TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – DEC 25
Merry Christmas!Christmas is the festival celebrating the birth of Christ and is observed in most countries on December 25. Christmas is sometimes called Yule (from the Anglo-Saxon) or Noel (from the French). Christian churches throughout the world hold special services on Christmas Day to give thanks for the birth of Christ. In addition to religious observances, Christmas is a time of merrymaking and feasting. North American customs are a combination of those of the various European countries from which the original settlers came. On Christmas Eve children hang stockings for Santa Claus to fill with gifts. The Christmas tree, usually an evergreen, was first used in Germany. Topped with a star or spire and decorated with colored lights and shiny ornaments, the tree plays an important part in the celebration. Mistletoe was sacred to the Druids, priests of ancient Britain and Gaul. The Norse used holly and the Yule log to keep away evil spirits. Gifts were exchanged during the Roman celebration of the Saturnalia, a feast to the god Saturn. Gift-giving came to symbolize the gifts brought to the Christ Child by the Magi. The most popular Christmas legend however, is that of Santa Claus, whose name came from Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of children. Many of the qualities that Santa Claus is known for came from Clement C. Moore’s poem “A Visit From St. Nicholas.”
337 Earliest possible date that Christmas was celebrated on Dec 25th
352 1st definite date Christmas was celebrated on Dec 25th
376 In Milan, Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan, forces the emperor Theodosius to perform public penance for his massacre.
800 The pope crowns Charlemagne emperor in Rome.
1066 William I is crowned king of England.
1621 The governor of New Plymouth prevents newcomers from playing cards.
1651 The General Court of Boston levies a five shilling fine on anyone caught “observing any such day as Christmas.”
1776 Patriot General George Washington crosses the Delaware River with 5,400 troops during the American Revolution. Washington hoped to surprise a Hessian force celebrating Christmas at their winter quarters in Trenton, New Jersey.
1809 First abdominal surgery performed American physician Ephraim McDowell became the first person in recorded history to successfully remove an ovarian tumor
1831 Louisiana & Arkansas are 1st states to observe Christmas as holiday
1862 President and Mrs. Lincoln visit hospitals in the Washington D.C. area on this Christmas Day.
1868 Despite bitter opposition, US President Andrew Johnson grants unconditional pardon to all persons involved in Southern rebellion (Civil War)
1914 German and British troops on the Western Front declare an unofficial truce to celebrate Christmas during World War I.
1927 Sixteen Indian sailors revolted and quit their posts when they heard that their ship was going to America.
1932 During King George V Christmas dinner speech, his chair collapes
1946 Chiang Kai-shek offers a new Chinese constitution in Nanking pledging universal suffrage.
1950 Coronation Stone, taken from Scone in Scotland by Edward I in 1296, stolen from Westminster Abbey & smuggled back to Scotland
1973 U.S. astronauts onboard the Skylab space station take a seven-hour walk in space and photograph the comet Kohoutek.
1978 In a wave of hatred against America and the Shah a Colorado oil individual was attacked by three terrorists with machine guns and killed. In the sacred city of Mashad 9 demonstrators were murdered and 81 wounded.
1991 Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union’s first and last executive president, resigns. The Soviet Union no longer exsists.
2000 A fire at a Christmas party at an unlicensed disco kills more than 300 people in Luoyang, China
2006 Ethiopia supported the UN backed government in Somalia and sent war planes into Somalia to bomb villages that supported the Islamic movement.
2009 The U.S. has condemned the Taleban video of an American soldier that was captured by the militants in June as an affront to his family at Christmas. The man in the film, who identifying himself as Private Bowe Bergdahl, criticises the U.S. over the Afghan War and relations with Muslims
2009 Northwest Airlines Flight 253 was arriving at Detroit from the Netherlands. The flight was a failed al-Qaeda bombing attempt on Christmas Day in which a passenger tried to set off the plastic explosives that had been sewn to his underwear.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
