Today in History - Historical Events - December 24th

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Notable Historical Events on December 24th

1990Expos trade Tim Raines to White Sox for Ivan Calderon & Barry Jones

1992US President Bush pardons Caspar Weinberger for Iran-contra affair

1777Kiritimati, also called Christmas Island, is discovered by James Cook

1943FDR appoints Gen Eisenhower supreme commander of Allied forces

1799Jacobin plot against Napoleon uncovered

1990Saddam Hussein says Israel will be Iraq's 1st target

1893Henry Ford completes his 1st useful gas motor

1935Bradman scores 233 in 191 mins, SA v Queensland, 28 fours 1 six

December 24th Historical Events
Date Event
563
The Byzantine church Hagia Sophia in Constantinople is dedicated for the second time after being destroyed by earthquakes. 
640
John IV begins his reign as Catholic Pope 
1046
Pope Clement II, [Suitger] elected 
1294
Cardinal Benedetto Gaetani chosen as Pope Boniface VIII 
1476
400 Burgundian soldiers freeze to death during siege of Nancy 
1515
Thomas Wolsey appointed English Lord Chancellor 
1565
Compromise of the Nobles in Habsburg Netherlands closes against inquisition 
1568
Uprising of Moriscos in Granada 
1593
Storm hits Texel: 40 ships hit, 500 killed 
1651
John van Riebeeck departs to Cape of Good Hope 
1715
Swedish troops occupy Norway 
1777
Kiritimati, also called Christmas Island, is discovered by James Cook 
1798
Russia & Britain sign Second anti-French Coalition 
1799
Jacobin plot against Napoleon uncovered 
1814
Treaty of Ghent (end of US-Britain War of 1812) signed 
1818
"Silent Night" composed by Franz Joseph Gruber; 1st sung next day 
1832
1st US Negro hospital founded by whites chartered, Savannah, Georgia 
1832
HMS Beagle anchors in Wigwam Bay at Cape Receiver 
1851
Fire devastates US Library of Congress in Washington, destroys 35,000 volumes 
1860
Joseph Jefferson's "Rip Van Winkle" premieres in NYC 
1864
Battle of Gordonsville, VA 
1865
Several Confederate veterans form Ku Klux Klan in Pulaski, Tn 
1871
Giusseppi Verdi's "Aida" premieres in Cairo, at the opening of the Suez canal 
1874
Pope Pius IX proclaims a jubilee for 1875 
1884
Austria-Hungary admits King Leopold II's Congo Free State 
1889
Daniel Stover & William Hance patent bicycle with back pedal brake 
1893
Henry Ford completes his 1st useful gas motor 
1894
Scheveningse fishing boats destroyed by storm 
1894
Soccer team Achilles '94 forms in Axes 
1898
Herman Heijermans' "Ghetto" premieres in Amsterdam 
1900
Herman Heijermans' "Hope of Blessing" premieres in Amsterdam 
1900
The French Chamber of Deputies and Senate pass a bill calling for an end to agitation or prosecutions against those involved in the Dreyfus affair, which has divided France since 1894 
1900
Foreign powers present the Chinese Empress with their list of 'irrevocable conditions' before their nations will withdraw troops from China 
1904
German SW Africa abolishes slavery of young children 
1906
Reginald A Fessenden became 1st to broadcast music over radio (Mass) 
1910
Luisa Tetrazzini sings to 250,000 people at Lotta's Fountain 
1912
Irving Fisher patents archiving system with index cards 
1914
German plane drops bombs on Dover England 
1920
Enrico Caruso gives his last public performance (NYC) 
1922
BBC broadcasts 1st British radio play "Truth about Father Christmas" 
1922
London Coloseum opens 
1924
1st radio transmission of NCRV in Netherlands 
1924
Albania becomes a republic (ex-premier Ahmed Zogoe's coup) 
1924
Richard Rodgers Theater (46th St Chanin's) opens at 226 W 46th NYC 
1924
School in Babb's Switch, Oklahoma catches fire, 36 die 
1927
Test Cricket debut of Walter Hammond, who scored 51 & took 5-36 v S Af 
1928
George Abbott Theater (Adelphi, 54 St) opens at 152 W 54th St NYC 
1930
Bandung, Java: ir Sukarno 4 years jail sentenced 
1930
F Garcia Lorca's "La Zapatera Prodigiosa" premieres in Madrid 
1932
Arturo Alessandri wins presidental election in Chile 
1933
Paris express train derails & kills 160, injures 300 (France) 
1934
Grimmett takes 9-180 for SA as Queensland make 430 
1935
Bradman scores 233 in 191 mins, SA v Queensland, 28 fours 1 six 
1935
National Council of Negro Women forms 
1936
1st radioactive isotope medicine administered, Berkeley, Ca 
1937
Dutch government recognizes Italian king Emanuel III as emperor of Abyssinia 
1939
World War II: Pope Pius XII makes a Christmas Eve appeal for peace. 
1941
1st ships of admiral Nagumo's Pearl Harbor fleet return to Japan 
1942
1st powered flight of V-1 'buzz bomb', Peenemunde, Germany 
1942
Red army occupies German airports at Tasjinskaja & Morozowsk 
1943
FDR appoints Gen Eisenhower supreme commander of Allied forces 
1943
Terence Rattigan's "While the Sun Shines" premieres in London 
1946
4th French republic established 
1946
US General MacNarney gives 800,000 "minor nazis" amnesty 
1946
France's Fourth Republic is founded. 
1948
1st US house completely sun-heated is occupied (Dover, Mass) 
1948
Greek government disbands due to state of war, press censorship 
1950
Cleveland Browns win NFL championship, beat LA 30-28 
1951
1st televised opera (Amahl & Night Visitor) 
1951
United Kingdom of Libya gains independence from Italy via UN 
1953
2 fast express trains crash head-on killing 103 (Czechoslovakia) 
1953
KHOL (now KHGI) TV channel 13 in Kearney, NB (ABC) begins broadcasting 
1953
KOA (now KCNC) TV channel 4 in Denver, CO (NBC) begins broadcasting 
1953
René Coty elected president of France 
1953
Wellington-Auckland (NZ) express train swept away in flood kills 166 
1954
Council for the Children Protection forms in Netherlands 
1954
Laos gains its independence 
1956
"I Love Lucy" Christmas show airs, never put in syndication 
1956
Ferdinand de Lesseps statue blown up in Port Said Egypt 
1960
Dutch bishops question papacy values 
1961
Houston Oilers beat San Diego Chargers 10-3 in AFL championship game 
1962
USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR 
1963
Greek & Turks riot in Cyprus 
1964
Shooting begins on "The Cage" the pilot for Star Trek 
1966
"Joyful Noise" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 12 perfs 
1966
Luna 13 lands on Moon 
1966
USAF C144 military charter crashes near Binh Thai Vietnam kills 129 
1967
China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor, PRC 
1967
Pirate Radio Pegasus starts broadcasting off New Zealand 
1968
Apollo 8 astronauts read passages from Book of Genesis 
1968
WATU (now WAGT) TV channel 26 in Augusta, GA (CBS) begins broadcasting 
1970
9 Jews are convicted in Leningrad of hijacking a plane 
1970
Walt Disney's "Aristocats" is released 
1971
Peruvian Airlines Electra crashes at headwaters of Amazon, killing all except Juliane Margaret Koepcke found 10 days later 
1973
Ferryboat capsized off coast of Equador, drowning 200 
1973
District of Columbia Home Rule Act is passed, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to elect their own local government. 
1974
Cardinals' Lou Brock is named Sportsman of the Year 
1977
"Ghost to the Post", Raiders tight end Dave Casper ("The Ghost") catches a 42-yard reception to set up the Raiders' tying field goal near the end of regulation (Raiders win in OT) 
1979
1st Ariane rocket launched 
1980
Americans remembered Iran hostages by shining lights for 417 seconds 
1981
USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR 
1982
Chaminade, with a student body of only 850 students, beats #1 ranked Virginia 77-72 in a Honolulu holiday basketball classic 
1984
Palace coup in Mauritania 
1986
French hostage Aurel Cornea, held in Lebanon for 9 months, released 
1986
Iran offensive against Iraqi islands of Shatt al-Arab 
1989
Charles Taylor enters Liberia to unseat President Samuel K Doe 
1989
Panama's dictator, Manual Noriega, seeks asylum at Vatican embassy 
1990
Expos trade Tim Raines to White Sox for Ivan Calderon & Barry Jones 
1990
Saddam Hussein says Israel will be Iraq's 1st target 
1992
US President Bush pardons Caspar Weinberger for Iran-contra affair 
1994
4 Moslem fundamentalists capture Air France pilot in Algiers 
1997
1st time a Channukah candle is officially lit in Vatican City 
1997
The Sid El-Antri massacre (or Sidi Lamri) in Algeria kills 50-100 people. 
1997
The Dominican Republic becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty. 
2000
The Texas 7 hold up a sports store in Irving, Texas. Police officer Aubrey Hawkins is shot during the robbery. 
2003
Spanish police thwart an attempt by ETA to detonate 50 kg of explosives at 3:55 p.m. inside Madrid's busy Chamartín Station. 
2012
11 kindergarten children are killed after a minivan plunges into a roadside pond in Jiangxi, China 
2015
At least 25 killed in hospital fire in Jazan, Saudi Arabia 
2015
Former American hostages in Iran will receive compensation 
2015
NORAD's Santa Tracker started with a typo 60 years ago 
2016
Carrie Fisher Hospitalized After Medical Episode on Plane 
2016
White House defends decision to abstain in UN vote on settlements 
2016
Israeli minister says US has abandoned Israel after UN vote 
2017
Rescuers search for Philippine storm victims as toll rises to 200 
2017
Fire in Philippine shopping mall kills 37 
2017
Miss America CEO, other leaders resign after report of derogatory emails 
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