December 24 Totally Explained

Everything about 24 December totally explained

Events

563 - The Byzantine church Hagia Sophia in Constantinople is dedicated for the second time after being destroyed by earthquakes.
1294 - Pope Boniface VIII is elected Pope, replacing St. Celestine V, who had abdicated.
1777 - Kiritimati, also called Christmas Island, is discovered by James Cook.
1814 - The Treaty of Ghent is signed ending the War of 1812.
1851 - Library of Congress burns.
1865 - Several U.S. Civil War Confederate veterans form the Ku Klux Klan.
1906 - Radio: Reginald Fessenden transmits the first radio broadcast; consisting of a poetry reading, a violin solo, and a speech.
1914 - World War I: The "Christmas truce" begins.
1924 - Albania becomes a republic.
1929 - Assassination attempt on Argentine President Hipólito Yrigoyen.
1939 - World War II: Pope Pius XII makes a Christmas Eve appeal for peace.
1941 - World War II: Hong Kong falls to the Japanese Imperial Army.
1941 - World War II: Kuching is conquered by Japanese forces.
1942 - World War II: French monarchist, Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle, assassinates Vichy French Admiral François Darlan in Algiers.
1943 - World War II: U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes the Supreme Allied Commander.
1946 - France's Fourth Republic is founded.
1951 - Libya becomes independent from Italy. Idris I is proclaimed King of Libya.
1953 - Tangiwai disaster: A railway bridge collapse at Tangiwai, New Zealand sending a fully loaded passenger train into the Whangaehu River and killing 153 people.
1958 - Cuba On December 24 and Blessed by the pope ["ElCristo de La Habana"] ](External Link)"(Havana's Christ) was erected for the first time. The marble sculpture is the work of Jilma Madera and its the biggest free standing sculpture made by a woman in the world.
1966 - A Canadair CL-44 chartered by the United States military crashes into a small village in South Vietnam, killing 129.
1968 - The crew of the USS Pueblo is released by North Korea after being held for 11 months on suspicion of spying.
1968 - Apollo Program: The crew of Apollo 8 enters into orbit around the Moon, becoming the first humans to do so. They performed 10 lunar orbits and broadcast live TV pictures that became the famous Christmas Eve Broadcast, one of the most watched programs in history.
1974 - Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin, Australia.
1979 - The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan to support the country's Marxist government.
1979 - The first European Ariane rocket is launched.
1997 - The Sid El-Antri massacre (or Sidi Lamri) in Algeria kills 50-100 people.
1997 - The Dominican Republic becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
2000 - The Texas 7 hold up a sports store in Irving, Texas. Police officer Aubrey Hawkins is shot during the robbery.
2003 - The Spanish police thwart an attempt by ETA to detonate 50 kg of explosives at 3:55 p.m. inside Madrid's busy Chamartín Station.

Births

3 BC - Galba, Roman Emperor (d. 69)

1166 - King John of England (d. 1216)

1389 - John VI, Duke of Brittany (d. 1442)

1475 - Thomas Murner, German writer (d.c. 1537)

1491 - Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish founder of the Jesuit order (d. 1556)

1508 - Pietro Carnesecchi, Italian humanist (d. 1567)

1588 - Constance of Austria, queen of Poland (d. 1631)

1609 - Philip Warwick, English writer and politician (d. 1683)

1635 - Mariana of Austria, second wife of king Philip IV of Spain (d. 1696)

1698 - William Warburton, English Bishop of Gloucester (d. 1779)

1724 - Johann Conrad Ammann, Swiss physician and naturalist (d. 1811)

1745 - Benjamin Rush, doctor and Founding Father of the United States (d. 1813)

1754 - George Crabbe, British poet and naturalist (d. 1832)

1761 - Jean-Louis Pons, French astronomer (d. 1831)

1784 - Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia (d. 1803)

1798 - Adam Mickiewicz, Polish poet (d. 1855)

1809 - Kit Carson, American frontiersman (d. 1868)

1812 - Karl Eduard Zachariae, German jurist (d. 1894)

1818 - James Prescott Joule, British physicist (d. 1889)

1822 - Matthew Arnold, British poet (d. 1888)

1837 - Elisabeth of Bavaria a.k.a Sissi, Empress of Austria (d. 1898)

1843 - Lydia Koidula, Estonian poet (d. 1886)

1845 - King George I of Greece (d. 1913)

1867 - Kantaro Suzuki, 42nd Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1948)

1868 - Emanuel Lasker, German chess player (d. 1941)

1879 - Queen Alexandrine of Denmark, Queen Consort to Christian X (d. 1952)

1879 - Émile Nelligan, Quebec poet (d. 1941)

1880 - Johnny Gruelle, American cartoonist, children's book writer and creator of Raggedy Ann (d. 1939)

1881 - Juan Ramón Jiménez, Spanish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)

1886 - Michael Curtiz, Hungarian-born director (d. 1962)

1887 - Louis Jouvet, French actor and producer (d. 1951)

1893 - Harry Warren, American composer and lyricist (Chattanooga Choo Choo - I Only Have Eyes for You) (d. 1981)

1894 - Georges Guynemer, French aviator (d. 1917)

1895 - E. Roland Harriman, American financier (d. 1978)

1898 - Héctor Scarone, Uruguayan footballer (d. 1967)

1898 - Baby Dodds, American jazz drummer (d. 1959)

1900 - Joey Smallwood, Canadian politician, Premier of Newfoundland (d. 1991)

1904 - Joseph Moses Juran, American industrial engineer and philanthropist.

1905 - Howard Hughes, American film producer and inventor (d. 1976)

1906 - Franz Waxman, German film composer (d. 1967)

1907 - I. F. Stone, American journalist (d. 1989)

1910 - Fritz Leiber, American writer (d. 1992)

1910 - Max Miedinger, typeface designer, famous for creating Helvetica in 1957. (d. 1980)

1914 - Ralph Marterie, American trumpet player and big band leader (d. 1978)

1914 - Herbert Reinecker, German writer

1917 - Kim Jong-suk, Wife of Kim Il-sung, mother of Kim Jung-Il, "The Heroine of the Anti-Japanese Revolution" (d. 1949)

1920 - Evgeniya Rudneva, Russian World War II heroine (d. 1944)

1922 - Ava Gardner, American actress (d. 1990)

1923 - George Patton IV, American general (d. 2004)

1923 - Michael DiBiase, American wrestler (d. 1969)

1924 - Lee Dorsey, American singer (d. 1986)

1924 - Grigory Kriss, Russian Olympic champion fencer

1925 - Mohd. Rafi, Indian actor and playback singer (d. 1980)

1926 - Paul Buissonneau, French-born Quebec theatre director

1929 - Mary Higgins Clark, American author

1931 - Mauricio Kagel, Argentine composer

1931 - Ray Bryant, American jazz pianist and composer

1932 - On Kawara, Japanese conceptual artist

1937 - Félix Miéli Venerando, Brazilian football player

1938 - Bobby Henrich, American baseball player

1938 - Valentim Loureiro, Portuguese politician, and former football chairman of Boavista F.C. and Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional

1941 - John Levene, British actor

1943 - Tarja Halonen, President of Finland

1944 - Daniel Johnson, Jr., Quebec politician, Premier of Quebec

1944 - Mike Curb, American musician, record company executive and politician

1944 - Oswald Gracias, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Bombay

1944 - Barry Chuckle, British comedian

1945 - Lemmy, British singer, bassist (Motörhead)

1945 - Nicholas Meyer, American author

1945 - Steve Smith, Canadian Comedian, The New Red Green Show, Duct Tape Forever

1946 - Brenda Howard, American bisexual activist (d. 2005)

1946 - Jeff Sessions, American politician

1947 - Kevin Sheedy, coach of Australian Football League club Essendon FC

1948 - Frank Oliver, New Zealand rugby player

1949 - Randy Neugebauer, American politician

1949 - Warwick Brown, Australian racing driver

1950 - Dana Gioia, American poet

1951 - John D'Acquisto, baseball player

1953 - François Loos, French politician

1954 - José María Figueres, Costa Rican politician

1955 - Grand L. Bush, American actor

1955 - Clarence Gilyard, American actor

1957 - Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan

1957 - Diane Tell, Quebec singer

1958 - Munetaka Higuchi, Japanese drummer

1959 - Keith Deller, British darts player

1959 - Anil Kapoor, Indian actor

1960 - Glenn McQueen, American animator (d. 2002)

1960 - Carol Vorderman, British television presenter

1961 - Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan Republic

1961 - Jay Wright, American basketball coach

1963 - Jay Bilas, American basketball analyst

1963 - Mary Ramsey, American singer (10,000 Maniacs)

1963 - Caroline Aherne, British comedienne, writer and actress

1964 - Mark Valley, American actor

1966 - Diedrich Bader, American actor

1967 - Mikhail Shchennikov, Russian race walker

1968 - Doyle Bramhall II, American guitarist

1969 - Mark Millar, Scottish comic book writer

1970 - Amaury Nolasco, American actor

1970 - Will Oldham, American singer and songwriter

1971 - Christopher Daniels, American professional wrestler

1971 - Ricky Martin, Puerto Rican singer

1971 - Giorgos Alkaios, Greek singer

1972 - Alvaro Mesen, Costa Rican footballer

1973 - Eddie Pope, American soccer player

1973 - Stephenie Meyer, Author

1974 - Marcelo Salas, Chilean footballer

1974 - Ryan Seacrest, American television host

1978 - Yıldıray Baştürk, Turkish footballer

1979 - Chris Hero, American professional wrestler

1980 - Tomas Kalnoky, American musician (Streetlight Manifesto)

1981 - Dima Bilan, Karachay-Russian pop artist

1982 - Aiba Masaki, Japanese singer and actor

1982 - Robert Carmine, American singer

1985 - David Ragan, American race car driver

1986 - Edward Southall, British composer

1986 - Riyo Mori, Miss Universe 2007 from Japan

1992 - Melissa Suffield,English young actress

Deaths

427 - Archbishop Sisinnius I of Constantinople

820 - Leo V, Byzantine Emperor (assassinated) (b. 775)

1257 - John I, Count of Hainaut (b. 1218)

1453 - John Dunstaple, English composer (bc. 1390)

1524 - Vasco da Gama, Portuguese explorer (bc. 1469)

1660 - Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange (b. 1631)

1707 - Noël Coypel, French painter (b. 1628)

1813 - Empress Go-Sakuramachi of Japan (b. 1740)

1863 - William Makepeace Thackeray, British writer (b. 1811)

1865 - Sir Charles Lock Eastlake, British painter and writer (b. 1793)

1868 - Adolphe d'Archiac, French paleontologist and geologist (b. 1802)

1872 - William John Macquorn Rankine, British physician and engenier (b. 1820)

1873 - Johns Hopkins, Baltimore philanthropist and businessman (b. 1795)

1889 - Jan Jakob Lodewijk ten Kate, Dutch poet and clergyman (b. 1819)

1898 - Sharbel Makhluf, Lebanese monk canonized in 1977 by Pope Paul VI (b. 1828)

1914 - John Muir, British naturalist (b. 1838)

1935 - Alban Berg, Austrian composer (b. 1885)

1938 - Bruno Taut, German architect (b. 1880)

1941 - Siegfried Alkan, German composer (b. 1858)

1942 - François Darlan, vice-premier of Vichy France (b. 1881)

1957 - Norma Talmadge, American actress (b. 1893)

1965 - William M. Branham, Christian minister (b. 1906)

1971 - Maria Koepcke, ornithologist (b. 1924)

1972 - Gisela Richter, British art historian (b. 1882)

1972 - Melville Ruick, American actor (b. 1898)

1975 - Bernard Herrmann, American film composer (b. 1911)

1976 - Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza, heir to the throne of Portugal (b. 1907)

1977 - Samael Aun Weor, Columbian writer (b. 1917)

1980 - Karl Dönitz, German naval admiral, and last leader of Nazi Germany (b. 1891)

1980 - Siggie Nordstrom, model, actress, entertainer, socialite and lead singer of The Nordstrom Sisters (b. 1893)

1982 - Louis Aragon, French writer (b. 1897)

1984 - Peter Lawford, British actor (b. 1923)

1985 - Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, Last Lincoln descendant (b. 1904)

1986 - Gardner Fox, American writer (b. 1911)

1987 - Joop den Uyl, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1919)

1987 - M. G. Ramachandran, Chief Minister of the Tamil Nadu (b. 1917)

1990 - Thorbjørn Egner, Norwegian author (b. 1922)

1992 - Peyo, Belgian comics artist, and creator of The Smurfs (b. 1928)

1992 - Bobby LaKind, American musician and singer (The Doobie Brothers) (b. 1945)

1992 - Melissa Suffield, English actress

1993 - Norman Vincent Peale, American writer (b. 1898)

1994 - John Boswell, American historian (b. 1947)

1994 - Rossano Brazzi, Italian actor and singer (b. 1916)

1997 - Toshirō Mifune, Japanese actor (b. 1920)

1997 - Pierre Péladeau, Quebec businessman, founder of Quebecor (b. 1925)

1999 - João Baptista de Oliveira Figueiredo, President of Brazil (b. 1918)

1999 - Maurice Couve de Murville, French politician, Prime minister of France (b. 1907)

1999 - Bill Bowerman, American track and field coach

2000 - John Cooper, English race car designer (b. 1923)

2000 - Nick Massi, American singer (The Four Seasons) (b. 1935)

2002 - Kjell Aukrust, Norwegian author (b. 1920)

2002 - Laci Peterson, American murder victim (b. 1975)

2004 - Johnny Oates, baseball player and manager (b. 1946)

2005 - Michael Vale, American commercial actor (b. 1922)

2006 - "Braguinha", Brazilian songwriter (b. 1907)

2006 - Kenneth Sivertsen, Norwegian singer, poet and comedian (b. 1961)

2006 - Frank Stanton, American television executive (b. 1908)

2007 - Nicholas Pumfrey, British judge (b. 1951)

2007 - Akbar Radi, Iranian dramatist and playwright (b. 1939)

Holidays and observances

Christmas Eve

Calendar of saints: Feast of Saint Adela and Saint Irmina.

It is the day when food is traditionally set out for Santa Claus and his reindeer in some parts of the world.

In Portugal, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic, among others, this is the day that presents are exchanged and opened. In some of these countries, presents are delivered to children by Santa Claus, personified by an adult dressed up as Santa who comes knocking on the door.

The Declaration of Christmas Peace takes place in the Old Great Square of Turku, Finland's official Christmas City, according to old traditions dating back to the Middle Ages.

Grand High Climax, a major holiday in the Satanic religion, is celebrated at nightfall.Further Information

Get more info on '24 December'.

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