December 24

Historic Events

2018

A helicopter crash kills Martha Érika Alonso, first female Governor of Puebla, Mexico, and her husband Rafael Moreno Valle Rosas, former governor. ›

2008

The Lord's Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel group, begins a series of attacks against civilians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, massacring more than 400. ›

2005

Chad–Sudan relations: Chad declares a state of belligerence against Sudan following a December 18 attack on Adré, which left about 100 people dead. ›

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. ›

1999

Indian Airlines Flight 814 is hijacked in Indian airspace between Kathmandu, Nepal, and Delhi, India. The aircraft landed at Kandahar in Afghanistan. The incident ended on December 31 with the release of 190 survivors (one passenger is killed). ›

1997

The Sid El-Antri massacre in Algeria kills between 50 and 100 people. ›

1996

A Learjet 35 crashes into Smarts Mountain near Dorchester, New Hampshire, killing both pilots on board. ›

1994

Air France Flight 8969 is hijacked on the ground at Houari Boumediene Airport, Algiers, Algeria. Over the course of three days three passengers are killed, as are all four terrorists. ›

1983

Aeroflot Flight 601 crashes during takeoff from Leshukonskoye Airport, Russia, killing 44 of the 49 people on board. ›

1979

The first Ariane 1 rocket is launched from ELA-1 at the Guiana Space Centre. ›

1974

Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin, Australia. ›

1973

District of Columbia Home Rule Act is passed, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to elect their own local government. ›

1971

LANSA Flight 508 is struck by lightning and crashes in the Puerto Inca District in the Department of Huánuco in Peru, killing 91. ›

1969

Nigerian troops capture Umuahia, the Biafran capital. ›

1968

Apollo program: The crew of Apollo 8 enters into orbit around the Moon, becoming the first humans to do so. They performed ten lunar orbits, took the Earthrise photograph, broadcast live TV pictures, and read the first ten verses of Genesis. ›

1968

Allegheny Airlines Flight 736 crashes on approach to Bradford Regional Airport, killing 20. ›

1966

A Canadair CL-44 chartered by the United States military crashes into a small village in South Vietnam, killing 111. ›

1964

Vietnam War: Viet Cong operatives bomb the Brinks Hotel in Saigon, South Vietnam to demonstrate they can strike an American installation in the heavily guarded capital. ›

1964

Flying Tiger Line Flight 282 crashes after takeoff from San Francisco International Airport, killing three. ›

1955

A flood devastates California, killing 74 people across portions of the state. ›

1953

Tangiwai disaster: In New Zealand's North Island, at Tangiwai, a railway bridge is damaged by a lahar and collapses beneath a passenger train, killing 151 people. ›

1952

First flight of Britain's Handley Page Victor strategic bomber. ›

1951

Libya becomes independent. Idris I is proclaimed King of Libya. ›

1945

Five of nine children become missing after their home in Fayetteville, West Virginia, is burned down. ›

1944

World War II: The Belgian Troopship Leopoldville was torpedoed and sank with the loss of 763 soldiers and 56 crew. ›

1943

World War II: U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower is named Supreme Allied Commander for Operation Overlord. ›

1942

World War II: French monarchist, Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle, assassinates Vichy French Admiral François Darlan in Algiers, Algeria. ›

1941

World War II: Kuching is conquered by Japanese forces. ›

1941

World War II: Benghazi is conquered by the British Eighth Army. ›

1939

World War II: Pope Pius XII makes a Christmas Eve appeal for peace. ›

1929

Assassination attempt on Argentine President Hipólito Yrigoyen. ›

1929

A four alarm fire breaks out in the West Wing of the White House in Washington, D.C. ›

1924

Albania becomes a republic. ›

1920

Gabriele D'Annunzio surrendered the Italian Regency of Carnaro in the city of Fiume to Italian Armed Forces. ›

1918

Region of Međimurje is captured by the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes from Hungary. ›

1914

World War I: The "Christmas truce" begins. ›

1913

The Italian Hall disaster in Calumet, Michigan results in the deaths of 73 striking workers families at a Christmas party participants (including 59 children) when someone falsely yells "fire". ›

1906

Reginald Fessenden transmits the first radio broadcast; consisting of a poetry reading, a violin solo, and a speech. ›

1868

The Greek Presidential Guard is established as the royal escort by King George I. ›

1865

Former Confederate officers Frank McCord, Richard Reed, John Lester, John Kennedy, J. Calvin Jones, and James Crowe form the Ku Klux Klan. ›

1846

British acquired Labuan from the Sultanate of Brunei for Great Britain. ›

1818

The first performance of "Silent Night" takes place in the Nikolauskirche in Oberndorf, Austria. ›

1814

Representatives of the United Kingdom and the United States sign the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812. ›

1800

The Plot of the rue Saint-Nicaise fails to kill Napoleon Bonaparte. ›

1777

Kiritimati, also called Christmas Island, is discovered by James Cook. ›

1737

The Marathas defeat the combined forces of the Mughal Empire, Rajputs of Jaipur, Nizam of Hyderabad, Nawab of Awadh and Nawab of Bengal in the Battle of Bhopal. ›

1500

A joint Venetian–Spanish fleet captures the Castle of St. George on the island of Cephalonia. ›

1294

Pope Boniface VIII is elected, replacing St. Celestine V, who had resigned. ›

1144

The capital of the crusader County of Edessa falls to Imad ad-Din Zengi, the atabeg of Mosul and Aleppo. ›

971

Battle of Ayn Shams: The Fatimids under Jawhar defeat the Qarmatians at the gates of Cairo, putting an end to the First Qarmatian invasion of Egypt. ›

759

Tang dynasty poet Du Fu departs for Chengdu, where he is hosted by fellow poet Pei Di. ›

640

Pope John IV is elected, several months after his predecessor's death. ›

502

Chinese emperor Xiao Yan names Xiao Tong his heir designate. ›