December 15

Today in History
1488 - Bartholomeus Diaz returns to Portugal after sailing round Cape of Good Hope
1582 - Spanish Netherlands, Denmark and Norway adopt the Gregorian calendar
1593 - State of Holland grants patent on windmill with a crankshaft
1612 - Astronomer Simon Marius is 1st to observe Andromeda galaxy through a telescope
1680 - Tax revolt on Terschelling due to tax on cereal
1791 - 1st US law school established at University of Pennsylvania
1791 - US Bill of Rights ratified when Virginia gives its approval
1792 - 1st life insurance policy issued in US (Philadelphia)


Holidays - Traditional and Obscure
• Bill of Rights Day
• International Tea Day
• Lemon Cupcake Day
• National Cat Herders Day
• National Cupcake Day
• Homecoming Day (only Alderney)
• National Re-Gifting Day
• National Wear Your Pearls Day

Birthdays
37 - Nero Claudius Augustus Germanicus, 5th emperor of Rome, 54-68
1778 - Godert AGP baron van der Capellen, Dutch Governor-General, Dutch-Indies
1786 - Edward Coles, American anti-slavery advocate and politician (Governor of Illinois, 1822-26)
1832 - Gustave Eiffel, French engineer and architect who designed and built the Eiffel tower
1852 - Antoine Henri Becquerel, discovered radioactivity, Nobel 1903
1852 - Mu?ammad Tawfiq Pasha, Khedive of Egypt (1879-92)
1861 - Charles Duryea, inventor (Duryea Motor Wagon Company, first auto built in the US)
1892 - J Paul Getty, born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, oil magnate, Getty Oil