December 15th

Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals, under King Gelimer, at the Battle of Ticameron.

The U.N. Security Council gave a unanimous vote of confidence to the government of Iraq by lifting 19-year-old sanctions on weapons and civilian nuclear power.

The Washington, D.C. City Council voted to legalize same-sex marriage.

Millions of Iraqis turned out to choose a parliament in a mostly peaceful election.

American telecommunications giants Sprint Corp. and Nextel Communications Inc. announced they would merge in a $35 billion deal.

The late Sen. Strom Thurmond's family acknowledged Essie Mae Washington-Williams' claim that she was Thurmond's illegitimate mixed-race daughter.

A demonstration that turned into a popular uprising in Romania began the downfall of Nicolae Ceausescu.

US recognizes China. 30 years after the creation of the People's Republic of China, President Jimmy Carter announced that the United States would formally recognize the communist country starting January 1, 1979. The announcement also called for the severing of relations with Taiwan, a position that was quickly reversed under protests.

American Psychiatric Association declares homosexuality is not a mental illness.

Animated-cartoon pioneer and movie producer Walt Disney died in Los Angeles.

Canada adopted its national flag, a red maple leaf on a white background.

Adolf Eichmann was sentenced to death by an Israeli court for organizing the deportation of Jews to concentration camps.

Bandleader Glenn Miller's U.S. Army plane disappeared over the English Channel.

The movie "Gone With the Wind" had its world premiere in Atlanta.

Ground was broken for the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Twenty-first Amendment to U.S. Constitution comes into effect. Ratified on December 5 of the same year, the amendment repealed the prohibition on alcohol in the United States which had come into force on January 17, 1920, when the 18th amendment took effect.

The French defeated the Germans in the World War I Battle of Verdun.

Sioux Indian Chief Sitting Bull and 11 other tribe members were killed in Grand River, S.D., during a clash with Indian police.

Napoleon Bonaparte receives a French state funeral in Paris 19 years after his death.

US Bill of Rights ratified when Virginia gives its approval, becomes amendments 1-10 of the US constitution.

German Astronomer Simon Marius is 1st to observe Andromeda galaxy through a telescope.

Bartolomeu Dias returns to Portugal after becoming 1st known European to sail round the Cape of Good Hope.

Hulagu Khan captures and destroys Hashshashin stronghold at Alamut, in present-day Iran, part of the Mongol offensive on Islamic southwest Asia.