Is It The End of History Yet?

Today is Saturday, December 15th, the 349th day of 2007. There are 16 days left in the year. [Ten days 'til Christmas is up your ass! — Ed.]
Today's Highlight in History:
On December 15th, 1791, the Bill of Rights went into effect following ratification by Virginia. [It is expected that attention to parts other than the Second Amendment will be paid around the time of the Bill's tricentennial. — Ed.]
On this date:
In 1890, Sioux Indian Chief Sitting Bull and eleven other tribe members were killed in Grand River, South Dakota, during a confrontation with Indian police.

In 1916, the French defeated the Germans in the World War I Battle of Verdun.
In 1938, groundbreaking ceremonies for the Jefferson Memorial took place in Washington, DC.
In 1939, the motion picture "Gone With the Wind" had its world premiere in Atlanta.
In 1944, during World War II, American forces invaded Mindoro Island in the Philippines. [Really. WWII, was it? No shit. — Ed.]
In 1961, former Nazi official Adolf Eichmann was sentenced to death by an Israeli court.
In 1964, Canada's House of Commons approved dropping the "Red Ensign" flag in favor of a new design.
In 1965, two U.S. manned spacecraft, Gemini 6A and Gemini 7, maneuvered to within ten feet of each other while in orbit.
In 1978, President Jimmy Carter announced he would grant diplomatic recognition to Communist China on New Year's Day and sever official relations with Taiwan.
In 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.

In 1989, a popular uprising began in Romania; it led to the downfall of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.

Ten years ago: Over Republican objections, President Clinton appointed Bill Lann Lee acting assistant attorney general for civil rights.
Five years ago: Former Vice President Al Gore, who'd come agonizingly close to winning the presidency two years earlier, said in an interview on CBS' "60 Minutes" that he would not run for the White House in 2004. Japan won golf's World Cup for the first time in 45 years.

In 2003, the late Sen. Strom Thurmond's family acknowledged Essie Mae Washington-Williams' claim that she was Thurmond's illegitimate mixed-race daughter.
In 2005, millions of Iraqis turned out to choose a parliament in a mostly peaceful election; former Sen. William Proxmire, the Wisconsin Democrat who'd fought government waste with his "Golden Fleece" awards, died at age 90.
One year ago: Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld bid farewell to the Pentagon in a splashy sendoff featuring lavish praise from President Bush. Governor Jeb Bush suspended Florida executions two days after the prolonged death of a condemned inmate because the needles had been wrongly inserted. In San Francisco, a federal judge declared California's lethal-injection procedure unconstitutional.

Today's Birthdays:
Actor-comedian Tim Conway is 74. Singer Cindy Birdsong (The Supremes) is 68. Governor of Louisiana Kathleen Blanco is 65. Rock musician Dave Clark (The Dave Clark Five) is 65. Rock musician Carmine Appice (Vanilla Fudge) is 61. Actor Don Johnson is 58. Movie director Julie Taymor is 55. Movie director Alex Cox is 53. Former Governor of Virginia Mark Warner is 53. Rock musician Paul Simonon (The Clash) is 52. Movie director Reginald Hudlin is 46. Actress Helen Slater is 44. "Crowd-hyper" Kito Trawick (Ghostown DJs) is 30.

The Dead:

George Romney, portrait painter (1734)
Franklin Benjamin Sanborn, journalist and philanthropist (1831)
Gustave Eiffel, engineer (1832)

J. Paul Getty, business executive (1892)
Muriel Rukeyser, poet (1913)
Edna O'Brien, writer (1932)

This Date in Meaningless Distraction:

On December 15th, 1939, "Gone with the Wind" had its world premiere in Atlanta. It starred Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable. ["Frankly, you fucking cuntmy dear, I don't give a damn." — Ed.]
In 1943, keyboardist Fats Waller died during a cross-country trip to New York. He was 39. [Travel was a lot tougher in those days, what w/ the covered wagons & all. — Ed.]
In 1944, a single-engine plane carrying bandleader Glenn Miller disappeared during a flight over the English Channel while en route to Paris. He was a U.S. Army major at the time. Forty years later, British authorities said the plane was probably hit by explosives jettisoned from British bombers. [Friendly fire killed him. Great. — Ed]
In 1959, the Everly Brothers recorded "Let It Be Me" in New York. It was the first time they didn't record in Nashville and the first time they recorded with strings.
In 1966, movie producer Walt Disney died of lung cancer in Los Angeles. He was 65. [That's not even his real signature. A total douchebag & an anti-semite. — Ed.]
In 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Plastic Ono Band made its concert debut in London. [Best band John was ever in. And a Beatle item. — Ed.]
In 1977, members of the Sex Pistols were denied visas to enter the US, two days before they were to appear on NBC's "Saturday Night Live." Their replacement was Elvis Costello and the Attractions.
In 1988, singer James Brown was sentenced to six years in prison for leading police on a chase through two states.
In 1990, singer Rod Stewart married model Rachel Hunter in Beverly Hills, California. They've since split up. [Good. We hope they're both miserable. — Ed.]