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December 25 is the 359th day of the year (360th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 6 days remaining. It is also known as Christmas Day.

Events

• 274 - Roman Emperor Aurelian has a temple dedicated to Sol Invictus on the supposed day of the solstice and day of rebirth of the Sun.
• 800 - Coronation of Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor, in Rome.
• 1066 - Coronation of William the Conqueror as king of England, at Westminster Abbey, London.
• 1223 - St. Francis of Assisi assembles the first Nativity scene.
• 1261 - John IV Lascaris of the restored Eastern Roman Empire is deposed and blinded by orders of his co-ruler Michael VIII Palaeologus.
• 1599 - The city of Natal, Brazil is founded.
• 1776 - George Washington and his army cross the Delaware River to attack the Kingdom of Great Britain's Hessian mercenaries in Trenton, New Jersey.
• 1818 - The first performance of "Silent Night" takes place in the Church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf, Austria.
• 1837 - Battle of Okeechobee: United States forces defeat Seminole Indians.
• 1868 - U.S. President Andrew Johnson grants unconditional pardon to all Civil War Confederate soldiers.
• 1868 - Shogunate rebels found Ezo Republic in Hokkaido.
• 1914 - World War I: Known as the Christmas truce, German and British troops on the Western Front temporarily cease fire.
• 1917 - Why Marry?, first dramatic play to win a Pulitzer Prize, opens at the Astor Theatre in New York City.
• 1926 - Hirohito becomes Emperor of Japan, succeeding the Taisho Emperor.
• 1932 - A magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Gansu, China kills ~70,000 people.
• 1939 - Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is read on the radio for the first time (CBS radio).
• 1939 - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is introduced by Montgomery Ward stores.
• 1941 - World War II: Battle of Hong Kong ends, beginning the Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong.
• 1947 - The Constitution of the Republic of China goes into effect.
• 1971 - In the longest game in NFL history (82m40s), the Miami Dolphins defeat the Kansas City Chiefs.
• 1973 - The ARPANET crashes when a programming bug causes all ARPANET traffic to be routed through the server at Harvard University, causing the server to freeze.
• 1974 - Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin, Northern Territory Australia.
• 1974 - Marshall Fields drives a vehicle through the gates of the White House, resulting in a four-hour standoff.
• 1977 - Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin meets in Egypt with President of Egypt Anwar Sadat.
• 1987 - In one of the highest-rated episodes in Coronation Street history, Hilda Ogden leaves her home of 23 years to be a char to her doctor in the country.
• 1989 - Nicolae Ceauşescu, former communist dictator of Romania, and his wife Elena are condemned to death and executed under a wide range of charges.
• 1991 - Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as president of the Soviet Union (the union itself is dissolved the next day).
• 2002 - The New Delhi Metro opens.
• 2003 - The ill-fated Beagle 2 probe which was released from the Mars Express Spacecraft on December 19, disappears shortly before its scheduled landing.
• 2004 - Cassini orbiter releases Huygens probe which successfully landed on Saturn's moon, Titan on January 14, 2005.

Births

• AD 1 - Jesus Christ, God the Son in Christianity, (Catholic and Protestant dating) (d. circa 33)
• 1250 - John IV Lascaris, Eastern Roman Emperor (d. circa 1305)
• 1583 - Orlando Gibbons, English composer (d. 1625)
• 1628 - Noël Coypel, French painter (d. 1707)
• 1642 (O.S.) - Sir Isaac Newton, English physicist and mathematician (d. 1727)
• 1652 - Archibald Pitcairne, Scottish physician (d. 1713)
• 1665 - Lady Grizel Baillie, Scottish songwriter (d. 1746)
• 1667 - Ehrengard Melusine von der Schulenburg, Duchess of Kendal and Munster, English royal mistress (d. 1743)
• 1674 - Thomas Halyburton, Scottish theologian (d. 1712)
• 1700 - Leopold II of Anhalt-Dessau, Prussian general (d. 1758)
• 1711 - Jean Joseph de Mondonville, French composer (d. 1772)
• 1716 - Johann Jakob Reiske, German scholar and physician (d. 1774)
• 1742 - Charlotte von Stein, German friend of Goethe (d. 1827)
• 1757 - Benjamin Pierce, U.S. politician (d 1839)
• 1763 - Claude Chappe, French telecommunications pioneer (d. 1805)
• 1771 - Dorothy Wordsworth, English diarist and sister of William Wordsworth (d. 1855)
• 1821 - Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross (d. 1912)
• 1856 - Hans von Bartels, German painter (d. 1913)
• 1861 - Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, Indian founder of Banaras Hindu University (d. 1946)
• 1865 - Evangeline Booth, the 4th General of The Salvation Army (d. 1950)
• 1875 - Theodor Cardinal Innitzer, Austrian Catholic archbishop (d. 1955)
• 1876 - Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan (d. 1948)
• 1876 - Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1959)
• 1878 - Louis Chevrolet, Swiss-born race car driver and automotive pioneer (d. 1941)
• 1883 - Maurice Utrillo, French artist (d. 1955)
• 1884 - Evelyn Nesbit, American actress (d. 1967)
• 1886 - Kid Ory, American musician (d. 1973)
• 1887 - Conrad Nicholson Hilton, American hotelier (d. 1979)
• 1890 - Robert Ripley, world traveler and collector of odd facts and artifacts (d. 1949)
• 1899 - Humphrey Bogart, American actor (d. 1957)
• 1901 - Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (d. 2004)
• 1904 - Gerhard Herzberg, German-born chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1999)
• 1906 - Sir Lew Grade, Ukrainian-born film producer (d. 1998)
• 1906 - Ernst Ruska, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1988)
• 1907 - Cab Calloway, American bandleader (d. 1994)
• 1908 - Quentin Crisp, English author and activist (d. 1999)
• 1912 - Tony Martin, American singer
• 1912 - Natalino Otto, Italian singer
• 1913 - Henri Nannen, German journalist and publisher (d. 1966)
• 1915 - Pete Rugolo, Italian-born composer and arranger
• 1918 - Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1981)
• 1921 - Zaib-un-Nissa Hamidullah, Pakistani journalist and writer.
• 1924 - Rod Serling, American television scriptwriter (d. 1975)
• 1924 - Atal Behari Vajpayee, Prime Minister of India
• 1925 - Carlos Castaneda, Peruvian-born author (d. 1998)
• 1927 - Nellie Fox, baseball player (d. 1975)
• 1928 - Dick Miller, American actor
• 1932 - Mabel King, American actress (d. 1999)
• 1936 - Princess Alexandra of Kent
• 1936 - Ismail Merchant, Indian-born film producer (d. 2005)
• 1940 - Pete Brown, English poet and lyricist
• 1943 - Hanna Schygulla, German actress
• 1944 - Jairzinho, Brazilian footballer
• 1944 - Kenny Everett, DJ and entertainer (d. 1995)
• 1945 - Noel Redding, English bassist (The Jimi Hendrix Experience) (d. 2003)
• 1945 - Gary Sandy, American actor
• 1946 - Jimmy Buffett, American singer and songwriter
• 1946 - Larry Csonka, American football player
• 1946 - Gene Lamont, American baseball player and manager
• 1948 - Barbara Mandrell, American singer and actress
• 1949 - Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan
• 1949 - Sissy Spacek, American actress
• 1949 - Joe Louis Walker, American musician
• 1950 - Manny Trillo, baseball player
• 1950 - Karl Rove, American presidential advisor
• 1952 - CCH Pounder, Guyana-born actress
• 1954 - Annie Lennox, Scottish singer (Eurythmics)
• 1957 - Chris Kamara, English footballer and commentator
• 1957 - Shane MacGowan, Irish musician
• 1958 - Hanford Dixon, American football player
• 1958 - Rickey Henderson, baseball player
• 1959 - Michael P. Anderson, astronaut (d. 2003)
• 1961 - Ingrid Betancourt, Colombian senator
• 1962 - Dean Cameron, American actor
• 1964 - Gary McAllister, Scottish footballer
• 1967 - Jason Thirsk, American bass player (Pennywise)
• 1968 - Helena Christensen, Danish model & actress
• 1971 - Dido, English singer
• 1971 - Justin Trudeau, son of former Canadian Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Pierre Elliott Trudeau
• 1971 - Noel Hogan, Irish guitarist and songwriter The Cranberries
• 1972 - Josh Freese, American drummer
• 1973 - Alexandre (Sacha) Trudeau son of former Prime Minister of Canada, the Right Honourable Pierre Elliott Trudeau
• 1973 - Robbie Elliott, English footballer
• 1975 - Marcus Trescothick, English cricketer
• 1976 - Tuomas Holopainen, Finnish keyboardist and composer (Nightwish)
• 1976 - Armin van Buuren, Dutch keyboardist
• 1978 - Joel Porter, Australian footballer
• 1978 - Simon Jones, English Cricketer
• 1979 - Jim Greco, American professional skateboarder
• 1980 - Marcus Trufant, American football player, defensive back
• 1980 - Reika Hashimoto, Japanese actress and model
• 1981 - Katie Wright, American actress
• 1981 - Willy Taveras, Baseball player
• 1984 - The Veronicas, Jessica and Lisa Origliasso, Austrailian pop singers
• 1984 - Alastair Cook, English cricketer

Deaths

• 795 - Pope Adrian I
• 1156 - Peter the Venerable, Benedictine abbot of Cluny (b. c. 1092)
• 1635 - Samuel de Champlain, French explorer and founder of Quebec City (b. 1567)
• 1676 - Matthew Hale, Lord Chief Justice of England (b. 1609)
• 1676 - William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle, English soldier, politician, and writer (b. 1592)
• 1683 - Kara Mustafa, Ottoman general (b. 1634)
• 1758 - James Hervey, English clergyman and writer (b. 1714)
• 1784 - Yosa Buson, Japanese poet and painter (b. 1716)
• 1824 - Barbara Juliana, Baroness von Krüdener, Russian writer (b. 1764)
• 1880 - Fridolin Anderwert, Swiss Federal Councilor (b. 1828)
• 1916 - St. Albert Chmielowski, Polish Catholic Saint (b. 1845)
• 1921 - Vladimir Korolenko, Russian writer (b. 1853)
• 1925 - Karl Abraham, German psychoanalyst (b. 1877)
• 1926 - Taisho Emperor, Japanese emperor (b. 1879)
• 1933 - Francesc Macià, President of Generalitat, Autonomous government of Catalonia (b. 1859)
• 1938 - Karel Capek, Czech author (b. 1890)
• 1940 - Agnes Ayres, American actress (b. 1898)
• 1946 - W. C. Fields, American actor and comedian (b. 1880)
• 1961 - Otto Loewi, German-born pharmacologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1873)
• 1963 - Tristan Tzara, Romanian-born writer (b. 1896)
• 1973 - Ismet Inonu, Turkish statesman (b. 1884)
• 1973 - Gabriel Voisin, French aviation pioneer (b. 1880)
• 1977 - Charlie Chaplin, English actor (b. 1889)
• 1979 - Joan Blondell, American actress (b. 1906)
• 1983 - Joan Miró, Catalan painter (b. 1893)
• 1988 - Ooka Shohei, Japanese novelist (b. 1909)
• 1989 - Nicolae Ceauşescu, Romanian dictator (executed) (b. 1918)
• 1989 - Billy Martin, baseball player and manager (b. 1928)
• 1993 - Pierre Victor Auger, French physicist (b. 1899)
• 1994 - Zail Singh, President of India (b. 1916)
• 1995 - Dean Martin, American singer and actor (b. 1917)
• 1996 - JonBenét Ramsey, American beauty queen and murder victim (b. 1990)
• 1997 - Denver Pyle, American actor (b. 1920)
• 1998 - John Pulman, English snooker player (b. 1926)
• 2000 - Willard Van Orman Quine, American philosopher (b. 1908)
• 2003 - Nicholas Mavroules, Greek U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts (b. 1929)
• 2005 - Birgit Nilsson, Swedish soprano (b. 1918)

Holidays and observances

• Christmas Day is a Christian holiday on this day celebrating the Nativity of Jesus. It is a public holiday in many countries, including almost everywhere in the Americas, most European nations, the Philippines and most of Oceania, some African countries, the Commonwealth of Nations, and various other countries. Many non-Christians, including non-theists, celebrate secular aspects of the holiday, such as decorating Christmas trees and exchanging gifts with family and friends. Some Christians celebrate Christmas on January 6, January 7, January 18, or even not at all.
• R.C. Saints - Nativity of the Lord (Christmas).
• British Isles - a quarter day in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland (but not in Scotland)
• Roman festivals - (re)birth of Sol Invictus, the winter solstice feast in the Roman Empire since 274
• Pakistan - Quaid's Day is celebrated as a national holiday in Pakistan in honour of the birth of Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• Today in History: December 25

December 24 - December 26 - November 25 - January 25 -- listing of all days