http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
Dec 25, 1914: The Christmas Truce
Just after midnight on Christmas morning, the majority of German troops engaged in World War I cease firing their guns and artillery and commence to sing Christmas carols. At certain points along the eastern and western fronts, the soldiers of Russia, France, and Britain even heard brass bands joining the Germans in their joyous singing.
At the first light of dawn, many of the German soldiers emerged from their trenches and approached the Allied lines across no-man's-land, calling out "Merry Christmas" in their enemies' native tongues. At first, the Allied soldiers feared it was a trick, but seeing the Germans unarmed they climbed out of their trenches and shook hands with the enemy soldiers. The men exchanged presents of cigarettes and plum puddings and sang carols and songs. There was even a documented case of soldiers from opposing sides playing a good-natured game of soccer.
The so-called Christmas Truce of 1914 came only five months after the outbreak of war in Europe and was one of the last examples of the outdated notion of chivalry between enemies in warfare. In 1915, the bloody conflict of World War I erupted in all its technological fury, and the concept of another Christmas Truce became unthinkable.
Dec 25, 1991: Gorbachev resigns as president of the USSR
Mikhail Gorbachev announces that he is resigning as president of the Soviet Union. In truth, there was not much of a Soviet Union from which to resign—just four days earlier, 11 of the former Soviet republics had established the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), effectively dismembering the USSR. The Soviet Union, for all intents and purposes, had already ceased to exist.
In his farewell speech to the nation, Gorbachev indicated that the recent establishment of the CIS was the primary motive for his resignation, claiming he was "concerned about the fact that the people in this country are ceasing to become citizens of a great power and the consequences may be very difficult for all of us to deal with." In words that were sometimes prideful, sometimes resentful, Gorbachev stated that he stood on his record of achievement. He had, he claimed, overseen the Soviet Union's trip down the "road of democracy." His reforms "steered" the communist economy "toward the market economy." He declared that the Russian people were "living in a new world" in which an "end has been put to the Cold War and to the arms race." Admitting "there were mistakes made," Gorbachev remained adamant that he "never had any regrets" about the policies he pursued.
In reality, Gorbachev had lost much of his power and prestige in the Soviet Union even before the establishment of the CIS. The economy was unstable. No one seemed pleased by Gorbachev-some opponents demanded even more political freedom while hard-liners in his government opposed any movement toward reform. In August 1991, he survived a coup attempt only through the assistance of Russian Federation president Boris Yeltsin. Following the failed attempt, Yeltsin became a vocal critic of the slow pace of economic and political reforms in the country. As Gorbachev's power slipped away, Yeltsin took over the Kremlin and other Soviet government facilities and replaced the Soviet flag with the flag of Russia. After over 70 years of existence, the Soviet Union-America's archenemy in the Cold War-was gone.
Dec 25, 1776: Washington leads troops on raid at Trenton, New Jersey
On this night in 1776, future resident General George Washington leads his small and bedraggled army in a daring raid on British and Hessian troops at Trenton, New Jersey, during the American Revolution.
Just prior to launching boats from McKonkey's Ferry across the Delaware River, Washington had an excerpt from Thomas Paine's inspirational pamphlet The Crisis--published two days earlier--read aloud to the army. The pamphlet began: "These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph."
Although Americans often think of President George Washington as stately and composed, in actuality the revolutionary hero could be quite down-to-earth, even coarse, a trait that endeared him to his troops. One historian's account, supported by the memoirs of troops in attendance at the famous crossing of the Delaware, suggests that as Washington was stepping into a boat in which the portly General Henry Knox was already seated, he poked Knox with his boot and said "shift that fat [a..], Harry...but slowly, or you'll swamp the damned boat." The freezing, wet and frightened soldiers broke into hysterical laughter as word of Washington's wisecrack drifted down the line of boats poised to cross the icy river. Early on the morning of December 26, 2,500 American soldiers led by Washington surprised the mainly Hessian soldiers at Trenton (allegedly hung-over over after a night of Christmas cheer) and after a short battle took control of the town. The scrappy Washington ordered his soldiers to take whatever ammunition and supplies they could carry and scurried back across the Delaware. Washington's daring attack, after a string of demoralizing retreats, gave a desperately needed boost to the flagging spirits of the Continental Army.
Dec 25, 1962: To Kill a Mockingbird debuts
On this day in 1962, To Kill a Mockingbird, a film based on the 1960 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Harper Lee, opens in theaters. The Great Depression-era story of racial injustice and the loss of childhood innocence is told from the perspective of a young Alabama girl named Scout Finch, played in the film by Mary Badham, who lives with her older brother Jem (Phillip Alford) and their widowed attorney father Atticus (Peck). While Scout, Jem and their friend Dill (John Megna) become fascinated by the mysterious shut-in Boo Radley (Robert Duvall), Atticus goes to court to defend a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. Directed by Robert Mulligan (Love with the Proper Stranger, Inside Daisy Clover, Summer of ‘42, The Man in the Moon), To Kill a Mockingbird was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won three Oscars, including Best Actor (Peck). The American Film Institute has rated Atticus Finch as the greatest movie hero of the 20th century, and in 1995 the United States National Film Registry picked To Kill a Mockingbird for preservation in the Library of Congress as a “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” film.
Peck, born on April 5, 1916, in La Jolla, California, graduated from the University of California at Berkeley, where he became involved in theater. He debuted on Broadway in the early 1940s and made his big-screen debut in 1944’s Days of Glory. He went on to earn Academy Award nominations for 1946’s The Keys of the Kingdom, 1947’s The Yearling, 1948’s The Gentleman’s Agreement and 1950’s Twelve O’Clock High. The handsome, dark-haired actor also starred in such movies as Spellbound (1945), The Gunfighter (1950), Roman Holiday (1953)--which marked Audrey Hepburn’s silver screen debut, as well as her first Best Actress Oscar win--Moby Dick (1956), in which Peck played Captain Ahab, and The Guns of Navarone (1961). Among Peck’s other movie credits are The Omen (1976), The Boys from Brazil (1978) and Other People’s Money (1991). He also made an appearance in director Martin Scorsese’s 1991 remake of Cape Fear, starring Robert DeNiro, Nick Nolte and Jessica Lange. (Peck had starred in the original 1962 film.) He died at the age of 87 on June 12, 2003.
To Kill a Mockingbird was the only book that Harper Lee ever published. The author, who was born on April 28, 1926, and raised in Monroeville, Alabama, was a friend from childhood of the writer Truman Capote (Breakfast at Tiffany’s, In Cold Blood). In the 2005 biopic Capote, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, the actress Catherine Keener played Lee, while Sandra Bullock took on the role in 2006’s Infamous.
Today
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
1 - 1st Christmas, according to calendar-maker Dionysus
Exiguus
274 - Roman Emperor Aurelian dedicates a temple to Sol
Invictus on the supposed day of the winter solstice and day of rebirth of the
Sun.
337 - Earliest possible date that Christmas was celebrated
on Dec 25th
352 - 1st definite date Christmas was celebrated on Dec 25th
390 - Roman emperor Theodosius admits debt on mass murder in
Thessalonica
498 - French king Clovis baptises himself
597 - England adopts Julian calendar
604 - Battle at Etampes (Stampae): Burgundy beat Neustriers
800 - Pope Leo III crowns Charles the Great (Charlemagne),
Roman emperor
875 - Charles, the Bare, crowned emperor of Rome
967 - John XIII crowned Otto II the Red German compassionate
emperor
969 - Johannes I Tzimisces, crowned emperor of Byzantium
979 - Rotardus appointed as bishop of the kingdom
999 - Heribertus becomes bishop of Cologne
1000 - Monarch Istvan crowned king of Hungary
1046 - Pope Clemens VI crowns Henry III RC-German emperor
1048 - Parliament of Worms: Emperor Henry III names his
cousin count Bruno van Egisheim/Dagsburg as Pope Leo IX
1066 - William the Conqueror, crowned king of England
1100 - Boudouin I of Boulogne crowned king of Jerusalem
Holy Roman Emperor CharlemagneHoly Roman Emperor Charlemagne
1101 - Henry I of Limburg becomes duke of Neth-Lutherans
1121 - Norbertus van Xanten finds order of the Norbertijnen
1130 - Anti-pope Anacletus II crowns Roger II the Norman,
king of Sicily
1223 - St Francis of Assisi assembles 1st Nativity scene
(Greccio, Italy)
1261 - John IV Lascaris of the restored Eastern Roman Empire
is deposed and blinded by orders of his co-ruler Michael VIII Palaeologus.
1492 - Columbus' ship Santa Maria runs aground and sinks on
Hispaniola
1522 - Turkish troops occupy Rhodos
1553 - Battle of Tucapel: Mapuche rebels under Lautaro
defeats the Spanish conquistadors and exetutes the governor of Chile Pedro de
Valdivia.
1582 - Zealand/Brabant adopts Gregorian calendar, yesterday
was Dec 14th
1599 - The city of Natal, Brazil is founded.
1613 - Johan Sigismund of Brandenburg becomes protestant
1621 - Gov William Bradford of Plymouth forbids game playing
on Christmas
1640 - Pierre de Fermat writes to Marin Mersenne about
Fermat's church thesis
1641 - Emperor Ferdinand III makes appointments with Sweden
& France
1643 - Christmas Island founded and named by Captain William
Mynors of the East India Ship Company vessel, the Royal Mary.
1651 - Massachusetts General Court ordered a
fine (five shillings) for "observing any such day as Christmas"
1683 - English Whig-leader duke of Monmouth flees to Holland
1688 - English king James II lands in Ambleteuse, France
1688 - Lord Delamere sides with King James II
1717 - Floods ravage Dutch coast provinces, 1000s killed
1741 - Astronomer Anders Celcius introduces Centigrade
temperature scale
1745 - Prussia andAustria sign Treaty of Dresden giving much
of Silesia to the Prussians
1758 - Halley's comet 1st sighted by Johann Georg Palitzsch
during return
1760 - Jupiter Hammon, NY slave, publishes poetry in
"An Evening Throught"
1775 - Pope Pius VI encyclical on the problems of the
pontificate
1776 - Washington crosses Delaware & surprises &
defeats 1,400 Hessians
1818 - 1st known Christmas carol ("Silent Night, Holy
Night") sung (Austria)
1818 - Handel's Messiah, premieres in the US in Boston
1830 - Hector Berlioz's "Symphony Fantastic,"
premieres
1831 - Louisiana & Arkansas are 1st states to observe
Christmas as holiday
Naturalist Charles DarwinNaturalist Charles Darwin 1832 -
Charles Darwins celebrates Christmas in St Martin at Cape Receiver
1833 - Charles Darwins celebrates Christmas in Port Desire,
Patagonia
1834 - Charles Darwins celebrates Christmas on Beagle at
Tres Montes, Chile
1835 - Charles Darwins company celebrates Christmas in
Pahia, New Zealand
1837 - Battle of Okeechobee-US forces defeat Seminole
Indians
1843 - 1st theatre matinee (Olympic Theatre, NYC)
1848 - New Haven Railroad opens
1862 - 40,000 watch Union army men play baseball at Hilton
Head, SC
1868 - Despite bitter opposition, President A Johnson grants
unconditional pardon to all persons involved in Southern rebellion (Civil War)
1875 - Lambs Club in NY forms
1888 - 1st indoor baseball game played at fairgrounds in
Philadelphia
1894 - 1st midwestern football team to play on west coast, U
of Chicago defeats Stanford 24-4 at Palo Alto, CA in football
1896 - "Stars & Stripes Forever" written by
John Philip Sousa
1899 - Farmers send/guide belegerd Ladysmith
Kerstpudding/desire in grenade
1900 - Arthur Schnitzlers "Leutnant Gustl"
forbidden in Germany
Composer John Philip SousaComposer John Philip Sousa 1901 -
Battle at Tweefontein Orange-Free state: Boers surprise attack Brits
1902 - Clyde Fitch' "Girl with Green Eyes,"
premieres in NYC
1905 - V Herbert/H Blossoms musical "Mlle
Modiste," premieres in NYC
1911 - Edward Knoblock's "Kismet," premieres in
NYC
1914 - Legendary/unofficial "Christmas Truce"
takes place (Brits & Germans)
1915 - Irving Berlin & Harry B Smith's musical premieres
in NYC
1917 - "Why Marry," 1st drama to win Pulitzer
Prize, premieres in NYC
1917 - Hirsch/Harbach's musical "Going Up,"
premieres in NYC
1922 - -Dec 26] Lenin dictates his "Political
testament"
1923 - Imperial Theater opens at 249 W 45th St NYC
1926 - Hirohito becomes emperor of Japan (1926-1989)
1928 - Christmas Day attendance at cricket MCG (Vic v NSW)
14,887
1928 - NSW (v Vic) go from 8-74 to 9-113 to be 9-367 at
stumps
1929 - Grimmett takes 6-146 for SA, Queensland all out 380
Crowd 5,390
1930 - 1st US bobsled run open to public (Lake Placid, NY)
Marxist Revolutionary and Russian Leader Vladimir
LeninMarxist Revolutionary and Russian Leader Vladimir Lenin 1930 - Mt Van
Hoevenberg bobsled run at Lake Placid, NY opens
1930 - Slinger Nitschke scores 142 SA v Qld at Adelaide
before 5,422
1930 - Tasmania all out 280, WI 2-139 at Hobart Crowd 2,500
1931 - Albert Lonergan scores 137 SA v Qld at Adelaide
before 5,697
1931 - Fleetwood-Smith takes 5-69 Victoria v Tas at Hobart
1931 - NY's Metropolitan Opera broadcasts an entire opera
over radio
1932 - 7.6 magnitude earthquake ravages Qansu, China, kills
275
1932 - During King George V Christmas dinner speech, his
chair collapes
1933 - Another Christmas Day five-wicket haul by Clarrie
Grimmett
1933 - Belgian Working people's party accept Henry de Mans
Plan of Labor
1933 - Stan Smith takes 8-33 for Victoria v Tasmania at
Hobart
1934 - Four centuries for SA as they make 7-644 v Qld before
6,180
1934 - Samson Raphaelson's "Accent on Youth,"
premieres in NYC
1936 - Belgian bishops condemn fascism & communism
1936 - Ron Hamence scores 104 for SA v Queensland before
4,865
1937 - Arturo Toscanini conducts 1st Symphony of the Air
over NBC Radio
1937 - Queensland all out for 93 v SA in front of 10,436
1938 - George Cukor announces Vivien Leigh will play
Scarlett O'Hara
1939 - Grimmett & Ward rip through Qld except Bill Brown
(156)
1939 - Montgomery Ward introduces Rudolph the 9th reindeer
1940 - Bradman out 1st ball for SA v Victoria before 6213
1940 - Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Harts "Pal
Joey," premieres in NYC
1941 - Japan announces surrender of British-Canadian
garrison at Hong Kong
1941 - Japanese aircraft carriers Akagi/Kagu back in Kure,
Japan
1942 - Admiral Dalans murderer of Bosinier de la Chapelle,
sentenced to death
1942 - British Col S W Bailey reaches Mihailovics
headquarter
1942 - Russian artillery/tank battle on German armies at
Stalingrad
1946 - Constitution accepted in Taiwan
1947 - Taiwan passes Human Rights laws (Day of Earth Law)
1947 - The Constitution of the Republic of China goes into
effect.
1950 - Cleveland Browns beat LA Rams 30-28 in NFL
championship game
1950 - Coronation Stone, taken from Scone in Scotland by
Edward I in 1296, stolen from Westminster Abbey & smuggled back to Scotland
1951 - 1st Christmas Day in Test Crickets, Aust v WI at
Adelaide
1951 - West Indies defeat Australia by 6 wkts on 3rd day of
3rd Test Cricket
1953 - Avalanche of lava kills 150 (Ruapehu volcano, New
Zealand)
1954 - WSFA TV channel 12 in Montgomery, AL (NBC) begins
broadcasting
1955 - Pope Pius XII encyclical on sacred music &
popular music
1957 - Ed Gein found insane of murder
1958 - Alan Freed's Christmas Rock & Roll Spectacular
opens
1959 - A synagogue in Cologne Germany desecrated with
swatstikas
1959 - Richard Starkey receives his 1st drum set
1959 - Sony brings transistor TV 8-301 to the market
1962 - USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
1963 - Walt Disney's "The Sword in the Stone" is
released
1964 - "Goldfinger" premieres in US
1964 - George Harrison's girlfriend Patti Boyd attacked by
female Beatle fans
1965 - The Yemeni Nasserite Unionist People's Organisation
is founded in Taiz
Musician & member of the Beatles Paul McCartneyMusician
& member of the Beatles Paul McCartney 1967 - Paul McCartney & Jane
Asher get engaged
1968 - Frank Borman's Christmas reading while orbiting Moon
1968 - 42 Dalits are burned alive in Kilavenmani village,
Tamil Nadu, India, a retaliation for a campaign for higher wages by Dalit
labourers.
1969 - 5 Israeli gunboats escape from Cherbourg harbor
1969 - India all out for 163 at Madras v Aust, Ashley
Mallett 5-91
1971 - Longest NFL game (82m40s) as Dolphins beat Chiefs
27-24
1971 - Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity) form
Jesse Jackson
1971 - Worst hotel fire in history kills 163 at Taeyokale
Hotel in Seoul
1972 - England beat India by six wickets in the 1st Test
Cricket at Delhi
1973 - Tommy Chambers (Scotland) finishes 51 yr cycle tour
(799,405 miles)
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 virtually destroys Darwin Australia
1974 - Marshall Fields drives a vehicle through the gates of
the White House, resulting in a four-hour standoff.
1976 - Egyptian SS Patria sinks in Red Sea, about 100 killed
1976 - Takeo Fukuda becomes Japanese premier
Israeli Prime Minister Menachem BeginIsraeli Prime Minister
Menachem Begin 1977 - Israeli PM Menachem Begin meets Egyptian Pres Sadat in
Egypt
1979 - Opening day of 4th Test Cricket, India 8-112 v
Pakistan at Kanpur
1979 - USSR airlifts invasionary army to Afghanistan
1982 - Mudassar Nazar scores century, then Imran rips
through Indians
1983 - 1st live telecast of Christmas Parade
1984 - NBA's Bernard King scores 60 points
1987 - Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, who escaped 2
days earlier, recaptured
1989 - Japanese scientist achieve -271.8°C, coldest temp
ever recorded
1990 - "Godfather III" premieres
1990 - The first successful trial run of the system which
would become the World Wide Web.
1991 - Last day of a washout Pakistan v Sri Lanka at
Gujranwala
1991 - Mikhail Gorbachev formally resigned as President of
USSR
1994 - "Comedy Tonight" closes at Lunt-Fontanne
Theater NYC after 8 perfs
1997 - For 1st time US movie box office receipts pass $6
billion
1997 - Jerry Seinfeld says this is the final season of his
TV show
Comedian Jerry SeinfeldComedian Jerry Seinfeld 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.
2009 - Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab unsuccessfully attempts a
terrorist attack against the US while on board Northwest Airlines Flight 253
2012 - 27 people are killed after an Antonov An-72 plane
crashes near Shymkent, Kazakhstan
2012 - 8 people are killed and thousands left homeless after
two fires strike Manila, Philippines
0800 - Charlemagne was crowned first Holy Roman Emperor in Rome by Pope Leo III. 1066 - William the Conqueror was crowned king of England. 1223 - St. Francis of Assisi assembled one of the first Nativity scenes, in Greccio, Italy. 1776 - Gen. George Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware River for a surprise attack against Hessian forces at Trenton, NJ. 1818 - "Silent Night" was performed for the first time, at the Church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorff, Austria. 1868 - U.S. President Andrew Johnson granted an unconditional pardon to all persons involved in the Southern rebellion that resulted in the Civil War. 1894 - The University of Chicago became the first Midwestern football team to play on the west coast. U.C. defeated Stanford, 24-4, in Palo Alto, CA. 1896 - John Philip Sousa finally titled the melody "The Stars and Stripes Forever." 1914 - During World War I, British and German troops observed an unofficial truce and even playing football together on the Western Front. 1917 - The play "Why Marry?" opened at the Astor Theatre in New York City. "Why Marry?" was the first dramatic play to win a Pulitzer Prize. 1926 - Hirohito became the emperor of Japan after the death of his father Emperor Taisho. 1930 - The Mt. Van Hoevenberg bobsled run at Lake Placid, New York opened to the public. It was the first bobsled track of international specifications to open in the U.S. 1931 - Lawrence Tibbett was the featured vocalist as radio came to the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. The first opera was "Hansel und Gretel" and was heard on the NBC network of stations. 1937 - Arturo Toscanini conducted the first broadcast of "Symphony of the Air" over NBC radio. 1939 - "A Christmas Carol," by Charles Dickens, was read on CBS radio for the first time. 1941 - Hong Kong surrendered to the Japanese. 1946 - W.C. Fields died at the age of 66. 1950 - Dick Tracy married on Tess Truehart. 1962 - The Department of Commerce Census Clock in Washington, DC, recorded the U.S. population on this day as 188,000,000. 1971 - The longest pro-football game to date finally ended when Garo Yepremian kicked a field goal in the second quarter of sudden death overtime. The Miami Dolphins defeated Kansas City, 27-24. The total game time was 82 minutes and 40 seconds. 1972 - The Nicaraguan capital Managua was hit by an earthquake. Over 10,000 people were killed. 1979 - The USSR invaded Afghanistan in a bid to halt civil war and protect USSR interests. 1989 - Ousted Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, Elena, were executed following a popular uprising. 1989 - Former baseball player and manager Billy Martin died in a truck crash in Fenton, NY. 1989 - Dissident playwright Vaclav Havel was elected president of Czechoslovakia. 1991 - Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev went on television to announce his resignation as leader of a Communist superpower that had already gone out of existence. 1998 - Seven days into their journey, Richard Branson, Steve Fossett and Per Lindstrand of Sweden gave up their attempt to make the first nonstop round-the-world balloon flight. They ditched near Hawaii. 2000 - Over 300 people were killed and dozens were injured by fire at a Christmas party in the Chinese city of Luoyang. The incident occurred at the Dongdu Disco.
1066 William the Conqueror was crowned King of England. 1776 George Washington crossed the Delaware River and surprised the Hessians. 1868 President Andrew Johnson granted an unconditional pardon to all persons involved in the Southern rebellion that resulted in the Civil War. 1926 Hirohito became emperor of Japan. 1977 British film actor, director, and producer Charlie Chaplin died in Switzerland at age 88. 1989 Former Romanian president Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife were executed. 1991 President Mikhail Gorbachev resigned following the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:
http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php
http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/dec25.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
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