December
24
Independence
Day
Libya : December 24 1951
Events
December
24
563
– The Byzantine church Hagia Sophia in Constantinople
is dedicated for the second time after being destroyed
by earthquakes.
1294 – Pope Boniface VIII is elected Pope, replacing
St. Celestine V, who had resigned.
1777 – Kiritimati, also called Christmas Island,
is discovered by James Cook.
1814 – The Treaty of Ghent is signed ending the
War of 1812.
1818 – The first performance of "Silent Night"
takes place in the church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf,
Austria.
1826 – The Eggnog Riot at the United States Military
Academy begins that night, wrapping up the following
morning.
1851 – Library of Congress burns.
1865 – The Ku Klux Klan is formed.
1871 – Aida opens in Cairo.
1906 – Radio: Reginald Fessenden transmits the first
radio broadcast; consisting of a poetry reading,
a violin solo, and a speech.
1911 – Lackawanna Cut-Off railway line opens in
New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
1913 – The Italian Hall Disaster ("1913 Massacre")
in Calumet, Michigan, results in the death of 73
Christmas party goers held by striking mine workers,
including 59 children.
1914 – World War I: The "Christmas truce"
begins.
1924 – Albania becomes a republic.
1929 – Assassination attempt on Argentine President
Hipólito Yrigoyen.
1939 – World War II: Pope Pius XII makes a Christmas
Eve appeal for peace.
1941 – World War II: Kuching is conquered by Japanese
forces.
1942 – World War II: French monarchist, Fernand
Bonnier de La Chapelle, assassinates Vichy French
Admiral François Darlan in Algiers.
1943 – World War II: U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower
becomes the Supreme Allied Commander.
1951 – Libya becomes independent from Italy. Idris
I is proclaimed King of Libya.
1953 – Tangiwai disaster: A railway bridge is destroyed
by a lahar at Tangiwai, in the Central North Island
of New Zealand, sending a fully loaded passenger
train into the Whangaehu River, and killing 153
people.
1955 – NORAD Tracks Santa for the first time in
what will become an annual Christmas Eve tradition.
1964 – Vietnam War: Viet Cong operatives bomb the
Brinks Hotel in Saigon to demonstrate they can strike
an American installation in the heavily guarded
capital.
1966 – A Canadair CL-44 chartered by the United
States military crashes into a small village in
South Vietnam, killing 129.
1968 – Apollo Program: The crew of Apollo 8 enters
into orbit around the Moon, becoming the first humans
to do so. They performed 10 lunar orbits and broadcast
live TV pictures that became the famous Christmas
Eve Broadcast, one of the most watched programs
in history.
1972 Japan Airlines Flight 472, operated Douglas
DC-8-53 landed at Juhu Aerodrome instead of Santacruz
Airport in Bombay.
1973 – District of Columbia Home Rule Act is passed,
allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to elect
their own local government.
1974 – Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin, Australia.
1979 – The first European Ariane rocket is launched.
1980 – Witnesses report the first of several sightings
of unexplained lights near RAF Woodbridge, in Rendlesham
Forest, Suffolk, England, an incident called "Britain's
Roswell".
1997 – The Sid El-Antri massacre (or Sidi Lamri)
in Algeria kills 50-100 people.
2000 – The Texas 7 hold up a sports store in Irving,
Texas. Police officer Aubrey Hawkins is murdered
during the robbery.
2003 – The Spanish police thwart an attempt by ETA
to detonate 50 kg of explosives at 3:55 p.m. inside
Madrid's busy Chamartín Station.
2005 – Chad–Sudan relations: Chad declares a state
of war against Sudan following a December 18 attack
on Adré, which left about 100 people dead.
2008 – Lord's Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel group,
begins a series of attacks on Democratic Republic
of the Congo, massacring more than 400.
Holidays
and observances
Christian
Feast Day:
Adela and Irmina
Christmas Eve (Christianity) and its related observances:
Aðfangadagskvöld, the day when the 13th and the
last Yule Lad arrives to towns. (Iceland)
Feast of the Seven Fishes (Italy)
Jul (Denmark, Norway and Sweden)
Nochebuena (Spain and Spanish-speaking countries)
The Declaration of Christmas Peace (Old Great Square
of Turku, Finland's official Christmas City)
For details, contact Datacentre
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