This Day in History

Listening to Beethovens’ Ode To Joy this morning, I began to reflect on this Day while my daughter was throwing her sippy cup and forks at me. The snow began to fall and the magic of Christmas began to spring forth. 

Of course, we celebrate on this day(well, we do. The godless heathens relegate it to “holiday season”) the birth of Jesus Christ, which KJ has already written about. A monumental day for sure. There were a lot of lesser known events on this day through history.

Here is a small list of other events.

On this day

352 1st definite date Christmas was celebrated on Dec 25th(although 336 is given too)

800: Pope Leo III crowns Charlemagne as Roman Emporer.

1066: Duke William of Normandy (‘William the Conqueror) crowned King of England

1223: St Fancis of Assissi assembles the first Nativity Scene.

1492: Santa Maria strikes reef near Hispaniola, leaving the crew there while Columbus returns to Spain. 

1621: Plymouth Colony governor Bradford forbids game playing on Christmas. 

1643: Christmas Islands discovered and named by Cpt. William Mynors

1776: Washington crosses the Delaware and kicks Hessian butt.

1818:  Silent Night is sung to others. 

1818: Handels Messiah appears in the US for the first time, in Boston. 

1831: Arkansas and Louisiana first states to observe Christmas as a holiday. 

1837: Battle of Okeechobee where US defeats Seminole Indians. 

1868: President Andrew Johnson gives blanket pardon to all Southerners involved in the civil war. 

1896: Stars and Stripes written by John Phillip Sousa

1899: Shelling on besieged Ladysmith during the Boer War includes one shell containing a plum pudding.

1914: Legendary “Christmas Truce” occurs during WWI.

1926: Crown Prince Hirohito assumes the throne in Japan.

1932: King George V chair collapses as he gives his Christmas Dinner speech. 

1936: Belgian bishops condemn communism and fascism.

1938: George Cukor announces Vivian Leigh will play Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind.

1939: Montgomery Wards introduces the 9th Reindeer: Rudolph. 

1942: Battle of Stalingrad

1956: Gordie Howe scores a hat trick and 3 assists.

1959: Ringo Starr receives his first drum set. 

1962: To Kill A Mockingbird is released. 

1965: President Johnson orders a halt in bombing operations in Vietnam

1968: Astronaut Frank Norman does a Christmas reading while orbiting the moon. 

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.

1973: The Sting premiers.

1977: Menachem Begin needs with Anwar Radar. 

1979: Russia invades Afghanistan(arguably Dec 24th)

1989: Show Trial and execution of Romanian dictator Ceausescu and his wife.

1990: Godfather, Part 3 premiers

1991: Gorbachev resigns.

1996: 1,500 year anniversary of Catholicism in France commemorating the baptism of Clovis I in Rheims

1999: Opening of Doors of St John Lateran   Pope John Paul II.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!