December 15
1791
The Bill of Rights took effect with Virginia’s ratification of it.
1890
Sioux Indian chief Sitting Bull was killed by Native American police.
1916
The French defeated the Germans in the Battle of Verdun.
1939
The movie Gone With the Wind premiered in Atlanta, Georgia.
1944
Band leader Glenn Miller disappeared in a plane crash over the English Channel.
1961
Adolf Eichmann was sentenced to death by an Israeli court for organizing the deportation of Jews to concentration camps.
1964
Canada adopted its national flag, a red maple leaf on a white background.
1966
Animated-cartoon pioneer and movie producer Walt Disney died in Los Angeles.
1989
A demonstration that turned into a popular uprising in Romania began the downfall of Nicolae Ceausescu.
Birthdays
Gustave Eiffel
1832–1923, French engineer.
George Romney
portrait painter (1734)
Franklin Benjamin Sanborn
journalist and philanthropist (1831)
J. Paul Getty
business executive (1892)
Muriel Rukeyser
poet (1913)
Edna O’Brien
writer (1932)
Don Johnson
actor (1949)
Adam Brody
actor (1979)