December 25

What happened that day?

• 2012: An Antonov An-72 plane crashes close to the city of Shymkent, killing 27 people.
• 2004: The Cassini orbiter releases Huygens probe which successfully landed on Saturn's moon Titan on January 14, 2005.
• 2003: The ill-fated Beagle 2 probe, released from the Mars Express spacecraft on December 19, stops transmitting shortly before its scheduled landing.
• 2003: UTAGE Flight 141, a Boeing 727-223, crashes at the Cotonou Airport in Benin, killing 151 people.
• 1991: Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as President of the Soviet Union (the union itself is dissolved the next day). Ukraine's referendum is finalized and Ukraine officially leaves the Soviet Union.
• 1989: Deposed President of Romania Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife, Elena, are condemned to death and executed after a summary trial.
• 1977: Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin meets in Egypt with its president Anwar Sadat.
• 1968: Kilvenmani massacre: Forty-four Dalits (untouchables) are burnt to death in Kizhavenmani village, Tamil Nadu, a retaliation for a campaign for higher wages by Dalit laborers.
• 1968: Apollo program: Apollo 8 performs the very first successful Trans-Earth injection (TEI) maneuver, sending the crew and spacecraft on a trajectory back to Earth from Lunar orbit.
• 1963: Turkish Cypriot Bayrak Radio begins transmitting in Cyprus after Turkish Cypriots are forcibly excluded from Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation.
• 1962: The Soviet Union conducts its final above-ground nuclear weapon test, in anticipation of the 1963 Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
• 1950: The Stone of Scone, traditional coronation stone of British monarchs, is taken from Westminster Abbey by Scottish nationalist students. It later turns up in Scotland on April 11, 1951.
• 1946: The first European self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction is initiated within the Soviet Union's F-1 nuclear reactor.
• 1941: Admiral Émile Muselier seizes the archipelago of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, which become the first part of France to be liberated by the Free French Forces.
• 1941: World War II: Battle of Hong Kong ends, beginning the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong.
• 1941: Admiral Chester W. Nimitz arrives at Pearl Harbor to assume command of the U.S. Pacific Fleet
• 1935: Regina Jonas is ordained as the first female rabbi in the history of Judaism.
• 1932: A magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Gansu, China kills 275 people.
• 1914: A series of unofficial truces occur across the Western Front to celebrate Christmas.
• 1868: United States President Andrew Johnson grants an unconditional pardon to all Confederate veterans.
• 1837: Second Seminole War: American general Zachary Taylor leads 1100 troops against the Seminoles at the Battle of Lake Okeechobee.
• 1831: The Great Jamaican Slave Revolt begins; up to 20% of the island's slaves mobilize in an ultimately unsuccessful fight for freedom.
• 1826: The Eggnog Riot at the United States Military Academy concludes after beginning the previous evening.
• 1815: The Handel and Haydn Society, oldest continually performing arts organization in the United States, gives its first performance.
• 1814: Rev. Samuel Marsden holds the first Christian service on land in New Zealand at Rangihoua Bay.
• 1809: Dr. Ephraim McDowell performs the first ovariotomy, removing a 22-pound tumor.
• 1776: George Washington and the Continental Army cross the Delaware River at night to attack Hessian forces serving Great Britain at Trenton, New Jersey, the next day.
• 1758: Halley's Comet is sighted by Johann Georg Palitzsch, confirming Edmund Halley's prediction of its passage. This was the first passage of a comet predicted ahead of time.
• 1559: Pope Pius IV is elected.
• 1553: Battle of Tucapel: Mapuche rebels under Lautaro defeat the Spanish conquistadors and executes the governor of Chile, Pedro de Valdivia.
• 1492: The carrack Santa María, commanded by Christopher Columbus, runs onto a reef off Haiti due to an improper watch.
• 1261: John IV Laskaris of the restored Eastern Roman Empire is deposed and blinded by orders of his co-ruler Michael VIII Palaiologos.
• 1130: Count Roger II of Sicily is crowned the first king of Sicily.
• 1100: Baldwin of Boulogne is crowned the first King of Jerusalem in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
• 1076: Coronation of Bolesław II the Generous as king of Poland.
• 1066: William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy is crowned king of England, at Westminster Abbey, London.
• 1025: Coronation of Mieszko II Lambert as king of Poland.
• 1000: The foundation of the Kingdom of Hungary: Hungary is established as a Christian kingdom by Stephen I of Hungary.
• 820: Emperor Leo V is assassinated in the Hagia Sophia at Constantinople and is succeeded by Michael II.
• 800: The Coronation of Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor, in Rome.
• 597: Augustine of Canterbury and his fellow-labourers baptise in Kent more than 10,000 Anglo-Saxons.
• 496: Clovis I, king of the Franks, is baptized into the Catholic faith at Reims, by Saint Remigius.
• 350: Vetranio meets Constantius II at Naissus (Serbia) and is forced to abdicate his title (Caesar). Constantius allows him to live as a private citizen on a state pension.
• 336: First documentary sign of Christmas celebration in Rome.
• 333: Roman Emperor Constantine the Great elevates his youngest son Constans to the rank of Caesar.
• 274: A temple for Sol Invictus is dedicated in Rome by Emperor Aurelian.