Today is Wednesday, December 15, the 349th day of 2010. There are 16 days left in the year.

1488 ― Bartholomeus Diaz returns to Portugal after sailing round Cape of Good Hope

1877 ― Thomas Edison patents phonograph

1893 ― Dvorak’s ``From the New World" premieres at Carnegie Hall NYC

1949 ― Albert Camus' ``Les Justes" premieres in Paris

1952 ― Christine Jorgenson is first person to undergo a sex-change operation

1959 ― Everly Brothers record ``Let It Be Me"

1961 ― Adolf Eichmann convicted of crimes against humanity in Israel

1970 ― South Korean ferry Namyong-Ho sinks in Strait of Korea, 308 killed

1988 ― Lori Davis of Long Island sues Mike Tyson for grabbing her buttocks

1993 ― GATT Uruguay Round completed