Word of the day

Lutalica – the part of your identity that doesn’t fit into categories.

Quote of the day

The first principle of architectural beauty is that the essential lines of a construction be determined by a perfect appropriateness to its use. – Gustave Eiffel who was born on this day in 1832.

 

December 15 in history

37 –  Nero, Roman Emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, was born  (d. 68).

533 – Byzantine general Belisarius defeated the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, at the Battle of Tricamarum.

1161 – Military officers conspired against Emperor Hailingwang of the Jin Dynasty and assassinated him in a military camp near the Yangtze River front.

1167 – Sicilian Chancellor Stephen du Perche moved the royal court toMessina to prevent a rebellion.

1256 – Hulagu Khan captured and destroyed the Hashshashin stronghold at Alamut in present-day Iran as part of the Mongols offensive on Islamic southwest Asia.

1467 – Stephen III of Moldavia defeated Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, who was injured thrice, at the Battle of Baia.

1778 – American Revolutionary War: British and French fleets clashed in the Battle of St. Lucia.

1791  The United States Bill of Rights became law when ratified by the Virginia General Assembly.

1832 Gustave Eiffel, French engineer and architect (Eiffel tower), was born (d. 1923).

1863 The mountain railway from Anina to Oravita in Romania was used for the first time.

1891  James Naismith introduced the first version of basketball, with thirteen rules, a peach basket nailed to either end of his school’s gymnasium, and two teams of nine players.

1892 –  J. Paul Getty, American oil tycoon, was born (d. 1976).

1905 The Pushkin House was established in St. Petersburg to preserve the cultural heritage of Alexander Pushkin.

1906 – The London Underground‘s Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway opened.

1915 – Evacuation of Gallipolli began.

1915 – World War I: Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig replaced John French, 1st Earl of Ypres as Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force.

1930 Edna O’Brien, Irish novelist and short story writer, was born.

1933  – Donald Woods, South African journalist and anti-apartheid activist, was born.

1939 Cindy Birdsong, American singer (The Supremes), was born.

1939  Gone with the Wind received its première at Loew’s Grand Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

1942 – Dave Clark, English musician (The Dave Clark Five), was born.

1944 The Finance Act (No. 3) abolished the Chinese poll tax, introduced in 1881, which was described by Minister of Finance Walter Nash as a ‘blot on our legislation’.

1951 The towering Belmont railway viaduct, which bridged a deep gully at Paparangi, northeast of Johnsonville, Wellington, built in 1885 by the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company, was demolished by Territorial Army engineers.

1955  Jens Olsen’s World Clock started by Swedish King Frederick IX and Jens Olsen’s youngest grandchild Birgit.

1965  Gemini 6A, crewed by Wally Schirra and Thomas Stafford, was launched from Cape Kennedy, Florida.

1973  John Paul Getty III, grandson of American billionaire J. Paul Getty, was found alive near Naples, Italy, after being kidnapped by an Italian gang on July 10, 1973.

1978  President Jimmy Carter announced that the United States wouldrecognise the People’s Republic of China and cut off all relations with Taiwan.

1997 The Treaty of Bangkok was signed allowing the transformation of Southeast Asia into a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone.

2000 The 3rd reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant was shut down due to foreign political pressure.

2001 The Leaning Tower of Pisa reopened after 11 years and $27,000,000 to fortify it, without fixing its famous lean.

2006  First flight of the F-35 Lightning II.

2009 – Boeing’s new Boeing 787 Dreamliner made its maiden flight from Seattle, Washington.

2010 – A boat carrying 90 asylum seekers crashed into rocks off the coast of Christmas Island, killing at least 30 passengers.

2014 – – Man Haron Monis took 18 hostages inside the Martin Place Lindt Café for 16 hours in Sydney.
Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.