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UPI Almanac for Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018

On Dec. 15, 1945, U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur ordered an end to state Shintoism in Japan, a key belief of which was that the emperor was a divine being.

By United Press International
A Shinto priest performs the "Oharai" ritual for office workers during a ceremony at Kanda Myojin shrine in Tokyo on January 4, 2017. On December 15, 1945, U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur ordered an end to state Shintoism in Japan, a key belief of which was that the emperor was a divine being. File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI
1 of 2 | A Shinto priest performs the "Oharai" ritual for office workers during a ceremony at Kanda Myojin shrine in Tokyo on January 4, 2017. On December 15, 1945, U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur ordered an end to state Shintoism in Japan, a key belief of which was that the emperor was a divine being. File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo

Today is Saturday, Dec. 15, the 349th day of 2018 with 16 to follow.

The moon is waxing. Morning stars are Jupiter, Mercury, Uranus and Venus. Evening stars are Mars, Neptune, Saturn and Uranus.

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Those born on this date are under the sign of Sagittarius. They include the Roman Emperor Nero in A.D. 37; French engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, builder of the Paris tower that bears his name and engineer of the Statue of Liberty, in 1832; billionaire oilman J. Paul Getty in 1892; Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer; comic actor Tim Conway in 1933 (age 85); rock musician Dave Clark in 1942 (age 76); actor Don Johnson in 1949 (age 69); director Julie Taymor in 1952 (age 66); actor Helen Slater in 1963 (age 55); actor Garrett Wang in 1968 (age 50); actor Adam Brody in 1979 (age 39); actor Michelle Dockery in 1981 (age 37); actor Charlie Cox in 1982 (age 36); actor Camilla Luddington in 1983 (age 35); actor Erika Tham in 1999 (age 19).

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On this date in history:

In 1791, the Bill of Rights, comprising the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, took effect.

In 1890, Sioux Indian leader Sitting Bull was killed in a skirmish with U.S. soldiers along the Grand River in South Dakota.

In 1939, the film version of Gone with the Wind premiered in Atlanta.

In 1945, U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur ordered an end to state Shintoism in Japan, a key belief of which was that the emperor was a divine being. Because the U.S. government supported freedom of religion, though, it did not place an outright ban on the religion.

In 1961, Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi SS officer regarded as the architect of the World War II Holocaust, was condemned to death by an Israeli war crimes tribunal.

In 1973, John Paul Getty III is found alive at a gas station outside of Naples, Italy, more than four months after he was kidnapped.

In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association reversed its longstanding position and declared that being gay isn't a mental illness.

In 1990, in a landmark right-to-die case, a Missouri judge cleared the way for the parents of Nancy Cruzan to remove their daughter from life-support systems.

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In 1992, Salvadorans celebrated the formal end to their country's 12-year civil war.

In 1993, British Prime Minister John Major and Irish Prime Minister Albert Reynolds issued a "framework for lasting peace" in Northern Ireland.

In 1997, 85 people were killed in the crash of a Tajik Airlines charter jetliner in the United Arab Emirates.

In 2001, the leaning Tower of Pisa reopened after a decadelong restoration effort.

In 2011, the United States formally ended its long military mission in Iraq in a solemn ceremony at Baghdad's international airport. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta declared the war was over. It had begun in 2003.

In 2014, Man Haron Monis took 18 people hostage inside a Lindt Cafe in Sydney, Australia. The standoff, which lasted 16 hours, finally ended when police raided the cafe the next morning. Monis and two hostages died in the ordeal.

In 2017, 16-year-old Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi was recorded slapping and kicking an Israeli soldier in the West Bank after forces shot her younger cousin the head for throwing rocks. She was arrested days later and sentenced to eight months in prison.

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A thought for the day: "Never waste a minute thinking about people you don't like." -- Dwight D. Eisenhower

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