Today In History - December 24

640 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
1715 Swedish troops occupy Norway
1724 Benjamin Franklin arrives in London
1798 Russia and 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 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 New York City
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 and 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 (New York City)
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 New York City
1924 School in Babb's Switch, Oklahoma catches fire, 36 die
1927 Test Cricket debut of Walter Hammond, who scored 51 and took 5-36 vs. S Af
1928 George Abbott Theater (Adelphi, 54 St) opens at 152 W 54th St. New York City
1930 Bandung, Java: ir Sukarno 4 years jail sentenced
1930 F Garcia Lorca's "La Zapatera Prodigiosa," premieres in Madrid
1932 Arturo Alessandri wins presidental election in Chile
1933 Paris express train derails and kills 160, injures 300 (France)
1934 Grimmett takes 9-180 for SA as Queensland make 430
1935 Bradman scores 233 in 191 mins, SA vs. Queensland, 28 fours 1 six
1935 National Council of Negro Women forms
1936 1st radioactive isotope medicine administered, Berkeley, California
1937 Dutch government 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, Peenemunde, Germany
1942 Red army occupies German airports at Tasjinskaja and Morozowsk
1943 Franklin D. Roosevelt appoints General Eisenhower supreme commander of Allied forces
1943 Terence Rattigan's "While the Sun Shines," premieres in London
1946 US General MacNarney gives 800,000 "minor Nazi's" amnesty
1948 1st U.S. house completely sunheated is occupied (Dover Massachusetts)
1948 Greek government disbands due to state of war, press censorship
1950 Cleveland Browns win NFL championship, beat LA 30-28
1951 1st televised opera (Amahl and 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 Rene Coty elected President of France
1953 Wellington-Auckland (NZ) express train swept away in flood kills 166
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 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya U.S.S.R.
1963 Greek and Turks riot in Cyprus
1964 Shooting begins on "The Cage" the pilot for Star Trek
1966 "Joyful Noise" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater New York City after 12 performances
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
1968 Apollo 8 astronauts read passages from Book of Genesis
1968 WATU (now WAGT) TV channel 26 in Augusta, Georgia (CBS) begins broadcasting
1970 9 Jews are convicted in Leningrad of hijacking a plane
1970 Walt Disney's "Aristocats" is released
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 and Lisa Evers marry
1981 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk U.S.S.R.
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 and Barry Jones
1990 Saddam says Israel will be Iraq's 1st target
1991 Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as head of Soviet Union
1992 President Bush pardons Caspar Weinberger in 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

Today In History - December 24

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