Today's 25 December Major Events in History

Photo for the article Today's 25 December Major Events

1 The first Christmas according to calendar-maker and Eastern Roman monk Dionysius Exiguus

274 Roman Emperor Aurelian dedicates a temple to Sol Invictus in Rome, on supposed day of the winter solstice, fulfilling vow made during campaign in Palmyra

336 Earliest theorized date that Christmas is celebrated on December 25th by the Catholic Church in Rome to replace pagan celebrations

390 Roman Emperor Theodosius I admits guilt for the mass murder in Thessalonica

496 King Clovis I is baptized a Roman Catholic in Reims cathedral - first Germanic king to do so, according to Henry of Tours (year disputed)
597 St Augustine introduces the Julian Calendar to England
604 Battle at Etampes (Stampae): Burgundy beat Neustriers

800 Pope Leo III crowns Charles the Great (Charlemagne) Holy Roman Emperor

875 Charles the Bald crowned emperor of Rome
967 John XIII crowned Otto II the Red German compassionate emperor
969 Johannes I Tzimisces crowned Emperor of Byzantium
999 Heribertus becomes bishop of Cologne
1000 Monarch Istvan crowned king of Hungary
1013 English earls declare Danish king Sweyn Forkbeard the first Viking king of England, disposing Ethelred the Unready
1046 Pope Clement II crowns Henry III as Holy Roman Emperor
1048 Parliament of Worms: Emperor Henry III names his cousin Count Bruno van Egisheim-Dagsburg as Pope Leo IX

1100 Boudouin I of Boulogne crowned King of Jerusalem
1101 Henry I of Limburg becomes Duke of Lower Lorraine
1121 Norbert of Xanten, later St. Norbert, founds the Premonstratensian Order at Prémontré in northern France

Norman King of Sicily

1130 Anti-pope Anacletus II crowns Roger II the Norman king of Sicily

1194 Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI crowned King of Sicily in Palermo Cathedral

1261 John IV Lascaris of the restored Eastern Roman Empire is deposed and blinded by orders of his co-ruler Michael VIII Palaeologus.

Edward IV's Lavish Feast

1482 English King Edward IV holds a lavish Christmas feast for 2,000 people at Eltham Palace

1492 Christopher Columbus' flagship the Santa María runs aground and sinks on the north coast of Hispaniola. The crew are left to found a colony as Columbus returns to Spain

1522 Ottoman troops occupy the island of Rhodes after a six-month siege
1553 Battle of Tucapel: Mapuche rebels under Lautaro defeats the Spanish conquistadors and executes the governor of Chile Pedro de Valdivia

1582 Zealand and Brabant adopts Gregorian calendar, yesterday was Dec 14th

1599 The city of Natal, Brazil, is founded.
1613 Johan Sigismund of Brandenburg becomes protestant

French Huguenot Declaration

1620 French Huguenots declare their intention to create a "state within the state" at a gathering in La Rochelle

Games Forbidden at Christmas

1621 Governor William Bradford of Plymouth Colony (now in Massachusetts) forbids game playing on Christmas Day

1641 Emperor Ferdinand III makes appointments with Sweden and France
1643 Christmas Island founded and named by Captain William Mynors of the East India Ship Company vessel, the Royal Mary.
1651 Massachusetts General Court ordered a five shilling fine for "observing any such day as Christmas"

1683 English Whig leader Duke of Monmouth flees to Holland

James II Lands in France

1688 British King James II lands in Ambleteuse, France

St Paul's Cathedral Finished

1711 St Paul's Cathedral, designed by Sir Christopher Wren, is officially declared complete by the British Parliament after 35 years of construction [1]

1717 Floods ravage Dutch coast provinces, thousands killed

Centigrade Temperature Scale

1741 Astronomer Anders Celsius introduces the Celsius temperature scale, which now bears his name

1745 Prussia and Austria sign Treaty of Dresden giving much of Silesia to the Prussians
1758 Return of Halley's Comet first sighted by Johann Georg Palitzsch
1760 Jupiter Hammon, an African American slave, composes the broadside poem "An Evening Thought" (the first poetry published by an African American in 1761)
1769 First Christian service in New Zealand; Mass is celebrated in Doubtless Bay by Father Paul-Antoine Léonard de Villefeix of the de Surville expedition
1773 Philadelphia Tea Party: protest against taxation without representation

Problems of the Pontificate

1775 Pope Pius VI encyclical on the problems of the pontificate

Washington Crosses the Delaware

1776 American Revolutionary War: George Washington crosses the Delaware River into New Jersey, surprises and defeats 1,400 Hessians

1809 Physician Ephraim McDowell performs the first abdominal surgery in the U.S, an ovariotomy to remove a 22 lb ovarian tumor
1814 Reverend Samuel Marsden of the Church Missionary Society holds the first Christian service in New Zealand on land, at Rangihoua
1818 First known Christmas carol, "Silent Night, Holy Night" (Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht'), is sung in Austria
1818 Handel's "Messiah", premieres in the US in Boston, performed by The Handel & Haydn Society
1831 Louisiana and Arkansas are the first states to observe Christmas as a holiday
1837 Battle of Okeechobee - US forces defeat Seminole Indians
1843 1st theatre matinee (Olympic Theatre, NYC)
1848 New Haven Railroad opens
1848 William & Ellen Craft escape from slavery in Georgia, arriving in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; later move to Boston where they become abolitionists [1]
1862 40,000 people watch Union Army soldiers play baseball at Hilton Head, South Carolina

Civil War Pardon

1868 Despite bitter opposition, US President Andrew Johnson grants an unconditional pardon to all persons involved in the Southern rebellion (Civil War)

1875 Lambs Club in New York forms
1888 First indoor baseball game played at fairgrounds in Philadelphia; 2,000 watch the Uptowners beat the Downtowners, 6-1
1894 1st midwestern football team to play on west coast, University of Chicago defeats Stanford 24-4 at Palo Alto, CA in football

Stars & Stripes Forever

1896 Patriotic march "The Stars and Stripes Forever" is composed by John Philip Sousa

1899 Shelling on besieged Ladysmith during the Boer War includes one shell containing a plum pudding
1900 Arthur Schnitzler's novel "Leutnant Gustl" ("None But The Brave") banned in Germany due to its unflattering portrait of military protocol
1901 Battle at Tweefontein: British force camped on a hill is surprised by a Boer attack at 2am
1902 Clyde Fitch' play "The Girl with the Green Eyes" premieres in NYC

Christian Democratic Movement

1902 Pope Leo XIII, at his annual Christmas reception, endorses the Christian Democratic movement now emerging in Europe as an attempt to offer an alternative to more radical movements

1911 Edward Knoblock's "Kismet" premieres in NYC
1914 Legendary "Christmas Truce" takes place on the battlefields of World War I between British and German troops; instead of fighting, soldiers exchange gifts, play football, and sing carols together
1917 "Why Marry," the first drama to win a Pulitzer Prize, premieres in NYC
1921 Last major Potlatch (ceremony) by Chief Daniel Cranmer (Kwakwaka’wakw) from Alert Bay, British Columbia. Twenty-six people arrested, their masks and regalia sold by Canadian government. [1]

Lenin's Testament

1922 "Lenin's testament" - Vladimir Lenin dictates document criticizing his colleagues, suggests Stalin be removed as General Secretary (until Dec 26)

1923 Imperial Theater opens at 249 W 45th St NYC

Prince Hirohito Assumes Throne

1926 Crown Prince Hirohito of Japan assumes the throne upon his father, Emperor Yoshihito's, death

1928 NSW (v Vic) go from 8-74 to 9-113 to be 9-367 at stumps
1929 Clarrie Grimmett takes 6-146 for SA, Queensland all out 380 Crowd 5,390
1930 Mt, Van Hoevenberg bobsled run at Lake Placid, NY opens; first American bobsled run open to public
1930 Slinger Nitschke scores 142 SA v Qld at Adelaide before 5,422
1930 Tasmania all out 280, WI 2-139 at Hobart Crowd 2,500
1931 Albert Lonergan scores 137 SA v Qld at Adelaide before 5,697
1931 Fleetwood-Smith takes 5-69 Victoria v Tasmania at Hobart
1931 New York's Metropolitan Opera broadcasts an entire live opera performance for the first time - Englebert Humperdinck's "Hänsel und Gretel" over NBC radio
1932 7.6 magnitude earthquake ravages Qansu, China, kills 275

King's Chair Collapses

1932 During King George V's Christmas dinner speech, his chair collapses

1933 Belgian Working people's party accept Henry de Mans Plan of Labor
1933 Stan Smith takes 8-33 for Victoria v Tasmania at Hobart
1934 Four centuries for SA as they make 7-644 v Qld before 6,180
1934 Samson Raphaelson's "Accent on Youth" premieres in NYC
1936 Belgian bishops condemn fascism & communism
1936 Ron Hamence scores 104 for SA v Queensland before 4,865

Symphony of the Air

1937 Arturo Toscanini conducts the first "Symphony of the Air" concert program over NBC radio

1937 Queensland all out for 93 v SA in front of 10,436
1938 George Cukor announces Vivien Leigh will play Scarlett O'Hara in "Gone With The Wind"
1939 Montgomery Ward introduces Rudolph the 9th red-nosed reindeer
1941 Japan announces surrender of British-Canadian garrison at Hong Kong
1941 Japanese aircraft carriers Akagi/Kagu back in Kure, Japan
1942 Admiral Dalans murderer of Bosinier de la Chapelle, sentenced to death
1942 British Colonel S W Bailey reaches Mihailovics headquarter
1942 Soviet artillery and tank battle on German armies at Stalingrad
1946 Constitution accepted in Taiwan
1947 Constitution of the Republic of China comes into effect
1947 Taiwan passes Human Rights laws (Day of Earth Law)

A Christmas Carol

1949 First television adaptation of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" debuts in American syndication; low budget 30-minute production stars Taylor Holmes and is narrated by Vincent Price

1950 Coronation Stone, taken from Scone in Scotland by Edward I in 1296, stolen from Westminster Abbey & smuggled back to Scotland
1951 West Indies wrap up 6 wicket defeat of Australia on first Christmas Day of Test cricket, the 3rd day of 3rd Test at the Adelaide Oval

1952 Queen Elizabeth II makes her first Christmas Day broadcast, thanking her subjects for their "loyalty and affection" and promising to carry on the tradition, which she does every year of her reign except 1969 [1]

1953 Avalanche of lava kills 150 from Ruapehu volcano in New Zealand
1953 KNEV (95.5 The Vibe) radio broadcaster in Reno, Nevada begins broadcasting
1954 WSFA TV channel 12 in Montgomery, AL (NBC) begins broadcasting

Sacred and Popular Music

1955 Pope Pius XII encyclical "Musice Sacrae" on the history, use, and promotion of sacred music is published

1956 Detroit's future Hockey Hall of Fame right wing Gordie Howe picks up a Xmas hat-trick & 3 assists in Red Wings' 8-1 win over NY Rangers; most points he scores in a single game in entire 26-year NHL career

Ringo's First Drum Set

1957 17-year old Liverpudlian Richard Starkey (later known as Ringo Starr) receives his first drum set as a Christmas gift from his stepfather

Gein Not Guilty

1957 American Ed Gein found not guilty by reason of insanity for a series of murders in Plainsfield, Wisconsin

1959 A synagogue in Cologne Germany desecrated with swatstikas

Bishop Wojtyla's Outdoor Mass

1959 Bishop Karol Wojtyla (future Pope John Paul II) celebrates outdoor Mass at midnight of Christmas morning to demonstrate the need for a Catholic church in the community of Nowa Huta

1959 Sony brings transistor TV 8-301 to the market

To Kill a Mockingbird

1962 "To Kill a Mockingbird", a film adaptation of the novel by Harper Lee, directed by Robert Mulligan and starring Gregory Peck, is released (Gregory Peck - Best Actor Academy Awards 1963)

1962 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
1963 Walt Disney's "The Sword in the Stone" is released
1964 Beatle guitarist George Harrison's girlfriend Pattie Boyd attacked by female Beatle fans
1965 The Yemeni Nasserite Unionist People's Organisation is founded in Taiz

1965 US President Lyndon B. Johnson orders a halt to bombing operations in North Vietnam, hoping to spur peace talks

Engagement of McCartney and Asher

1967 Beatle Paul McCartney and British actress Jane Asher get engaged; engagement publicly broken six months later

1968 42 Dalits are burned alive in Kilavenmani village, Tamil Nadu, India, a retaliation for a campaign for higher wages by Dalit labourers

Apollo 8's Christmas Broadcast

1968 NASA Apollo 8 crew broadcast while orbiting the moon amd read passages from the Bible to celebrate Christmas

1969 5 Israeli gunboats escape from Cherbourg harbor
1969 India all out for 163 at Madras v Aust, Ashley Mallett 5-91
1971 Longest game in NFL history as Miami Dolphins beat KC Chiefs, 27-24 in 2OT in AFL playoff game; duration: 82 minutes and 40 seconds
1971 Worst hotel fire in history kills 163 at Taeyokale Hotel in Seoul

1973 1st pictures of a comet from space (Comet Kohoutek), taken by NASA astronauts Jerry Carr and William Pogue during a spacewalk from Skylab 4
1973 Arab oil ministers cancel January 5 percent production cut; Saudi Arabian oil minister promises 10 percent OPEC production rise

1973 Ballon d'Or: Ajax forward Johan Cruyff wins his second award for best European football player ahead of Juventus goalkeeper Dino Zoff and Bayern Munich striker Gerd Müller

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
1973 Tommy Chambers (Scotland) finishes 51 yr cycle tour (799,405 miles)
1974 Cyclone Tracy virtually destroys Darwin, Australia
1974 Marshall Fields drives a vehicle through the gates of the White House, resulting in a four-hour standoff.
1976 Egyptian SS Patria sinks in Red Sea, about 100 killed
1976 Takeo Fukuda becomes Japanese premier

1979 Ballon d'Or: Hamburg's English forward Kevin Keegan wins his 2nd consecutive trophy as best football player in Europe; beats Bayern Munich forward Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Ajax sweeper Ruud Krol
1979 Soviet forces invade Afghanistan to prop up the Communist government, beginning a disastrous and failed ten-year war
1983 1st live telecast of Christmas Parade at the EPCOT Centre, Disney World Florida

1984 Ballon d'Or: Juventus' French midfielder Michel Platini is named Europe's best football player for the 2nd consecutive time; beats Bordeaux midfielder Jean Tigana and Verona striker Preben Elkjær

1984 Knicks basketball forward Bernard King scores 60 points, but New York loses, 120-114 to the New Jersey Nets on Xmas Day at Madison Square Garden
1987 Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, who escaped 2 days earlier, recaptured
1989 Japanese scientists achieve −271.8°C, the coldest temperature ever recorded in a laboratory

1989 Leonard Bernstein conducts Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in East Berlin's Schauspielhaus to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall, broadcast worldwide to an audience of 100 million

Ceaușescu's Trial and Execution

1989 Trial of Romanian Communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife Elena on charges of genocide and personal enrichment; the couple are found guilty and executed by firing squad the same day.

1990 Ballon d'Or: Inter's German sweeper Lothar Matthäus is named best football player in Europe ahead of Juventus striker Salvatore Schillaci and Inter defender Andreas Brehme
1991 Last day of a washout Pakistan v Sri Lanka at Gujranwala

1995 Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith scores NFL record 25th touchdown of the season in 37-13 win against Arizona Cardinals at Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe AZ
1996 1,500 year anniversary of Catholicism in France commemorating the baptism of Clovis I in Rheims
1997 For 1st time US movie box office receipts pass $6 billion

1999 Pope John Paul II personally opens the Holy Doors of St. John Lateran in Rome to mark the Jubilee
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.
2008 Phil Jackson becomes the sixth coach in NBA history to win 1,000 games as his LA Lakers beat Boston Celtics, 92-83 at the Staples Center, Los Angeles

Liu Xiaobo Sentenced for Subversion

2009 Chinese human rights activist Liu Xiaobo sentenced to 11 years in prison in Beijing, China for "inciting subversion of state power"

2009 Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab unsuccessfully attempts a terrorist attack against the US while on board Northwest Airlines Flight 253
2012 27 people are killed after an Antonov An-72 plane crashes near Shymkent, Kazakhstan
2012 8 people are killed and thousands left homeless after two fires strike Manila, Philippines

Unbroken

2014 "Unbroken", drama film directed by Angelina Jolie and starring Jack O'Connell and Domhall Gleeson, released in the United States

2016 Russian military defence plane crashes into the Black Sea after takeoff from Sochi airport, killing all 92 on board
2020 An RV detonates in downtown Nashville, Tennessee causing damage to people and property; prior to detonating, a recorded message playing from speakers warned anyone in earshot to evacuate prior to an explosion
2020 Historical romance "Bridgerton" debuts on Netflix based on the books by Julia Quinn, starring Phoebe Dynevor and Regé-Jean Page in Season One
2020 New Orleans running back Alvin Kamara equals Ernie Nevers 1929 NFL record of 6 touchdowns in a match in the Saints' 52-33 win over the Minnesota Vikings at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome
2021 NASA's James Webb Space Telescope launched in joint effort with ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, South America [1]
2022 Rare polar rain aurora, stretching for 3,000 km, is visible across the North Pole, caused by charged particles flowing from the Sun [1]
2023 Ncuti Gatwa makes his debut as the fifteenth incarnation of the Doctor in "Doctor Who", with Millie Gibson as his companion
2024 Azerbaijani airliner crashes near Kazakhstani city of Aktau, killing 38 people, mistakenly shot down by Russian air defences [1]

Jackson Breaks Rushing Record

2024 Baltimore Ravens Lamar Jackson breaks NFL career rushing record for quarterbacks in 31-2 win over the Texans in Houston; he runs for 87 yards, pushing his career rushing total to 6,110