Today's History -15 Dec
Interesting Historical Events
1488 Bartolomeu Dias returns to Portugal after becoming 1st known European to sail round the Cape of Good Hope
1840 Napoleon Bonaparte receives a French state funeral in Paris 19 years after his death
1930 Don Bradman takes his 1st Test Cricket wicket (Ivan Barrow, WI, lbw)
1939 "Gone With the Wind", drama film directed by Victor Fleming and starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh, premieres in Atlanta (Best Picture 1940, inflation not adjusted highest-grossing film of all time)
1941 Nazi's transfers 100 Czech citizens, Heinrich Himmler falls faint
1944 Bandleader, Major Glenn Miller, lost over English Channel
1944 US Congress gives General Eisenhower his 5th star
1949 Albert Camus' play "The Just Assassins" ("Les Justes") premieres in Paris
1955 "Folsom Prison Blues" single released by Johnny Cash (Billboard Song of the Year 1968)
1961 Adolf Eichmann is sentenced to death for war crimes in Israel
1962 Vaughn Meader's "1st Family" album goes #1 & stays #1 for 12 weeks
1979 Chris Haney and Scott Abbott develop the board game Trivial Pursuit
1982 Bill Parcells becomes 12th head coach of NY Giants
1986 CIA director William Casey suffers a cerebral seizure
1988 Lori Davis of Long Island sues Mike Tyson for grabbing her buttocks
1992 Arthur Ashe is named Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year
1993 British Prime Minister John Major and Irish premier Reynolds signs Downing Street Declaration concerning Northern Ireland self determination
1997 SF 49ers retire Joe Montana's #16
1997 "Spice World" movie directed by Bob Spiers and starring girl group the Spice Girls premieres in the UK
2004 "Million Dollar Baby", directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman is released (Best Picture 2005)
2006 B.B. King is awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush
2011 Barry Bonds is sentenced to 30 days of house arrest, two years of probation and 250 hours of community service, for an obstruction of justice conviction stemming from a grand jury appearance in 2003
2013 Michelle Bachelet is re-elected President of Chile
Interesting Birthdays
37 Nero, 5th Emperor of Rome (54-68), born in Antium, Italy (d. 68)
1832 Gustave Eiffel, French engineer and architect who designed and built the Eiffel tower, born in Dijon, France (d. 1923)
1852 Henri Becquerel, French physicist who discovered radioactivity (Nobel 1903), born in Paris, France (d. 1908
1892 J. Paul Getty, American oil magnate and billionaire (Getty Oil), born in Minneapolis, Minnesota (d. 1976)
1944 Chico Mendes, Brazilian environmental activist and rubber tapper, born in Xapuri, Brazil (d. 1988)
1945 Michael King, New Zealand historian and author (Penguin History of New Zealand), born in Wellington, New Zealand
Deaths
1515 Afonso de Albuquerque, Portuguese admiral, Duke of Goa and Viceroy of Portuguese India, dies at sea in sight of Goa at around 62
1675 Jan Vermeer, Dutch painter (Love Letter), dies at 43
1796 Anthony Wayne, American military leader (Legion of the United States), dies of gout at 51
1890 Sitting Bull, Hunkpapa-Sioux chief who helped led his people to victory in the Battle of the Little Big Horn, killed by US Police aged 58 or 59
1943 Thomas W "Fats" Waller, jazz pianist (Hot Chocolate), dies at 39 in KC Missouri
1944 Glenn Miller, American bandleader and jazz composer (Glenn Miller Orchestra-In the Mood), dies in a suspected plane crash at 40
1962 Charles Laughton, English actor (Hunchback of Notre Dame), dies at 63
1966 Walt Disney, animator and producer (co-founder of Walt Disney Co), dies of lung cancer at 65
2013 Joan Fontaine, British-American actress, dies of natural causes at 96
Famous Weddings
1875 Sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi (41) weds Jeanne-Emilie Baheux Puysieux in Newport, Rhode Island
1933 Actor Gary Cooper (32) weds actress Veronica Balfe (20) in Park Avenue, New York City
1944 Country music star Hank Williams (21) weds Audrey Sheppard. It was her second marriage and his first.
1983 Author Roald Dahl (67) weds Liccy Crosland (45) at Brixton Town Hall in South London
1984 Singer and actress Olivia Newton-John marries 1st husband actor Matt Lattanz
1984 Academy Award-winning actress Sally Field weds second husband Alan Greisman
1985 Actor Sylvester Stallone (39) weds "Rocky IV" actress Brigitte Nielsen (22) in Beverly Hills, California
1989 Actor and director George Clooney (28) weds actress Talia Balsam (30) in Las Vegas
1990 Rocker Rod Stewart marries supermodel Rachel Hunter
1990 Actress Natasha Richardson (27) weds producer Robert Fox (37)
1990 Academy award-winning director David Lean (82) weds interior designer Sandra Cooke (51
2007 "Marchesa" designer Georgina Chapman (31) weds Miramax mogul Harvey Weinstein (55) in Connecticut, USA
2014 "Theory of Everything" actor Eddie Redmayne (32) weds Hannah Bagshawe at Babington House in Somerset, England
Famous Divorces
1942 Actress Mary Astor (36) divorces film editor Manuel del Campo (29) after more than 4 years of marriage
2008 Pop singer Madonna (50) divorces film director Guy Ritchie (40) due to unreasonable behavior after almost 8 years of marriage
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