From Historynet: Today in History December 15

1862             Nathan Bedford Forrest crosses the Tennessee River at Clifton with 2,500 men to raid the communications around Vicksburg, Mississippi.

1862             In New Orleans, Louisiana, Union Major General Benjamin F. Butler turns his command over to Nathaniel Banks. The citizens of New Orleans hold farewell parties for Butler, "The Beast" - but only after he leaves.

1864             The battle at Nashville begins.

1890             As U.S. Army soldiers attempt to arrest Sitting Bull   at his cabin in Standing Rock, South Dakota, shooting breaks out and Lt. Bullhead shoots the great Sioux leader.

1903             The British parliament places a 15-year ban on whale hunting in Norway.

1920             China wins a place on the League Council; Austria is admitted.

1924             The Soviet Union warns the United States against repeated entry of ships into Soviet territorial waters.

1938             Washington sends its fourth note to Berlin demanding amnesty for Jews.

1944             The battle for Luzon begins.

1946             Vietnam leader Ho Chi Minh sends a note to the new French Premier, Leon Blum, asking for peace talks.

1961             Adolf Eichmann, the former German Gestapo official accused of a major role in the Nazi murder of 6 million Jews, is sentenced by a Jerusalem court to be hanged.

1965             The United States drops 12 tons of bombs on an industrial center near Haiphong Harbor, North Vietnam.

1967             President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the meat bill in the presence of Upton Sinclair, the author of the controversial book The Jungle.

1972             The Commonwealth of Australia orders equal pay for women.

1973             The American Psychiatric Association votes to remove homosexuality from its official list of psychiatric disorders.

1976             The oil tanker MV Argo Merchant causes one of the worst marine oil spills in history when it runs aground near Nantucket, Massachusetts.

1978             US President Jimmy Carter announces the United States will recognize the People's Republic of China and will sever all relations with Taiwan.

1981             In what is often called the first modern suicide bombing, a suicide car bomb kills 61 people at the Iraqi embassy in Beirut, Lebanon; Iraq's ambassador to Lebanon is among the casualties.

1993             The Downing Street Declaration, issued jointly by UK and the Republic of Ireland, affirms the UK would transfer Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland only if a majority of Northern Ireland's people approved.

2001             The Leaning Tower of Pisa reopens after an 11-year, $27 million project to fortify it without eliminating its famed lean.

2005             F-22 Raptor Stealth fighter enters active service with the US Air Force.