December 15

Events

533: Belisarius defeats the Vandals at the Battle of Tricamarum
1803: The Souliotes are forced to abandon Souli after being defeated by Ali Pasha. The latter would break his truce and trap some of them at Zaloggo.
1870: Alexandros Koumoundouros forms a government.
1920: Britain and France announce that, after the return of King Constantine I, they are no longer responsible for the presence of the Greek army in Asia Minor.
1942: The British destroyer HMS Petard and Coast defense battleship Vasilissa Olga sink the Italian submarine Uarsciek (620 tons) south of Malta, towards the area of Benghazi, Libya.
1955: The battle of Soloi is fought during the EOKA struggle against the British in Cyprus. Charalambos Mouskos is killed (first battle fatality of the struggle).
1962: Manolis Glezos is released from prison. He had been convicted of espionage 4 years earlier.
1964: Parliamentarians are obligated from now on to an annual declaration of assets or an origin of wealth (pothen esches - πόθεν έσχες) - the measures are implemented to combat corruption.
1969: Two German serial killers - Hermann Duft and Hans Bassenauer - are executed, by firing squad, for the murder of six Greeks.
1978: The International Court of Justice at The Hague declares itself to be without authority to act on the matter of the Aegean continental shelf.
1981: PLO leader Yasser Arafat visits Athens on an invitation by Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou.

1971: Panathinaikos, representing Europe, draw 1-1 against Nacional of Montevideo in the first leg of the Intercontinental Cup. The lone green goal was scored by Totis Fylakouris. Yiannis Tomaras is seriously injured with a broken leg.
2008: Chrysopigi Devetzi and Alexandros Nikolaidis are named top Greek female and male athletes respectively for 2008.