Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date

336

The first recorded celebration of Christmas on December 25 took place in Rome. Church fathers designated December 25th, the birthday of the popular pagan god Mithras, as Jesus's official birth date. The name is derived from "Christs's Mass".

1066

William the Conqueror was crowned king of England at Westminster Abbey.

1223

St. Francis of Assisi assembled one of the first Nativity scenes, in Greccio, Italy.

1776

Gen. George Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware River for a surprise attack against Hessian forces at Trenton, New Jersey.

1818

"Silent Night" was performed for the first time, at the Church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorff, Austria.

1830

The first regularly scheduled passenger train in the United States began operation, the South Carolina Canal and Railroad Company.

1868

President Andrew Johnson granted an unconditional pardon to all persons involved in the Southern rebellion that resulted in the Civil War.

1914

During World War I, Allied and German troops observed an unofficial truce, even playing football together on the Western Front's "no man's land."

1926

Hirohito became emperor of Japan, succeeding his father, Emperor Yoshihito.

1941

Hong Kong was surrendered to the Japanese.

1972

The Nicaraguan capital Managua was devastated by an earthquake which killed over 10,000 people.

1974

The Australian city of Darwin is wrecked by a powerful cyclone that leaves thousands of people homeless.

1989

Deposed Romanian president Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena are shot after being found guilty of crimes against the state.

1989

Dissident playwright Vaclav Havel was elected president of Czechoslovakia.

1991

Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev went on television to announce his resignation.

2003

Scientists fail to make contact with British-built Mars probe Beagle 2, which should have landed on the Red Planet earlier today.

1642

Sir Isaac Newton, British mathematician.

1821

Clara Barton, American nurse, founder of American Red Cross.

1887

Conrad Hilton, American hotel magnate.

1899

Humphrey Bogart, American Academy Award-winning actor.

1907

Cab Calloway, American band leader, singer.

1918

Anwar el-Sadat, Egyptian president; Nobel Peace Prize winner with Israel's Menachim Begin in 1978.

1924

Rod Serling, American scriptwriter. Best known for "The Twilight Zone".

1946

Jimmy Buffett, American singer and songwriter, in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

1946

W.C. Fields (William Claude Dukenfield), brilliant American comedian, actor, and screenwriter. died in Pasadena, Calif., at age 66.

1977

Charlie Chaplin, legendary English comedian, actor, director, producer, and comic genius of silent films, died at his home in Switzerland at the age of 88.

1989

Ousted Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, Elena, were executed following a popular uprising.

1989

Former baseball player and manager Billy Martin died in a truck crash in Fenton, N.Y.

1995

Dean Martin, (Dino Paul Crocetti) American singer and film actor died at his Beverly Hills home at age 78.

2006

James Brown (born James Joseph Brown, Jr.), commonly referred to as "The Godfather of Soul" and "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business," an American entertainer.