352
Christmas was celebrated on December 25th.for the first time.
597
England adopted the Julian calendar
800
Pope Leo III crowned Charles the Great of the Franks, Charlemagne, Roman emperor.
1024
Boleslaw I Chrobry was crowned as the first king of Poland.
1100
Boudouin I of Boulogne was crowned king of Jerusalem
1492
Christopher Columbus' ship the Santa Maria docked in what was to become the Dominican Republic.
1599
The city of Natal was founded in Brazil.
1651
The Massachusetts General Court ordered a fine of five shillings for anyone who observed the day of Christmas.
1717
Floods ravaged the Dutch coastal provinces and many thousands were killed.
1741
The Astronomer Anders Celsius introduced the Centigrade temperature scale.
1758
Farmer and amateur astronomer Johann George Palitzsch was the first to sight
Halley's Comet on its first predicted return.
1776
George Washington crossed the Delaware River and surprised and defeated 1,400 Hessians.
1831
Louisiana and Arkansas were the first states to observe Christmas as holiday.
1837
The United States forces defeated the Seminole Indians at the Battle of Okeechobee.
1868
Despite bitter opposition United States President Andrew Johnson granted unconditional pardons to all persons involved in the Southern rebellion.
1868
The Ezo Republic was founded in Hokkaido by Shogunate rebels.
1896
John Philip Sousa wrote "Stars & Stripes Forever".
1901
The Boers launched a surprise attack against the British forces in the Orange-Free state at the Battle at Tweefontein.
1914
Just after midnight on Christmas morning the unofficial "Christmas Truce" began, German troops ceased firing their guns and artillery and then started singing Christmas carols. Later in the day men from both sides left their trenches and met in No man's land where they traded gifts with the enemy. The truce lasted for three days.
1926
Hirohito becomes Emperor of Japan, succeeding the Taisho Emperor.
1932
An earthquake measuring 7.6 struck Gansu in China killing
70,000 people.
1932
While King George V was delivering his Christmas dinner speech his chair collapsed.
1938
The great American film director, George Cukor, announced that Vivien Leigh would play Scarlett O'Hara in the epic Gone with the Wind.
1939
Charles Dickens' story of redemption "A Christmas CarolĀ was read on radio for the first time. It was broadcast on CBS radio.
1939
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was introduced by Montgomery Ward stores to become the 9th reindeer.
1941
Japan announced the surrender of the British-Canadian garrison in Hong Kong to the forces of Japan.
1947
The Constitution of the Republic of China went into effect.
1950
The Coronation Stone, taken from Scone in Scotland by Edward I in 1296, was stolen from Westminster Abbey and smuggled back to Scotland.
1953
An Avalanche of lava killed 150 people after the volcano Ruapehu erupted in New Zealand.
1971
The Worst hotel fire in history killed 163 people at the Taeyokale Hotel in the South Korean capital Seoul.
1974
Cyclone Tracy devastated Darwin, Australia causing unprecedented damage.
1976
Takeo Fukuda became the Japanese premier.
1977
The Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin met in Egypt with the President of Egypt Anwar Sadat
1991
Mikhail Gorbachev formally resigned as president of the Soviet Union and the Union was formally dissolved the next day.
2004
The Cassini orbiter launched the Huygens probe towards titan, Saturn's moon.
