DECEMBER 25TH
* 274 - Roman Emperor Aurelian has a temple dedicated to Sol Invictus on the supposed day of the solstice and day of rebirth of the Sun.
* 800 - Coronation of Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor, in Rome.
* 1066 - Coronation of William the Conqueror as king of England, at Westminster Abbey, London.
* 1223 - St. Francis of Assisi assembles the first Nativity scene.
* 1261 - John IV Lascaris of the restored Eastern Roman Empire is deposed and blinded by orders of his co-ruler Michael VIII Palaeologus.
* 1599 - The city of Natal, Brazil is founded.
* 1643 - Christmas Island founded and named by Captain William Mynors of the East India Ship Company vessel, the Royal Mary.
* 1776 - George Washington and his army cross the Delaware River to attack the Kingdom of Great Britain's Hessian mercenaries in Trenton, New Jersey.
* 1818 - The first performance of "Silent Night" takes place in the Church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf, Austria.
* 1837 - Battle of Okeechobee: United States forces defeat Seminole Indians.
* 1868 - U.S. President Andrew Johnson grants unconditional pardon to all Civil War Confederate soldiers.
* 1868 - Shogunate rebels found Ezo Republic in Hokkaido.
* 1914 - World War I: Known as the Christmas truce, German and British troops on the Western Front temporarily cease fire.
* 1917 - Why Marry?, first dramatic play to win a Pulitzer Prize, opens at the Astor Theatre in New York City.
* 1926 - Hirohito becomes Emperor of Japan, succeeding the Taisho Emperor.
* 1932 - A magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Gansu, China kills ~70,000 people.
* 1939 - Charles ****ens' A Christmas Carol is read on the radio for the first time (CBS radio).
* 1939 - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is introduced by Montgomery Ward stores.
* 1941 - World War II: Battle of Hong Kong ends, beginning the Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong.
* 1947 - The Constitution of the Republic of China goes into effect.
* 1971 - In the longest game in NFL history (82m40s), the Miami Dolphins defeat the Kansas City Chiefs.
* 1973 - The ARPANET crashes when a programming bug causes all ARPANET traffic to be routed through the server at Harvard University, causing the server to freeze.
* 1974 - Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin, Northern Territory Australia.
* 1974 - Marshall Fields drives a vehicle through the gates of the White House, resulting in a four-hour standoff.
* 1977 - Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin meets in Egypt with President of Egypt Anwar Sadat.
* 1987 - In one of the highest-rated episodes in Coronation Street history, Hilda Ogden leaves her home of 23 years to be a char to her doctor in the country.
* 1989 - Nicolae CeauÅŸescu, former communist dictator of Romania, and his wife Elena are condemned to death and executed under a wide range of charges.
* 1991 - Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as president of the Soviet Union (the union itself is dissolved the next day).
* 2003 - The ill-fated Beagle 2 probe which was released from the Mars Express Spacecraft on December 19, disappears shortly before its scheduled landing.
* 2004 - Cassini orbiter releases Huygens probe which successfully landed on Saturn's moon, Titan on January 14, 2005.
