Today in History....December 15

On this day in …

1791, following ratification by the state of Virginia, the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, known collectively as the Bill of Rights, became the law of the land
1890, Sioux Indian Chief Sitting Bull and 11 other tribe members were killed in Grand River, S.D., during a fracas with Indian police

1938, groundbreaking ceremonies for the Jefferson Memorial took place in Washington

1939, the motion picture "Gone With the Wind" had its world premiere in Atlanta

1944, a single-engine plane carrying bandleader Glenn Miller, who was a major in the U.S. Army Air Forces, disappeared over the English Channel while en route to Paris

1961, Adolf Eichmann, ym"sh, the architect of the Holocaust, was condemned to death by an Israeli war crimes tribunal

1965, two U.S. manned spacecraft, Gemini 6-A and Gemini 7, maneuvered to within 10 feet of each other while in orbit

1973, Jean Paul Getty III, the grandson of American billionaire J. Paul Getty, is found alive near Naples, five months after his kidnapping by an Italian gang. J. Paul Getty, had initially refused to pay his 16-year-old grandson's $17 million ransom but finally agreed to cooperate after the boy's severed right ear was sent to a newspaper in Rome. He eventually secured his grandson's release by paying just $2.7 million, the maximum amount that he claimed he was able to raise

1979, the deposed Shah of Iran left the United States for Panama, the same day the International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that Iran should release all its American hostages

1996, Boeing Co. announced plans to pay $13.3 billion to acquire rival aircraft manufacturer McDonnell Douglas Corp.

2001,


A 50-foot tall section of steel --- the last standing piece of the World Trade Center's facade --- was brought down in New York

Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy, was reopened to the public after a $27 million realignment that had dragged on for over a decade
2005, millions of Iraqis turned out to choose a parliament in a mostly peaceful election