December 25
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December 25 is the 359th day of the year (360th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; six days remain until the end of the year.
Events
- 274 - Roman Emperor Aurelian has a temple dedicated to Sol Invictus on the supposed day of the winter solstice and day of rebirth of the Sun.
- 800 - Coronation of Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor, in Rome.
- 1000 - The foundation of the Kingdom of Hungary: Hungary is established as a Christian kingdom by Stephen I of Hungary.
- 1066 - Coronation of William the Conqueror as king of England, at Westminster Abbey, London.
- 1100 - Baldwin of Boulogne is crowned as the first King of Jerusalem
- 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.
- 1650 - Thomas Cooper, former Usher of Gresham's School, England, hanged as a Royalist rebel.
- 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 Lake 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 Hokkaidō.
- 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 - Emperor Taishō of Japan dies. His son, Prince Hirohito succeeds him as Emperor Shōwa.
- 1932 - A magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Gansu, China kills ~70,000 people.
- 1941 - Admiral Chester W Nimitz arrives at Pearl Harbor to assume command of the U.S. Pacific Fleet
- 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.
- 1950 - The Stone of Scone, traditional coronation stone of British monarchs, is taken from Westminster Abbey by Scottish nationalist students. It later turns up in Scotland on April 11, 1951.
- 1963 - Turkish Cypriot Bayrak Radio began transmitting in Cyprus after Turkish Cypriots were forcibly excluded from Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation.
- 1965 - The Yemeni Nasserite Unionist People's Organisation is founded in Taiz
- 1968 - Apollo program: Apollo 8 performs the very first successful Trans Earth Injection (TEI) maneuver, sending the crew and spacecraft on a trajectory back to Earth from Lunar orbit.
- 1971 - In the longest game in NFL history (82m40s of game time), the Miami Dolphins defeat the Kansas City Chiefs at Kansas City Municipal Stadium 27-24.
- 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.
- 1979 - The Soviet Union airlifts forces into Afghanistan to begin its costly occupation.
- 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 Ceauşescu, 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). Ukraine's referendum is finalized and Ukraine officially leaves the Soviet Union.
- 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.
Births
For the birth of Jesus Christ, see the Christmas holiday.
- 1250 - John IV Lascaris, Eastern Roman Emperor (d. circa 1305)
- 1583 - Orlando Gibbons, English composer (d. 1625)
- 1587 - Margarita of Austria, queen of Philip III of Spain (d. 1611)
- 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)
- 1810 - Alexandros Rhizos Rhankaves, Greek poet and statesman (d. 1892)
- 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)
- 1863 - Charles Pathé, French pioneer of film and record industries (d. 1957)
- 1865 - Evangeline Booth, the 4th General of The Salvation Army (d. 1950)
- 1874 - Lina Cavalieri, Italian soprano (d. 1944)
- 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)
- 1891 - Clarrie Grimmett, Australian cricketer (d.1980)
- 1899 - Humphrey Bogart, American actor (d. 1957)
- 1901 - Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (d. 2004)
- 1902 - Barton MacLane, American actor (d. 1969)
- 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)
- 1907 - Glenn McCarthy, American oil tycoon and businessman (d. 1988)
- 1907 - Mike Mazurki, Ukrainian-born actor (d. 1990)
- 1908 - Quentin Crisp, English author (d. 1999)
- 1908 - Jo-Jo Moore, baseball player (d. 2001)
- 1908 - Zora Arkus-Duntov, Belgian-American automotive engineer (d. 1996)
- 1911 - Louise Bourgeois, sculptor
- 1912 - Tony Martin, American singer and actor
- 1912 - Natalino Otto, Italian singer (d. 1969)
- 1913 - Henri Nannen, German journalist (d. 1966)
- 1914 - James Muir Cameron Fletcher, New Zealand industrialist (d. 2007)
- 1915 - Pete Rugolo, Italian-born composer
- 1918 - Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt, Nobel laureate (d. 1981)
- 1918 - Ahmed Ben Bella, politician, first President of Algeria
- 1919 - Paul David, French Canadian cardiologist, founder of the Montreal Heart Institute (d. 1999)
- 1919 - Naushad Ali, Indian music director (d. 2006)
- 1921 - Zaib-un-Nissa Hamidullah, Pakistani journalist (d. 2000)
- 1924 - Rod Serling, American television writer (d. 1975)
- 1924 - Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Prime Minister of India
- 1925 - Carlos Castaneda, Peruvian-born author (d. 1998)
- 1927 - Nellie Fox, baseball player (d. 1975)
- 1928 - Dick Miller, American actor
- 1929 - Stuart Hall, British radio and television presenter
- 1929 - Chris Kenner, American singer and songwriter (d. 1976)
- 1930 - Emmanuel Agassi, father of Andre Agassi
- 1930 - Salah Jaheen, Egyptian poet and cartoonist (d.1986)
- 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)
- 1937 - O'Kelly Isley, Jr., American singer (The Isley Brothers) (d. 1986)
- 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)
- 1944 - Henry Vestine, American musician (d. 1997)
- 1945 - Noel Redding, English musician (d. 2003)
- 1945 - Rick Berman, Star Trek producer
- 1945 - Gary Sandy, American actor
- 1945 - Mike Pringle, Scottish politician
- 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
- 1948 - Alia al Hussein, of Jordan (d. 1977)
- 1949 - Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan
- 1949 - Simone Bittencourt de Oliveira, Singer and icon of the Brazilian music
- 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
- 1952 - Desireless, French singer
- 1954 - Annie Lennox, Scottish singer
- 1954 - Steve Wariner, American country music singer
- 1955 - Alannah Myles, Canadian 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)
- 1960 - Ron Bottitta, British actor
- 1961 - Ingrid Betancourt, Colombian senator
- 1962 - Dean Cameron, American actor
- 1962 - Darren Wharton, British Keyboardist (Thin Lizzy and Dare)
- 1964 - Gary McAllister, Scottish footballer
- 1964 - Bob Stanley, English musician (Saint Etienne), filmmaker and journalist
- 1967 - Jason Thirsk, American bass player (d. 1996)
- 1968 - Helena Christensen, Danish model
- 1968 - Jim Down, American ice hockey player
- 1971 - Dido, English singer
- 1971 - Justin Trudeau, Canadian media personality
- 1971 - Noel Hogan, Irish musician
- 1972 - Josh Freese, American drummer
- 1973 - Robbie Elliott, English footballer
- 1973 - Chris Harris, American professional wrestler
- 1973 - Alexandre Trudeau, Canadian journalist
- 1974 - Nagma, Indian actress
- 1975 - Marcus Trescothick, English cricketer
- 1975 - Hideki Okajima, Japanese baseball player
- 1976 - Tuomas Holopainen, Finnish keyboardist
- 1976 - Armin van Buuren, Dutch keyboardist
- 1977 - Jim Greco, American skateboarder
- 1978 - Joel Porter, Australian footballer
- 1978 - Simon Jones, English cricketer
- 1980 - Marcus Trufant, American football player
- 1980 - Reika Hashimoto, Japanese actress
- 1980 - Locó, Angolan footballer
- 1980 - Laura Sadler, British actress (d. 2003)
- 1981 - Katie Wright, American actress
- 1981 - Willy Taveras, baseball player
- 1982 - Shawn Andrews, American football player
- 1982 - Rob Edwards, Welsh footballer
- 1982 - Shystie, British rapper-songwriter
- 1984 - Jessica and Lisa Origliasso, Australian pop singers
- 1984 - Alastair Cook, English cricketer
- 1984 - Georgia Moffett, British actress
- 1985 - Leon Pisani, Welsh singer
- 1986 - Doug Loft, English footballer
Deaths
- 795 - Pope Adrian I
- 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)
- 1765 - Václav Prokop Diviš, Czech theologian and natural scientist (b. 1698)
- 1784 - Yosa Buson, Japanese painter (b. 1716)
- 1824 - Barbara Juliana, Baroness von Krüdener, Russian writer (b. 1764)
- 1868 - Linus Yale, Jr., American mechanical engineer and inventor (b. 1821)
- 1880 - Fridolin Anderwert, Swiss Federal Councillor (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 - Emperor Taishō of Japan (b. 1879)
- 1933 - Francesc Macià, Catalonian statesman (b. 1859)
- 1935 - Paul Bourget, French novelist and critic (b. 1852)
- 1938 - Karel Capek, Czech author (b. 1890)
- 1940 - Agnes Ayres, American actress (b. 1898)
- 1946 - W. C. Fields, American comedian (b. 1880)
- 1947 - Gaspar G. Bacon, was Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts (b. 1886)
- 1950 - Neil Francis Hawkins, British fascist (b. 1903)
- 1953 - Patsy Donovan, Irish-born American baseball player (b. 1865)
- 1961 - Otto Loewi, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (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 - İsmet İnönü, 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)
- 1988 - Edward Pelham-Clinton, 10th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne (b. 1920)
- 1989 - Nicolae Ceauşescu, Romanian dictator (executed) (b. 1918)
- 1989 - Elena Ceauşescu, Romanian politician (executed) (b. 1916)
- 1989 - Billy Martin, American baseball manager (b. 1928)
- 1992 - Monica Dickens, British writer (b. 1915)
- 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)
- 2002 - William T. Orr, American television producer (b. 1917)
- 2003 - Nicholas Mavroules, American politician (b. 1929)
- 2004 - Gennady Strekalov, Russian cosmonaut (b. 1940)
- 2005 - Derek Bailey, English guitar virtuoso (b. 1930)
- 2005 - Birgit Nilsson, Swedish singer (b. 1918)
- 2005 - Robert Barbers, Philippine senator (b. 1944)
- 2006 - James Brown, American singer (b. 1933)
Holidays and observances
- Christmas Day
- (Re)birth of Sol Invictus. The winter solstice feast in the Roman Empire since 274.
- Quaid-e-Azam's Day - Pakistan
- Constitution Day - Republic of China now based in Taiwan
- The feast day of Anastasia of Sirmium.