Today in History

December 15

1914 - A gas explosion at the Mitsubishi Hojyo coal mine in Kyushu, Japan, kills 687 miners.

1970 - Soviet spacecraft starts sending messages from planet Venus.

1991 - A ferry sinks off the Egyptian port of Safaga, killing 470 people.

1993 - The British and Irish prime ministers sign Downing Street Declaration.

1997 - Eighty-five people are killed as a Tajik Air jet crashes near Sharjah Airport.

2008 - Abhisit Vejjajiva is elected Thailand’s prime minister.

2013 - Former South African president Nelson Mandela is buried in Qunu, South Africa.

2015 - European Parliament votes to allow Emirati citizens visa-free access to Schengen states.