2017 Java earthquake
2017
A 6.5Mw earthquake strikes the Indonesian island of Java in the city of Tasikmalaya, resulting in four deaths..
December-15
Historical Events on December 15
December
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Man Haron Monis
Gunman Man Haron Monis 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.
2014
South Sudanese 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.
2013
Refugee
A boat carrying 90 asylum seekers crashes into rocks off the coast of Christmas Island, Australia, killing 48 people.
2010
Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor
Introduction of the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor into USAF active service.
2005
Leaning Tower of Pisa
2001
The Leaning Tower of Pisa reopens after 11 years and $27,000,000 spent to stabilize it, without fixing its famous lean..
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant
The third reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is shut down.
2000
Tajikistan Airlines Flight 3183
Tajikistan Airlines Flight 3183 crashes in the desert near Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, killing 85.
1997
The Troubles
The Troubles: The Downing Street Declaration is issued by British Prime Minister John Major and Irish Taoiseach Albert Reynolds.
1993
Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights relating the abolition of capital punishment is adopted.
1989
1981 Iraqi embassy bombing in Beirut
1981
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..
Jimmy Carter
U.S. President Jimmy Carter announces that the United States will recognize the People's Republic of China and sever diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan).
1978
John Paul Getty III
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.
1973
American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association votes 13–0 to remove homosexuality from its official list of psychiatric disorders, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
1973
Venera 7
Soviet spacecraft Venera 7 successfully lands on Venus. It is the first successful soft landing on another planet.
1970
Project Gemini
1965
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..
Eichmann trial
Eichmann trial: 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.
1961
Richard Paul Pavlick
Richard Pavlick is arrested for plotting to assassinate U.S. President-Elect John F. Kennedy.
1960
Mahendra of Nepal
King Mahendra of Nepal suspends the country's constitution, dissolves parliament, dismisses the cabinet, and imposes direct rule.
1960
Occupation of Japan
Occupation of Japan/Shinto Directive: General Douglas MacArthur orders that Shinto be abolished as the state religion of Japan.
1945
Noorduyn Norseman
1944
World War II: a single-engine UC-64A Norseman aeroplane carrying United States Army Air Forces Major Glenn Miller is lost in a flight over the English Channel..
Battle of Arawe
World War II: The Battle of Arawe begins during the New Britain campaign.
1943
World War II
World War II: The Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse begins during the Guadalcanal campaign.
1942
The Holocaust in Ukraine
The Holocaust in Ukraine: German troops murder over 15,000 Jews at Drobytsky Yar, a ravine southeast of the city of Kharkiv.
1941
Gone with the Wind (film)
Gone with the Wind (highest inflation adjusted grossing film) receives its premiere at Loew's Grand Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
1939
Anarchist insurrection of December 1933
1933
Anarchist insurrection suppressed in Zaragoza, Spain..
Armistice between Russia and the Central Powers
World War I: An armistice between Russia and the Central Powers is signed.
1917
World War I
World War I: The Serbian Army recaptures Belgrade from the invading Austro-Hungarian Army.
1914
Hōjō Coal Mine Disaster
A gas explosion at Mitsubishi Hōjō coal mine, in Kyushu, Japan, kills 687.
1914
London Underground
The London Underground's Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway opens.
1906
Pushkin House
1905
The Pushkin House is established in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to preserve the cultural heritage of Alexander Pushkin..
Italian Americans
Italian American food cart vendor Italo Marchiony receives a U.S. patent for inventing a machine that makes ice cream cones.
1903
British Army
British Army forces are defeated at the Battle of Colenso in Natal, South Africa, the third and final battle fought during the Black Week of the Second Boer War.
1899
Symphony No. 9 (Dvořák)
Symphony No. 9 ("From the New World" a.k.a. the "New World Symphony") by Antonín Dvořák premieres in a public afternoon rehearsal at Carnegie Hall in New York City, followed by a concert premiere on the evening of December 16.
1893
Hunkpapa
Hunkpapa Lakota leader Sitting Bull is killed on Standing Rock Indian Reservation, leading to the Wounded Knee Massacre.
1890
Telegraphist
1871
Sixteen-year-old telegraphist Ella Stewart keys and sends the first telegraphed message from Arizona Territory at the Deseret Telegraph Company office in Pipe Spring..
Republic of Ezo
The short-lived Republic of Ezo is proclaimed in the Ezo area of Japan. It is the first attempt to establish a democracy in Japan.
1869
Battle of Nashville
American Civil War: The Battle of Nashville begins at Nashville, Tennessee, and ends the following day with the destruction of the Confederate Army of Tennessee under General John Bell Hood as a fighting force by the Union Army of the Cumberland under General George H. Thomas.
1864
American Civil War
American Civil War: The Battle of Fredericksburg ends in a Union defeat as General Ambrose Burnside withdraws the Army of the Potomac across the Rappahannock River.
1862
Old Patent Office Building
The U.S. Patent Office building in Washington, D.C., nearly burns to the ground, destroying all 9,957 patents issued by the federal government to that date, as well as 7,000 related patent models.
1836
United States Bill of Rights
1791
The United States Bill of Rights becomes law when ratified by the Virginia General Assembly..
American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War: British and French fleets clash in the Battle of St. Lucia.
1778
Castle Cornet
Castle Cornet in Guernsey, the last stronghold which had supported the King in the Third English Civil War, surrenders.
1651
Ekenäs, Finland
The town of Ekenäs (Finnish: Tammisaari) is founded by King Gustav Vasa of Sweden.
1546
Stephen the Great
Stephen III of Moldavia defeats Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, with the latter being injured thrice, at the Battle of Baia.
1467
Nizari Ismaili state
1270
The Nizari Ismaili garrison of Gerdkuh, Persia surrender after 17 years to the Mongols..
Mongols
Mongol forces under Hulagu enter and dismantle the Nizari Ismaili (Assassin) stronghold at Alamut Castle (in present-day Iran) as part of their offensive on Islamic southwest Asia.
1256
Kingdom of Sicily
Sicilian Chancellor Stephen du Perche moves the royal court to Messina to prevent a rebellion.
1167
Jin–Song wars
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.
1161
Constantine VIII
Constantine VIII becomes sole emperor of the Byzantine Empire, 63 years after being crowned co-emperor.
1025
Pope Sergius I
687
Pope Sergius I is elected as a compromise between antipopes Paschal and Theodore..
Vandalic War
Vandalic War: Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, at the Battle of Tricamarum.
533