15 December History
- 1862 - Nathan B. Forrest crosses the Tennessee River at Clifton with 2,500 men to raid the communications around Vicksburg, Mississippi.
- 1862 - In New Orleans, Louisiana, Union Major General Benjamin F. Butler turns his command over to Nathaniel Banks. The citizens of New Orleans hold farewell parties for Butler, "The Beast," but only after he leaves.
- 1864 - The battle at Nashville begins.
- 1890 - As U.S. Army soldiers attempt to arrest Sitting Bull at his cabin in Standing Rock, South Dakota, shooting breaks out and Lt. Bullhead shoots the great Sioux leader.
- 1903 - The British parliament places a 15-year ban on whale hunting in Norway.
- 1920 - China wins a place on the League Council; Austria is admitted.
- 1924 - The Soviet Union warns the United States against repeated entry of ships into Soviet territorial waters.
- 1938 - Washington sends its fourth note to Berlin demanding amnesty for Jews.
- 1944 - The battle for Luzon begins.
- 1946 - Vietnam leader Ho Chi Minh sends a note to the new French Premier, Leon Blum, asking for peace talks.
- 1961 - Adolf Eichmann, the former German Gestapo official accused of a major role in the Nazi murder of 6 million Jews, is sentenced by a Jerusalem court to be hanged.
- 1965 - The United States drops 12 tons of bombs on an industrial center near Haiphong Harbor, North Vietnam.
- 1967 - President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the meat bill in the presence of Upton Sinclair, the author of the controversial book The Jungle.
- 1972 - The Commonwealth of Australia orders equal pay for women.
15 December Birthdays
- 37 - Nero Claudius Caesar, emperor of Rome, blamed for the great fire of Rome.
- 1832 - Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, designer of the famous tower in Paris.
- 1883 - William A. Hinton, developer of the "Hinton Test" for diagnosing syphilis.
- 1892 - J. Paul Getty, American oilman and art collector.