December 25
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December 25 in recent years
December 25 is the 359th day of the year (360th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 6 days remaining until the end of the year.
December 25th is known as Christmas Day, which, among Christians, celebrates the birth of Jesus.
[edit] Events
274 - Roman Emperor Aurelian dedicates a temple 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 in the Church of the Nativity 1130 - Roger II of Sicily is crowned as the first King of Sicily 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. 1553 - Battle of Tucapel: Mapuche rebels under Lautaro defeats the Spanish conquistadors and exetutes the governor of Chile Pedro de Valdivia. 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. 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 Native Americans. 1868 - U.S. President Andrew Johnson grants unconditional pardon to all Civil War Confederate soldiers. 1914 - World War I: Known as the Christmas truce, German and British troops on the Western Front temporarily cease fire. 1926 - Emperor TaishÅ of Japan dies. His son, Prince Hirohito succeeds him as Emperor ShÅwa. 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 begins 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. 1968 - 42 Dalits are burned alive in Kilavenmani village, Tamil Nadu, India, a retaliation for a campaign for higher wages by Dalit labourers. 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. 1989 - Nicolae CeauÅŸescu, former communist dictator of Romania, and his wife Elena are condemned to death and executed under a wide range of charges. 1990 - The first successful trial run of the system which would become the World Wide Web. 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.
[edit] Births
For the birth of Jesus Christ, who is not confirmed to be born on December 25, see the Christmas holiday.
1250 - John IV Laskaris, Byzantine Emperor (d. circa 1305) 1461 - Christina of Saxony, queen of Denmark and Norway (d. 1521) 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) 1730 - Philip Mazzei, Italian physician and friend of Thomas Jefferson (d. 1816) 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) 1856 - Pud Galvin, American professional baseball pitcher (d. 1902) 1860 - Manuel Dimech, Maltese philosopher and social reformer (d. 1921) 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) 1864 - Thomas Cahill, American soccer coach (d. 1951) 1865 - Evangeline Booth, the 4th General of The Salvation Army (d. 1950) 1870 - Helena Rubinstein, Polish-born American cosmetics industrialist (d. 1965) 1873 - Otto Frederick Hunziker, Swiss-born American dairy educator (d. 1959) 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) 1884 - Evelyn Nesbit, American actress (d. 1967) 1886 - Kid Ory, American musician (d. 1973) 1887 - Conrad Hilton, American hotelier (d. 1979) 1889 - Lila Bell Wallace, American magazine publisher (Reader's Digest) (d. 1984) 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 - Naushad Ali, Indian music director (d. 2006) 1919 - Paul David, French Canadian cardiologist, founder of the Montreal Heart Institute (d. 1999) 1919 - Noele Gordon, English actress (d. 1985) 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) 1926 - Enrique JorrÃn, Cuban composer and musician (d. 1987) 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, Iranian boxer and 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 - HRH 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) 1938 - Noel Picard, Quebec ice hockey player 1938 - Duane Armstrong, American painter 1940 - Pete Brown, English poet and lyricist 1943 - Hanna Schygulla, German actress 1943 - Wilson Fittipaldi Júnior, 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) 1948 - Joel Natalino Santana, Brazilian soccer coach 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 - Yehuda Poliker, Israeli singer-songwriter 1950 - Karl Rove, former American presidential advisor 1952 - CCH Pounder, Guyana-born actress 1952 - Desireless, French singer 1954 - Annie Lennox, Scottish singer, from Aberdeen 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 - Tim Royes - Music Video Director and Editor 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 Dowd, American ice hockey player 1971 - Dido, English singer 1971 - Justin Trudeau, Canadian media personality 1971 - Noel Hogan, Irish musician 1972 - Josh Freese, American drummer 1972 - Mac Powell, American musician, singer/songwriter (lead singer of Third Day) 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 1975 - Rob Mariano, American reality show contestant 1976 - Tuomas Holopainen, Finnish keyboardist and songwriter 1976 - Armin van Buuren, Dutch DJ & Producer 1977 - Jim Greco, American skateboarder 1977 - Uhm Ji-won, South Korean actress 1977 - Israel Vasquez, Current WBC Super bantamweight champion 1978 - Joel Porter, Australian footballer 1978 - Simon Jones, English cricketer 1980 - Marcus Trufant, American football player (Seattle Seahawks) 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 - Chris Cahill, Samoan footballer 1984 - Alastair Cook, English cricketer 1984 - Georgia Moffett, British actress 1984 - Jessica Origliasso, Australian Singer (The Veronicas) 1984 - Lisa Origliasso, Australian Singer (The Veronicas) 1985 - Leon Pisani, Welsh singer 1985 - Perdita Weeks, British actress 1986 - Doug Loft, English footballer 1988 - Eric Gordon, American Basketball Player
[edit] 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) 1875 - Young Tom Morris, Scottish golfer (b. 1851) 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 TaishŠof Japan (b. 1879) 1933 - Francesc Macià , Catalonian statesman (b. 1859) 1935 - Paul Bourget, French novelist and critic (b. 1852) 1938 - Karel Čapek, Czech author (b. 1890) 1940 - Agnes Ayres, American actress (b. 1898) 1944 - George Steer, British Journalist (b. 1909) 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) 1954 - Johnny Ace, American singer (b. 1929) 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) 1973 - İsmet İnönü, Turkish statesman (b. 1884) 1973 - Gabriel Voisin, French aviation pioneer (b. 1880) 1975 - Gaston Gallimard, French publisher (b. 1881) 1977 - Charlie Chaplin, English actor (b. 1889) 1979 - Joan Blondell, American actress (b. 1906) 1979 - Jordi Bonet, Quebec muralist and sculptor (b. 1932) 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) 1995 - Emmanuel Levinas, French Philosopher (b. 1906) 1996 - JonBenet Ramsey, American beauty queen and murder victim (b. 1990) 1997 - Denver Pyle, American actor (b. 1920) 1998 - Bryan MacLean, American singer, musician and songwriter (Love) (b. 1946) 1998 - John Pulman, English snooker player (b. 1926) 1999 - Peter Jeffrey, English actor (b. 1929) 2000 - Neil Hawke, Australian cricketer and footballer (b. 1939 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) 2006 - Hiroaki Hidaka, Japanese serial killer (b. 1962) 2007 - Desmond Barrick, English Cricketer (b. 1927) 2007 - Mighty King Kong, Kenyan reggae musician. (b. 1973) 2007 - Jim Beauchamp, American baseball player (b. 1939
[edit] Holidays and observances
Christmas Day (Re) birth of Sol Invictus. The winter solstice feast in the Roman Empire from 274 to 391 Quaid-e-Azam's Day - Pakistan Constitution Day - Republic of China now based in Taiwan The feast day of Anastasia of Sirmium Yule