December 25

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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.

1 Events
2 Births
3 Deaths
4 Holidays and observances
5 External links

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Events

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 - Saint Francis of Assisi assembles the first Nativity scene.
1599 - The city of Natal, Brazil is founded.
1776 - George Washington and his army cross the Delaware River to attack the monarchy'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 - US President Andrew Johnson grants unconditional pardon to all Civil War Confederate soldiers.
1868 - Ezo Republic founded in Hokkaido by Shogunate rebels.
1914 - World War I: The Christmas truce: Just after midnight on Christmas morning, German and British troops on the Western Front cease firing their guns and artillery and sing Christmas carols. Crossing the No man's land, they trade gifts with the enemy forces that face them. They also played a game of soccer with a makeshift soccer ball (fashioned by the Germans) This truce lasts for several days, depending on the location.
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 - Hong Kong surrenders to the Japanese.
1947 - The Constitution of the Republic of China goes into effect.
1953 - A fire breaks out in Shek Kip Mei, Hong Kong.
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
1977 - Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin meets in Egypt with President of Egypt Anwar Sadat
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.
2004 - Cassini orbiter releases Huygens probe which will land on Saturn's moon, Titan on January 14, 2005.

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Births

4 BC-6 AD - Jesus, Christian icon (Date of birth is disputed)
1583 - Orlando Gibbons, English composer (d. 1625)
1628 - Noël Coypel, French painter (d. 1707)
1642 - (OS) - 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
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, 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, founder of Banaras Hindu University
1875 - Theodor Cardinal Innitzer, Archbishop of Vienna
1876 - Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan
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, actress (d. 1967)
1886 - Kid Ory, jazz musician (d. 1973)
1887 - Conrad Nicholson Hilton, hotelier (d. 1979)
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 - Ernst Ruska, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1988)
1906 - Sir Lew Grade, film producer (d. 1998)
1907 - Cab Calloway, bandleader (d. 1994)
1908 - Quentin Crisp, author and activist (d. 1999)
1912 - Tony Martin, singer
1912 - Natalino Otto, Italian singer
1913 - Henri Nannen, journalist and publisher (d. 1966)
1915 - Pete Rugolo, bandleader
1918 - Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1981)
1924 - Rod Serling, American television scriptwriter (d. 1975)
1924 - Atal Behari Vajpayee, Prime Minister of India
1925 - Carlos Castaneda, author (d. 1998)
1927 - Nellie Fox, baseball player (d. 1975)
1928 - Dick Miller, actor
1936 - Princess Alexandra of Kent
1936 - Ismail Merchant, film producer (d. 2005)
1943 - Hanna Schygulla, actress
1944 - Jairzinho, footballer
1945 - Noel Redding, bassist (d. 2003)
1945 - Gary Sandy, actor
1946 - Jimmy Buffett, singer, songwriter
1946 - Larry Csonka, American football player
1946 - Gene Lamont, American baseball player and manager
1948 - Barbara Mandrell, singer and actress
1949 - Sissy Spacek, actress
1949 - Joe Louis Walker, musician
1950 - Manny Trillo, baseball player
1950 - Karl Rove, political advisor to President George W. Bush
1954 - Annie Lennox, singer (Eurythmics)
1957 - Shane MacGowan, musician
1958 - Hanford Dixon, American football player
1958 - Rickey Henderson, baseball player
1959 - Michael P. Anderson, astronaut
1961 - Ingrid Betancourt, Colombian senator
1962 - Dean Cameron, American actor
1967 - Jason Thirsk, American bass player (Pennywise)
1971 - Dido, singer
1971 - Noel Hogan, Irish guitarist and songwriter The Cranberries
1975 - Marcus Trescothick, English cricketer
1976 - Tuomas Holopainen, keyboardist and composer (Nightwish)
1976 - Armin van Buuren, keyboardist
1980 - Reika Hashimoto, actress and model
1984 - The Veronicas, band of sisters Lisa and Jessica Origliasso
1990 - Jurry Abbas

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Deaths

795 - Pope Adrian I
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)
1824 - Barbara Juliana, Baroness von Krüdener, Russian writer (b. 1764)
1880 - Fridolin Anderwert, Swiss Federal Councilor (b. 1828)
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 Čapek, Czech author (b. 1890)
1940 - Agnes Ayres, actress (b. 1898)
1946 - W. C. Fields, actor and comedian (b. 1880)
1961 - Otto Loewi, German-American pharmacologist (b. 1873)
1963 - Tristan Tzara, writer (b. 1896)
1973 - Ismet Inonu, statesman (b. 1884)
1973 - Gabriel Voisin, French aviation pioneer (b. 1880)
1977 - Charlie Chaplin, English actor (b. 1889)
1983 - Joan Miró, painter (b. 1893)
1988 - Deuce Bigalo European Gigolo (b. 1950)
1989 - Nicolae Ceauşescu, Romanian dictator (executed) (b. 1918)
1989 - Billy Martin, baseball player and manager (b. 1928)
1994 - Zail Singh, President of India (b. 1916)
1995 - Dean Martin, singer and actor (b. 1917)
1996 - JonBenét Ramsey, American beauty queen and murder victim (b. 1990)
1998 - John Pulman, English snooker player
2000 - Willard Van Orman Quine, philosopher

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Holidays and observances

The Christmas holiday is celebrated on this day. It is a national holiday in many countries including the United States, Canada, most European Nations, New Zealand and Australia. It celebrates the nativity of Christianity's icon, Jesus, as well as secular aspects which include the decoration of Christmas trees, and the exchanging of gifts. It is celebrated by many non-Christians (including atheists) that celebrate the holiday focusing only on secular aspects.