On this day ...
DECEMBER 15
1654: A meteorological office in Tuscany began daily temperature readings.
1832: Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, the French engineer who built the great landmark for the Paris Exhibition of 1899, above, was born.
1890: Chief Sitting Bull, Sioux leader, was shot dead in a scuffle with Indian police.
1939: The premiere of Gone With The Wind took place at Atlanta, Georgia.
1964: The maple leaf was adopted as the national flag of Canada.
1966: Walt Disney, cartoon film producer and creator, died aged 65.
1979: Two Canadians, Chris Haney and Scott Abbott, came up with the idea for a game called Trivial Pursuit.
1991: More than 470 people drowned when a ferry carrying mainly Egyptian pilgrims sank in the Red Sea.
2014: Nelson Mandela was buried after a funeral ceremony that included a 21-gun salute and fly-overs by military aircraft.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Ryanair agreed to recognise pilots’ unions for the first time in its history, after it was threatened with a potentially-crippling strike just days before Christmas.