Today's Highlight in History:
On December 15th, 1939, the motion picture电影 "Gone With the Wind" had its world premiere in Atlanta.

On this date:
In 1791, the Bill of Rights went into effect生效 following ratification批准，认可 by Virginia.

In 1890, Sioux Indian Chief Sitting Bull and eleven other tribe members were killed in Grand River, South Dakota, during a fracas²吵闹，喧噪 with Indian police.

In 1916, the French defeated the Germans in the World War One Battle of Verdun.

In 1938, groundbreaking开创性的 ceremonies for the Jefferson Memorial took place in Washington DC.

In 1944, a single-engine plane carrying bandleader Glenn Miller³ disappeared over the English Channel while en route在途中 to Paris.

In 1948, former State Department official Alger Hiss⁴ was indicted⁵ by a federal grand jury in New York on charges of perjury伪证，伪誓. (He was convicted in 1950.)

In 1961, former Nazi⁶ official Adolf Eichmann was sentenced to death by an Israeli court.

In 1965, two US manned spacecraft, "Gemini Six" and "Gemini Seven," maneuvered调遣，演习 to within ten feet of each other while in orbit.

In 1978, President Carter announced he would grant diplomatic recognition外交承认 to Communist China on New Year's Day and sever⁸ official relations with Taiwan.

In 1979, the deposed⁹ 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.

Ten years ago: A popular uprising that resulted in the downfall垮台，衰败 of Romania's Nicolae Ceausescu began as demonstrators gathered in Timisoara to prevent the arrest of the Reverend Laszlo Tokes, a dissident持不同政见者 clergyman. Drug trafficker Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha was killed in northern Colombia following a shootout枪战，射门 with police.

Five years ago: President Clinton, in a 12-minute prime-time address, presented a package of tax cuts for middle-income families raising children, and outlined deep reductions in government programs to help pay for them.

One year ago: President Clinton concluded his three-day Middle East journey on a disappointing note as Israel refused to resume the West Bank troop withdrawals¹⁰ called for under the Wye River peace accord; nevertheless然而，不过, Clinton declared his trip a success.