December 25

December 25 is the 359th day of the year (360th in leap years) in the
Gregorian Calendar, with 6 days remaining. It is the 300th day counting from
March 1, every year.

Events:

   * 800 - Coronation of Charlemagne.
   * 1223 - Saint Francis of Assisi assembles the first Nativity scene
   * 1776 - George Washington crosses the Delaware River
   * 1818 - The first performance of "Silent Night" (Church of St. Nikolaus
     in Oberndorf, Austria)
   * 1837 - Battle of Okeechobee - United States forces defeat Seminole
     Indians
   * 1868 - US President Andrew Johnson grants unconditional pardon to all
     Civil War rebels.
   * 1914 - Just after midnight on Christmas morning, German troops cease
     firing their guns and artillery and start singing Christmas carols.
     Crossing the No man's land, they trade gifts with the enemy forces that
     face them. The truce lasts for three days.
   * 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, replacing the Meiji Emperor.
   * 1939 - Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol was read on radio for the
     first time (CBS radio)
   * 1939 - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is introduced by Montgomery Ward
     stores
   * 1941 - Hong Kong surrenders to the Japanese
   * 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 - A cyclone devastates Darwin, Australia
   * 1977 - Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin meets in Egypt with
     President of Egypt Anwar Sadat
   * 1991 - Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as president of the Soviet Union (the
     union itself is dissolved the next day).

Births:

   * 1 BC (traditionally): birth of Jesus Christ, held to be the Son of God
     in Christian belief, considered a prophet and wise man in Islamic
     belief. The actual date of Christ's birth is a subject of dispute and
     is celebrated on several different days worldwide.
   * 1642 - Sir Isaac Newton, physicist and mathematician (+ 1727)
   * 1742 - Charlotte von Stein, girlfriend of Goethe (+ 1827)
   * 1763 - Claude Chappe, telecommunications pioneer semaphore lines.
   * 1771 - Dorothy Wordsworth, diarist and sister of William Wordsworth (+
     1855)
   * 1821 - Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross
   * 1856 - Hans von Bartels, German painter
   * 1863 - Charles PathŽ, movie producer
   * 1876 - Muhammed Ali Jinnah, first Governor-General of Pakistan
     (disputed)
   * 1883 - Maurice Utrillo, a "Montmartre" artist (+ 1955)
   * 1886 - Kid Ory, jazz musician (+ 1973)
   * 1887 - Conrad Nicholson Hilton, hotelier (+ 1979)
   * 1899 - Humphrey Bogart, actor (+ 1957)
   * 1906 - Sir Lew Grade, film producer (+ 1998)
   * 1907 - Cab Calloway, bandleader (+ 1994)
   * 1908 - Quentin Crisp, author, gay activist (+ 1999)
   * 1908 - Helen Twelvetrees, actress (+ 1958)
   * 1912 - Tony Martin, singer
   * 1913 - Henri Nannen, journalist and publisher (+ 1966)
   * 1915 - Pete Rugolo, bandleader
   * 1918 - Anwar Sadat, Egyptian president (+ 1981)
   * 1924 - Rod Serling, scriptwriter, host of The Twilight Zone) (+ 1975)
   * 1936 - Ismail Merchant, movie producer
   * 1943 - Hanna Schygulla, actress
   * 1945 - Noel Redding, bassist: The Jimi Hendrix Experience
   * 1945 - Gary Sandy, actor
   * 1945 - Kenny Stabler, American football player
   * 1946 - Jimmy Buffett, singer, songwriter
   * 1946 - Larry Csonka, American football player
   * 1948 - Barbara Mandrell, singer, actress
   * 1949 - Sissy Spacek, actress
   * 1954 - Robin Campbell, guitarist and singer of UB40
   * 1954 - Annie Lennox, singer of Eurythmics
   * 1958 - Rickey Henderson, baseball player
   * 1971 - Dido, singer

Deaths:

   * 795 - Pope Adrian I
   * 1635 - Samuel de Champlain - French explorer, founder of Quebec City.
   * 1683 - Kara Mustafa, Ottoman pasha and general who lost the Battle of
     Vienna.
   * 1880 - Fridolin Anderwert, Swiss Federal Councilor, (*1880)
   * 1933 - Francesc Maciˆ, President of Generalitat, Autonomous government
     of Catalonia
   * 1938 - Karel Capek, Czech author, inventor of the word robot
   * 1946 - W. C. Fields, actor, comedian
   * 1951 - Harry T. Moore, civil rights activist: assassinated
   * 1957 - Charles PathŽ, movie producer
   * 1973 - Ismet Inonu, statesman
   * 1977 - Charlie Chaplin, actor
   * 1983 - Joan Mir—, painter
   * 1989 - Nicolae Ceau?escu, Romanian dictator
   * 1989 - Billy Martin, baseball player, manager
   * 1995 - Dean Martin, singer, actor
   * 1996 - JonBenet Ramsey, murder victim

Holidays and Observances:

   * The Christmas holiday is celebrated on this day in Western
     Christianity.

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