December 24

Events
Up to 1900
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.
1901 2000
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.
From 2001
2003 - Spanish police stop an attempt by ETA to detonate 50 kilogrammes of explosives at Madrid's Chamartin Station.
2005 - Chad declares that it is in a state of war with Sudan, though denies that it has declared war.
2008 - The Lord's Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel group, begins a series of attacks on the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
2013 - Queen Elizabeth II issues an official pardon to the mathematician Alan Turing (who had died in 1954). Turing was convicted of homosexuality at a time when it was illegal in the UK.
2017 - Alberto Fujimori, former President of Peru, is pardoned for reasons relating to his ill health.
2017 - Guatemala announces that, like the United States, it plans to move its Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Births
Up to 1800
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)
1801 1900
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 author (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)
1901 1950
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 author 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 author
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
1951 1975
1954 - Gregory S. Paul, American author, 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
From 1976
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
Deaths
Up to 1900
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)
1901 2000
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 author (b. 1917)
1987 - Joop den Uyl, Dutch politician (b. 1919)
1990 - Thorbjorn Egner, Norwegian author (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)
From 2001
2002 - Kjell Aukrust, Norwegian author (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)
Observances
Christmas Eve (Western Christianity)
Independence Day (Libya)
Days of the year