December 15 in Pop Culture History

December 15th History, Trivia, and Fun Facts

December 15th History Highlights

  • 1791 – The Bill of Rights was added to the United States Constitution.
  • 1933 – The Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution repealed the Eighteenth Amendment, which prohibited the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol.
  • 1973 – The American Psychiatric Association voted 13 to 0 to remove homosexuality from its official list of psychiatric disorders.
  • If you were born on December 15th,
    You were likely conceived the week of… March 23rd (same year)

The United States Bill of Rights

1. Freedom of religion, speech, and assembly
2. Right to keep and bear arms for the purpose of a well-regulated militia
3. No forcible quartering of soldiers during peacetime
4. Freedom from unreasonable search and seizure
5. Right to a grand jury for capital crimes and due process. Protection from double jeopardy, self-incrimination, and public confiscation of private property without just compensation.
6. Right to speedy and public trial by jury and a competent defense
7. Right to trial by jury for monetary cases above $20
8. Protection against excessive bail or fines and cruel and unusual punishments
9. Rights not enumerated are retained by the people
10. Rights not given to the federal government or prohibited the state governments by the Constitution are reserved to the States (the people).

Some US politicians still debate whether the “rights” are granted to the citizens by the government, or if they are Creator-driven protection from the government “for” the people.

The Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution

Section 1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.

Section 2. The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.

Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

Section 1. After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all the territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.

Section 2. The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.


Two Kinds of Friends…

1. Those who are around when you need them.

2. Those who are around when they need you.

December 15th is…

Bill of Rights Day
Cat Herder’s Day
National Cupcake Day
National Lemon Cupcake Day
National Wear Your Pearls Day

December 15th Birthday Quotes

“Comic books aren’t nerdy. You’d have to be an idiot to think computers are nerdy.”
-Adam Brody

“It appears that mind, as manifested by the capacity to make choices, is to some extent inherent in every atom. The universe as a whole is also weird, with laws of nature that make it hospitable to the growth of mind. I do not make any clear distinction between the mind and God. God is what mind becomes when it has passed beyond the scale of our comprehension.”
– Freeman Dyson

“It’s hard to be sad when you’re laughing, so I enjoy making people happy.”
– Tim Conway

“I’ve realized over the years that, with rare exceptions, most writer’s block isn’t writer’s block at all: It’s necessary time that allows the unconscious mind to do its deep work.”
– J.M. DeMatteis

“And in a world without heroes, as the movie trailer voice-over guy might say, the slightly awkward can be slightly cool.”
– Adam Brody

“A good cause can become bad if we fight for it with means that are indiscriminately murderous. A bad cause can become good if enough people fight for it in a spirit of comradeship and self-sacrifice. In the end, it is how you fight, as much as why you fight, that makes your cause good or bad.”
– Freeman Dyson

December 15th Birthdays

37 – Nero, Roman emperor (died in 68)
1832 – Alexandre Eiffel, French engineer, Eiffel Tower (died in 1923)
1892 – J. Paul Getty, American-English businessman, founder of Getty Oil (died in 1976)
1920 – Kurt Schaffenberger, German-American comic book illustrator (died in 2002)
1921 – Alan Freed, American radio host (died in 1965)
1923 – Freeman John Dyson, English/American mathematician, and futurist
1923 – Uziel Gal, German/Israeli inventor of the Uzi submachine gun (died in 2002)
1933 – Tim Conway, American comedian and actor (died in 2019)
1942 – Dave Clark, English drummer
1946 – Carmine Appice, American drummer, and songwriter
1949 – Don Johnson, American actor
1953 – J. M. DeMatteis, American author
1963 – Helen Slater, American actress
1972 – Stuart Townsend, Irish actor
1979 – Adam Brody, American actor

December 15th History

1827 – The city of Boston, Massachusetts, the School Committee voted to require, effective March 1, 1828, that public school students show that they had been vaccinated against smallpox prior to the school entrance. Certificates to the board of health were to be issued where necessary for free vaccination. This initiative came just three decades after Edward Jenner’s discovery of a method to immunize against smallpox. The state of Massachusetts passed the first school vaccination law in 1855, followed by New York (1862) and Connecticut (1872).
Today in Sci

1836 – A fire destroyed the US Patent Office, erasing the records of most of the first 9,957 US patents’ records.

1890 – Native American Sitting Bull (Tatanka Iyotake) was shot and killed by Indian police over a political misunderstanding.

1933 – The Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution repealed the Eighteenth Amendment.

1939 – Gone with the Wind premiered at Loew’s Grand Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.

1944 – Bandleader Glenn Miller’s plane disappeared over the English Channel. One of the largest pop stars of his day, he was the first of many who died in an airplane mishap.

1951 – #1 Hit December 15, 1951 – December 28, 1951: Eddy Howard – Sin

19454 – Davy Crockett, starring Fess Parker, premiered. It was the first mini-series, lasting 5 episodes.

1970 – Soviet spacecraft Venera 7 successfully landed on Venus. It is the first successful soft landing on another planet.

1973 – The American Psychiatric Association voted 13-0 to remove homosexuality from its official list of psychiatric disorders.

1973 – #1 Hit December 15, 1973 – December 28, 1973: Charlie Rich – The Most Beautiful Girl

1978 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter announced that the United States would recognize the People’s Republic of China and sever diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

1989Driving Miss Daisy debuted in theaters.

1993Schindler’s List, starring Liam Neeson, opened in theaters.

1995Sense and Sensibility, Heat, and Jumanji were released in theaters.

1999 – Vargas Tragedy, Venezuela

2000The Emperor’s New Groove, What Women Want, Dude Where’s My Car, and Chocolat debuted in theaters.

2000 – Chernobyl nuclear plant was officially, permanently shut down in Ukraine, after the April 26, 1986 disaster.

2004Million Dollar Baby debuted in theaters.

2006The Pursuit of Happyness, Dreamgirls, Eragon, and Charlotte’s Web debuted in theaters.

2011Impractical Jokers premiered on TruTV

Today’s Random Trivia and Shower Thoughts

The Scary Statistic: Tornado odds: 1-in-60,000

What to do: No Trailer Parks. Living in a big city.

Nobody is going to open the time capsule my 5th-grade class buried next to the school in 1971. I bet my teacher doesn’t even remember where it is or that we even had one.

The Capital of Armenia is Yerevan

TV Quotes… “The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat” (Jim McKay) on ABC’s Wide World of Sports.

A group of Insects is called a Horde or Nest or Swarm or Rabble or Plague.

Phones have an asterisk and pound sign because when Bell Labs designed the first touch-tone phone, their system had two tones that were not assigned values. So, they threw in * and #.

Carol King – Real Name: Carole Klein

The biggest film of 1902: Le Voyage dans la Lune (Action/Adventure) earned ~ $45,000

“I’ll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too!” – Elvira Gulch in The Wizard of Oz (1939) #moviequotes

“You can’t make footprints in the sands of time if you’re sitting on your butt. And who wants to make buttprints in the sands of time?” – Bob Moawad

Cartoon Fact: A cat will assume the shape of its container.

Although Mercury is closest to the sun, it is not the hottest planet in our solar system. Venus is hotter due to its atmosphere trapping the heat.

More Pop Culture History Resources