|
What happened in history on this day: December 24?
On December 24 in ...
- 640 - John IV begins his reign as Catholic Pope.
- 1069 - Godfried II with the Beard, duke of Neder-Lutherans, dies.
- 1155 - Danish Prince Magnus Henriksson arranges the death of Swedish King Sverker, on the evening before Christmas.
- 1167 - Birth of John "without a land" king of England (1199-1216).
- 1294 - Cardinal Benedetto Gaetani chosen as Pope Boniface VIII.
- 1380 - John von Neumarkt German bishop/Chancellor Karel IV, dies.
- 1476 - 400 Burgundy soldiers freeze to death during siege of Nancy.
- 1515 - Thomas Wolsey appointed English Lord Chancellor.
- 1524 - Vasco da Gama Portuguese explorer/viceroy of Cochin India, dies at about age 55.
- 1541 - Andreas R Bodenstein von Carlstadt radical Lutheran, dies at about age 61.
- 1548 - Maximilian of Egmond Dutch count/stadholder of Frisia, dies.
- 1565 - Compromise of the Nobles closes against inquisition.
- 1568 - Uprising of Morisco's in Granada.
- 1593 - Storm hits Texel: 40 ships hit, 500 killed.
- 1624 - King Christian IV of Denmark establishes the Danish Postal Service.
- 1651 - John van Riebeeck departs to Cape of Good Hope.
- 1653 - Birth of Georg Motz composer.
- 1660 - Mary I princess of England, dies at age 29.
- 1689 - Birth of French van Mieris "the Young" Dutch painter/historian.
- 1714 - Birth of Rainieri De Calzabigi Italian's literary (first European Lottery).
- 1715 - Swedish troops occupy Norway.
- 1716 - Birth of Patrice F earl De Nény South Netherlands chairman of Secret Council.
- 1724 - Benjamin Franklin arrives in London.
- 1754 - Birth of George Crabbe Aldeburgh England, poet (Everlasting Mercy).
- 1761 - Birth of Selîm III poet/composer/sultan of Turkey (1789-1808).
- 1776 - General George Washington crosses the Delaware River to surprise Hessians at Trenton, New Jersey.
- 1777 - James Cook discovers Kiritimati, also called Christmas Island.
- 1791 - Birth of A Eugène Scribe; French dramatist (Bertrand et Raton).
- 1798 - Birth of Adam B Mickiewicz in Poland; national poet (Pan Tadeusz).
- 1798 - Russia and England sign Second anti-French Coalition.
- 1799 - Jakobijns plot against Napoleon uncovered.
- 1800 - A bomb explodes in Paris, France, just after First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte passes, killing his escort.
- 1809 - Birth of Christopher "Kit" Carson in Kentucky, USA; Union Brigadier-General/Indian fighter.
- 1814 - In Ghent, Belgium, a peace agreement is signed between the US and Great Britain.
- 1818 - "Silent Night" is composed by Franz Joseph Gruber.
- 1818 - Birth of James Prescott Joule; physicist (discovered conservation of energy).
- 1822 - Birth of Charles Hermite; French mathematician (e is Transcendent).
- 1822 - Birth of Matthew Arnold in England; poet/critic (Dover Beach).
- 1837 - Birth of Sissi; Emperor of Austria.
- 1851 - The U.S. Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. experiences its worst fire, which destroys 35,000 books, about two-thirds of the Library's collection.
- 1865 - Several Confederate States of America war veterans form the Ku Klux Klan in Pulaski, Tennessee.
- 1867 - Birth of Tevfik Fikret; Turkish poet (Servet-i Fünun, Sis).
- 1868 - Birth of Emanuel Lasker in Germany; world chess champion (1894-21).
- 1869 - Birth of Henriëtte Roland Holst-van der Schalk; Dutch poet (Women in Forest).
- 1869 - Death of Edwin McMasters Stantonat age 55; US Attorney General (1860-61), US Secretary of War (1862-68).
- 1870 - Giusseppi Verdi's "Aida" premieres at Cairo Opera, one year after the opening of the Suez Canal, for which it was commissioned.
- 1871 - Birth of Henri Stroethoff; Dutch actor (A Chique Little Boy).
- 1874 - Pope Pius IX proclaims a jubilee for 1875.
- 1881 - Birth of Juan Ramón Jiménez in Spain; poet (Distant Gardens, Nobel Prize 1956).
- 1884 - Austria-Hungary recognizes King Leopold II's Congo Free State.
- 1885 - Birth of Arthur Dolphin; cricket player (Yorkshire and England keeper, later Test umpire).
- 1887 - Birth of Louis Jouvet in Crozon, France; actor (Volpone, Topaze, La Marseillaise).
- 1889 - Birth of Vladimir Sokoloff in Moscow, Russia; actor (Road to Morocco).
- 1889 - Daniel Stover and William Hance patent bicycle with back pedal brake.
- 1893 - Birth of Carl Brisson in Copenhagen, Denmark; actor (Murder at the Vanities).
- 1893 - Birth of Ruth Chatterton; US actress (Madame X, Sarah and Son).
- 1893 - American auto maker Henry Ford completes his first useful gasoline-powered motor.
- 1893 - Birth of Harry Warren AKA Salvatore Guaragna in Brooklyn, New York, USA; songwriter ("I Only Have Eyes for You", "42nd Street", "Chattanooga Choo-Choo", "Serenade in Blue", "Jeepers Creepers", "You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me", won Best Song Oscars for "Lullaby of Broadway", "You'll Never Know", "On the Atcheson, Topeka and Santa Fe").
- 1904 - Birth of Herbert D Riley; US vice-admiral (WWII, Guadalcanal, Okinawa).
- 1904 - German South West Africa abolishes slavery of young children.
- 1905 - Birth of Howard Robard Hughes; reclusive American billionaire (Hughes Aircraft)/inventor (dies 1976).
- 1906 - Birth of Franz Waxman in Königshütte, Germany; composer (A Day at the Races).
- 1906 - In Massachusetts, USA, Reginald Fessenden transmits the first radio broadcast, consisting of a poetry reading, a violin solo, and a speech.
- 1907 - Birth of Isidore Feinstein Stone AKA I.F. Stone AKA Izzy Stone in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; US journalist (IF Stone's Weekly, Columbia Award 1971) (dies 1989).
- 1909 - Birth of Adam Rapacki; Polish minister of Foreign Affairs (1956-68).
- 1909 - Nicolaas G Pierson, director Suriname/Dutch Bank, dies at age 80.
- 1910 - Birth of Betty Ann Davies in London, England; actress (Tough Guy).
- 1910 - Birth of Fritz [Reuter] Leiber Junior; US sci-fi author (Bazaar of the Bizarre).
- 1910 - Birth of Mitchell Ayres in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; musical director for Columbia records, orchestra director for Perry Como's TV career, and on The Hollywood Palace.
- 1912 - Irving Fisher patents archiving system with index cards.
- 1914 - Birth of Dorothy Hyson; actress (Ghoul, Spare a Copper, Sing as We Go).
- 1914 - Birth of Guus Verstraete Sr [August de Graef], Dutch actor/director (Black Magic).
- 1914 - German plane drops bombs on Dover, England.
- 1920 - Birth of Dave Bartholomew in Louisiana, USA; jazz artist/songwriter ("Blueberry Hill").
- 1920 - Enrico Caruso gives his last public performance (New York City, New York).
- 1921 - Birth of Bill Dudley; NFL halfback (Pittsburgh Steelers, Detroit Lions, Washington Redskins).
- 1922 - BBC sends first British radio play Truth about Father Christmas.
- 1922 - Birth of Ava Gardner in Grabtown, North Carolina, USA; actress (On the Beach, Night of the Iguana).
- 1923 - Birth of Wilton S Mkwayi in South Africa; African National Congress leader.
- 1924 - Birth of Roy Miller; cricket player (West Indies all-rounder in one Test 1953, 23 and 0-28).
- 1924 - Birth of Willem Drees; economist/Dutch politician (DS'70).
- 1924 - Birth of [Irving] Lee Dorsey in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; vocalist ("Working in the Coal Mine").
- 1924 - Ahmed Beg Zogu seizes power of Albania, declares himself president of Albanian Republic.
- 1924 - School in Babb's Switch, Oklahoma, USA catches fire; 36 die.
- 1926 - Birth of Ronald Draper; cricket player (South African batsman versus Australia 1949-50).
- 1927 - Birth of Mary Higgins Clark in Bronx, New York, USA; author (A Cry in the Night, Stillwatch).
- 1927 - Birth of Teresa Stich-Randall; US soprano (Vienna State Opera).
- 1927 - Test Cricket debut of Walter Hammond, who scored 51 and took 5-36 versus South Africa.
- 1930 - Birth of Robert Joffrey [Abdullah Jaffa Anver Bey Khan]; American choreographer (Joffrey Ballet).
- 1930 - Eduard David, German minister (constitution of Weimar), dies at age 67.
- 1931 - Birth of Jill Bennett in Penang, Malay; actress (Lady Jane, Concrete Jungle).
- 1932 - Arturo Alessandri wins presidental election in Chile.
- 1932 - Birth of Colin Cowdrey; cricket player (in India England batsman, first to 100 Tests).
- 1933 - Paris express train derails and kills 160, injures 300 (France).
- 1934 - Clarrie Grimmett takes 9-180 in cricket for South Africa as Queensland make 430.
- 1935 - Donald Bradman scores 233 in 191 minutes, South Africa versus Queensland, 28 fours 1 six.
- 1936 - The first radioactive isotope medicine is administered in Berkeley, California.
- 1937 - Dutch government recognizes Italian king Emanuel III as emperor of Abyssinia.
- 1938 - Birth of Ralp Inbar; Dutch TV host (Banana Split).
- 1940 - Birth of Jorma Kaukonen in Washington DC, USA; rock guitarist/vocalist (Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna).
- 1940 - Birth of Paul Tagliabue; NFL commissioner (1989-).
- 1941 - First ships of Japanese Admiral Nagumo's Pearl Harbor fleet return to Japan.
- 1941 - (about 0930 hours) US forces on Wake Island surrender to the Japanese.
- 1942 - First powered flight of V-1 buzz bomb, Peenemünde, Germany.
- 1942 - French Admiral Jean Darlan is assassinated in Algiers.
- 1942 - Soviet Red army occupies German airports at Tasjinskaja and Morozowsk.
- 1943 - Birth of Christiane Schmidtmer in Heidelberg, Germany; actress (Ship of Fools).
- 1943 - Birth of Tatton Sykes; English baron/large landowner.
- 1943 - US President Franklin Roosevelt appoints General Dwight Eisenhower supreme commander of Allied forces.
- 1944 - Birth of Erhard Keller; German Federal Republic 500-metre speed skater (Olympics-gold-1968, 1972).
- 1944 - Birth of Mike Curb in Savannah, Georgia, USA; singer (Mike Curb Congregation).
- 1945 - Birth of Lemmy [Ian Kilminster]; rocker (Hawkwind, Motorhead - "Built for Speed").
- 1945 - Birth of Nicholas Meyer; director (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan).
- 1946 - 4th French republic established.
- 1946 - Birth of John Akkerman; Dutch guitarist/composer (Focus - "Can't Stand Noise").
- 1946 - Birth of Sharon Farrell in Sioux City, Iowa, USA; actress (Lori - Hawaii Five-0, The Young and the Restless).
- 1946 - US General MacNarney gives 800,000 "minor Nazis" amnesty.
- 1948 - First US house completely sunheated is occupied (Dover, Massachusetts).
- 1948 - Greek government disbands due to state of war, press censorship.
- 1950 - Birth of Peter te Bos; Dutch singer (Claw Boys Claw).
- 1951 - First televised opera (Amahl and the Night Visitor).
- 1951 - Birth of Johnny Contardo; rocker (Sha Na Na - "Shannon").
- 1951 - NBC premieres The Hallmark Hall of Fame anthology TV show.
- 1951 - United Kingdom of Libya gains independence from Italy via the United Nations.
- 1953 - Two fast express trains crash head-on, killing 103 (Czechoslovakia).
- 1953 - René Coty elected President of France.
- 1953 - Wellington-Auckland (New Zealand) express train swept away in flood kills 166.
- 1954 - Council for the Children Protection forms in Netherlands.
- 1954 - Laos gains its independence.
- 1955 - Birth of Anwar Khan; cricket player (bowled four overs for Pakistan 1979).
- 1955 - Birth of Clarence Gilyard Junior in Moses Lake, Washington, USA; actor (Chips, Duck Factory).
- 1955 - Nana Bryant, actress (Mrs Nestor - Our Miss Brooks), dies at age 67.
- 1956 - Birth of Stephanie Hodge; comedian/actress (I Madman, Happily Ever After).
- 1956 - Ferdinand de Lesseps statue blown up in Port Said, Egypt.
- 1957 - Birth of Ian Burden in Sheffield, England; rock bassist (Human League - "Only Human").
- 1960 - Dutch bishops question papacy values.
- 1961 - Houston Oilers beat San Diego Chargers 10-3 in AFL championship game.
- 1962 - USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya.
- 1963 - Birth of Mary Ramsey; singer (10,000 Maniacs).
- 1963 - Birth of Timo Jutila in Tampere, Finland; hockey defenseman (Team Finland).
- 1963 - Greeks and Turks riot in Cyprus.
- 1964 - Birth of Elbert Shelley; NFL cornerback (Atlanta Falcons).
- 1964 - Birth of Marcel van der Net; Dutch soccer player (FC Utrecht).
- 1964 - Birth of Mark Valley in Odgensvurg, New York, USA; actor (Days of Our Lives).
- 1965 - Birth of Erika von Heiland in Angeles City, Philippines; US badminton player (Olympics-1992,1996).
- 1965 - Birth of Michael Haynes; NFL wide receiver (New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons).
- 1965 - Birth of Nancy Reno in Elmhurst, Illinois, USA; WPVA volleyball player (Olympics-1996).
- 1965 - Birth of Winston Moss; NFL linebacker (Seattle Seahawks).
- 1965 - In Barwell, England, two buildings are struck and a car is struck by falling meteorites.
- 1966 - Birth of Deidrich Bader in Washington DC; actor (Oswald - The Drew Carey Show).
- 1966 - Luna 13 lands on Moon.
- 1966 - US Air Force CL-44 military charter crashes near Binh Thai, Vietnam killing 129.
- 1967 - People's Republic of China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor.
- 1968 - The crew of Apollo 8 (Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders) become the first men to orbit the Moon.
- 1968 - Birth of Joe Scuderi; cricket player (South Australian all-rounder).
- 1969 - Birth of Kenny "Damn" Kelly in Paterson, New Jersey, USA; rapper (Riff - "Judy had a Boyfriend").
- 1970 - Buena Vista releases the animated feature film The Aristocats to theatres. It cost US$4 million to make. It is Disney's first animated feature film completed without Walt Disney.
- 1970 - Nine Jews are convicted in Leningrad, Russia, for hijacking a plane.
- 1970 - Birth of Filmel Johnson; NFL defensive back (Buffalo Bills).
- 1970 - Birth of Marian Smerciak in Martin, Czechoslovakia; hockey defenseman (Team Slovakia 1998).
- 1970 - Birth of Michael Batiste; NFL/WLAF defensive tackle (Dallas Cowboys, Frankfurt Galaxy).
- 1970 - Birth of Romeo Wouden; Dutch soccer player (Dordrecht 1990, Heerenveen).
- 1971 - Birth of Ricky Martin in Puerto Rico; singer (Menudo), actor (General Hospital).
- 1971 - Birth of Tamir Bloom in New York City, New York, USA; fencer-epee (Olympics-1996).
- 1971 - Peruvian Airlines Electra crashes at headwaters of Amazon, killing all except Juliane Margaret Koepcke (found ten days later).
- 1972 - Charles Atlas [Angelo Siciliano], body builder, dies at age 79.
- 1973 - Birth of Eddie Pope in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA; soccer defender (Olympics-gold-1996).
- 1973 - In New Mexico, USA, a magnitude 4.1 earthquake occurs.
- 1973 - Ferryboat capsizes off coast of Ecuador, drowning 200.
- 1974 - Saint Louis Cardinals' Lou Brock is named Sportsman of the Year.
- 1974 - Tilly Losch, actress (Duel in the Sun, Good Earth), dies at age 70.
- 1975 - Birth of Natalie Ward; Australian softball shortstop/second baseman (Olympics-bronze-1996).
- 1976 - Victor Stanitsin, actor (War and Peace, Jubilee), dies at age 79.
- 1979 - The first European Ariane rocket is launched.
- 1979 - Dirk Uipko Stikker, Dutch CEO (Heineken)/Secretary-General NATO, dies at age 82.
- 1979 - Rudi [Rudolf] Dutschke, German student leader, dies at age 39.
- 1980 - Death of German Admiral Karl Donitz in Aumuhle, Germany; submarine officer in WWI, rebuilt a submarine fleet after the war, commander of the German navy (1943), leader of the nation for a few days (1945).
- 1980 - Death of Siggie Nordstrom; model, actress, entertainer, socialite and lead singer (The Nordstrom Sisters) (born 1893).
- 1980 - Birth of Tomas Kalnoky; American musician (Streetlight Manifesto).
- 1980 - Americans remember Iran hostages by shining lights for 417 seconds.
- 1981 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk.
- 1982 - Chaminade, with a student body of only 850 students, beats #1 ranked Virginia 77-72 in a Honolulu holiday basketball classic.
- 1982 - Louis Aragon, French poet (Pour un Réalisme Socialiste), dies at age 85 (born 1897).
- 1984 - Ian Hendry, actor (Assassin, Get Carter, Repulsion), dies at age 53.
- 1984 - Palace coup in Mauritania.
- 1984 - Death of Peter Lawford at age 61 of liver and kidney disease; actor (The Thin Man, Dear Phoebe).
- 1985 - Right wing extremist David Lewis Rice murders civil rights attorney Charles Goldmark as well as Goldmark's wife and two children in Seattle, Washington.
- 1986 - French hostage Aurel Cornea, held in Lebanon for 9 months, released.
- 1986 - Gardner F[rancis] Fox, author (Kothar-Barbarian Swordsman), dies at age 75.
- 1986 - Iran offensive against Iraqi islands of Shatt al-Arab.
- 1987 - John M "Joop" de Uyl, Dutch social-democratic premier (1973-77), dies at age 68.
- 1987 - In the USA, the Illinois State Lottery draw for US$39.5 million is split between four winners.
- 1988 - In Spain, the El Gordo lottery draw first prize is US$194 million, shared by 72 winners.
- 1989 - Charles Taylor enters Liberia to unseat President Samuel K Doe.
- 1989 - Panamá's dictator, Manual Noriega, seeks asylum at the Vatican embassy.
- 1990 - Montreal Expos trade Tim Raines to Chicago White Sox for Ivan Calderon and Barry Jones.
- 1990 - Saddam Hussein says Israel will be Iraq's first target.
- 1991 - Walter Hudson, 1,025-pound man, dies at age 46.
- 1992 - Pierre Culliford [Peyo], Belgian cartoonist (Smurfs), dies at age 64.
- 1992 - US President Bush pardons Caspar Weinberger of role in Iran-contra affair.
- 1993 - Alexander Mackendrick, British/US director (Lady Killers, Whiskey Galore!), dies at age 81.
- 1993 - Norman Vincent Peale, reverend (Power of Positive Thinking), dies at age 95.
- 1993 - Yen Chia-kan, Prime Minister/President of Taiwan (1963-72, 75-78), dies.
- 1994 - Four Muslim fundamentalists capture Air France pilot in Algiers.
- 1994 - John James Osborne (Entertainer Luther), playwright, dies of cardiac arrest at age 65.
- 1994 - John Keith Wright, English Assistant Secretary of State (1971-84), dies at age 66.
- 1994 - Julie Haydon [Donella Donaldson], US actress (Scoundrel), dies at age 84.
- 1994 - Louise H "Lous" Hensen, actress (Uncle Wanja, Charlotte), dies at age 74.
- 1994 - Nathan I. Daniel, inventor (Guitars), dies at age 82.
- 1994 - Rossano Brazzi, Italian resistance fighter/actor (Final Justice), dies at age 78.
- 1996 - Nguyen Huu Tho, President of Vietnam (1980-81), dies.
- 1997 - First time a Channukah candle is officially lit in Vatican City.
- 1997 - Death of James Komack at age 67; actor/writer/producer (The Courtship of Eddie's Father, My Favorite Martian).
- 1997 - Death of Toshiro Mifune, Japanese actor (Shogun), at age 77 (born 1920).
- 1997 - Sid El-Antri massacre in Algeria: 50-100 villagers are killed.
- 1999 - Indian Airlines Flight 814, en route from Kathmandu, Nepal to Delhi, India is hijacked and taken to Kandahar, Afghanistan.
- 2000 - The Texas 7 rob a sports store in Irving, Texas; police officer Aubrey Hawkins is shot dead.
- 2000 - Death of Nick Massi at age 73 of cancer; bassist (Four Seasons - "December 1963, Oh What A Night" (1976), "Sherry", "Rag Doll").
- 2003 - A BSE (mad cow disease) outbreak in Washington State is announced. Several countries including Brazil, Australia and Taiwan ban the import of beef from the United States of America.
- 2003 - At the request of the U.S. Embassy in Paris, the French Government orders Air France to cancel several flights between France and the U.S. in response to terrorist concerns.
- 2003 - The Spanish police thwart an attempt by ETA to detonate 50kg of explosives at 3:55 p.m. on Christmas Eve inside Madrid's busy Chamartín Station.
- 2005 - Pope Benedict XVI leads his first Christmas Midnight Mass as Pope, praying for peace in the Middle East.
- 2006 - Death of Frank Stanton at age 98; CBS president (1946-71).
- 2006 - Ethiopia admits its troops have intervened in Somalia.
- 2007 - The Nepalese government announces that the country's 240-year-old monarchy will be abolished in 2008 and a new republic will be declared.
- 2008 - Harold Pinter, influential British playwright (32 plays, 22 screenplays, Nobel Prize for literature 2005), voice of political protest, dies of cancer at age 78.
- 2009 - Death of Rafael Caldera, 54th and 60th President of Venezuela (born 1916).
- 2009 - The Barack Obama administration pledges to back mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac up to US$810 billion during 2010, up from the current US$200 billion, no matter how big their losses may be in the next three years.
- 2017 - Guatemala announces that they will move their Israeli embassy to Jerusalem.
- 2018 - Burundi moves its capital from Bujumbura to Gitega.
- 2020 - The United Kingdom and the European Union agree to a comprehensive free trade agreement prior to the end of the transition period.
- 2020 - Sinovac's vaccine reaches a rate of 91.25% efficacy in trials in Turkey.
- 2020 - Death of John Cremona, Acting President of Malta (born 1918).
- 2021 - Trade and co-operation agreement is signed between the United Kingdom and the European Union.
- 2022 - In Fiji, Sitiveni is sworn in as prime minister.
- 2022 - Death of Kathy Whitworth at age 83; American golfer (highest number of tournament wins).
|
|
vvv advertisement vvv
^^^ advertisement ^^^
You can pick a particular day to view that day's events in history.
Bookmark this URL: http://kpolsson.com/thisday/ and revisit each day.
(this URL will automatically re-direct to the file containing the current day's events)
Or, visit my Timelines of History page.
|