From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
December 24
is the 358th day of the year (359th in
leap years
) in the
Gregorian calendar
. There are seven days remaining until the end of the year.
- 563
- Second
inauguration
of the
Hagia Sophia
, then a cathedral.
- 640
-
Pope John IV
is elected.
- 759
-
China
:
Tang Dynasty
poet
Du Fu
leaves for
Chengdu
, where he is hosted by fellow poet
Pei Di
.
- 1294
-
Pope Boniface VIII
is elected, after the resignation of
Pope Celestine V
.
- 1717
- A
North Sea
Christmas
flood
kills 11,500 people.
- 1726
?
Montevideo
, the present-day capital city of
Uruguay
, is founded.
- 1777
?
James Cook
reaches the island of Kiritimati, in present-day
Kiribati
.
- 1811
- HMS
Defence
and HMS
St. George
sink in a
storm
off
Denmark
.
- 1814
- The
Treaty of Ghent
ends the
War of 1812
.
- 1818
? The famous
Christmas
carol
Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht
(
Silent Night
, Holy Night), is performed for the first time in
Austria
.
- 1851
- The
US
Library of Congress
burns.
- 1865
? The
Ku Klux Klan
is founded by
Confederate
veterans.
- 1871
- The
Opera
Aida
is first performed in
Cairo
.
- 1906
-
Reginald Fessenden
transmits the first
radio
broadcast, consisting of a
poetry
reading, a
violin
solo
, and a speech.
- 1912
- A mining explosion in
Hokkaido
,
Japan
, kills 245 miners.
- 1913
- In Calumet,
Michigan
, 73
Christmas
party goers die in a stampede after "fire" was falsely yelled.
- 1914
?
World War I
: The
Christmas Truce
begins.
- 1924
?
Albania
becomes a
Republic
.
- 1929
- An
assassination
attempt
is made on
President of Argentina
Hipolito Yrigoyen
.
- 1939
-
Pope Pius XII
makes a
Christmas
appeal for
peace
, after the start of
World War II
.
- 1942
-
World War II
: French monarchist
Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle
assassinates
Vichy
admiral
Francois Darlan
in
Algiers
, French
Algeria
.
- 1943
-
World War II
:
Dwight D. Eisenhower
becomes Supreme Allied Commander.
- 1951
?
Libya
becomes independent, with Idris I as king.
- 1953
? Tangiwai Disaster: After a volcanic eruption (of Mt.
Ruapehu
) on
New Zealand
's
North Island
, a train plunges into the Whangeahu river following a
bridge
collapse caused by the eruption, killing 153 people.
- 1954
?
Laos
is officially declared independent.
- 1964
-
Flooding
kills thousands of people in Southern
India
and
Sri Lanka
.
- 1968
?
Apollo 8
, with
Frank Borman
,
Jim Lovell
and
William Anders
on board, orbits the
moon
, and take a spectacular
photograph
of the
Earth
.
- 1971
- A
Lockheed
L-188 Electra crashes in the
Peruvian
rainforest
, killing 91 people. The only survivor is then-17-year-old German
Juliane Koepcke
, who lost both her parents in the crash.
- 1972
-
Japan
Airlines
Flight 472, a Douglas DC-8, lands at Juhu
Aerodrome
, overshooting the runway, instead of landing at nearby
Bombay
Santa Cruz
Airport
.
- 1973
- The
District of Columbia
Home Rule Act passes, allowing
Washington, DC
residents to elect their
government
.
- 1974
?
Cyclone
Tracy devastates
Darwin
,
Northern Territory
,
Australia
, killing 71 people.
- 1979
? The first European-made
rocket
Ariane
is launched from
French Guiana
.
- 1994
-
Air France
Flight 8969 is hijacked by
terrorists
on the ground; Over the course of three days, three passengers and four terrorists are killed.
- 1997
- The Sid El-Antri massacre in
Algeria
kills between 50 and 100 people.
- 2000
- The
Texas Seven
hold up a
sports
store in Irving,
Texas
.
- 3 BC
?
Galba
, Roman Emperor (d.
69
)
- 1166
? King
John of England
(d.
1216
)
- 1389
?
John VI, Duke of Brittany
(d.
1442
)
- 1475
-
Thomas Murner
, German
poet
and translator (d.
1537
)
- 1508
-
Pietro Carnesecchi
, Italian
humanist
(d.
1567
)
- 1588
?
Constance of Austria
, Queen of
Poland
(d.
1631
)
- 1597
-
Honore II, Prince of Monaco
(d.
1662
)
- 1625
-
Johann Rudolf Ahle
, German
composer
,
organist
and theorist (d.
1673
)
- 1635
-
Mariana of Austria
(d.
1696
)
- 1679
-
Domenico Sarro
, Italian composer (d.
1744
)
- 1698
-
William Warburton
, English
bishop
(d.
1779
)
- 1724
-
Johann Conrad Ammann
, Swiss
physician
(d.
1811
)
- 1737
-
Silas Deane
, American politician (d.
1789
)
- 1745
?
Benjamin Rush
, American
physician
and founding father (d.
1813
)
- 1754
?
George Crabbe
, British
poet
and naturalist (d.
1832
)
- 1761
-
Jean-Louis Pons
, French
astronomer
(d.
1831
)
- 1762
?
Selim III
,
Ottoman Sultan
(d.
1808
)
- 1784
-
Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia
(d.
1803
)
- 1786
-
Gregor MacGregor
, Scottish soldier, adventurer and trickster (d.
1845
)
- 1787
-
Prince William of Hesse-Kassel
(d.
1867
)
- 1796
-
Fernan Caballero
, Spanish writer (d.
1877
)
- 1798
?
Adam Mickiewicz
, Polish
poet
(d.
1855
)
- 1809
?
Kit Carson
, American frontiersman (d.
1868
)
- 1810
?
Wilhelm Marstrand
, Danish
painter
(d.
1873
)
- 1818
?
James Prescott Joule
, British
physicist
(d.
1889
)
- 1819
-
Antonio de Trueba
, Spanish writer (d.
1889
)
- 1821
-
Gabriel Garcia Moreno
,
President of Ecuador
(d.
1875
)
- 1837
?
Elisabeth of Bavaria
, Empress of
Austria
(d.
1898
)
- 1837
-
Cosima Wagner
, wife of
Richard Wagner
(d.
1930
)
- 1843
?
Lydia Koidula
, Estonian
poet
(d.
1886
)
- 1845
? King
George I of Greece
(d.
1913
)
- 1854
-
Jose Maria Reina Barrios
,
President
of
Guatemala
(d.
1898
)
- 1863
-
Enrique Fernandez Arbos
, Spanish composer (d.
1959
)
- 1867
-
Suzuki Kantaro
,
Prime Minister of Japan
(d.
1948
)
- 1868
?
Emanuel Lasker
, German
chess
player (d.
1941
)
- 1886
-
Richard Teichmann
, German
chess
player (d.
1925
)
- 1869
-
Henriette Roland-Holst
, Dutch
poet
(d.
1952
)
- 1872
-
Adam Gunn
, American athlete (d.
1935
)
- 1872
-
Frederick Semple
, American
golfer
and
tennis
player (d.
1927
)
- 1879
?
Queen Alexandrine of Denmark
(d.
1952
)
- 1881
?
Juan Ramon Jimenez
, Spanish writer (d.
1958
)
- 1882
-
Hans Rebane
, Estonian politician,
diplomat
and
journalist
(d.
1961
)
- 1887
-
Louis Jouvet
, French
actor
and
producer
(d.
1951
)
- 1888
-
Michael Curtiz
, Hungarian-American
movie director
(d.
1962
)
- 1892
-
Ruth Chatterton
, American
actress
,
novelist
and
writer
(d.
1961
)
- 1893
-
Harry Warren
, American composer and lyricist (d.
1981
)
- 1894
-
Georges Guynemer
, French
pilot
(d.
1917
)
- 1896
?
Jens Oliver Lisberg
, Faroese
law
student and designer of the
flag
of the
Faroe Islands
(d.
1920
)
- 1897
-
Koto Okubo
, Japanese
supercentenarian
(d.
2013
)
- 1898
?
Hector Scarone
,
Uruguayan
footballer
(d.
1967
)
- 1900
-
Joey Smallwood
, 1st
Premier
of
Newfoundland
(d.
1991
)
- 1903
?
Joseph Cornell
, American artist and filmmaker (d.
1972
)
- 1904
?
Joseph M. Juran
, Romanian-born American engineer (d.
2008
)
- 1905
?
Howard Hughes
, American movie producer and inventor (d.
1976
)
- 1906
?
Joseph Hoffner
, German
cardinal
(d.
1987
)
- 1907
?
I. F. Stone
, American
journalist
(d.
1989
)
- 1907
?
John Cody
, American
cardinal
and
Archbishop
of
Chicago
(d.
1983
)
- 1910
?
Max Miedinger
, Swiss typeface designer (d.
1980
)
- 1914
?
Ralph Marterie
, Italian-American
trumpeter
and
bandleader
(d.
1978
)
- 1914
?
Herbert Reinecker
, German writer (d.
2007
)
- 1917
?
Kim Jong-suk
, North Korean figure, mother of
Kim Jong-Il
(d.
1949
)
- 1919
?
Pierre Soulages
, French artist
- 1920
?
Franco Lucentini
, Italian writer and
screenwriter
(d.
2002
)
- 1922
?
Ava Gardner
, American actress (d.
1990
)
- 1923
?
George Patton IV
, American general (d.
2004
)
- 1924
?
Mohammed Rafi
, Indian
playback singer
(d.
1980
)
- 1924
?
Lee Dorsey
, American singer (d.
1986
)
- 1924
?
Abdirizak Haji Hussein
, 4th
Prime Minister
of
Somalia
(d.
2014
)
- 1926
-
Ronald Draper
, South African cricketer
- 1927
?
Mary Higgins Clark
, American writer (d.
2020
)
- 1928
?
Manfred Rommel
, German politician (d.
2013
)
- 1929
?
Lennart Skoglund
, Swedish
footballer
(d.
1975
)
- 1931
?
Walter Abish
, American writer
- 1931
?
Lech Trzeciakowski
, Polish
historian
(d.
2017
)
- 1931
?
Mauricio Kagel
, Argentine composer (d.
2008
)
- 1934
?
Stjepan Mesic
, former
President
of
Croatia
- 1937
?
Felix Mieli Venerando
,
Brazilian
footballer
(d.
2012
)
- 1940 ?
Anthony Fauci
, American Physician and Director of
NIAID
- 1941
?
Hans Eichel
, German politician
- 1941
?
Andrzej Suski
, Polish Roman Catholic bishop
- 1943
?
Tarja Halonen
, former
President
of
Finland
- 1944
?
Woody Shaw
, American
jazz
trumpeter
(d.
1989
)
- 1944
?
Daniel Johnson, Jr.
, 25th
Premier
of
Quebec
- 1945
?
Lemmy
, British singer and musician (
Motorhead
) (d.
2015
)
- 1946
?
Jeff Sessions
, American politician, 84th
United States Attorney General
- 1948
?
Frank Oliver
, New Zealand
rugby
player
- 1948
?
Edwige Fenech
, Italian
actress
- 1949
?
Randy Neugebauer
, American politician
- 1954
-
Gregory S. Paul
, American writer, illustrator and
paleontologist
- 1954
-
Jose Maria Figueres
, former
President
of
Costa Rica
- 1955
-
Grand L. Bush
, American actor
- 1956
-
Irene Khan
, Bangladeshi
lawyer
(
Amnesty International
)
- 1957
?
Hamid Karzai
, former
President of Afghanistan
- 1958
-
Lyse Doucet
, Canadian
journalist
and
BBC News
correspondent
- 1958
-
Philippa Whitford
, Scottish politician
- 1959
?
Anil Kapoor
, Indian actor
- 1959
-
Keith Deller
, English
darts
player
- 1960
-
Glenn McQueen
, Canadian-American animator (d.
2002
)
- 1960
-
Carol Vorderman
, English
television
host
- 1961
?
Ilham Aliyev
,
President of Azerbaijan
- 1961
-
Wade Williams
, American actor
- 1962
-
David Cobb
, American
lawyer
and
politician
- 1962
-
Darren Wharton
, English musician
- 1963
-
Caroline Aherne
, English comedienne and actress (d.
2016
)
- 1963
-
Mary Ramsey
, American
singer-songwriter
- 1966
-
Diedrich Bader
, American actor
- 1967
-
Mikhail Shchennikov
, Russian race walker
- 1967
-
Pernilla Wahlgren
, Swedish singer and actress
- 1968
-
Choi Jin-sil
, South Korean actress (d.
2008
)
- 1969
?
Ed Miliband
, British politician
- 1969
-
Mark Millar
, British
historian
- 1970
-
Amaury Nolasco
, Puerto Rican actor
- 1971
?
Ricky Martin
, Puerto Rican singer
- 1972
-
Richard Dutruel
, French
footballer
- 1973
-
Matt Passmore
, Australian actor
- 1973
?
Stephenie Meyer
, American writer
- 1973
?
Eddie Pope
, American
footballer
- 1974
?
Marcelo Salas
, Chilean
footballer
- 1974
?
Ryan Seacrest
, American
television
host
- 1974
-
Thure Lindhardt
, Danish actor
- 1978
?
Yildiray Basturk
, Turkish
footballer
- 1978
-
Souleymane Diawara
,
Senegalese
footballer
- 1979
-
Svetlana Pospelova
, Russian athlete
- 1979
?
Chris Hero
, American
professional wrestler
- 1980
?
Stephen Appiah
, Ghanaian
footballer
- 1981
?
Dima Bilan
, Russian singer
- 1981
?
Nneka
, Nigerian singer
- 1982
?
Aiba Masaki
, Japanese singer and actor
- 1982
-
Robert Schwartzman
, American singer
- 1984
-
Austin Stowell
, American actor
- 1985
-
Christina Schwanitz
, German shot putter
- 1986
-
Ana Brenda Contreras
, Mexican-American actress and singer
- 1986
-
Theodor Gebre Selassie
, Czech
footballer
- 1986
-
Kyrylo Fesenko
, Ukrainian
basketball
player
- 1986
-
Riyo Mori
, Japanese model
- 1986
-
Satomi Ishihara
, Japanese actress
- 1987
-
Jane Summersett
, American ice dancer
- 1988
-
Simon Zenke
, Nigerian footballer
- 1991
-
Louis Tomlinson
, English singer (
One Direction
)
- 1992
?
Melissa Suffield
, English
actress
- 1993
-
Mariya Nishiuchi
, Japanese model, actress and singer
- 1993
-
Yuya Kubo
, Japanese
footballer
- 2000
-
Ethan Bortnick
, American
singer-songwriter
,
pianist
and
actor
- 1257
-
John I, Count of Hainault
(b.
1218
)
- 1524
?
Vasco da Gama
, Portuguese explorer (b.
1469
)
- 1660
?
Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange
(b.
1631
)
- 1813
?
Empress Go-Sakuramachi
of
Japan
(b.
1740
)
- 1863
?
William Makepeace Thackeray
, British writer (b.
1811
)
- 1865
-
Charles Lock Eastlake
, English painter (b.
1793
)
- 1868
-
Adolphe d'Archiac
, French
paleontologist
and geologist (b.
1802
)
- 1869
-
Edwin M. Stanton
, American politician (b.
1815
)
- 1872
-
William John Macquorn Rankine
, Scottish
physician
and
engineer
(b.
1820
)
- 1873
?
Johns Hopkins
, American philanthropist and benefactor (b.
1795
)
- 1889
-
Jan Jakob Lodewijk ten Kate
, Dutch clergyman and
poet
(b.
1819
)
- 1893
-
Robert Bentley
, British
botanist
(b.
1821
)
- 1898
-
Charbel Makhluf
, Lebanese monk and priest (b.
1828
)
- 1914
?
John Muir
, Scottish-American naturalist and
conservationist
(b.
1838
)
- 1920
-
Stephen Mosher Wood
, American politician (b.
1832
)
- 1926
-
Wesley Coe
, American athlete (b.
1879
)
- 1930
-
Eduard David
, German politician (b.
1863
)
- 1934
-
George W. P. Hunt
, American
politician
, 1st
Governor
of
Arizona
(b.
1859
)
- 1935
-
Alban Berg
, Austrian
composer
(b.
1885
)
- 1938
-
Bruno Taut
, German
architect
(b.
1880
)
- 1941
-
Siegfried Alkan
, German
composer
(b.
1858
)
- 1942
-
Francois Darlan
,
Prime Minister of France
(b.
1881
)
- 1947
-
Charles Gondouin
, French
rugby
player (b.
1875
)
- 1957
?
Norma Talmadge
, American actress (b.
1894
)
- 1962
-
Wilhelm Ackermann
, German
mathematician
(b.
1896
)
- 1967
-
Burt Baskin
, American businessman (b.
1913
)
- 1971
-
Maria Koepcke
, German-Peruvian
ornithologist
(b.
1924
)
- 1973 ? Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, Indian businessman, social activist, and politician (b. 1973)
- 1977
-
Juan Velasco Alvarado
, Peruvian politician and military (b.
1910
)
- 1979
?
Rudi Dutschke
, German sociologist and student leader (b.
1940
)
- 1980
?
Karl Donitz
, German admiral (b.
1890
)
- 1980
-
Siggie Nordstrom
, American actress and singer (b.
1893
)
- 1982
-
Louis Aragon
, French writer (b.
1897
)
- 1984
?
Peter Lawford
, British actor (b.
1923
)
- 1985
-
Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith
, American lawyer (b.
1904
)
- 1987
-
M. G. Ramachandran
, Indian actor, producer and writer (b.
1917
)
- 1987
?
Joop den Uyl
, Dutch politician (b.
1919
)
- 1990
-
Thorbjorn Egner
, Norwegian writer (b.
1922
)
- 1992
?
Peyo
, Belgian comic writer (b.
1928
)
- 1994
-
Rossano Brazzi
, Italian
actor
,
singer
,
director
and
screenwriter
(b.
1916
)
- 1997
-
Toshiro Mifune
, Japanese actor (b.
1920
)
- 1999
-
Maurice Couve de Murville
,
Prime Minister of France
(b.
1907
)
- 1999
?
Joao Figueiredo
,
President of Brazil
(b.
1918
)
- 2000
-
Nick Massi
, American singer and musician (b.
1935
)
- 2002
-
Kjell Aukrust
, Norwegian writer (b.
1920
)
- 2008
?
Harold Pinter
, British playwright (b.
1930
)
- 2008
-
Samuel P. Huntington
, American politician (b.
1927
)
- 2009
?
Rafael Caldera
, President of
Venezuela
(b.
1916
)
- 2010
?
Elisabeth Beresford
, British writer (b.
1926
)
- 2010
?
Roy Neuberger
, American banker (b.
1903
)
- 2010
?
Eino Tamberg
, Estonian composer (b.
1930
)
- 2011
?
Johannes Heesters
, Dutch-born entertainer, actor and singer (b.
1903
)
- 2012
-
Richard Rodney Bennett
, British composer (b.
1936
)
- 2012
-
Charles Durning
, American actor (b.
1923
)
- 2012
-
Jack Klugman
, American actor (b.
1922
)
- 2013
-
Allan McKeown
, English-American
screenwriter
and
producer
(b.
1946
)
- 2014
-
Krzysztof Krauze
, Polish
movie director
and
screenwriter
(b.
1953
)
- 2014
-
Buddy DeFranco
, American
jazz
clarinetist
(b.
1923
)
- 2014
-
Edward Greenspan
, Canadian
lawyer
(b.
1944
)
- 2015
-
Ron Jacobs
, American
basketball
coach (b.
1942
)
- 2016
-
Liz Smith
, English
actress
(b.
1921
)
- 2016
-
Richard Adams
, English writer (b.
1920
)
- 2016
-
Rick Parfitt
, English musician (
Status Quo
) (b.
1948
)
- 2016
-
Edwin Reinecke
, American politician (b.
1924
)
- 2017
-
Jerry Kindall
, American
baseball
player (b.
1935
)
- 2017
-
Heather Menzies
, Canadian-American actress and model (b.
1949
)
- 2017
-
Andrey Zaliznyak
, Russian
linguist
(b.
1935
)