December 24
1524 - Portuguese navigator Vasco de 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 by several Confederate Army veterans.
1871 - Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Aida" had its world premiere in Cairo, Egypt, to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal.
1906 - Canadian physicist Reginald A. Fessenden became the first person to broadcast a music program over radio, from Brant Rock, Massachusetts.
1913 - 73 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.
1943 - Gen. Dwight Eisenhower was appointed supreme commander of Allied Forces by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
1968 - The Apollo 8 astronauts, orbiting the moon, read passages from the Old Testament Book of Genesis during a Christmas Eve telecast.
1980 - Americans remembered U.S. hostages in Iran by burning candles or shining lights for 417 seconds -- one second for each day of captivity.
1992 - President George H.W. Bush pardoned former defense secretary Casper Weinberger and five others involved in the Iran-Contra scandal.
2002 - Laci Peterson was reported missing from her Modesto, California, home, by her husband, Scott, who was later convicted of murdering her and their unborn son.
2009 - The U.S. Senate passed health care legislation, 60-39, in the chamber's first Christmas Eve vote since 1895.
2009 - A woman jumped barriers in St. Peter's Basilica and knocked down Pope Benedict XVI as he was walking down the main aisle to begin Christmas Eve Mass; the pope was unhurt.
2014 - Sony Pictures broadly released "The Interview" online -- an unprecedented counterstroke against the hackers who'd spoiled the Christmas opening of the comedy depicting the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
2016 - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused President Barack Obama of a “shameful ambush” at the United Nations and said he was looking forward to working with his “friend” Donald Trump; Netanyahu’s comments came a day after the U.S. broke with past practice and allowed the Security Council to condemn Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
2019 - With the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris unable to host Christmas services for the first time since the French Revolution because of damage from a fire earlier in the year, the clergy, choir and congregation relocated to a Gothic church next to the Louvre Museum for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services.
Birthdays
28 - Davante Adams (fotball player)
29 - Louis Tomlinson (singer)
29 - Sofia Black-D'Elia (actress)
34 - Ana Brenda Contreras (actress)
36 - Austin Stowell (actor)
43 - Michael Raymond-James (actor)
46 - Ryan Seacrest (TV & radio host)
47 - Stephenie Meyer (author)
49 - Ricky Martin (singer)
54 - Diedrich Bader (actor)
56 - Mark Valley (actor)
59 - Wade Williams (actor)
60 - Carol Vorderman (game show host)
60 - Eva Tamargo (actress)
64 - Stephanie Hodge (actress)
65 - Clarence Gilyard (actor)
74 - Sharon Farrell (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.
1967 - Joe Namath of the New York Jets became the first player to pass for 4,000 yards in a season.
1981 - Reggie Jackson announced he would join the California Angels for the 1982 season.
1982 - Chaminade, with a student-body of 850 students, upsets top-ranked Virginia 77-72 in a Honolulu holiday basketball tournament.
2000 - Thirty-six minutes after the end of the game, both the New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins were called back to the playing field. The teams had to play the final three seconds of the game, which the Dolphins had won 27-24.
1524 - Portuguese navigator Vasco de 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 by several Confederate Army veterans.
1871 - Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Aida" had its world premiere in Cairo, Egypt, to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal.
1906 - Canadian physicist Reginald A. Fessenden became the first person to broadcast a music program over radio, from Brant Rock, Massachusetts.
1913 - 73 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.
1943 - Gen. Dwight Eisenhower was appointed supreme commander of Allied Forces by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
1968 - The Apollo 8 astronauts, orbiting the moon, read passages from the Old Testament Book of Genesis during a Christmas Eve telecast.
1980 - Americans remembered U.S. hostages in Iran by burning candles or shining lights for 417 seconds -- one second for each day of captivity.
1992 - President George H.W. Bush pardoned former defense secretary Casper Weinberger and five others involved in the Iran-Contra scandal.
2002 - Laci Peterson was reported missing from her Modesto, California, home, by her husband, Scott, who was later convicted of murdering her and their unborn son.
2009 - The U.S. Senate passed health care legislation, 60-39, in the chamber's first Christmas Eve vote since 1895.
2009 - A woman jumped barriers in St. Peter's Basilica and knocked down Pope Benedict XVI as he was walking down the main aisle to begin Christmas Eve Mass; the pope was unhurt.
2014 - Sony Pictures broadly released "The Interview" online -- an unprecedented counterstroke against the hackers who'd spoiled the Christmas opening of the comedy depicting the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
2016 - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused President Barack Obama of a “shameful ambush” at the United Nations and said he was looking forward to working with his “friend” Donald Trump; Netanyahu’s comments came a day after the U.S. broke with past practice and allowed the Security Council to condemn Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
2019 - With the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris unable to host Christmas services for the first time since the French Revolution because of damage from a fire earlier in the year, the clergy, choir and congregation relocated to a Gothic church next to the Louvre Museum for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services.
Birthdays
28 - Davante Adams (fotball player)
29 - Louis Tomlinson (singer)
29 - Sofia Black-D'Elia (actress)
34 - Ana Brenda Contreras (actress)
36 - Austin Stowell (actor)
43 - Michael Raymond-James (actor)
46 - Ryan Seacrest (TV & radio host)
47 - Stephenie Meyer (author)
49 - Ricky Martin (singer)
54 - Diedrich Bader (actor)
56 - Mark Valley (actor)
59 - Wade Williams (actor)
60 - Carol Vorderman (game show host)
60 - Eva Tamargo (actress)
64 - Stephanie Hodge (actress)
65 - Clarence Gilyard (actor)
74 - Sharon Farrell (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.
1967 - Joe Namath of the New York Jets became the first player to pass for 4,000 yards in a season.
1981 - Reggie Jackson announced he would join the California Angels for the 1982 season.
1982 - Chaminade, with a student-body of 850 students, upsets top-ranked Virginia 77-72 in a Honolulu holiday basketball tournament.
2000 - Thirty-six minutes after the end of the game, both the New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins were called back to the playing field. The teams had to play the final three seconds of the game, which the Dolphins had won 27-24.