15 December
Notable Births
Kayvon Thibodeaux
b. 2000
American football player (born 2000)
Chandler Canterbury
b. 1998
American actor
Maude Apatow
b. 1997
American actress (born 1997)
Zach Banks-Calderín
b. 1997
American racing driver
Magdalena Fręch
b. 1997
Polish tennis player (born 1997)
Jenifer Brening
b. 1996
German singer and songwriter
Oleksandr Zinchenko (footballer)
b. 1996
Ukrainian footballer (born 1996)
Jahlil Okafor
b. 1995
Nigerian-American basketball player (born 1995)
Daniel Ochefu
b. 1993
American-born Nigerian basketball player
Daiamami Genki
b. 1992
Japanese sumo wrestler
Jesse Lingard
b. 1992
English footballer (born 1992)
Maximiliano Meza (footballer, born 1992)
b. 1992
Argentine footballer
Alex Telles
b. 1992
Brazilian footballer (born 1992)
Conor Daly
b. 1991
American racing driver (born 1991)
Yanni Gourde
b. 1991
Canadian ice hockey player (born 1991)
Alana Haim
b. 1991
American musician and actress (born 1991)
Erik Gustafsson (ice hockey, born 1988)
b. 1988
Swedish ice hockey player (born 1988)
Steven Nzonzi
b. 1988
French footballer (born 1988)
Josh Norman
b. 1987
American football player (born 1987)
Tim Conway
b. 1933
American actor and comedian (1933–2019)
Notable Deaths
William J. Bauer
d. 2025
American judge (1926–2025)
Zakir Hussain (musician)
d. 2024
Indian tabla player and composer (1951–2024)
Saufatu Sopoanga
d. 2020
Prime Minister of Tuvalu from 2002 to 2004
Eryue He
d. 2018
Chinese writer
Girma Wolde-Giorgis
d. 2018
President of Ethiopia from 2001 to 2013
Heinz Wolff
d. 2017
German-British scientist and television presenter (1928–2017)
Calestous Juma
d. 2017
Kenyan academic
Craig Sager
d. 2016
American sports reporter (1951–2016)
Harry Zvi Tabor
d. 2015
Israeli physicist (1917–2015)
Donald Metcalf
d. 2014
Australian medical researcher (1929–2014)
Harold Camping
d. 2013
American Christian radio broadcaster and evangelist (1921–2013)
Joan Fontaine
d. 2013
British actress (1917–2013)
Owoye Andrew Azazi
d. 2012
11th Chief of Defence Staff of Nigeria (1952–2012)
Patrick Yakowa
d. 2012
Nigerian politician (1948–2012)
Olga Zubarry
d. 2012
Argentine actress (1929–2012)
Bob Brookmeyer
d. 2011
American jazz musician, arranger, and composer (1929–2011)
Christopher Hitchens
d. 2011
British and American author and journalist (1949–2011)
Blake Edwards
d. 2010
American filmmaker (1922–2010)
Bob Feller
d. 2010
American baseball pitcher (1918–2010)
Eliza Atkins Gleason
d. 2009
African American librarian
On This Day in History
All 53 ›
2017
A 6.5Mw earthquake strikes the Indonesian island of Java in the city of Tasikmalaya, resulting in four deaths.
2017 Java earthquake
2014
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.
Man Haron Monis
2013
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
2010
A boat carrying 90 asylum seekers crashes into rocks off the coast of Christmas Island, Australia, killing 48 people.
Refugee
2005
Introduction of the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor into USAF active service.
Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor
2001
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
2000
The third reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is shut down.
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant
1997
Tajikistan Airlines Flight 3183 crashes in the desert near Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, killing 85.
Tajikistan Airlines Flight 3183
1993
The Troubles: The Downing Street Declaration is issued by British Prime Minister John Major and Irish Taoiseach Albert Reynolds.
The Troubles
1989
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
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.
1981 Iraqi embassy bombing in Beirut
1978
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).
Jimmy Carter
1973
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.
John Paul Getty III
1973
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.
American Psychiatric Association
1970
Soviet spacecraft Venera 7 successfully lands on Venus. It is the first successful soft landing on another planet.
Venera 7
1967
The Silver Bridge collapses, killing 46 people.
Silver Bridge
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.
Project Gemini
1961
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.
Eichmann trial
1960
Richard Pavlick is arrested for plotting to assassinate U.S. President-Elect John F. Kennedy.
Richard Paul Pavlick
1960
King Mahendra of Nepal suspends the country's constitution, dissolves parliament, dismisses the cabinet, and imposes direct rule.
Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah