December 24

Kit Carson 1809-1868

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 resigned.
• 1777 – Kiritimati, also called Christmas Island, is discovered by James Cook.
• 1814 – The Treaty of Ghent is signed ending the War of 1812.
• 1826 – The Eggnog Riot at the United States Military Academy begins that night, wrapping up the following morning.
• 1851 – Library of Congress burns.
• 1865 – The Ku Klux Klan is formed.
• 1906 – Radio: Reginald Fessenden transmits the first radio broadcast; consisting of a poetry reading, a violin solo, and a speech.
• 1913 – The Italian Hall Disaster ("1913 Massacre") in Calumet, Michigan results in the death of 73 Christmas party goers held by striking mine workers, including 59 children.
• 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: 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.
• 1951 – Libya becomes independent from Italy. Idris I is proclaimed King of Libya.
• 1953 – Tangiwai disaster: A railway bridge is destroyed by a lahar at Tangiwai, in the Central North Island of New Zealand, sending a fully loaded passenger train into the Whangaehu River, and killing 153 people.
• 1955 – NORAD Tracks Santa for the first time in what will become an annual Christmas Eve tradition.
• 1964 – Vietnam War: Viet Cong operatives bomb the Brinks Hotel in Saigon to demonstrate they can strike an American installation in the heavily guarded capital.
• 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.
• 1973 – District of Columbia Home Rule Act is passed, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to elect their own local government.
• 1974 – Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin, Australia.
• 1979 – The first European Ariane rocket is launched.
• 1980 – Witnesses report the first of several sightings of unexplained lights near RAF Woodbridge, in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England, an incident called "Britain's Roswell".
• 1997 – The Sid El-Antri massacre (or Sidi Lamri) in Algeria kills 50-100 people.
• 2000 – The Texas 7 hold up a sports store in Irving, Texas. Police officer Aubrey Hawkins is murdered 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.
• 2005 – Chad–Sudan relations: Chad declares a state of war against Sudan following a December 18 attack on Adré, which left about 100 people dead.
• 2008 – Lord's Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel group, begins a series of attacks on Democratic Republic of the Congo, massacring more than 400.

Births

• 3 BC – Servius Sulpicius 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)
• 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)
• 1810 – Wilhelm Marstrand, Danish painter (d. 1873)
• 1812 – Karl Eduard Zachariae von Lingenthal, German jurist (d. 1894)
• 1818 – James Prescott Joule, British physicist (d. 1889)
• 1822 – Matthew Arnold, British poet (d. 1888)
• 1837 – Elisabeth of Bavaria, also known as 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)
• 1877 – Sigrid Schauman, Finnish painter (d. 1979)
• 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 – Ruth Chatterton, American actress (d. 1961)
• 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)
• 1895 – Noel Streatfeild, English children's writer (d. 1986)
• 1896 – Jens Oliver Lisberg, Faroese law student, designer of the Flag of the Faroe Islands (d. 1920)
• 1898 – Baby Dodds, American jazz drummer (d. 1959)
• 1898 – Héctor Scarone, Uruguayan footballer (d. 1967)
• 1900 – Joey Smallwood, Canadian politician, Premier of Newfoundland (d. 1991)
• 1903 – Ava Helen Pauling, American human rights activist (d. 1981)
• 1904 – Joseph Moses Juran, American industrial engineer and philanthropist (d. 2008)
• 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 (d. 2007)
• 1920 – Yevgeniya Rudneva, Russian World War II heroine (d. 1944)
• 1922 – Ava Gardner, American actress (d. 1990)
• 1923 – Michael DiBiase, American wrestler (d. 1969)
• 1923 – George Patton IV, American general (d. 2004)
• 1924 – Lee Dorsey, American singer (d. 1986)
• 1924 – Grigory Kriss, Russian Olympic champion fencer
• 1924 – Mohammed Rafi, Indian actor and playback singer (d. 1980)
• 1924 – Norman Rossington, British actor (d. 1999)
• 1926 – Paul Buissonneau, French-born Quebec theatre director
• 1927 – Mary Higgins Clark, American author
• 1930 – Robert Joffrey, American choreographer (d. 1988)
• 1931 – Ray Bryant, American jazz pianist and composer
• 1931 – Mauricio Kagel, Argentine composer (d. 2008)
• 1932 – On Kawara, Japanese conceptual artist
• 1934 – Stjepan Mesic, president of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Secretary General of Non-Aligned Movement and president of Croatia
• 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 – Barry Chuckle, British comedian
• 1944 – Mike Curb, American musician, record company executive and politician
• 1944 – Oswald Gracias, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Bombay
• 1944 – Daniel Johnson, Jr., Quebec politician, Premier of Quebec
• 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 – Warwick Brown, Australian racing driver
• 1949 – Randy Neugebauer, American politician
• 1950 – Dana Gioia, American poet
• 1951 – John D'Acquisto, baseball player
• 1952 – Christopher Buckley, American author and political commentator
• 1953 – Timothy Carhart, American actor
• 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 (d. 2008)
• 1958 – Paul Pressey, American basketball player
• 1958 – Gene Sperling, American economist and government official
• 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
• 1961 – Jay Wright, American basketball coach
• 1963 – Caroline Aherne, British comedienne, writer and actress
• 1963 – Jay Bilas, American basketball analyst
• 1963 – Mary Ramsey, American singer (10,000 Maniacs)
• 1964 – Mark Valley, American actor
• 1965 – Millard Powers, American musician (Counting Crows)
• 1966 – Diedrich Bader, American actor
• 1967 – Mikhail Shchennikov, Russian race walker
• 1968 – Choi Jin-sil, South Korean actress and model (d. 2008)
• 1968 – Doyle Bramhall II, American guitarist
• 1968 – Marleen Renders, Belgian athlete
• 1969 – Brad Anderson, American professional wrestler
• 1969 – Sean Michael, South African actor
• 1969 – Ed Miliband, British politician
• 1969 – Mark Millar, Scottish comic book writer
• 1970 – Amaury Nolasco, American actor
• 1970 – Will Oldham, American singer and songwriter
• 1971 – Giorgos Alkaios, Greek singer
• 1971 – Christopher Daniels, American professional wrestler
• 1971 – Sascha Fischer, German rugby player
• 1971 – Ricky Martin, Puerto Rican singer
• 1971 – Oro, Mexican professional wrestler (d. 1993)
• 1972 – Alvaro Mesen, Costa Rican footballer
• 1972 – Klaus Schnellenkamp, German-Chilean author
• 1973 – Stephenie Meyer, American author
• 1973 – Eddie Pope, American soccer player
• 1974 – Thure Lindhardt, Danish actor
• 1974 – Marcelo Salas, Chilean footballer
• 1974 – Ryan Seacrest, American television host
• 1976 – Yuri Korean singer
• 1978 – Yildiray Bastürk, Turkish footballer
• 1978 – Warren Tredrea, Australian rules footballer
• 1979 – Chris Hero, American professional wrestler
• 1980 – Tomas Kalnoky, Czech musician (Streetlight Manifesto)
• 1981 – Dima Bilan, Russian pop artist
• 1981 – Shane Tuck, Australian rules footballer
• 1982 – Robert Carmine, American singer
• 1982 – Aiba Masaki, Japanese singer and actor
• 1985 – Alexey Dmitriev, German ice hockey player
• 1985 – David Ragan, American race car driver
• 1986 – Kyrylo Fesenko, Ukrainian basketball player
• 1986 – Riyo Mori, Japanese model
• 1987 – Jane Summersett, American ice dancer
• 1991 – Wasim Tareen, Pakistani footballer
• 1992 – Melissa Suffield, English actress
• 1995 – Anett Kontaveit, Estonian tennis player
• 2000 – Ethan Bortnick, American musician

Deaths

• 427 – Archbishop Sisinnius I of Constantinople
• 738 – Maslamah ibn Abd al-Malik, Umayyad prince and general
• 1257 – John I, Count of Hainaut (b. 1218)
• 1400 – Archibald the Grim, Scottish magnate (b. 1328)
• 1453 – John Dunstaple, English composer (b. c.1390)
• 1524 – Vasco da Gama, Portuguese explorer (b. c.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, Scottish-American naturalist (b. 1838)
• 1920 – Stephen Mosher Wood, American Politician (b. 1832)
• 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)
• 1967 – Burt Baskin, American entrepreneur (b. 1913)
• 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)
• 1985 – Camille Tourville, Professional wrestler (b. 1927)
• 1986 – Gardner Fox, American writer (b. 1911)
• 1987 – Joop den Uyl, Dutch politician (b. 1919)
• 1987 – Betty Noyes, singer who dubbed Debbie Reynold's singing voice in Singin' in the Rain
• 1987 – M. G. Ramachandran, Chief Minister of the Tamil Nadu (b. 1917)
• 1990 – Thorbjørn Egner, Norwegian author (b. 1922)
• 1992 – Bobby LaKind, American musician and singer (The Doobie Brothers) (b. 1945)
• 1992 – Peyo, Belgian comics artist, and creator of The Smurfs (b. 1928)
• 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 – Toshiro Mifune, Japanese actor (b. 1920)
• 1997 – Pierre Péladeau, Quebec businessman, founder of Quebecor (b. 1925)
• 1998 – Syl Apps, Canadian ice hockey player and pole vaulter (b. 1915)
• 1999 – Bill Bowerman, American track and field coach (b. 1911)
• 1999 – Maurice Couve de Murville, French politician, Prime minister of France (b. 1907)
• 1999 – João Figueiredo, President of Brazil (b. 1918)
• 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)
• 2002 – Jake Thackray, English singer-songwriter (b. 1938)
• 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)
• 2008 – Harold Pinter, British playwright (b. 1930)
• 2009 – Rafael Caldera, lawyer, sociologist, writer, speaker, politician, and ex-president of Venezuela (b. 1916)
• 2009 – George Michael, American sportscaster (The George Michael Sports Machine) (b. 1939)
• 2010 – Elisabeth Beresford, British author and creator of The Wombles (b. 1926)
• 2010 – Orestes Quércia, Brazilian politician (b. 1938)
• 2010 – Eino Tamberg, Estonian composer (b. 1930)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Adela and Irmina
• Christmas Eve (Christianity) and its related observances:
  • Aðfangadagskvöld, the day when the 13th and the last Yule Lad arrives to towns. (Iceland)
  • Feast of the Seven Fishes (Italy)
  • Jul (Denmark, Norway and Sweden)
  • Nochebuena (Spain and Spanish-speaking countries)
  • The Declaration of Christmas Peace (Old Great Square of Turku, Finland's official Christmas City)