TOPSHOT-IRAQ-US-MILITARY-WITHDRAWAL

U.S. declares an end to the War in Iraq

Born on This Day

Gustave Eiffel

Gustave Eiffel

1832 - 1923

French engineer and architect best known for designing the iconic Eiffel Tower in Paris.

The IMDb Portrait Studio At The 2023 Independent Spirit Awards

Adam Brody

1979 -

Actor best known for his roles on the TV series "The O.C." and "Nobody Wants This."

"The Lion King" On Broadway 15th Anniversary Celebration

Julie Taymor

1952 -

Director known for pushing the boundaries of design and production in projects like Broadway's "The Lion King" and the film "Frida."

Gustave EiffelBettmann Archive

Adam BrodyGetty Images for IMDb

Julie TaymorWireImage

1836

DEC15

A devastating fire devours the building temporarily housing the US patent office. In all, some 10,000 patent drawings and 7,000 patent models—the earliest records of innovation in the young nation—were lost in the conflagration.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on December 15th

Bill of Rights is finally ratified

Following ratification by the state of Virginia, the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, known collectively as the Bill of Rights, become the law of the land. In September 1789, the first Congress of the United States approved 12 amendments to the U.S. Constitution and sent them to the states for ratification. The amendments […]

Sitting Bull killed by Indian police

After many years of successfully resisting white efforts to destroy him and the Sioux people, the Sioux leader and holy man Sitting Bull is killed by Indian police at the Standing Rock reservation in South Dakota. One of the most famous Native Americans of the 19th century, Sitting Bull (Tatanka Iyotake) was a fierce enemy […]

2:22m read

HISTORY: Sitting Bull

Russia reaches armistice with the Central Powers

A day after Bolsheviks seize control of Russian military headquarters at Mogilev, a formal ceasefire is proclaimed throughout the battle zone between Russia and the Central Powers. Immediately after their accession to power in Russia in November 1917, the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, had approached the Central Powers to arrange an armistice and withdraw […]

1:16m read

Madison Square Garden formally opens with NHL game

On December 15, 1925, the New York Americans lose to the Montreal Canadiens, 3-1, in the formal opening of New York’s Madison Square Garden, which becomes one of the world’s most famous sporting venues. The game, played before 17,000 fans, is also the first NHL game played at the arena. “Garden Is Opened in a Blaze […]

1:18m read

Legendary bandleader Glenn Miller disappears over the English Channel

After departing from an airfield outside London on December 15, 1944, a single-engine aircraft carrying trombonist and bandleader Glenn Miller goes missing over the English Channel. Miller was traveling to France for a congratulatory performance for American troops that had recently helped to liberate Paris. Miller, the biggest star on the American pop-music scene in […]

2:20m read

General MacArthur orders end of Shinto as Japanese state religion

General Douglas MacArthur, in his capacity as Supreme Commander of Allied Powers in the Pacific, brings an end to Shintoism as Japan’s established religion. The Shinto system included the belief that the emperor, in this case Hirohito, was divine. On September 2, 1945 aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, MacArthur signed the instrument of […]

1:28m read

Architect of the Holocaust sentenced to die

In Tel Aviv, Israel, Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi SS officer who organized Adolf Hitler’s “final solution of the Jewish question,” is condemned to death by an Israeli war crimes tribunal. Eichmann was born in Solingen, Germany, in 1906. In November 1932, he joined the Nazi’s elite SS (Schutzstaffel) organization, whose members came to have broad […]

3:10m read

Kidnapped grandson of Getty billionaire found

Jean Paul Getty III, the grandson of American billionaire J. Paul Getty, is found alive near Naples, Italy, five months after his kidnapping by an Italian gang. J. Paul Getty, who became the richest man in the world in 1957, had initially refused to pay his 16-year-old grandson’s $17 million ransom but finally agreed to […]

1:40m read

Jockey Sandy Hawley wins record 500th race

On December 15, 1973, Sandy Hawley becomes the first jockey to win 500 races in a single year. Born in Ontario, Canada, Hawley began working at Toronto race tracks when he was a teenager. He won his first race in October 1968 at Toronto’s Woodbine race track and quickly racked up more successes, becoming North […]

1:30m read

The American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses

On December 15, 1973, at a time when society often still views gay people as deviants, the American Psychiatric Association reverses a century-old decision, issuing a resolution stating that homosexuality it neither a mental illness nor a sickness. To underline the point, the association removes homosexuality from its influential reference tool, the Diagnostic and Statistical […]

1:52m read

“Catfish” Hunter becomes MLB’s first free agent in modern era

On December 15, 1974, Oakland’s Jim “Catfish” Hunter is ruled a free agent by arbitrator Peter Seitz—the first free agent in modern baseball history—after A’s owner Charles O. Finley fails to live up to terms of the star pitcher’s contract. “The contract is quite clear as to what Finley is obligated to do, and it is […]

1:30m read

United States announces that it will recognize communist China

In one of the most dramatic announcements of the Cold War, President Jimmy Carter states that as of January 1, 1979, the United States will formally recognize the communist People’s Republic of China (PRC) and sever relations with Taiwan. Following Mao Zedong’s successful revolution in China in 1949, the United States steadfastly refused to recognize […]

2:02m read

James Brown begins his prison sentence

Legendary singer James Brown, also known as the “Godfather of Soul” and the “Hardest Working Man in Show Business,” becomes inmate number 155413 at the State Park Correctional Institute in South Carolina. Brown had had several run-ins with the law during the summer of 1988 that landed him on probation, but his reckless spree on […]

1:58m read

“Schindler’s List” opens, wins Steven Spielberg his first Oscar

Schindler’s List, starring Liam Neeson in the true story of a German businessman who saves the lives of more than a thousand Polish Jews during the Holocaust, opens in theaters. The film was nominated for 12 Academy Awards and took home seven Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. It was the first Best Director […]

2:32m read

Leaning Tower of Pisa reopens

On December 15, 2001, Italy’s Leaning Tower of Pisa reopens after a team of experts spent 11 years and $27 million to fortify the tower without eliminating its famous lean. In the 12th century, construction began on the bell tower for the cathedral of Pisa, a busy trade center on the Arno River in western […]

1:52m read

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