History Events on December 15

World War I: An armistice between Russia and the Central Powers is signed.

#Armistice_between_Russia_and_the_Central_Powers

U.S. President Jimmy Carter announces that the United States will recognize the People's Republic of China and sever diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

#Jimmy_Carter

Sicilian Chancellor Stephen du Perche moves the royal court to Messina to prevent a rebellion.

#Kingdom_of_Sicily

The United States Bill of Rights becomes law when ratified by the Virginia General Assembly.

#United_States_Bill_of_Rights

The London Underground's Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway opens.

#London_Underground

World War II: The Battle of Arawe begins during the New Britain campaign.

#Battle_of_Arawe

Tajikistan Airlines Flight 3183 crashes in the desert near Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, killing 85.

#Tajikistan_Airlines_Flight_3183

Soviet spacecraft Venera 7 successfully lands on Venus. It is the first successful soft landing on another planet.

#Venera_7

World War II: The Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse begins during the Guadalcanal Campaign.

#Battle_of_Mount_Austen,_the_Galloping_Horse,_and_the_Sea_Horse

The Pushkin House is established in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to preserve the cultural heritage of Alexander Pushkin.

#Pushkin_House

Gone with the Wind (highest inflation adjusted grossing film) receives its premiere at Loew's Grand Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.

#Gone_with_the_Wind_(film)

Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights relating the abolition of capital punishment is adopted.

#Second_Optional_Protocol_to_the_International_Covenant_on_Civil_and_Political_Rights

Castle Cornet in Guernsey, the last stronghold which had supported the King in the Third English Civil War, surrenders.

#Castle_Cornet

King Mahendra of Nepal suspends the country's constitution, dissolves parliament, dismisses the cabinet, and imposes direct rule.

#Mahendra_of_Nepal

Adolf Eichmann is sentenced to death after being found guilty by an Israeli court of 15 criminal charges, including charges of crimes against humanity, crimes against the Jewish people, and membership of an outlawed organization.

#Adolf_Eichmann

The Leaning Tower of Pisa reopens after 11 years and $27,000,000 spent to stabilize it, without fixing its famous lean.

#Leaning_Tower_of_Pisa

The 6.5Mw? Java earthquake struck the Java Island in the city of Tasikmalaya. There are four confirmed deaths, 36 injured, and 200 displaced.

#2017_Java_earthquake

World War I: The Serbian Army recaptures Belgrade from the invading Austro-Hungarian Army.

#Serbian_Army

Project Gemini: Gemini 6A, crewed by Wally Schirra and Thomas Stafford, is launched from Cape Kennedy, Florida. Four orbits later, it achieves the first space rendezvous, with Gemini 7.

#Project_Gemini

Constantine VIII becomes sole emperor of the Byzantine Empire, 63 years after being crowned co-emperor.

#Constantine_VIII

Occupation of Japan/Shinto Directive: General Douglas MacArthur orders that Shinto be abolished as the state religion of Japan.

#Occupation_of_Japan

Introduction of the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor into USAF active service.

#Lockheed_Martin_F-22_Raptor

The Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution officially becomes effective, repealing the Eighteenth Amendment that prohibited the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol.

#Twenty-first_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

Hunkpapa Lakota leader Sitting Bull is killed on Standing Rock Indian Reservation, leading to the Wounded Knee Massacre.

#Hunkpapa

American Civil War: Battle of Nashville: The Union's Army of the Cumberland routs and destroys the Confederacy's Army of Tennessee, ending its effectiveness as a combat unit.

#American_Civil_War

The South Sudanese Civil War begins when opposition leaders Dr. Riek Machar, Pagan Amum and Rebecca Nyandeng vote to boycott the meeting of the National Liberation Council at Nyakuron.

#South_Sudanese_Civil_War

A South Korean ferry, Namyong Ho, capsizes in the Korea Strait, killing more than 300 people.

#Korea_Strait

Vandalic War: Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, at the Battle of Tricamarum.

#Vandalic_War

American Revolutionary War: British and French fleets clash in the Battle of St. Lucia.

#American_Revolutionary_War

The Holocaust in Ukraine: German troops murder over 15,000 Jews at Drobytsky Yar, a ravine southeast of the city of Kharkiv.

#The_Holocaust_in_Ukraine

Mongol forces under the command of Hulagu Khan enter and destroy the Hashshashin stronghold at Alamut Castle (in present-day Iran) as part of their offensive on Islamic southwest Asia.

#Mongols

The Troubles: The Downing Street Declaration is issued by British Prime Minister John Major and Irish Taoiseach Albert Reynolds.

#The_Troubles

The third reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is shut down.

#Chernobyl_Nuclear_Power_Plant

A gunman takes 18 hostages inside a café in Martin Place for 16 hours in Sydney. Monis and two hostages are killed when police raid the café the following morning.

A boat carrying 90 asylum seekers crashes into rocks off the coast of Christmas Island, Australia, killing 48 people.

A suicide car bombing targeting the Iraqi embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, levels the embassy and kills 61 people, including Iraq's ambassador to Lebanon. The attack is considered the first modern suicide bombing.

The American Psychiatric Association votes 13-0 to remove homosexuality from its official list of psychiatric disorders, the DSM-II.

John Paul Getty III, grandson of American billionaire J. Paul Getty, is found alive near Naples, Italy, after being kidnapped by an Italian gang on July 10.

Richard Pavlick is arrested for plotting to assassinate U.S. President-Elect John F. Kennedy.

A gas explosion at Mitsubishi H?j? coal mine, in Kyushu, Japan, kills 687.

Stephen III of Moldavia defeats Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, with the latter being injured thrice, at the Battle of Baia.

Jin-Song wars: Military officers conspire against the emperor Wanyan Liang of the Jin dynasty after a military defeat at the Battle of Caishi, and assassinate the emperor at his camp.

Pope Sergius I is elected.