Today In History, 15 December: What Happened On This Day

What happened today in history (15 December): the demise of Walt Disney and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the birth of Charlie Cox and Baichung Bhutia, the premiere of Gone with the Wind, the end of the Iraq War, and more.

Mudit Chhikara Updated: Dec 15, 2022 15:28 IST

This day in history (15 Dec): The Deaths of Walt Disney and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

Today in History: 2023 is almost upon us. Only a few days are left before another exciting year begins. Today is 15 December. Although it appears to be another chilly day of the winter, December 15 holds a critical place in world history. Many major events happened on this day (15 Dec).

From the birth of two of the most popular actors in the modern world, the demise of the pioneer of animated pictures and India’s first Home Minister, and the end of the Iraq War, to the premiere of one of the greatest movies of all time, December 15 is a key day in history.

Keep reading to find out what happened on this day (Dec. 15) in the fields of sports, politics, and art, along with famous birthdays and deaths.

Historical Events on This day

In 1582, Spanish Netherlands, Denmark and Norway adopted the Gregorian calendar.
In 1836, the US Patent Office building in Washington DC burned down and thousands of patents were destroyed.
In 1903, Italian-American food cart vendor Italo Marchiony received a US patent for inventing the machine to make ice cream cones.
In 1942, the German Nazi army massacred over 15,000 Jews at Drobytsky Yar, a ravine near the city of Kharkiv.
In 1960, King Mahendra of Nepal suspended the country’s constitution, dissolved the parliament, dismissed the cabinet, and imposed direct rule.
In 1961, Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann was sentenced to death by an Israeli court for crimes against humanity.
In 1973, John Paul Getty III, the grandson of American billionaire and oil baron J. Paul Getty, was safely recovered after being kidnapped in Naples by an Italian gang five months earlier.
In 1973, the iconic and beloved Pirates of the Caribbean ride opened at Disneyland.
In 1997, Janet Rosenberg Jagan was elected president of Guyana, becoming the first female president in South America and the first white president of Guyana.
In 1997, the U.S. Department of Defense ordered all serving Americans (2.5 million) to be inoculated against anthrax, a potential weapon of biological warfare.
In 2001, the Leaning Tower of Pisa was reopened in Pisa, Italy, after a decade of stabilisation work.
In 2011, the Iraq War officially came to an end under the Barack Obama-led-US government.

Sports Events Today

In 1930, Australian cricket legend and batsman Don Bradman took the first of his only two career wickets in a match against the West Indies.
In 1988, American boxer Mike Tyson was sued by Lori Davis for molestation.

Music and Cinema Events Today

In 1939, Gone with the Wind, one of the highest-grossing and most influential films of all time, premiered in Atlanta, Georgia. Based on the 1936 novel of the same name, Gone with the Wind starred Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable as two lovelorn individuals during the American Civil War.
In 1955, American country singing legend Johnny Cash released his iconic song "Folsom Prison Blues."
In 2004, the Hollywood boxing drama Million Dollar Baby, one of the best films of the 21st century, premiered. The film was directed by Clint Eastwood, who also starred alongside Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman.
In 2021, American rock star Bruce Springsteen sold his music catalogue to Sony Music Entertainment for half a billion dollars in one of the biggest music deals ever for a single artist.

Notable Deaths On This Day

Sr No	Death Year	Personality
1	1515	Afonso de Albuquerque, Portuguese general and administrator who conquered Goa and Malacca in Asia
2	1890	Sitting Bull, hunkpapa-Sioux chief who led the native American army to victory in the Battle of the Little Big Horn was killed by US police
3	1950	Vallabhbhai Patel, Indian lawyer and politician who played a major role in uniting the country at the time of independence and served as the first Home Minister of India
4	1966	Walt Disney, American film producer and showman who pioneered animated cartoon films and created iconic figures like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck
5	2011	Christopher Hitchens, British-American author and journalist known for his sharp and unbiased criticism of the numerous controversial events of the 2000s.

Famous Birthdays On This Day

Sr No	Birth Year	Personality
1	37	Nero, Roman emperor from 54 to 68 AD who is known for his debauchery and sadism
2	1832	Gustave Eiffel, French civil engineer known for designing the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
3	1852	Henri Becquerel, French physicist who discovered radioactivity from experimenting on uranium and shared the Nobel Prize for Physics with his student Marie Curie and her husband Pierre Curie
4	1892	John Paul Getty, American oil baron who founded the valuable Getty Oil Company in 1942
5	1907	Oscar Niemeyer, Brazilian architect who was one of the pioneers of modern architecture
6	1949	Don Johnson, American actor and singer who starred in the lead role of James “Sonny” Crockett in the tv series Miami Vice
7	1972	Lee Jung-jae, renowned South Korean actor who achieved global stardom with the Netflix thriller series Squid Game
8	1976	Baichung Bhutia, Indian footballer and politician
9	1982	Charlie Cox, English actor best known for playing Marvel superhero Daredevil in the Netflix series Daredevil and the MCU