THIS DAY IN HISTORY ― DECEMBER 15

December 15 is the 349th day of the year (350th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 16 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday (58 in 400 years each) than on Sunday or Monday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Wednesday or Friday (56).

BILL OF RIGHTS DAY 

533 - Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, at the Battle of Ticameron.

1612 – German Astronomer Simon Marius is the first to observe Andromeda galaxy through a telescope.

1791 – The first law school in the U.S. is establish the at University of Pennsylvania.

1791 – The Bill of Rights is ratified when Virginia gives its approval. Becomes amendments 1-10 of the U.S. Constitution. 

1836 – The U.S. Patent Office fire was the first of several disastrous fires the U.S. Patent Office has had in its history. An initial investigation considered the possibility of arson due to suspected corruption in the Post Office, which shared the same building, but it was later ruled out. The cause was ultimately determined to be accidental. This event is considered to be a turning point in the history of the Patent Office.

1877 – After previously providing a demonstration for Scientific American magazine, Thomas Edison patents the phonograph.

1897 – On this day in 1896, the U.S. government awards Patent Number 573,174 to inventor Stephen M. Balzer for a gasoline-powered motor buggy.

1915 – On December 15, Allied forces begin a full retreat from the shores of the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey, ending a disastrous invasion of the Ottoman Empire during WWI.


1938 – Groundbreaking begins for the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC.


1941 – The American Federation of Labor adopts a no-strike policy in war industries. Mighty big of them.


1944 – Immensely popular Big Bandleader and Army Captain Glenn Miller's plane disappears over the English Channel during WWII.

1961 – 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.

1964 – Canada adopts the maple leaf flag (l'Unifolié in French). The Canadian Red Ensign had been unofficially used since the 1890s and was approved by a 1945 Order in Council for use "wherever place or occasion may make it desirable to fly a distinctive Canadian flag".

1978 – 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.

1979 – The World Court in the Hague rules Iran should release all US hostages. Ronald Reagan had to be elected before that was done.

1982 – Roy Williams, Teamsters president, and four others are convicted of bribery.

1998 – On this day in 1998, the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on the Judiciary releases a 265-page report recommending the impeachment of President Bill Clinton for high crimes and misdemeanors, as outlined in the Constitution.

2009 – The new Boeing 787 Dreamliner makes its maiden flight from Seattle, Washington.


TODAY'S BIRTHS

37 – Nero, Roman emperor (d. 68)

1832 – Gustave Eiffel, French architect and engineer, co-designed the Eiffel Tower (d. 1923)

1896 – Jimmy Doolittle, American general and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1993)

1911 – Hans von Ohain, German-American physicist and engineer, designer of the first operational jet engine (d. 1998)

1943 – Emmett Tyrrell, American journalist, author, and publisher, founded The American Spectator

From Wikipedia and Google.