| Today In History | |
| December 25th | |
| Events | |
| 1066 - Coronation of William the Conqueror as king of England, at Westminster Abbey, London. 1223 - St. Francis of Assisi assembles the first Nativity scene. 1261 - John IV Lascaris of the restored Eastern Roman Empire is deposed and blinded by orders of his co-ruler Michael VIII Palaeologus. 1599 - The city of Natal, Brazil is founded. 1643 - Christmas Island founded and named by Captain William Mynors of the East India Ship Company vessel, the Royal Mary. 1776 - George Washington and his army cross the Delaware River to attack the Kingdom of Great Britain's Hessian mercenaries in Trenton, New Jersey. 1818 - The first performance of "Silent Night" takes place in the Church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf, Austria. 1837 - Battle of Okeechobee: United States forces defeat Seminole Indians. 1868 - U.S. President Andrew Johnson grants unconditional pardon to all Civil War Confederate soldiers. 1868 - Shogunate rebels found Ezo Republic in Hokkaido. 1914 - World War I: Known as the Christmas truce, German and British troops on the Western Front temporarily cease fire. 1917 - Why Marry?, first dramatic play to win a Pulitzer Prize, opens at the Astor Theatre in New York City. 1926 - Hirohito becomes Emperor of Japan, succeeding the Taisho Emperor. 1932 - A magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Gansu, China kills ~70,000 people. 1939 - Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is read on the radio for the first time (CBS radio). 1939 - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is introduced by Montgomery Ward stores. 1941 - World War II: Battle of Hong Kong ends, beginning the Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong. 1947 - The Constitution of the Republic of China goes into effect. 1971 - In the longest game in NFL history (82m40s), the Miami Dolphins defeat the Kansas City Chiefs. 1973 - The ARPANET crashes when a programming bug causes all ARPANET traffic to be routed through the server at Harvard University, causing the server to freeze. 1974 - Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin, Northern Territory Australia. 1974 - Marshall Fields drives a vehicle through the gates of the White House, resulting in a four-hour standoff. 1977 - Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin meets in Egypt with President of Egypt Anwar Sadat. 1987 - In one of the highest-rated episodes in Coronation Street history, Hilda Ogden leaves her home of 23 years to be a char to her doctor in the country. 1989 - Nicolae Ceausescu, former communist dictator of Romania, and his wife Elena are condemned to death and executed under a wide range of charges. 1991 - Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as president of the Soviet Union (the union itself is dissolved the next day). 2003 - The ill-fated Beagle 2 probe which was released from the Mars Express Spacecraft on December 19, disappears shortly before its scheduled landing. 2004 - Cassini orbiter releases Huygens probe which successfully landed on Saturn's moon, Titan on January 14, 2005. |
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| Births | |
| 1250 - John IV Lascaris, Eastern Roman Emperor (d. circa 1305) 1583 - Orlando Gibbons, English composer (d. 1625) 1628 - Noël Coypel, French painter (d. 1707) 1642 (O.S.) - Sir Isaac Newton, English physicist and mathematician (d. 1727) 1652 - Archibald Pitcairne, Scottish physician (d. 1713) 1665 - Lady Grizel Baillie, Scottish songwriter (d. 1746) 1667 - Ehrengard von der Schulenburg, English royal mistress (d. 1743) 1674 - Thomas Halyburton, Scottish theologian (d. 1712) 1700 - Leopold II of Anhalt-Dessau, Prussian general (d. 1758) 1711 - Jean Joseph de Mondonville, French composer (d. 1772) 1716 - Johann Jakob Reiske, German scholar and physician (d. 1774) 1742 - Charlotte von Stein, German friend of Goethe (d. 1827) 1757 - Benjamin Pierce, U.S. politician (d 1839) 1763 - Claude Chappe, French telecommunications pioneer (d. 1805) 1771 - Dorothy Wordsworth, English diarist and sister of William Wordsworth (d. 1855) 1821 - Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross (d. 1912) 1856 - Hans von Bartels, German painter (d. 1913) 1861 - Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, Indian founder of Banaras Hindu University (d. 1946) 1865 - Evangeline Booth, the 4th General of The Salvation Army (d. 1950) 1875 - Theodor Cardinal Innitzer, Austrian archbishop (d. 1955) 1876 - Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan (d. 1948) 1876 - Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus, Nobel laureate (d. 1959) 1878 - Louis Chevrolet, Swiss-born race car driver (d. 1941) 1883 - Maurice Utrillo, French artist (d. 1955) 1884 - Evelyn Nesbit, American actress (d. 1967) 1886 - Kid Ory, American musician (d. 1973) 1887 - Conrad Nicholson Hilton, American hotelier (d. 1979) 1890 - Robert Ripley, collector of odd facts (d. 1949) 1899 - Humphrey Bogart, American actor (d. 1957) 1901 - Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (d. 2004) 1904 - Gerhard Herzberg, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1999) 1906 - Lew Grade, Ukrainian-born film producer (d. 1998) 1906 - Ernst Ruska, Nobel laureate (d. 1988) 1907 - Cab Calloway, American bandleader (d. 1994) 1908 - Quentin Crisp, English author (d. 1999) 1908 - Jo-Jo Moore, baseball player (d. 2001) 1912 - Tony Martin, American singer and actor 1912 - Natalino Otto, Italian singer (d. 1969) 1913 - Henri Nannen, German journalist (d. 1966) 1915 - Pete Rugolo, Italian-born composer 1918 - Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt, Nobel laureate (d. 1981) 1921 - Zaib-un-Nissa Hamidullah, Pakistani journalist (d. 2000) 1924 - Rod Serling, American television writer (d. 1975) 1924 - Atal Behari Vajpayee, Prime Minister of India 1925 - Carlos Castaneda, Peruvian-born author (d. 1998) 1927 - Nellie Fox, baseball player (d. 1975) 1928 - Dick Miller, American actor 1932 - Mabel King, American actress (d. 1999) 1935 - Al Jackson, baseball player 1936 - Princess Alexandra of Kent 1936 - Ismail Merchant, Indian-born film producer (d. 2005) 1940 - Pete Brown, English poet and lyricist 1943 - Hanna Schygulla, German actress 1943 - Wilson Fittipaldi, Brazilian racing driver 1944 - Jairzinho, Brazilian footballer 1944 - Kenny Everett, British entertainer (d. 1995) 1945 - Noel Redding, English musician (d. 2003) 1945 - Gary Sandy, American actor 1946 - Jimmy Buffett, American singer and songwriter 1946 - Larry Csonka, American football player 1946 - Gene Lamont, American baseball player and manager 1948 - Barbara Mandrell, American singer and actress 1949 - Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan 1949 - Sissy Spacek, American actress 1949 - Joe Louis Walker, American musician 1950 - Manny Trillo, baseball player 1950 - Karl Rove, American presidential advisor 1952 - CCH Pounder, Guyana-born actress 1954 - Annie Lennox, Scottish singer 1957 - Chris Kamara, English footballer and commentator 1957 - Shane MacGowan, Irish musician 1958 - Hanford Dixon, American football player 1958 - Rickey Henderson, baseball player 1959 - Michael P. Anderson, astronaut (d. 2003) 1961 - Ingrid Betancourt, Colombian senator 1962 - Dean Cameron, American actor 1964 - Gary McAllister, Scottish footballer 1967 - Jason Thirsk, American bass player 1968 - Helena Christensen, Danish model 1971 - Dido, English singer 1971 - Justin Trudeau, Canadian media personality 1971 - Noel Hogan, Irish musician 1972 - Josh Freese, American drummer 1973 - Alexandre Trudeau, Canadian journalist 1973 - Robbie Elliott, English footballer 1975 - Marcus Trescothick, English cricketer 1976 - Tuomas Holopainen, Finnish keyboardist 1976 - Armin van Buuren, Dutch keyboardist 1978 - Joel Porter, Australian footballer 1979 - Jim Greco, American skateboarder 1980 - Marcus Trufant, American football player 1980 - Reika Hashimoto, Japanese actress 1980 - Locó, Angolan footballer 1981 - Katie Wright, American actress 1981 - Willy Taveras, Baseball player 1984 - Jessica and Lisa Origliasso, Australian pop singers 1984 - Alastair Cook, English cricketer 1984 - Georgia Moffett, British actress |
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| Deaths | |
| 1156 - Peter the Venerable, Benedictine abbot of Cluny (b. c. 1092) 1635 - Samuel de Champlain, French explorer and founder of Quebec City (b. 1567) 1676 - Matthew Hale, Lord Chief Justice of England (b. 1609) 1676 - William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle, English soldier (b. 1592) 1683 - Kara Mustafa, Ottoman general (b. 1634) 1758 - James Hervey, English clergyman (b. 1714) 1784 - Yosa Buson, Japanese painter (b. 1716) 1824 - Barbara Juliana, Baroness von Krüdener, Russian writer (b. 1764) 1880 - Fridolin Anderwert, Swiss Federal Councilor (b. 1828) 1916 - St. Albert Chmielowski, Polish Catholic Saint (b. 1845) 1921 - Vladimir Korolenko, Russian writer (b. 1853) 1925 - Karl Abraham, German psychoanalyst (b. 1877) 1926 - Taisho Emperor, Japanese emperor (b. 1879) 1933 - Francesc Macià, Catalonian statesman (b. 1859) 1938 - Karel Capek, Czech author (b. 1890) 1940 - Agnes Ayres, American actress (b. 1898) 1946 - W. C. Fields, American comedian (b. 1880) 1950 - Neil Francis Hawkins, British fascist (b. 1903) 1953 - Patsy Donovan, Irish-born American baseball player (b. 1865) 1961 - Otto Loewi, Nobel laureate (b. 1873) 1961 - Owen Brewster, U.S. Senator from Maine (b. 1888) 1963 - Tristan Tzara, Romanian-born writer (b. 1896) 1971 - Maria Koepcke, ornithologist (b. 1924) 1973 - Ismet Inonu, Turkish statesman (b. 1884) 1973 - Gabriel Voisin, French aviation pioneer (b. 1880) 1977 - Charlie Chaplin, English actor (b. 1889) 1979 - Joan Blondell, American actress (b. 1906) 1983 - Joan Miró, Catalan painter (b. 1893) 1988 - Ooka Shohei, Japanese novelist (b. 1909) 1989 - Nicolae Ceausescu, Romanian dictator (b. 1918) 1989 - Billy Martin, American baseball manager (b. 1928) 1993 - Pierre Victor Auger, French physicist (b. 1899) 1994 - Zail Singh, President of India (b. 1916) 1995 - Dean Martin, American singer (b. 1917) 1997 - Denver Pyle, American actor (b. 1920) 1998 - John Pulman, English snooker player (b. 1926) 1999 - Peter Jeffrey, English actor (b. 1929) 2000 - Willard Van Orman Quine, American philosopher (b. 1908) 2003 - Nicholas Mavroules, American politician (b. 1929) 2005 - Birgit Nilsson, Swedish singer (b. 1918) 2005 - Robert Barbers, Philippine senator (b. 1944)
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