December 25 in History

Historical Events on December 25

274

A temple for Sol Invictus is dedicated in Rome by Emperor Aurelian.
333

Roman Emperor Constantine the Great elevates his youngest son Constans to the rank of Caesar.
336

First documentary sign of Christmas celebration in Rome.
350

Vetranio meets Constantius II at Naissus (Serbia) and is forced to abdicate his title (Caesar). Constantius allows him to live as a private citizen on a state pension.
496

Clovis I, king of the Franks, is baptized into the Catholic faith at Reims, by Saint Remigius.
597

Augustine of Canterbury and his fellow-labourers baptise in Kent more than 10,000 Anglo-Saxons.
800

The Coronation of Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor, in Rome.
820

Emperor Leo V is assassinated in the Hagia Sophia at Constantinople and is succeeded by Michael II.
1000

The foundation of the Kingdom of Hungary: Hungary is established as a Christian kingdom by Stephen I of Hungary.
1025

Coronation of Mieszko II Lambert as king of Poland.
1066

William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy is crowned king of England, at Westminster Abbey, London.
1076

Coronation of Bolesław II the Generous as king of Poland.
1100

Baldwin of Boulogne is crowned the first King of Jerusalem in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
1130

Count Roger II of Sicily is crowned the first king of Sicily.
1261

John IV Laskaris of the restored Eastern Roman Empire is deposed and blinded by orders of his co-ruler Michael VIII Palaiologos.
1492

The carrack Santa María, commanded by Christopher Columbus, runs onto a reef off Haiti due to an improper watch.
1553

Battle of Tucapel: Mapuche rebels under Lautaro defeat the Spanish conquistadors and executes the governor of Chile, Pedro de Valdivia.
1559

Pope Pius IV is elected.
1758

Halley's Comet is sighted by Johann Georg Palitzsch, confirming Edmund Halley's prediction of its passage. This was the first passage of a comet predicted ahead of time.
1776

George Washington and the Continental Army cross the Delaware River at night to attack Hessian forces serving Great Britain at Trenton, New Jersey, the next day.
1809

Dr. Ephraim McDowell performs the first ovariotomy, removing a 22-pound tumor.
1814

Rev. Samuel Marsden holds the first Christian service on land in New Zealand at Rangihoua Bay.
1815

The Handel and Haydn Society, oldest continually performing arts organization in the United States, gives its first performance.
1826

The Eggnog Riot at the United States Military Academy concludes after beginning the previous evening.
1831

The Great Jamaican Slave Revolt begins; up to 20% of the island's slaves mobilize in an ultimately unsuccessful fight for freedom.
1837

Second Seminole War: American general Zachary Taylor leads 1100 troops against the Seminoles at the Battle of Lake Okeechobee.
1868

United States President Andrew Johnson grants an unconditional pardon to all Confederate veterans.
1914

A series of unofficial truces occur across the Western Front to celebrate Christmas.
1932

A magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Gansu, China kills 275 people.
1935

Regina Jonas is ordained as the first female rabbi in the history of Judaism.
1941

Admiral Chester W. Nimitz arrives at Pearl Harbor to assume command of the U.S. Pacific Fleet
1941

World War II: Battle of Hong Kong ends, beginning the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong.
1941

Admiral Émile Muselier seizes the archipelago of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, which become the first part of France to be liberated by the Free French Forces.
1946

The first European self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction is initiated within the Soviet Union's F-1 nuclear reactor.
1950

The Stone of Scone, traditional coronation stone of British monarchs, is taken from Westminster Abbey by Scottish nationalist students. It later turns up in Scotland on April 11, 1951.
1962

The Soviet Union conducts its final above-ground nuclear weapon test, in anticipation of the 1963 Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
1963

Turkish Cypriot Bayrak Radio begins transmitting in Cyprus after Turkish Cypriots are forcibly excluded from Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation.
1968

Apollo program: Apollo 8 performs the very first successful Trans-Earth injection (TEI) maneuver, sending the crew and spacecraft on a trajectory back to Earth from Lunar orbit.
1968

Kilvenmani massacre: Forty-four Dalits (untouchables) are burnt to death in Kizhavenmani village, Tamil Nadu, a retaliation for a campaign for higher wages by Dalit laborers.
1977

Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin meets in Egypt with its president Anwar Sadat.
1989

Deposed President of Romania Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife, Elena, are condemned to death and executed after a summary trial.
1991

Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as President of the Soviet Union (the union itself is dissolved the next day). Ukraine's referendum is finalized and Ukraine officially leaves the Soviet Union.
2003

UTAGE Flight 141, a Boeing 727-223, crashes at the Cotonou Airport in Benin, killing 151 people.
2003

The ill-fated Beagle 2 probe, released from the Mars Express spacecraft on December 19, stops transmitting shortly before its scheduled landing.
2004

The Cassini orbiter releases Huygens probe which successfully landed on Saturn's moon Titan on January 14, 2005.
2012

An Antonov An-72 plane crashes close to the city of Shymkent, killing 27 people.

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