December 15 holidays in 2025

Historical Events on December 15

• 1778: A battle erupts between the British and French naval forces at the Battle of St. Lucia during the American Revolutionary War.
• 1791: The Virginia General Assembly ratifies the U.S Bill of Rights.
• 1864: During the American Civil War, George Thomas led by George Thomas severely defeat the Army of Tennessee led by John Hood.
• 1890: Sitting Bull is killed on Standing Rock Indian Reservation – an event which directly leads to the Wounded Knee Massacre.
• 1914: During WWI, Belgrade is captured by the Serbian Army.
• 1914: Over 680 people are killed when a coal mine in Kyushu, Japan explodes.
• 1917: The Central Powers and Russia sign an armistice.
• 1933: The 18^th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibiting alcohol is repealed when the 21^st Amendment to the Constitution is enacted. This made the manufacture, sale and transportation of alcohol once again legal under United States law.
• 1939: At Loews Grand Theater in Atlanta, the movie Gone with the Wind premiers.
• 1941: Just outside of the city of Kharkiv in the Ukraine, German forces murder over fifteen thousand Jews at Drobytsky Yar.
• 1942: During the Guadalcanal Campaign of WWII, the Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse starts.
• 1945: The Shinto Directive is issued on this day. This directive—given by Allied General Douglas MacArthur orders that Shinto should no longer be the state religion of Japan.

Famous Birthdays on December 15

• Roman Emperor Nero is born in 37 AD.
• Japanese Shogun Prince Munetaka is born in 1242.
• Duke of Bavaria, Albert IV is born in 1447.
• French physicist, chemist and Nobel Prize laureate, Henri Becquerel is born in 1852.
• Danish physician and Nobel Prize laureate, Niels Ryberg Finsen is born in 1860.
• American actor and screenwriter, Tim Conway is born in 1933.
• American actor Don Johnson is born in 1949.
• American screenwriter Norman J. Grossfeld is born in 1963.
• Irish actor Stuart Townsend is born in 1972.