24 Dec 0640
|
event
|
Pope John IV is elected. |
|
24 Dec 0640
|
event
|
John IV begins his reign as Catholic Pope
|
|
24 Dec 0759
|
event
|
Tang dynasty poet Du Fu departs for Chengdu, where he is hosted by fellow poet Pei Di. |
|
24 Dec 1046
|
event
|
Pope Clement II [Suitger] elected
|
|
24 Dec 1144
|
event
|
The capital of the crusader County of Edessa falls to Imad ad-Din Zengi, the atabeg of Mosul and Aleppo. |
|
24 Dec 1294
|
event
|
Pope Boniface VIII is elected, replacing St. Celestine V, who had resigned. |
|
24 Dec 1294
|
event
|
Cardinal Benedetto Gaetani chosen as Pope Boniface VIII
|
|
24 Dec 1476
|
event
|
400 Burgundy soldiers freeze to death during siege of Nancy
|
|
24 Dec 1500
|
event
|
A joint Venetian–Spanish fleet captures the Castle of St. George on the island of Cephalonia. |
|
24 Dec 1515
|
event
|
Thomas Wolsey appointed English Lord Chancellor
|
|
24 Dec 1565
|
event
|
Compromise of the Nobles closes against inquisition
|
|
24 Dec 1568
|
event
|
Uprising of Morisco's in Granada
|
|
24 Dec 1593
|
event
|
Storm hits Texel: 40 ships hit, 500 killed
|
|
24 Dec 1651
|
event
|
John van Riebeeck departs to Cape of Good Hope
|
|
24 Dec 1715
|
event
|
Swedish troops occupy Norway
|
|
24 Dec 1724
|
event
|
Benjamin Franklin arrives in London
|
|
24 Dec 1777
|
event
|
Kiritimati, also called Christmas Island, is discovered by James Cook. |
|
24 Dec 1798
|
event
|
Russia & England sign Second anti-French Coalition
|
|
24 Dec 1799
|
event
|
Jakobijns plot against Napoleon uncovered
|
|
24 Dec 1810
|
event
|
The Plot of the rue Saint-Nicaise fails to kill Napoleon Bonaparte. |
|
24 Dec 1814
|
event
|
The Treaty of Ghent is signed ending the War of 1812. |
|
24 Dec 1814
|
event
|
Treaty of Ghent (end of the War of 1812) signed
|
|
24 Dec 1818
|
event
|
"Silent Night" composed by Franz Joseph Gruber; 1st sung next day
|
|
24 Dec 1818
|
event
|
Franz Xaver Gruber composes "Silent Night"
|
|
24 Dec 1818
|
event
|
The first performance of "Silent Night" takes place in the church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf, Austria. |
|
24 Dec 1818
|
event
|
"Silent Night" composed by Franz Joseph Gruber; sung for 1st time the next day
|
|
24 Dec 1826
|
event
|
The Eggnog Riot at the United States Military Academy begins that night, wrapping up the following morning. |
|
24 Dec 1832
|
event
|
1st US Negro hospital founded by whites chartered - Savannah, Georgia
|
|
24 Dec 1832
|
event
|
HMS Beagle anchors in Wigwam Bay at Cape Receiver
|
|
24 Dec 1851
|
event
|
US Library of Congress catches fire; 35,000 books burn
|
|
24 Dec 1851
|
event
|
Library of Congress burns. |
|
24 Dec 1851
|
event
|
Fire devastates Library of Congress in Washington, destroys 35,000 volumes
|
|
24 Dec 1860
|
event
|
Joseph Jefferson's "Rip Van Winkle" premieres in New York NY
|
|
24 Dec 1864
|
event
|
Battle of Gordonsville, Virginia
|
|
24 Dec 1865
|
event
|
Several Confederate veterans form Ku Klux Klan in Pulaski, Tennessee
|
|
24 Dec 1865
|
event
|
The Ku Klux Klan is formed. |
|
24 Dec 1870
|
event
|
Giusseppi Verdi's "Aida" premieres at Cairo Opera, one year after the opening of the Suez Canal, for which it was commissioned
|
|
24 Dec 1871
|
event
|
Aida opens in Cairo, Egypt. |
|
24 Dec 1874
|
event
|
Pope Pius IX proclaims a jubilee for 1875
|
|
24 Dec 1884
|
event
|
Austria-Hungary admits King Leopold II's Congo Free State
|
|
24 Dec 1889
|
event
|
Daniel Stover & William Hance patent bicycle with back pedal brake
|
|
24 Dec 1893
|
event
|
Henry Ford completes his 1st useful gas motor
|
|
24 Dec 1894
|
event
|
Scheveningse fishing boats destroyed by storm
|
|
24 Dec 1894
|
event
|
Soccer team Achilles '94 forms in Axes
|
|
24 Dec 1898
|
event
|
Herman Heijermans' "Ghetto" premieres in Amsterdam
|
|
24 Dec 1900
|
event
|
Herman Heijermans' "Hope of Blessing" premieres in Amsterdam
|
|
24 Dec 1904
|
event
|
German SW Africa abolishes slavery of young children
|
|
24 Dec 1906
|
event
|
Radio: Reginald Fessenden transmits the first radio broadcast; consisting of a poetry reading, a violin solo, and a speech. |
|
24 Dec 1906
|
event
|
Reginald A Fessenden became 1st to broadcast music over radio (Massachusetts)
|
|
24 Dec 1910
|
event
|
Luisa Tetrazzini sings to 250,000 people at Lotta's Fountain
|
|
24 Dec 1911
|
event
|
Lackawanna Cut-Off railway line opens in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. |
|
24 Dec 1912
|
event
|
Irving Fisher patents archiving system with index cards
|
|
24 Dec 1913
|
event
|
The Italian Hall disaster ("1913 Massacre") in Calumet, Michigan, results in the death of 73 Christmas party goers held by striking mine workers, including 59 children. |
|
24 Dec 1914
|
event
|
World War I: The "Christmas truce" begins. |
|
24 Dec 1914
|
event
|
German plane drops bombs on Dover England
|
|
24 Dec 1920
|
event
|
Enrico Caruso gives his last public performance (New York NY)
|
|
24 Dec 1922
|
event
|
BBC sends 1st British radio play "Truth about Father Christmas"
|
|
24 Dec 1922
|
event
|
London Coloseum opens
|
|
24 Dec 1924
|
event
|
1st radio transmission of NCRV in the Netherlands
|
|
24 Dec 1924
|
event
|
Albania becomes a republic. |
|
24 Dec 1924
|
event
|
Albania becomes a republic (ex-premier Ahmed Zogoe's coup)
|
|
24 Dec 1924
|
event
|
Richard Rodgers Theater (46th St Chanin's) opens at 226 W 46th NYC
|
|
24 Dec 1924
|
event
|
School in Babb's Switch OK catches fire, 36 die
|
|
24 Dec 1927
|
event
|
Test Cricket debut of Walter Hammond, who scored 51 & took 5-36 vs South Africa
|
|
24 Dec 1928
|
event
|
George Abbott Theater (Adelphi, 54 St) opens at 152 W 54th St, New York City
|
|
24 Dec 1929
|
event
|
Assassination attempt on Argentine President Hipólito Yrigoyen. |
|
24 Dec 1930
|
event
|
Bandung, Java: ir Sukarno 4 years jail sentenced
|
|
24 Dec 1930
|
event
|
Federico Garc
|
|
24 Dec 1932
|
event
|
Arturo Alessandri wins presidental election in Chile
|
|
24 Dec 1933
|
event
|
Paris express train derails & kills 160, injures 300 (France)
|
|
24 Dec 1934
|
event
|
Grimmett takes 9-180 for South Africa as Queensland make 430
|
|
24 Dec 1935
|
event
|
Bradman scores 233 in 191 minutes, South Africa vs Queensland, 28 fours 1 six
|
|
24 Dec 1935
|
event
|
National Council of Negro Women forms
|
|
24 Dec 1936
|
event
|
1st radioactive isotope medicine administered, Berkeley, California
|
|
24 Dec 1937
|
event
|
Dutch government recognizes Italian king Emanuel III as emperor of Abyssinia
|
|
24 Dec 1939
|
event
|
World War II: Pope Pius XII makes a Christmas Eve appeal for peace. |
|
24 Dec 1941
|
event
|
World War II: Kuching is conquered by Japanese forces. |
|
24 Dec 1941
|
event
|
1st ships of Admiral Nagumo's Pearl Harbor-fleet return to Japan
|
|
24 Dec 1942
|
event
|
World War II: French monarchist, Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle, assassinates Vichy French Admiral François Darlan in Algiers, Algeria. |
|
24 Dec 1942
|
event
|
1st powered flight of V-1 buzz bomb, Peenem
|
|
24 Dec 1942
|
event
|
Red army occupies German airports at Tasjinskaja & Morozowsk
|
|
24 Dec 1943
|
event
|
World War II: U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower is named Supreme Allied Commander for the Invasion of Normandy. |
|
24 Dec 1943
|
event
|
FDR appoints General Eisenhower supreme commander of Allied forces
|
|
24 Dec 1943
|
event
|
Terence Rattigan's "While the Sun Shines" premieres in London
|
|
24 Dec 1946
|
event
|
4th French republic established
|
|
24 Dec 1946
|
event
|
US General MacNarney gives 800,000 "minor nazis" amnesty
|
|
24 Dec 1948
|
event
|
1st US house completely sunheated is occupied (Dover, Massachusetts)
|
|
24 Dec 1948
|
event
|
Greek government disbands due to state of war, press censorship
|
|
24 Dec 1950
|
event
|
Cleveland Browns win NFL championship, beat Los Angeles 30-28
|
|
24 Dec 1951
|
event
|
Libya becomes independent from Italy. Idris I is proclaimed King of Libya. |
|
24 Dec 1951
|
event
|
1st televised opera (Amahl & the Night Visitor)
|
|
24 Dec 1951
|
event
|
United Kingdom of Libya gains independence from Italy via the UN
|
|
24 Dec 1953
|
event
|
Tangiwai disaster: In New Zealand's North Island, at Tangiwai, a railway bridge is damaged by a lahar and collapses beneath a passenger train, killing 151 people. |
|
24 Dec 1953
|
event
|
2 fast express trains crash head-on, killing 103 (Czechoslovakia)
|
|
24 Dec 1953
|
event
|
Wellington-Auckland (New Zealand) express train swept away in flood kills 166
|
|
24 Dec 1953
|
event
|
KHOL (now KHGI) TV channel 13 in Kearney NE (ABC) begins broadcasting
|
|
24 Dec 1953
|
event
|
KOA (now KCNC) TV channel 4 in Denver CO (NBC) begins broadcasting
|
|
24 Dec 1953
|
event
|
Ren
|
|
24 Dec 1954
|
event
|
Laos gains its independence
|
|
24 Dec 1954
|
event
|
Council for the Children Protection forms in Netherlands
|
|
24 Dec 1955
|
event
|
NORAD Tracks Santa for the first time in what will become an annual Christmas Eve tradition. |
|
24 Dec 1956
|
event
|
"I Love Lucy" Christmas show airs, never put in syndication
|
|
24 Dec 1956
|
event
|
Ferdinand de Lesseps statue blown up in Port Said Egypt
|
|
24 Dec 1960
|
event
|
Dutch bishops question papacy values
|
|
24 Dec 1961
|
event
|
Houston Oilers beat San Diego Chargers 10-3 in AFL championship game
|
|
24 Dec 1962
|
event
|
USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
|
|
24 Dec 1963
|
event
|
Greek & Turks riot in Cyprus
|
|
24 Dec 1964
|
event
|
Shooting begins on "The Cage" the pilot for Star Trek
|
|
24 Dec 1964
|
event
|
Vietnam War: Viet Cong operatives bomb the Brinks Hotel in Saigon, South Vietnam to demonstrate they can strike an American installation in the heavily guarded capital. |
|
24 Dec 1966
|
event
|
"Joyful Noise" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 12 performances
|
|
24 Dec 1966
|
event
|
A Canadair CL-44 chartered by the United States military crashes into a small village in South Vietnam, killing 129. |
|
24 Dec 1966
|
event
|
Luna 13 lands on Moon
|
|
24 Dec 1966
|
event
|
USAF CL-44 military charter crashes near Binh Thai Vietnam kills 129
|
|
24 Dec 1967
|
event
|
Pirate Radio Pegasus starts broadcasting off New Zealand
|
|
24 Dec 1967
|
event
|
China People's Republic performs nuclear test at Lop Nor People's Rebublic of China
|
|
24 Dec 1968
|
event
|
Apollo 8 Astronauts read passages from Book of Genesis
|
|
24 Dec 1968
|
event
|
WATU (now WAGT) TV channel 26 in Augusta, Georgia (CBS) begins broadcasting
|
|
24 Dec 1968
|
event
|
Apollo program: The crew of Apollo 8 enters into orbit around the Moon, becoming the first humans to do so. They performed ten lunar orbits and broadcast live TV pictures that became the famous Christmas Eve Broadcast, one of the most watched programs in history. |
|
24 Dec 1968
|
event
|
Apollo 8 astronauts' Christmas reading (Book of Genesis) while orbiting Moon
|
|
24 Dec 1969
|
event
|
Charles Manson is allowed to defend himself at the Tate–LaBianca murder trial. |
|
24 Dec 1970
|
event
|
9 Jews are convicted in Leningrad for hijacking a plane
|
|
24 Dec 1970
|
event
|
Walt Disney's "The Aristocats" is released
|
|
24 Dec 1971
|
event
|
Peruvian Airlines Electra crashes at headwaters of Amazon, killing all except Juliane Margaret Koepcke found 10 days later
|
|
24 Dec 1973
|
event
|
District of Columbia Home Rule Act is passed, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to elect their own local government. |
|
24 Dec 1973
|
event
|
Ferryboat capsized off coast of Ecuador, drowning 200
|
|
24 Dec 1974
|
event
|
Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin, Australia. |
|
24 Dec 1974
|
event
|
Cardinals' Lou Brock is named Sportsman of the Year
|
|
24 Dec 1979
|
event
|
The first European Ariane rocket is launched. |
|
24 Dec 1979
|
event
|
1st Ariane-rocket launched
|
|
24 Dec 1980
|
event
|
Witnesses report the first of several sightings of unexplained lights near RAF Woodbridge, in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom, an incident called "Britain's Roswell". |
|
24 Dec 1980
|
event
|
Americans remembered Iran hostages by shining lights for 417 seconds
|
|
24 Dec 1981
|
event
|
Guardian Angels Curtis Sliwa & Lisa Evers marry
|
|
24 Dec 1981
|
event
|
USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR
|
|
24 Dec 1982
|
event
|
Chaminade, with a student body of only 850 students, beats #1 ranked Virginia 77-72 in a Honolulu holiday basketball classic
|
|
24 Dec 1984
|
event
|
Palace coup in Mauritania
|
|
24 Dec 1986
|
event
|
French hostage Aurel Cornea, held in Lebanon for 9 months, released
|
|
24 Dec 1986
|
event
|
Iran offensive against Iraqi islands of Shatt al-Arab
|
|
24 Dec 1989
|
event
|
Panam
|
|
24 Dec 1989
|
event
|
Charles Taylor enters Liberia to unseat President Samuel K Doe
|
|
24 Dec 1990
|
event
|
Saddam says Israel will be Iraq's 1st target
|
|
24 Dec 1990
|
event
|
Expos trade Tim Raines to White Sox for Ivan Calderon & Barry Jones
|
|
24 Dec 1991
|
event
|
Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as head of the Soviet Union
|
|
24 Dec 1992
|
event
|
President Bush pardons Caspar Weinberger of Iran-contra affair
|
|
24 Dec 1994
|
event
|
Air France Flight 8969 is hijacked on the ground at Houari Boumediene Airport, Algiers, Algeria. Over the course of three days three passengers are killed, as are all four terrorists. |
|
24 Dec 1994
|
event
|
4 Moslem fundamentalists capture Air France pilot in Algiers
|
|
24 Dec 1997
|
event
|
The Sid El-Antri massacre (or Sidi Lamri) in Algeria kills 50–100 people. |
|
24 Dec 1997
|
event
|
1st time a Channukah candle is officially lit in Vatican City
|
|
24 Dec 1999
|
event
|
Indian Airlines Flight 814 hijacked in Indian airspace between Kathmandu, Nepal, and Delhi, India; aircraft eventually landed at Kandahar, Afghanistan. Ordeal ended on December 31 with the release of 190 survivors (one passenger killed). |
|
24 Dec 2000
|
event
|
The Texas Seven hold up a sports store in Irving, Texas. Police officer Aubrey Hawkins is murdered during the robbery. |
|
24 Dec 2003
|
event
|
The Spanish police thwart an attempt by ETA to detonate 50 kg of explosives at 3:55 p.m. inside Madrid's busy Chamartín Station. |
|
24 Dec 2005
|
event
|
Chad–Sudan relations: Chad declares a state of war against Sudan following a December 18 attack on Adré, which left about 100 people dead. |
|
24 Dec 2008
|
event
|
Lord's Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel group, begins a series of attacks on Democratic Republic of the Congo, massacring more than 400. |
|