Historical Events
The following events took place on . The list is arranged in chronological order.
Found 44 events. Showing 1 - 30.
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- 502Chinese emperor Xiao Yan names Xiao Tong his heir designate.
- 640Pope John IV is elected.
- 759Tang dynasty poet Du Fu departs for Chengdu, where he is hosted by fellow poet Pei Di.
- 1144The capital of the crusader County of Edessa falls to Imad ad-Din Zengi, the atabeg of Mosul and Aleppo.
- 1294Pope Boniface VIII is elected, replacing St. Celestine V, who had resigned.
- 1500A joint Venetian–Spanish fleet captures the Castle of St. George on the island of Cephalonia.
- Kiritimati, also called Christmas Island, is discovered by James Cook.
- The Plot of the rue Saint-Nicaise fails to kill Napoleon Bonaparte.
- The Treaty of Ghent is signed ending the War of 1812.
- The first performance of “Silent Night” takes place in the church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf, Austria.
- The Eggnog Riot at the United States Military Academy begins that night, wrapping up the following morning.
- Library of Congress burns.
- The Ku Klux Klan is formed.
- Aida opens in Cairo, Egypt.
- Radio: Reginald Fessenden transmits the first radio broadcast; consisting of a poetry reading, a violin solo, and a speech.
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- Lackawanna Cut-Off railway line opens in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
- 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.
- World War I: The “Christmas truce” begins.
- Albania becomes a republic.
- Assassination attempt on Argentine President Hipólito Yrigoyen.
- World War II: Pope Pius XII makes a Christmas Eve appeal for peace.
- World War II: Kuching is conquered by Japanese forces.
- World War II: French monarchist, Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle, assassinates Vichy French Admiral François Darlan in Algiers, Algeria.
- World War II: U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower is named Supreme Allied Commander for the Invasion of Normandy.
- Libya becomes independent from Italy. Idris I is proclaimed King of Libya.
- Tangiwai disaster: In New Zealand’s North Island, at Tangiwai, a railway bridge is damaged by a lahar and collapses beneath a passenger train, killing 151 people.
- NORAD Tracks Santa for the first time in what will become an annual Christmas Eve tradition.
- Vietnam War: Viet Cong operatives bomb the Brinks Hotel in Saigon, South Vietnam to demonstrate they can strike an American installation in the heavily guarded capital.
- A Canadair CL-44 chartered by the United States military crashes into a small village in South Vietnam, killing 129.
- Apollo program: The crew of Apollo 8 enters into orbit around the Moon, becoming the first humans to do so. They performed ten lunar orbits and broadcast live TV pictures.
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