battle
of Nashville, TN
1864 Raid on Stoneman: Abingdon and Glade Springs, VA
1874 1st
reigning king to visit US (of Hawaii) received by President Grant
1877
Thomas Edison patents phonograph
1890 In America,
Chief Sitting Bull, the leader of the Sioux indians, is shot dead
1891 James
Naismith invents basketball (Canada)
1893 Dvoráks "From
the New World" premieres at Carnegie Hall NYC
1899 3rd defeat of "Black Week" - Battle
at Colenso, South Africa (Boers-British army)
1906 Opening of Piccadilly
tube line on London's Underground
1914 Battle
of Lódz ends; Russians retreat toward Moscow
1914 British fleet forfeits chance to destroy German fleet in North
Sea
1914 Swedish troops over run Belgrade in Austria-Hungary
1916 World War I: French defeat the Germans in the Battle
of Verdun in which more than 700,000 German and Allied soldiers
are killed
1917 Moldavian Republic declares independence from Russia
1918 American
Jewish Congress holds it's 1st meeting
1919 Fiume
(Rijeka) declares it's Independence
1922 IVVV (association) peace congress on war forms in Hague
1925 1st road with a depressed trough (Texas) opens to traffic
1926 Facist national symbol elevated in Italy
1927 Ed
Hickman kidnaps child he later beheads
1929 Walter
Mittelholzer flies as 1st about the Kilimanjaro
1935 Max
Euwe becomes world champion chess beating Alexander
Aljechin
1938 Groundbreaking begins for Jefferson
Memorial in Washington DC
1939 1st commercial manufacture of
nylon yarn, Seaford, DE
1939 World premiere of 'Gone
With The Wind' at Atlanta, Georgia
1941 USS
Swordfish becomes 1st US sub to sink a Japanese ship
1941 Gas/electrical use restricted in Holland
1941 North Africa: allied assault up Italians Gazala-posing
1944 Bandleader, Major
Glenn Miller, lost over English Channel
1944 Hizbu'allah (Arm
forces for Allah) forms
1944 US Congress gives General Eisenhower his 5th star
1944 US troops lands on Mindoro
1948 Former state department official Alger
Hiss indicted in NYC for perjury
1949 Albert
Camus' "Les Justes" premieres in Paris
1950 Ezzard
Charles KOs Nick Barone to retain heavyweight boxing title
1952 Christine
Jorgenson is 1st person to undergo a sex-change operation
1955 Tappan
Zee Bridge in New York opens to traffic
1956 Emergency crisis in North Ireland proclaimed after IRA strikes
1957 United Nations rejects the Greek proposal that Cyprus is entitled
to self determination
1958 The last steam locomotive is made at Crewe in England. Engine
number 92250 is the 7,331st locomotive built since the works opened
1960 King Boudouin of Belgium marries doña Fabiola de Mora
y Aragon
1961 Adolf
Eichmann convicted of crimes against humanity in Israel
1961 Equal access rule, political parties get TV broadcasting time
1961 JFK visits Puerto Rico
1964 1st time 4 people in space
1965 3rd cyclone of year kills another 10,000 at mouth of Ganges River,
Bangladesh
1965 Gemini
6 launched; makes 1st rendezvous in space (with Gemini 7)
1966 Audouin
Dollfus discovers 10th satellite of Saturn, Janus
1967 Beatles release "Christmas
Time is Here Again"
1967 Silver
Bay bridge (Ohio-West Virginia) collapses during afternoon rush
hour, 34 die
1969 San Francisco Fire Department replaces leather helmets with plastic
ones
1969 Plastic
Ono Band, play their only concert at London's Lyceum Ballroom
1970 Soviet Venera
7 is 1st spacecraft to land on another planet (Venus)
1970 South Korean ferry Namyong-Ho
sinks in Strait of Korea, 308 killed
1971 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk
USSR
1973 American Psychiatric Association declares homosexuality is not
mental illness
1973 Pirates of Caribbean ride opens at Disneyland
1976 Argo Merchant tanker off Massachusetts' SE coast, spills 7.6
million gallons of crude when the ship runs aground
1976 Jamaica premier Manley wins elections
1979 Deposed Shah of Iran leaves US for Panamá
1979 World Court in Hague rules Iran should release all US hostages
1980 Premier Queddei troops conquers Chad capital N'djamena
1981 NASA launches Intelsat V
1982 Roy
Williams, Teamsters president, & 4 others convicted of bribery
1982 Spain reopens border with Gibraltar
1982 Sao
Tome and Principe constitution approved
1983 Last 80 US combat soldiers in Grenada withdrew
1984 USSR launches Vega
1 for rendezvous with Halley's Comet
1985 Sylvester
Stallone and Brigitte
Nielson wed
1986 Carnegie
Hall reopens after a $50 million facelift
1986 150 killed during race riot in Karachi Pakistan
1989 KLM
Flight 867, a Boeing 747 flying from Amsterdam to Anchorage, Alaska,
flew through a cloud of volcanic debris, and subsequently all four
engines shut down. The crew was able to restart the engines and land
the plane safely.
1990 Rocker Rod
Stewart marries super model Rachel Hunter
1993 British premier major/Irish premier Reynolds signs Downing
Street Declaration concerning Northern Ireland self determination
1993 C-130 flies into a Philippines hill and explodes, 16 killed
1993 Haitian premier Robert
Malval resigns
1993 John
Williams final appearance as conductor of Boston Pops
1993 Y-12 crashes at Phonesavanh, Laos: 18 killed
1994 Diane
Modahl banned from Athletics for Drug Use, in the UK
1994 John
Bruton becomes Ireland's premier
1994 Liberia militia kills 48 inhabitants of Monrovia
1995 Playboy goes back on sale after 36 year ban in Ireland
1995 The European
Communities Court of Justice hands down the "Bosman
ruling", giving EU footballers the right to a free transfer
at the end of their contracts, with the provision that they are transferring
from one UEFA Federation to another.
1997 A chartered Tupolev TU-154 from Tajikistan crashes in the desert
near Sharja, United Arab Emirates airport killing 85.
2005 The 43rd known Mersenne
prime is discovered by Dr. Curtis Cooper & Dr. Steven Boone
of USA, participants of the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search distributed
computing project. The prime number is 2nd largest known prime and
has more than nine million digits.
2005 Latvia edits its constitution to eliminate possibility for gays
and lesbians to gain marriage rights.
2005 Argentina's president Néstor
Kirchner announces the early repayment of its external debt to
the IMF.
2005 Introduction of the F-22
Raptor into USAF active service.
2006 First flight of the
F-35 Lightning II.
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Birthdates which
occurred on 15th December :
0037 Nero Claudius
Augustus Germanicus 5th emperor of Rome (54-68)
1534 Lucas Osiander composer
1567 Christoph Demantius composer
1574 Samuel Besler composer
1610 David Teniers II Flemish courtpainter (Theatrum Pictorium)
1648 Gregory King English statistician (Natural & Political Observations)
1657 Michel-Richard Delalande composer
1667 Ludwig Ernst composer
1720 J F Beck writer
1735 Cesare Beccaria-Bonesana Italian lawyer
1765 Philippe-Jacques Pfeffinger composer
1778 Godert AGP baron van der Capellen Dutch Governor-General (Dutch-Indies)
1787 Charles Cowden Clarke English editor/Shakespearean critic
1793 Henry Charles Carey Philadelphia PA, economist (Principles of
Poli Economy)
1802 János Bolyai Romania, mathematician (non-Euclidean geometry)
1803 August Freyer composer
1812 Isidor Dannstrom composer
1821 Auguste Emmanuel Vaucorbeil composer
1822 Edward Stephen composer
1823 Friedrich Gottlieb Schwencke composer
1830 Francesco D'Arcais composer
1832 Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel French engineer (Eiffel tower)
1836 Edmond Picard French/Belgian lawyer/writer (La forge Roussel)
1842 Henry Gadsby composer
1848 Edwin Howland Blashfield decorated the dome of Library of Congress
1852 Antoine Henri Becquerel discovered radioactivity (Nobel 1903)
1852 Tewfik Pasja khedive (viceroy) of Egypt
1853 Jean B A Kessler director of oil on Dutch Indies
1857 Eugeniusz Pankiewicz composer
1859 Ludwik L Zamenhof Russia/Poland, physician/linguist (Esperanto)
1860 Niels Ryberg Finsen Denmark, physician/phototherapist (Nobel
1903)
1861 Charles Edgar Duryea inventor (1st auto built & operated
in US)
1863 Arthur D Little US, chemist (patented rayon)
1863 Paul [Prudent] Painlevé French mathematician/minister/premier
1870 Josef Hoffmann Austrian architect
1873 Pongrac Kacsoh composer
1875 Friedrich Niggli composer
1876 Ferdinand Hardekopf writer
1878 Hans Carossa writer
1879 Hugo W C Bordewijk Dutch lawyer
1879 Rudolf von Laban Czechoslovakian/German choreographer (modern
dance)
1881 James Schneider New York, actor (Keystone Kops)
1882 Helena Rubinstein US cosmetic manufacturer
1887 Pieter C A Geyl historian (History of the Dutch Tribe)
1888 Maxwell Anderson US, dramatist (Winter Set, High Tor)
1888 Artturi A Leinonen Finnish journalist/writer (Kati)/politician
1888 Jan Greshoff Dutch poet/author/journalist (Bric à Brac)
1892 J Paul Getty Minneapolis MN, oil magnate (Getty Oil)
1892 David Guion composer
1892 Jose Maria Castro composer
1896 Carl Ferdinand Cori US bio-chemist
1896 George B Cressey US geographer (Asia's Lands & Peoples)
1896 Margaret Bannerman Toronto Ontario, actress (Elopement)
1896 Paul R Citroen Dutch sculptor
1898 Fernando Remacha composer
1899 Frank Vosper London England, actor (Man Who Knew Too Much)
19-- Marta Dubois David Panamá, actress (Tales of the Gold
Monkey)
19-- Sophy Puerto Rico, Spanish singer (Comparame Balada y Salsa)
19-- Tim Gaines rock bassist/vocalist (Stryper-Against the Law)
1900 Francesco Messina sculptor
1904 Kermit Bloomgarden producer (Diary of Anne Frank, Music Man)
1904 William Hitzig Austria, Maxwell physician
1905 Ferenc Farkas composer
1906 Betty Smith novelist (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn)
1907 Oscar Niemeyer Brazilians architect (Brasilia)
1913 Muriel Rukeyser US, poet (1977 Shelley Memorial Award)
1913 Rik Jacobs Flemish stage manager
1914 Ernie Toshack cricket pace bowler (Aussie left-arm post-WWII)
1915 Jose Toribio Merino Castro admiral
1916 Maurice Wilkins England, physicist, worked with DNA (Nobel 1962)
1918 Jeff Chandler [Ira Grossel] Brooklyn NY, actor (Broken Arrow,
Away All Boats)
1919 Ake Seyffarth 10K speed skater (Olympics-gold-1948)
1921 Bobby Todd US comic/actor (Original Sin)
1922 Alan Freed Pennsylvania, DJ, accepted payola/introduced term
"rock-n-roll"
1924 Ida Haendel Polish violinist/author (Woman with Violin)
1928 Jimmy Nelson Chicago IL, ventriloquist (Nestles, Farfel)
1929 Keith Andrew cricketer (England wicket-keeper in 2 Tests 1954-63)
1930 Alim-ud-Din cricketer (Pakistani batsman in 25 Tests 1954-62)
1931 Evald Schorm Prague Czechoslovakia, director (Courage for Every
Day)
1932 Edna O'Brien Ireland, writer (Fanatic of Heart, Casualties of
Peace)
1932 Elaine Barkin composer
1932 Igor Stuhec composer
1933 Tim Conway Willoughby OH, comic (McHale's Navy, Carol Burnett
Show)
1933 Jesse Belvin Texarkana AR, rock vocalist (Mr Easy)
1937 Karen Morrow Chicago IL, actress (Aunt Minerva-Tabitha, Jim Nabors
Hour)
1937 John [Thomas] Sladek US, sci-fi author (Tik-Tok, Bugs)
1938 Dennis Madide South African Internal minister of Transkei
1939 Cindy Birdsong Camden NJ, rock vocalist (Labelle-Rainbow, Supremes)
1939 Nicolaus A Huber composer
1940 Nick Buoniconti NFL linebacker (Miami Dolphins)/sportscaster
(NBC)
1941 Austin Savage Welsh hockey player
1941 Geoffrey Davies English actor (Doctor at Sea, Doctor on the Go)
1942 Dave Clark London England, rock drummer (Dave Clark 5-Glad All
Over)
1943 Mihaly Hesz Hungary, 1K kayak (Olympics-gold-1968)
1944 Stan Bahnsen New York Yankee pitcher (1968 American League Rookie-of-year)
1945 Thaao Penghlis Sydney New South Wales Australia, actor (Mission
Impossible, Tony-Days of our Life)
1946 Carmine Appice musician (Have You Heard, Keep on Rolling)
1946 Harry Ray Hackensack NJ, rock vocalist (Ray, Goodman, Brown)
1948 David Gwillim Plymouth England, (RADA), actor (Island at Top
of the World)
1949 Don Johnson Flatt Creek MO, actor (Miami Vice, Harrad Experiment)
1949 Ton [Teunis] Sijbrands Dutch world checkers champion
1950 Ernst Hirsch Ballin Dutch minister of Justice (198?-94)
1951 Joe Jordan Scottish soccer star
1951 Ken Knox rock vocalist (Chairmen of the Board)
1954 Felicity LaFortune Oak Park IL, actress (Ryan's Hope)
1954 Alex Cox director (Repo Man)
1954 Justin Ross Brooklyn NY, actor (Sinatra, Chorus Line, Fan, Quick
Change)
1955 Melanie Chartoff West Haven CT, actress (Fridays, Parker Lewis)
1955 Paul Simonon English pop bassist (Clash-Havana 3 AM)
1959 Heidi Bohay Somerset NJ, actress (Megan-Hotel)
1959 Greg Matthews cricketer (New South Wales & Australia off-spin
all rounder Yeah yeah)
1959 Rashid Khan cricketer (4 Tests for Pakistan 1982-85)
1960 Don Franklin Chicago IL, actor (Seaquest 2032, Noah Dixon-The
Young Riders)
1960 Doug Phelps Leachville AR, singer (Kentucky Headhunters-Davy
Crockett)
1961 Annie Pujol Perpignan, French TV hostess (Roue de la Fortune)
1961 Reginald Hudlin director (House Party)
1963 Helen Slater New York NY, actress (Supergirl, Billie Jean, Ruthless
People)
1963 Asif Karim cricketer (slow left-arm bowler for Kenya 1996 World
Cup)
1963 David Wingate NBA guard/forward (Seattle Supersonics)
1964 Carlton Bailey NFL linebacker (Green Bay Packers, Carolina Panthers)
1964 Jerry Ball NFL defensive tackle (Oakland Raiders, Minnesota Vikings)
1965 Kimberly Donley Aurora IL, playmate (March 1993)
1965 Walter Reeves NFL tight end (Cleveland Browns)
1966 Carl Hooper cricketer (West Indies off-spin all-rounder)
1967 Chris Gioskos CFL tackle (Toronto Argonauts)
1967 Christine Larsen New Westminster British Columbia, synchronized
swimmer (Olympics-silver-96)
1967 Frank Hartley NFL tight end (Cleveland Browns, San Diego Chargers)
1967 Keith Askins NBA guard/forward (Miami Heat)
1967 Mo Vaughn Norwalk CT, infielder (Boston Red Sox, MVP-1995)
1968 Garrett Wang actor (Star Trek Voyager)
1969 Dan Williams NFL defensive end (Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs)
1969 Sean Briscombe Minneapolis MN, diver (Olympics-96)
1969 Wayne Simmons linebacker (Kansas City Chiefs)
1970 Damon Thomas NFL wide receiver (Buffalo Bills)
1970 Lawrence Funderburke NBA forward (Sacramento Kings)
1970 Mitchell Butler NBA guard (Washington Bullets, Cleveland Cavaliers)
1971 Boudewijk Pahlplatz soccer player (FC Twente, PSV)
1971 Chris Maumalanga NFL defensive tackle (Chicago Bears, Arizona
Cardinals)
1971 Eric Bjornson NFL tight end (Dallas Cowboys)
1971 Ken Alexander WLAF linebacker (Barcelona Dragons)
1972 Rodney Harrison NFL safety (San Diego Chargers)
1972 Stanislav Jasecko Spisska Nova Ves, hockey defenseman (Team Slovakia)
1973 Geoff Stewart Australian rower (Olympics-96)
1973 Mike Cherry quarterback (New York Giants)
1973 Mirko Ludemann Weiwasser Germany, NHL defenseman (Team Germany,
Colorado)
1973 Tammy Melinda Pearman Brooklyn NY, soccer forward/defender (Olympics-96)
1974 Jeffrey van der Stone soccer player (RKC)
1977 Catherine Fox 400 meter freestyle relay (Olympics-gold-96)
1977 Larissa Fontaine Chicago IL, gymnast (alternate-Olympics-96)
1978 Henrietta Nagyova Nove Zamky Slovakia, tennis star (ITF/Cali-COL)
1985 Sheeba Reiter Florida, illegitimate daughter of Jackie Mason
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Deaths which occurred on 15th December:
1025 Basilius II the Bulgarendoder, Byzantine emperor (976-1025),
dies
1230 Ottokar I king of Bohemia (1197-1230), dies
1515 Alfonso de Albuquerque viceroy of Portuguese Indies, dies
1576 Joachim Hopperus [Hoppers] Frisian lawyer/politician, dies at
53
1598 Philip van Marnix Flemish ruler of St Aldegonde/poet, dies at
58
1621 Charles d'albert Duke of Luynes/PM of France, dies at 43
1626 Adriaen de Vries Dutch sculptor/painter, dies at about 70
1675 John Vermeer Dutch painter (Love Letter), dies at 43
1688 Gaspar Fagel lawyer/Netherlands grand pensionary (1672-88), dies
at 54
1699 Henrik A van Reede tot Drakenstein Dutch botanist, dies at about
63
1712 Sidney 1st Earl of Godolphine English minister of Finance, dies
at 67
1715 George Hickes English linguist (Old German Philology), dies at
73
1779 Manuel Jeronimo Romero de Avila composer, dies at 62
1792 Joseph Martin Kraus composer, dies at 36
1816 Joseph Franz Maximilian Lobkowitz composer, dies at 44
1817 Maria Walewska [Leszczinska] lover of emperor Napoleon I, dies
1822 Ferenc Verseghy composer, dies at 65
1826 William Browser revolting slave, executed in New York NY
1831 Paul R Cantzlaar Governor of Saba/Curaçao/Dutch-West Indies,
dies at 60
1839 Matthijs I van Bree Flemish court-painter, dies at 66
1861 Gualtiero Sanelli composer, dies at 45
1880 Carlo Boncompagni di Mombello Italian minister of Justice, dies
at 76
1889 Ferdinand II king of Portugal, dies at 73
1890 Sitting Bull Hunkpapa-Sioux chief (Little Big Horn), killed by
US Army
1892 Charles Balmer composer, dies at 75
1896 John Acquoy Dutch theologist/church historian, dies at 67
1901 Elias Alvares Lobo composer, dies at 67
1909 Francisco Tarrega y Eixea composer, dies at 57
1934 Maggis Lena Walker 1st US (black) woman to head a bank, dies
at 69
1939 Tom McKibbin cricketer (5 Tests for Australia 1895-1898, 17 wickets),
dies
1943 Thomas W "Fats" Waller jazz pianist, dies in Kansas
City MO at 39
1944 Glenn Miller US band leader/jazz composer, dies at 40
1946 Conrad Haebler historian (Hundert Kalenderinkunabeln), dies at
89
1946 Gordon Frederic Norton composer, dies at 77
1950 Robert Muller-Hartmann composer, dies at 66
1951 Eric Drummond 1st Secretary-General League of Nations (1919-33),
dies at 75
1953 Kishio Hirao composer, dies at 46
1961 William "Dummy" Hoy professional baseball player, dies
at 99
1962 Charles Laughton English actor (Hunchback of Notre Dame), dies
at 63
1966 Walt Disney animator, dies at 65, put in suspended animation
1968 Jess Willard Heavyweight boxing champion (1915-19), dies at 86
1972 Edward Earle actor (Charlie Chan-Meeting at Midnight), dies at
90
1972 Herbert Eimert German composer (Glockenspiel), dies at 75
1973 Orest Alexandrovich Evlahkov composer, dies at 61
1974 Harry Hershfield cartoonist (Can You Top This?), dies at 89
1974 Erich Walter Sternberg composer, dies at 83
1975 Mukhtar Ashrafi composer, dies at 63
1978 Chill Wills actor (Frontier Circus, Rounders), dies at 75
1979 Bern Hoffman actor (Major Dell Conway), dies at 66
1984 Avon Long actor (Roots: Next Generation), dies at 74
1984 Jan Peerce [Perelmuth] operatic tenor, dies at 80 following a
stroke
1989 Arnold Moss actor (Gambit), dies at 79
1990 Betty Warren actress (Passport to Pimlico) dies
1990 Jean Paige actress (Captain Blood, Black Beauty), dies
1991 Horatio Luro US horse trainer (Northern Dancer), dies at 90
1991 Ray Smith British actor (And Then You Die), dies at 55
1992 Fré [Frederik] Meis Dutch MP (CPN), dies at 71
1994 Hans de Jong musician/conductor (Amsterdams Vrouwenkoor), dies
at 86
1994 Harry Tobias songwriter, dies at 99
1994 Henry Phelps Brown historian/economist, dies at 88
1994 Mollie Doreen Phillips British figure skater (Eur-bronze-33),
dies at 87
1995 James Geoffrey Cutcliffe Hepburn tap-dancer/socialist, dies at
88
1995 Manuel Gutierrez Mellado PM of Defense of Spain (1977-81), dies
at 83
1996 Gerald Moverley priest, dies at 74
1996 Guiseppe Dossetti politician/priest, dies at 83
1996 Laurens jan van der Post explorer/conservationist, dies at 90
1997 Lillian Disney widow of Walt Disney, dies at 98
1997 Pananayiotis Taki Vatikiotis middle east scholar, dies at 69
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