On this day: 15 December
Events, births and deaths on 15 December. Every date is checked against Wikidata.
Years ago today
1 year ago2025
Nothing recorded for that year.
10 years ago2016
- Deaths · Craig Sager
- Births · Maia Kealoha
100 years ago1926
Within 10 years of that
- 1923 · Births · Freeman Dyson
- 1916 · Births · Maurice Wilkins
- 1933 · Births · Tim Conway
1000 years ago1026
Within 100 years of that
- 1025 · Deaths · Basil II
- 1072 · Deaths · Alp Arslan
Events · 20
- 533(Julian date)Battle of Tricamarum — battle between Byzantine Empire and Vandal Kingdom during Vandalic War
- 1467Battle of Baia — 1467 battle between Moldavia and Hungary
- 1778Battle of St. Lucia — 1778 naval battle
- 1796Expédition d'Irlande — 1796 expedition during the War of the First Coalition
- 18361836 U.S. Patent Office fire — 1836 fire in Washington, D.C
- 1864Battle of Nashville — 1864 battle of the American Civil War
- 1899Battle of Colenso — battle between British and Boer forces, South Africa on 15 December 1899
- 1914Hōjō Coal Mine Disaster — 1914 mine explosion in Japan
- 1917armistice between Russia and the Central Powers — 1917 de-facto exit from World War I by Russia
- 1942Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse — World War II battle
- 1943New Britain campaign — World War II campaign between Allied and Imperial Japanese forces
- 1943Battle of Arawe — 1943 battle of New Britain Campaign
- 19811981 Iraqi embassy bombing — 1981 Islamist terror attack in Beirut, Lebanon
- 1989Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights — 1989 United Nations treaty
- 1993Downing Street Declaration — part of the Northern Ireland Peace Process
- 1997Tajikistan Airlines Flight 3183 — Flight that crashed in 1997
- 2010Christmas Island boat disaster — migrant boat disaster in 2010
- 2013South Sudanese Civil War — South Sudanese civil war/conflict
- 20142014 Sydney hostage crisis — hostage crisis in Sydney
- 2019Shaheen Bagh protests — Shaheen Bagh protests against CAA, NRC and NPR
Births · 60
- 37(Julian date)Nero — fifth and last Roman Emperor of Julio-Claudian dynasty (54–68)
- 130(Julian date)Lucius Verus — joint Roman Emperor with Marcus Aurelius (161–169)
- 1447(Julian date)Albert IV, Duke of Bavaria — Duke of Bavaria
- 1610David Teniers the Younger — Flemish Baroque painter (1610–1690)
- 1832Gustave Eiffel — French chemical engineer and architect (1832–1923)
- 1852Antoine Henri Becquerel — French physicist (1852–1908)
- 1859L. L. Zamenhof — Polish-Jewish physician and inventor of Esperanto (1859-1917)
- 1860Niels Ryberg Finsen — Faroese physician and scientist of Icelandic descent
- 1861Pehr Evind Svinhufvud — President of Finland (1861–1945)
- 1888Maxwell Anderson — American playwright and writer (1888–1959)
- 1892J. Paul Getty — American industrialist and art collector (1892–1976)
- 1899Harold Abrahams — British sprinter (1899–1978)
- 1907Oscar Niemeyer — Brazilian architect (1907–2012)
- 1911Stan Kenton — American pianist, composer, arranger and band leader (1911-1979)
- 1916Maurice Wilkins — New Zealand-born English physicist and biologist
- 1918Jeff Chandler — American actor and singer (1918–1961)
- 1923Freeman Dyson — theoretical physicist and mathematician (1923–2020)
- 1928Friedensreich Hundertwasser — Austrian artist (1928–2000)
- 1928Ida Haendel — Polish-born British violinist and violin teacher
- 1930Edna O'Brien — Irish writer (1930–2024)
- 1931Klaus Rifbjerg — Danish author, poet, journalist, and songwriter (1931-2015)
- 1933Tim Conway — American actor and comedian (1933–2019)
- 1934Mohamed Farrah Aidid — Somali warlord (1934-1996)
- 1935Tamara Smirnova — Russian astronomer (1935-2001)
- 1936Joe D'Amato — Italian film director (1936–1999)
Deaths · 60
- 1025(Julian date)Basil II — Byzantine Emperor from the Macedonian dynasty
- 1072Alp Arslan — second sultan of the Seljuk Empire (1063–1072)
- 1161(Julian date)Emperor Hailingwang of Jin — emperor of the Jin Dynasty (1115–1234)
- 1230(Julian date)Ottokar I of Bohemia — duke and king of Bohemia
- 1283(Julian date)Philip of Courtenay — Emperor of Constantinople
- 1467(Julian date)Jöns Bengtsson Oxenstierna — Swedish archbishop
- 1598Philips of Marnix, Lord of Saint-Aldegonde — Flemish writer and noble (1540-1598)
- 1621Charles d'Albert de Luynes — duke of Luynes
- 1673Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne — English aristocrat, prolific writer, and scientist
- 1683Izaak Walton — English author and biographer (1593-1683)
- 1688Gaspar Fagel — Grand Pensionary of Holland (1634-1688)
- 1792Joseph Martin Kraus — German composer (1756-1792)
- 1819Daniel Rutherford — British physician, chemist, botanist and physicist (1749–1819)
- 1890Sitting Bull — Hunkpapa Lakota medicine man and holy man (1831–1890)
- 1907Carola of Vasa — queen of Saxony (1833-1907)
- 1943Fats Waller — American jazz pianist and composer (1904–1943)
- 1944Glenn Miller — American band leader, arranger, and composer (1904–1944)
- 1947Arthur Machen — Welsh author and mystic (1863–1947)
- 1950Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel — Indian barrister, leader of the Indian National Congress and founding father of the Republic of India (1875-1950)
- 1958Wolfgang Pauli — physicist, Nobel prize winner (1900–1958)
- 1962Charles Laughton — British-American actor (1899–1962)
- 1966Walt Disney — American animator, producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor and entrepreneur, founder of The Walt Disney Company (1901–1966)
- 1968Jess Willard — American boxer (1881–1968)
- 1971Paul Pierre Lévy — French mathematician (1886–1971)
- 1974Anatole Litvak — Ukrainian-American filmmaker (1902–1974)
Dates verified against Wikidata (CC0). Titles and descriptions come from Wikidata.