December 15

### Up to 1900

- 533 – The Battle of Ticameron begins.
- 687 – St. Sergius I becomes Pope.
- 1161 – China: Military officers conspire against Emperor Hailingwang of Jin, of the Jin Dynasty, and kill him in a military coup near the Yangtze River front.
- 1167 – Sicilian Chancellor Stephen du Perche moves the royal court to Messina to prevent rebellion.
- 1256 – Hulagu Khan captures and destroys the Hashshashin stronghold at Alamut in present–day Iran.
- 1467 – Stephen III of Moldavia defeats Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, with the latter being injured, at the Battle of Baia.
- 1640 – John IV of Portugal becomes King.
- 1778 – American Revolutionary War: British and French fleets clash in the Battle of St. Lucia.
- 1791 – The United States Bill of Rights is passed.
- 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Nashville – Union forces under George Thomas almost completely destroy the Army of Tennessee under John Hood.
- 1881 – The El Habra dam in Algeria breaks, resulting in a flood that kills around 250 people.
- 1890 – Native American chief Sitting Bull is shot dead by Reservation police.
- 1891 – James Naismith introduces basketball.

### 1901 – 2000

- 1905 – The Pushkin House is founded in St. Petersburg, Russia, to preserve the cultural heritage of Alexander Pushkin.
- 1913 – Nicaragua becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires Convention.
- 1914 – A gas explosion at the Mitsubishi Hojyo coal mine, Kyushu, kills 687 people.
- 1914 – World War I: The Battle of Łódź ends; Russians retreat toward Moscow.
- 1914 – World War I: The Serbian army recaptures Belgrade from the invading Hungarian army.
- 1916 – World War I: France defeats Germany in the Battle of Verdun.
- 1917 – World War I: An armistice is reached between Russia's new Bolshevik government and the Central Powers.
- 1933 – The 21st Amendment to the United States Constitution becomes effective, reversing the 18th Amendment, which had banned the sale, manufacture and transportation of alcohol.
- 1939 – _Gone with the Wind_ premiers in Atlanta, Georgia.
- 1941 – Holocaust: Nazi troops murder 15,000 Jews at Drobitsky Yar, near Kharkiv.
- 1943 – World War II: The Battle of Arawe begins during the New Britain campaign.
- 1945 – General Douglas MacArthur orders end of Shinto as state religion of Japan.
- 1946 – US–backed Iranian troops evict the leadership of the breakaway Republic of Mahabad, putting an end to the Iran crisis of 1946.
- 1954 – The Charter for the Netherlands enters effect.
- 1957 – The population of Munich reaches one million.
- 1960 – Mahendra of Nepal imposes direct rule.
- 1960 – Richard Pavlik is arrested for plotting to kill US President–elect John F. Kennedy.
- 1961 – An Israeli war crimes tribunal sentences Adolf Eichmann to die for his part in the Jewish Holocaust
- 1965 – Gemini program: Gemini 6A is launched.
- 1967 – The Silver Bridge over the Ohio River collapses, killing 46 people.
- 1970 – Soviet spacecraft Venera 7 successfully lands on Venus.
- 1970 – South Korean ferry Namyong Ho capsizes in Korea Strait, killing 308 people.
- 1973 – John Paul Getty III is found alive after being kidnapped in Naples, Italy, a few months earlier.
- 1973 – The American Psychiatric Association votes 13–0 to remove Homosexuality from its list of psychiatric disorders.
- 1976 – Samoa becomes a member of the UN.
- 1976 – The oil tanker MV _Argo Merchant_ runs aground off Nantucket, Massachusetts, causing an oil spill.
- 1978 – US President Jimmy Carter announces that the US is to start diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China and would therefore sever relations with the Republic of China, exiled on the island of Taiwan.
- 1979 – The board game Trivial Pursuit is created by Canadians Chris Haney and Scott Abbott.
- 1993 – The Troubles: The Downing Street Declaration is issued by British Prime Minister John Major and Irish Taoiseach Albert Reynolds.
- 1994 – Netscape Navigator 1.0 is first released.
- 1994 – Palau becomes a member of the UN.
- 1995 – The European Communities Court of Justice passes the Bosman ruling
- 1997 – A chartered Tupolev TU–154 from Tajikistan crashes in the desert near Sharja, United Arab Emirates airport killing 85.
- 1997 – The Treaty of Bangkok is signed, making Southeast Asia a nuclear weapon–free zone.
- 1999 – After weeks of heavy rain, several landslides occur in Northern Venezuela, killing hundreds of people.
- 2000 – The Third Reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Pant in present–day Ukraine is shut down.

### From 2001

- 2001 – The Leaning Tower of Pisa is reopened to the public almost 12 years after it was closed for restoration.
- 2002 – BBC 7, digital radio station, is launched in UK.
- 2004 – David Blunkett, Home Secretary in the British Government, resigns over a VISA scandal.
- 2009 – First flight of a Boeing 787
- 2010 – A boat carrying about 90 asylum seekers crashes on rocks off Christmas Island, killing around 30 people.
- 2011 – American troops withdraw from Iraq.
- 2013 – The funeral and burial of Nelson Mandela take place in his home village of Qunu, Eastern Cape, South Africa. He had died on December 5 at the age of 95 – See Death and state funeral of Nelson Mandela.
- 2013 – Michelle Bachelet wins Chile's Presidential election. She had previously served as president from 2006 until 2010.
- 2014 – 2014 Sydney hostage crisis: Iranian refugee and known criminal Man Haron Monis takes several people hostage in a café in Sydney, Australia. The siege is ended early the next day in a gun battle in which the attacker and two hostages are killed.
- 2017 – _Star Wars: The Last Jedi_ is released in theaters in the U.S.A.

### Up to 1900

- 37 – Nero, Roman Emperor (d. 68)
- 130 – Lucius Verus, Roman Emperor {d.169}
- 1447 – Albert IV, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1508)
- 1567 – Christoph Demantius, German composer (d. 1643)
- 1588 – Adolf Frederick I, Duke of Mecklenburg (d. 1658)
- 1657 – Michel Richard Delalande, French composer and organist (d. 1726)
- 1686 – Jean-Joseph Fiocco, Flemish composer (d. 1746)
- 1719 – Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (d. 1790)
- 1760 – David Heinrich Hoppe, German pharmacist, entomologist and physician (d. 1846)
- 1789 – Carlos Soublette, 11th President of Venezuela (d. 1870)
- 1796 – Hiram Runnels, Governor of Mississippi (d. 1857)
- 1810 – Peter Andreas Munch, Norwegian historian (d. 1863)
- 1832 – Gustave Eiffel, French architect (d. 1923)
- 1834 – Charles Augustus Young, American astronomer (d. 1908)
- 1852 – Henri Becquerel, French physicist (d. 1908)
- 1853 – Francisco Silvela, Spanish historian and politician (d. 1905)
- 1859 – L. L. Zamenhof, creator of Esperanto (d. 1917)
- 1860 – Niels Ryberg Finsen, Danish doctor, won the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1904)
- 1861 – Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, President of Finland (d. 1944)
- 1861 – Charles Duryea, American engineer (d. 1938)
- 1875 – Emilio Jacinto, Filipino journalist and revolutionary (d. 1899)
- 1878 – Hans Carossa, German writer (d. 1956)
- 1881 – Eugen Bolz, German politician and Resistance activist (d. 1945)
- 1885 – Leonid Pitamic, Yugoslavian legal philosopher and diplomat (d. 1974)
- 1888 – Maxwell Anderson, American journalist and playwright (d. 1959)
- 1890 – Harry Babcock, American pole vaulter (d. 1965)
- 1892 – J. Paul Getty, American oil tycoon (d. 1976)
- 1894 – Josef Imbach, Swiss sprinter (d. 1964)
- 1896 – Betty Smith, American writer (d. 1972)
- 1899 – Harold Abrahams, British sprinter (d. 1978)

### 1901 – 1950

- 1902 – Robert F. Bradford, 57th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1983)
- 1903 – Tamanishiki San'emon, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1938)
- 1906 – Edmond Debeaumarché, French resistance activist (d. 1959)
- 1907 – Oscar Niemeyer, Brazilian architect (d. 2012)
- 1907 – Gordon Douglas, American film director (d. 1993)
- 1909 – Sattar Bahlulzade, Azerbaijani painter (d. 1974)
- 1910 – John H. Hammond, American musician and record producer (d. 1987)
- 1911 – Stan Kenton, American musician (d. 1979)
- 1916 – Maurice Wilkins, New Zealand–born physicist (d. 2004)
- 1916 – Buddy Cole, American pianist (d. 1964)
- 1917 – Hilde Zadek, German operatic soprano (d. 2019)
- 1918 – Jeff Chandler, American actor, film producer and singer (d. 1961)
- 1919 – Max Yasgur, American farmer, owner of the site of the Woodstock festival (d. 1973)
- 1920 – Albert Memmi, Tunisian–French writer and essayist
- 1923 – Freeman Dyson, English–American physicist
- 1923 – Uziel Gal, German–Israeli firearms designer (d. 2001)
- 1923 – Inge Keller, German actress (d. 2017)
- 1923 – Valentin Varennikov, Soviet general and politician (d. 2009)
- 1928 – Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Austrian artist (d. 2000)
- 1928 – Ida Haendel, Polish–English violinist
- 1930 – Edna O'Brien, Irish author
- 1931 – Klaus Rifbjerg, Danish writer (d. 2015)
- 1932 – John Meurig Thomas, Welsh chemist
- 1933 – Bapu, Indian movie director (d. 2014)
- 1933 – Tim Conway, American comedian and actor (d. 2019)
- 1933 – Donald Woods, South African journalist and Anti–Apartheid activist (d. 2001)
- 1934 – Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, President of Somalia (d. 2012)
- 1934 – Mohamed Farrah Aidid, Somali leader (d. 1996)
- 1934 – Curtis Fuller, American jazz musician
- 1936 – Joe D'Amato, Italian movie maker (d. 1999)
- 1938 – Juan Carlos Wasmosy, former President of Paraguay
- 1938 – Bob Foster, American boxer (d. 2015)
- 1939 – Cindy Birdsong, American singer
- 1942 – Kathleen Blanco, American politician, 54th Governor of Louisiana (d. 2019)
- 1942 – Dave Clark, English drummer, songwriter and producer
- 1943 – Lorenzo Piretto, Italian archbishop
- 1944 – Chico Mendes, Brazilian activist (d. 1988)
- 1946 – Carmine Appice, American rock musician
- 1948 – Cassandra Harris, Australian actress (d. 1991)
- 1949 – Don Johnson, American actor, singer and producer
- 1950 – Melanie Chartoff, American actress and comedienne

### 1951 – 1975

- 1951 – Joe Jordan, Scottish footballer and manager
- 1952 – Allan Simonsen, Danish footballer
- 1952 – Julie Taymor, American director, producer and screenwriter
- 1953 – Robert Charles Wilson, American–Canadian science fiction author
- 1954 – Mark Warner, American politician
- 1955 – Paul Simonon, English musician (The Clash)
- 1955 – Renate Künast, German politician
- 1957 – Laura Molina, American singer, guitarist, actress and painter
- 1957 – Tim Reynolds, German–American singer-songwriter and musician
- 1958 – Alfredo Ormando, Italian writer (d. 1998)
- 1958 – Stephan Weil, German politician, Minister–President of Lower Saxony since 2013
- 1960 – Irma Boom, Dutch graphic designer
- 1962 – Gary Mason, British boxer (d. 2011)
- 1963 – Ellie Cornell, American actress and movie producer
- 1963 – Helen Slater, American actress
- 1964 – Michael Le Vell, English actor
- 1964 – Paul Kaye, English comedian, actor and screenwriter
- 1966 – Carl Hooper, Guyanese cricketer
- 1966 – Molly Price, American actress
- 1969 – Chantal Petitclerc, Canadian wheelchair athlete
- 1970 – Frankie Dettori, Italian jockey
- 1970 – Lawrence Funderburke, American basketball player
- 1970 – Michael Shanks, Canadian actor
- 1971 – Clint Lowery, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer
- 1971 – Arne Quinze, Belgian conceptual artist
- 1972 – Kaye Wragg, English actress
- 1973 – Ryoo Seung-wan, South Korean director, screenwriter and actor

### From 1976

- 1976 – Bhaichung Bhutia, Indian footballer
- 1977 – Dave Mackintosh, Scottish musician
- 1977 – Mehmet Aurélio, Brazilian–Turkish footballer
- 1978 – Mark Jansen, Dutch guitarist
- 1979 – Adam Brody, American actor
- 1980 – Serge Pizzorno, English musician (Kasabian)
- 1981 – Michelle Dockery, English actress
- 1981 – Roman Pavlyuchenko, Russian footballer
- 1981 – Hossam Ghaly, Egyptian footballer
- 1982 – Charlie Cox, English actor
- 1983 – Wang Hao, Chinese table tennis player
- 1983 – Delon Armitage, English rugby player
- 1983 – Ronnie Radke, American singer
- 1984 – Kirsty Lee Allan, Australian actress
- 1984 – Martin Skrtel, Slovakian footballer
- 1986 – Keylor Navas, Costa Rican footballer
- 1986 – Kim Junsu, South Korean singer-songwriter and actor
- 1986 – Snejana Onopka, Ukrainian model
- 1988 – Emily Head, English actress
- 1988 – Steven Nzonzi, French footballer
- 1992 – Jesse Lingard, English footballer
- 1992 – Sean Solia, Samoan cricketer
- 1993 – Kyle Waddell, Scottish curler
- 1994 – Emma Lockhart, American actress
- 1998 – Chandler Canterbury, American actor

### Up to 1950

- 1025 – Basil II, Byzantine Emperor (b. 958)
- 1072 – Alp Arslan, Turkish sultan in Persia (b. 1029)
- 1161 – Emperor Hailingwang of Jin of China
- 1230 – Ottokar I of Bohemia (b. 1155)
- 1263 – King Haakon IV of Norway (b. 1204)
- 1598 – Philips van Marnix, lord of Sint-Aldegonde, Dutch writer and statesman (b. 1538)
- 1621 – Charles de Luynes, Constable of France (b. 1578)
- 1673 – Margaret Cavendish, English writer (b. 1623)
- 1675 – Johannes Vermeer, Dutch painter (b. 1632)
- 1683 – Izaak Walton, English writer (b. 1593)
- 1715 – George Hickes, English minister and scholar (b. 1642)
- 1753 – Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, English architect (b. 1694)
- 1792 – Joseph Martin Kraus, Swedish composer (b. 1756)
- 1855 – Joseph Charles François Sturm, French mathematician (b. 1803)
- 1878 – Alfred Bird, English chemist and manufacturer (b. 1811)
- 1885 – Ferdinand II of Portugal (b. 1816)
- 1890 – Sitting Bull, Sioux nation leader (b. c.1831)
- 1943 – Fats Waller, American musician (b. 1904)
- 1944 – Glenn Miller, American musician (b. 1904)
- 1950 – Vallabhbhai Patel, Indian politician (b. 1875)

### From 1951

- 1953 – Robert Stangland, American jumper (b. 1881)
- 1958 – Wolfgang Pauli, Austrian–born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1900)
- 1962 – Charles Laughton, English–American actor, director and producer (b. 1899)
- 1966 – Walt Disney, American animator (b. 1901)
- 1968 – Jess Willard, American boxer (b. 1881)
- 1968 – Antonio Barrette, 18th Premier of Quebec (b. 1899)
- 1974 – Anatole Litvak, Ukrainian–born writer (b. 1902)
- 1977 – Wilfred Kitching, 7th General of the Salvation Army (b. 1893)
- 1984 – Jan Peerce, American tenor (b. 1904)
- 1985 – Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, Mauritian politician (b. 1900)
- 1989 – Arnold Moss, American character actor  (b. 1910)
- 1991 – Vasily Zaytsev, Soviet World War II hero (b. 1915)
- 2001 – Rufus Thomas, American musician (b. 1917)
- 2001 – Russ Haas, Pro Wrestler (b. 1974)
- 2003 – George Fisher, American political cartoonist (b. 1923)
- 2006 – Clay Regazzoni, Swiss racing driver (b. 1939)
- 2007 – Julia Carson, American politician (b. 1938)
- 2008 – León Febres Cordero, 46th President of Ecuador (b. 1931)
- 2009 – Oral Roberts, American television evangelist (b. 1918)
- 2010 – Blake Edwards, American movie director (b. 1922)
- 2010 – Bob Feller, American baseball player (b. 1918)
- 2010 – Jean Rollin, French movie director and producer (b. 1938)
- 2011 – Christopher Hitchens, British–American writer, journalist and critic (b. 1949)
- 2013 – Joan Fontaine, British–American actress (b. 1917)
- 2013 – Harold Camping, American evangelist and Doomsday predictor (b. 1921)
- 2014 – Chakri, Indian movie composer and singer (b. 1974)
- 2014 – Mustapha Maarof, Malaysian actor (b. 1935)
- 2015 – Licio Gelli, Italian financier (b. 1919)
- 2015 – Harry Zvi Tabor, British–Israeli physicist (b. 1917)
- 2016 – Craig Sager, American sportscaster (b. 1951)
- 2017 – A. B. M. Mohiuddin Chowdhury, Bangladeshi politician (b. 1944)
- 2017 – Reinhart Fuchs, German chess player (b. 1934)
- 2017 – Ana María Vela Rubio, Spanish supercentenarian (b. 1901)
- 2017 – Heinz Wolff, German–British scientist and broadcaster (b. 1928)
- 2018 – Girma Wolde-Giorgis, President of Ethiopia (b. 1924)
- 2018 – Philippe Moureaux, Belgian politician (b. 1939)
- 2019 – Nicky Henson, English actor (b. 1945)
- 2019 – Chuck Peddle, American electrical engineer (b. 1937)

## Observances

- Homecoming Day (Alderney)
- Kingdom Day (Netherlands)
- Zamenhof Day (Esperanto)