December 24
1524 - Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama died in Cochin, India.
1814 - The War of 1812 between America and Britain ended with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent.
1818 - "Silent Night" was composed by Franz Joseph Gruber.
1851 - Fire devastated the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., destroying about 35,000 volumes.
1865 - The Ku Klux Klan was formed in Pulaski, Tennessee.
1913 - Seventy-three people, most of them children, died in a crush of panic after a false cry of “Fire!” during a Christmas party for striking miners and their families at the Italian Hall in Calumet, Michigan.
1914 - During World War I, impromptu Christmas truces began to take hold along parts of the Western Front between British and German soldiers.
1943 - Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed supreme commander of Allied forces by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II.
1968 - The Apollo 8 astronauts, orbiting the moon, read passages from the Old Testament Book of Genesis during a Christmas Eve telecast.
1992 - President George H.W. Bush pardoned former defense secretary Caspar Weinberger and five others for their roles in the Iran-Contra scandal.
2013 - Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II granted a posthumous pardon to code-breaker Alan Turing, who was convicted of homosexual behavior in the 1950s.
2017 - Peru’s president announced that he had granted a medical pardon to jailed former strongman Alberto Fujimori, 79, who had been serving a 25-year sentence for human rights abuses, corruption and the sanctioning of death squads.
Birthdays
31 - Davante Adams (football player)
32 - Sofia Black-D'Elia (actress)
37 - Ana Brenda Contreras (actress)
39 - Austin Stowell (actor)
46 - Michael Raymond-James (actor)
49 - Ryan Seacrest (TV/radio host)
52 - Ricky Martin (singer)
57 - Diedrich Bader (actor)
59 - Mark Valley (actor)
62 - Wade Williams (actor)
63 - Eva Tamargo (actress)
67 - Stephanie Hodge (actress)
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Today in Sports History - December 24
1950 - The Cleveland Browns defeat the Los Angeles Rams 30-28 in the NFL Championship Game.
1961 - The Houston Oilers defeat the San Diego Chargers 10-3 in the AFL Championship Game.
1982 - Chaminade, with a student enrollment of just 850, upsets top-ranked Virginia 77-72 in a Honolulu holiday men's basketball classic.
2022 - Kathy Whitworth, the golfer whose 88 career LPGA victories were the most by any player on a single professional tour, died at age 83.
1524 - Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama died in Cochin, India.
1814 - The War of 1812 between America and Britain ended with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent.
1818 - "Silent Night" was composed by Franz Joseph Gruber.
1851 - Fire devastated the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., destroying about 35,000 volumes.
1865 - The Ku Klux Klan was formed in Pulaski, Tennessee.
1913 - Seventy-three people, most of them children, died in a crush of panic after a false cry of “Fire!” during a Christmas party for striking miners and their families at the Italian Hall in Calumet, Michigan.
1914 - During World War I, impromptu Christmas truces began to take hold along parts of the Western Front between British and German soldiers.
1943 - Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed supreme commander of Allied forces by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II.
1968 - The Apollo 8 astronauts, orbiting the moon, read passages from the Old Testament Book of Genesis during a Christmas Eve telecast.
1992 - President George H.W. Bush pardoned former defense secretary Caspar Weinberger and five others for their roles in the Iran-Contra scandal.
2013 - Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II granted a posthumous pardon to code-breaker Alan Turing, who was convicted of homosexual behavior in the 1950s.
2017 - Peru’s president announced that he had granted a medical pardon to jailed former strongman Alberto Fujimori, 79, who had been serving a 25-year sentence for human rights abuses, corruption and the sanctioning of death squads.
Birthdays
31 - Davante Adams (football player)
32 - Sofia Black-D'Elia (actress)
37 - Ana Brenda Contreras (actress)
39 - Austin Stowell (actor)
46 - Michael Raymond-James (actor)
49 - Ryan Seacrest (TV/radio host)
52 - Ricky Martin (singer)
57 - Diedrich Bader (actor)
59 - Mark Valley (actor)
62 - Wade Williams (actor)
63 - Eva Tamargo (actress)
67 - Stephanie Hodge (actress)
======================================
Today in Sports History - December 24
1950 - The Cleveland Browns defeat the Los Angeles Rams 30-28 in the NFL Championship Game.
1961 - The Houston Oilers defeat the San Diego Chargers 10-3 in the AFL Championship Game.
1982 - Chaminade, with a student enrollment of just 850, upsets top-ranked Virginia 77-72 in a Honolulu holiday men's basketball classic.
2022 - Kathy Whitworth, the golfer whose 88 career LPGA victories were the most by any player on a single professional tour, died at age 83.
