ThisDayThatYear.com - Events from History on December 24

Events from History on December 24

xxxx : John IV begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1046 : Pope Clement II, [Suitger] elected
1294 : Cardinal Benedetto Gaetani chosen as Pope Boniface VIII
1476 : 400 Burgundy soldiers freeze to death during siege of Nancy
1515 : Thomas Wolsey appointed English Lord Chancellor
1565 : Compromise of the Nobles closes against inquisition
1568 : Uprising of Morisco's in Granada
1593 : Storm hits Texel: 40 ships hit, 500 killed
1651 : John van Riebeeck departs to Cape of Good Hope
1715 : Swedish troops occupy Norway
1724 : Benjamin Franklin arrives in London
1798 : Russia & England sign Second anti-French Coalition
1799 : Jakobijns plot against Napoleon uncovered
1814 : Treaty of Ghent (end of US-Britain's War of 1812) signed
1818 : "Silent Night" composed by Franz Joseph Gruber; 1st sung next day
1818 : Franz Xaver Gruber composes "Silent Night"
1832 : 1st US Negro hospital founded by whites chartered, Savannah, Ga
1832 : HMS Beagle anchors in Wigwam Bay at Cape Receiver
1851 : Fire devastates Library of Congress in Wash, destroys 35,000 volumes
1851 : US Library of Congress catches fire; 35,000 books burn
1860 : Joseph Jefferson's "Rip Van Winkle," premieres in NYC
1864 : Battle of Gordonsville, VA
1865 : Several Confederate veterans form Ku Klux Klan in Pulaski, Tn
1871 : Giusseppi Verdi's "Aida" premieres in Cairo, at Suez canal opening
1874 : Pope Pius IX proclaims a jubilee for 1875
1884 : Austria-Hungary admits King Leopold II's Congo Free State
1889 : Daniel Stover & William Hance patent bicycle with back pedal brake
1893 : Henry Ford completes his 1st useful gas motor
1894 : Scheveningse fishing boats destroyed by storm
1894 : Soccer team Achilles '94 forms in Axes
1898 : Herman Heijermans' "Ghetto," premieres in Amsterdam
1900 : Herman Heijermans' "Hope of Blessing" premieres in Amsterdam
1904 : German SW Africa abolishes slavery of young children
1906 : Reginald A Fessenden became 1st to broadcast music over radio (Mass)
1910 : Luisa Tetrazzini sings to 250,000 people at Lotta's Fountain
1912 : Irving Fisher patents archiving system with index cards
1914 : German plane drops bombs on Dover England
1920 : Enrico Caruso gives his last public performance (NYC)
1922 : BBC sends 1st British radio play "Truth about Father Christmas"
1922 : London Coloseum opens
1924 : 1st radio transmission of NCRV in Netherlands
1924 : Albania becomes a republic (ex-premier Ahmed Zogoe's coup)
1924 : Richard Rodgers Theater (46th St Chanin's) opens at 226 W 46th NYC
1924 : School in Babb's Switch, Oklahoma catches fire, 36 die
1928 : George Abbott Theater (Adelphi, 54 St) opens at 152 W 54th St NYC
1930 : Bandung, Java: ir Sukarno 4 years jail sentenced
1930 : F Garc¡a Lorca's "La Zapatera Prodigiosa," premieres in Madrid
1932 : Arturo Alessandri wins presidental election in Chile
1933 : Paris express train derails & kills 160, injures 300 (France)
1934 : Grimmett takes 9-180 for SA as Queensland make 430
1935 : Bradman scores 233 in 191 mins, SA v Queensland, 28 fours 1 six
1935 : National Council of Negro Women forms
1936 : 1st radioactive isotope medicine administered, Berkeley, Ca
1937 : Dutch govt recognizes Italian king Emanuel III as emperor of Abyssinia
1941 : 1st ships of admiral Nagumo's Pearl Harbor-fleet return to Japan
1942 : 1st powered flight of V-1 buzz bomb, Peenemnde, Germany
1942 : Red army occupies German airports at Tasjinskaja & Morozowsk
1943 : FDR appoints Gen Eisenhower supreme commander of Allied forces
1943 : Terence Rattigan's "While the Sun Shines," premieres in London
1946 : 4th French republic established
1946 : US General MacNarney gives 800,000 "minor nazi's" amnesty
1948 : 1st US house completely sunheated is occupied (Dover Mass)
1948 : Greek govt disbands due to state of war, press censorship
1951 : 1st televised opera (Amahl & Night Visitor)
1951 : United Kingdom of Libya gains independence from Italy via UN
1953 : 2 fast express trains crash head-on killing 103 (Czechoslovakia)
1953 : KHOL (now KHGI) TV channel 13 in Kearney, NB (ABC) begins broadcasting
1953 : KOA (now KCNC) TV channel 4 in Denver, CO (NBC) begins broadcasting
1953 : Ren‚ Coty elected pres of France
1953 : Wellington-Auckland (NZ) express train swept away in flood kills 166
1954 : Council for the Children Protection forms in Neth
1954 : Laos gains its independence
1956 : "I Love Lucy" Christmas show airs, never put in syndication
1956 : Ferdinand de Lesseps statue blown up in Port Said Egypt
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 USSR
1963 : Greek & Turks riot in Cyprus
1964 : Shooting begins on "The Cage" the pilot for Star Trek
1966 : "Joyful Noise" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 12 perfs
1966 : Luna 13 lands on Moon
1966 : USAF C144 military charter crashes near Binh Thai Vietnam kills 129
1967 : China PR performs nuclear test at Lop Nor PRC
1967 : Pirate Radio Pegasus starts broadcasting off New Zealand
1968 : Apollo 8 astronauts read passages from Book of Genesis
1968 : WATU (now WAGT) TV channel 26 in Augusta, GA (CBS) begins broadcasting
1970 : 9 Jews are convicted in Leningrad of hijacking a plane
1970 : Walt Disney's "Aristocats" is released
1971 : Peruvian Airlines Electra crashes at headwaters of Amazon,
1971 : killing all except Juliane Margaret Koepcke found 10 days later
1973 : Ferryboat capsized off coast of Equador, drowning 200
1974 : Cardinals' Lou Brock is named Sportsman of the Year
1979 : 1st Ariane-rocket launched
1980 : Americans remembered Iran hostages by shining lights for 417 seconds
1981 : Guardian Angels Curtis Sliwa & Lisa Evers marry
1981 : USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1982 : Chaminade, with a student body of only 850 students, beats #1
1984 : Palace coup in Mauritania
1986 : French hostage Aurel Cornea, held in Lebanon for 9 months, released
1986 : Iran offensive against Iraqi islands of Shatt al-Arab
1989 : Charles Taylor enters Liberia to unseat President Samuel K Doe
1989 : Panama's dictator, Manual Noriega seeks asylum at Vatican embassy
1990 : Expos trade Tim Raines to White Sox for Ivan Calderon & Barry Jones
1990 : Saddam says Israel will be Iraq's 1st target
1991 : Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as head of Soviet Union
1992 : Pres Bush pardons Caspar Weinberger of Iran-contra affair
1994 : 4 Moslem fundamentalists capture Air France pilot in Algiers
1997 : 1st time a Channukah candle is officially lit in Vatican City

Birthdays

Death Days

Events