On This Day for December 15 - Premiere of Gone with the Wind, Harold Abrahams is featured, and more

This message contains graphics. If you do not see the graphics, click here to view. December 15 FEATURED BIOGRAPHY Harold Abrahams READ MORE   FEATURED EVENT 1939 Premiere of Gone with the Wind READ MORE   Advertisement Advertisement   MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY 2011: The Iraq War officially ended as the United States formally declared that its mission in the country was over. [ Read about the eight deadliest wars of the 21st century.] 2001: The Leaning Tower of Pisa reopened in Pisa, Italy, after more than 10 years of work to stabilize the structure. [Take our quiz about architecture.] 1997: The U.S. Department of Defense ordered that all 1.4 million Americans in its service be inoculated against anthrax, a potential weapon of biological warfare. [Test your knowledge of weapons and warfare.] 1997: Janet Rosenberg Jagan was elected president of Guyana, becoming the first elected female president in South America and the first white president of Guyana. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about South America.] 1989: Antigovernment demonstrations erupted in Timișoara, Romania, beginning the revolution that toppled the communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu from power a few days afterward. [Test your knowledge of plots and revolutions.] 1948: Former U.S. State Department official Alger Hiss was indicted on two charges of perjury for lying about his dealings with Whittaker Chambers, who accused him of membership in a communist espionage ring. [Read about 10 famous names in the espionage game.] SEE ALL EVENTS ON THIS DAY ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY 37 Nero Roman emperor 1923 Freeman Dyson American physicist 1832 Gustave Eiffel French engineer 1907 Oscar Niemeyer Brazilian architect 1892 J. Paul Getty American industrialist 1852 Henri Becquerel French physicist SEE ALL BIOS ON THIS DAY   Advertisement   FOLLOW: To unsubscribe from Britannica e-mails, click here. Encyclopædia Britannica 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 Chicago, Illinois 60654 United States © 2020 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. Privacy Policy • Help