Today In History - December 15

687 St. Sergius I begins his reign as Catholic Pope succeeding Conon
1124 Chancellor Haimeric selects pope (Lamberto becomes Honorius II)
1488 Bartholomeus Diaz returns to Portugal after sailing round Cape of Good Hope
1569 Westmoreland flees to Scotland
1582 Leidse university names Rembert Dodoens prof of botany/medicine
1582 Spanish Netherlands/Denmark/Norway adopt Gregorian calendar
1586 Laevinus Torrentius, becomes bishop of Antwerp
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 Braganca crowned King Johan IV of Portugal
1660 Philippines: Andres Malongs rebels plunders Bagnotan
1664 English colonizing Connecticut
1667 Brandenburg declares himself neutral in Devolutie War
1680 Tax revolt on Terschelling due to tax on cereal
1688 Lord Delamere sides with King James II [NS 12/25]
1745 Battle at Kesseldorf: Prussia beats Saksen and Austria
1791 Bill of Rights ratified when Virginia gave its approval
1791 1st U.S. law school established at University of Pennsylvania
1792 1st life insurance policy issued in U.S. (Phila)
1794 Revolutionary Tribunal abolished in France
1811 Earthquake hits New Madrid, Missouri
1941 German submarine U-127 sinks
1815 Rossini gets assignment for Il barbiere di Siviglia
1820 1st General pharmacopoeia in U.S. published, Boston
1836 Patent Office burns in Wash, DC
1854 1st street-cleaning machine in U.S. 1st used in Philadelphia
1859 GR Kirchoff describes chemical composition of Sun
1864 Raid on Stoneman: Abingdon and Glade Springs, VA
1874 1st reigning king to visit U.S. (of Hawaii) received by President Grant
1877 Thomas Edison patents phonograph
1993 C-130 flies into a Philippines hill and explodes, 16 killed
1891 James Naismith invents basketball (Canada)
1893 Dvoraks "From the New World" premieres at Carnegie Hall New York City
1899 Battle at Colenso, South Africa (Boers-British army)
1909 Thomas J Lynch becomes president of baseball's National League
1914 Battle of Lodz 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 French defeat Germans in WW I Battle of Verdun
1917 Moldavian Republic declares independence from Russia
1919 Edna St. Vincent Millay's "Aria da Capo," premieres in New York City
1919 Fiume (Rijeka) declares it's Independence
1918 American Jewish Congress holds it's 1st meeting
1922 IVVV (association) peace congress on war forms in Hague
1926 Facist national symbol elevated in Italy
1925 1st road with a depressed trough (Texas) opens to traffic
1927 Ed Hickman kidnaps child he later beheads
1925 1st hockey game at Madison Square Garden, Mont Candiens 3, New York Americans 1
1929 Walter Mittelholzer flies as 1st about the Kilimanjaro
1930 Don Bradman takes his 1st Test Cricket wicket (Ivan Barrow, WI, lbw)
1934 Fokker F18 Snip flies to Netherlands West Indies
1935 Detroit Lions win NFL championship
1935 Max Euwe becomes world champ chess beating Alexander Aljechin
1936 KVL-AM in Seattle Washington changes call letters to KEEN (now KING)
1938 Groundbreaking begins for Jefferson Memorial in Washington D.C.
1939 "Gone With the Wind" premieres in Atlanta
1939 1st commercial manufacture of nylon yarn, Seaford, Delaware
1939 Snip departs for 1st flight to Paramaribo/Curacao
1941 Gas/electrical use restricted in Holland
1941 North Africa: allied assault up Italians Gazala-posing
1941 USS Swordfish becomes 1st U.S. submarine to sink a Japanese ship
1942 Massachusetts issues 1st U.S. vehicular license plate tabs
1944 Bandleader, Major Glenn Miller, lost over English Channel
1944 Hizbu'allah (Arm forces for Allah) forms
1944 US troops lands on Mindoro
1945 John J "Cardinal" O'Connor, ordained as a priest
1948 Former state department official Alger Hiss indicted in New York City for perjury
1949 Albert Camus' "Les Justes" premieres in Paris
1944 U.S. Congress gives General Eisenhower his 5th star
1950 Ezzard Charles KOs Nick Barone to retain heavyweight boxing title
1950 New York City's Port Authority opens
1952 Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Orientales Ecclesias
1952 Christine Jorgenson is 1st person to undergo a sex-change operation
1954 Fordham University scraps football team for financial reasons
1954 Netherlands Antilles becomes co-equal part of Kingdom of Netherlands
1952 KHON TV channel 2 in Honolulu, HI (NBC) begins broadcasting
1956 Emergency crisis in North Ireland proclaimed after IRA strikes
1946 Chicago Bears beat New York Giants 24-14 in NFL championship game
1959 Everly Brothers record "Let It Be Me"
1960 King Boudouin of Belgium marries dona Fabiola de Mora y Aragon
1953 WJHG TV channel 7 in Panama City, Florida (NBC/ABC) begins broadcasting
1961 Adolf Eichmann convicted of crimes against humanity in Israel
1961 Equal access rule, political parties get TV broadcasting time
1961 John F. Kennedy visits Puerto Rico
1961 L J Suenens appointed archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels
1956 WRAL TV channel 5 in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina (CBS) begins broadcasting
1964 American Radio Relay League (organization for hams) founded
1964 Canada adopts maple leaf flag
1956 KGW TV channel 8 in Portland, OR (NBC) begins broadcasting
1965 D Heneker and J Taylor's musical "Charlie Girl," premieres in London
1965 Queen Juliana opens Zeeland Bridge to Oosterschelde
1962 Vaughn Meader's "1st Family," album goes #1 and stays #1 for 12 weeks
1966 "Joyful Noise" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater New York City for 12 performances
1967 Beatles release "Christmas Time is Here Again"
1967 Joe Garagiola joins Today Show panel
1967 Silver Bay bridge (Oh-WV) collapes during afternoon rush hr, 34 die
1966 John W Mecom, Jr. becomes 1st owner of New Orlean Saints
1969 Plastic Ono Band, play their only concert at London's Lyceum Ballroom
1969 San Francisco Fire Department replaces leather helmets with plastic ones
1965 William Eckert replaces Ford Frick as 4th commissioner of baseball
1964 1st time 4 people in space
1971 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk U.S.S.R.
1965 Gemini 6 launched; makes 1st rendezvous in space (with Gemini 7)
1973 American Psychiatric Association declares homosexuality is not mental illness
1973 Golf Resort (Disney Inn) opens
1973 Pirates of Caribbean ride opens at Disneyland
1973 US Psychiatrist say homosexuals are not mentally ill
1974 A's Catfish Hunter is ruled a free agent (later signs with Yankees)
1976 Jamaica premier Manley wins elections
1966 Audouin Dollfus discovers 10th satellite of Saturn, Janus
1978 Saint Maarten Patriotic Movement (SPM) forms under W James
1978 Test Cricket debut of Malcolm Marshall, vs. India at Bangalore
1973 Tennessee beats Temple 11-6 in low scoring NCAA basketball game
1970 Soviet Venera 7 is 1st spacecraft to land on another planet (Venus)
1979 Deposed Shah of Iran leaves U.S. for Panama
1979 World Court in Hague rules Iran should relase all U.S. hostages
1980 Premier Queddei troops conquers Chad capital N'djamena
1980 New York Yankee Dave Winfield becomes highest-paid player, 10 years $15M
1982 Sao Tome and Principe constitution approved
1982 Spain reopens border with Gibraltar
1983 Columbia flies to Kennedy Space Center via El Paso, Kelly AFB
1983 Wendy Wasserstein's "Isn't It Romantic," premieres in New York City
1976 Argo Merchant tanker off Massachusetts' SE coast, spills 7.6 m gallons of crude when ship ran aground
1985 Sylvester Stallone and Brigitte Nielson wed
1984 U.S.S.R. launches Vega 1 for rendezvous with Halley's Comet
1981 4th Emmy Sports Award presentation
1980 ZBZ Sangha registered after 5 years of administrative hassles in Warsaw
1986 CIA director William Casey suffers a cerebral seizure
1983 3 Kansas City Royals suspended due to cocaine usage
1982 Roy Williams, Teamsters pres, and 4 others convicted of bribery
1987 "Les Miserables" opens at Shubert Theatre, Boston
1988 Lori Davis of Long Island sues Mike Tyson for grabbing her buttocks
1990 Rocker Rod Stewart marries super model Rachel Hunter
1991 "Nick and Nora" closes at Marquis Theater New York City after 9 performances
1992 Arthur Ashe is named Sports Illustrated Sportman of Year
1993 Haitian premier Robert Malval resigns
1993 John Williams final appearance as conductor of Boston Pops
1993 Lee Aspen resigns as secretary of defense
1993 British premier Major/Irish premier Reynolds signs Downing Street Declaration concerning Northern Ireland self determination
1994 John Bruton becomes Ireland's premier
1982 Bill Parcells becomes 12th head coach of New York Giants
1993 Y-12 crashes at Phonesavanh, Laos: 18 killed
1997 San Francisco 49ers retire Joe Montana's #16
1994 "Tuna Christmas" opens at Booth Theater New York City for 20 performances
1995 Playboy goes back on sale after 36 year ban in Ireland
1996 Dottie Pepper and Juli Inkster win LPGA Diner's Club Golf Matches
1996 Tom Lehman and Duffy Waldoff wins Diner's Club PGA Golf Matches

Today In History - December 15

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