TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – DEC 25
0001 1st Christmas, according to calendar-maker Dionysus Exiguus
0337 Earliest possible date that Christmas was celebrated on Dec 25th
0376 In Milan, Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan, forces the emperor Theodosius to perform public penance for his massacre.
0800 The pope crowns Charlemagne emperor in Rome.
1223 St Francis of Assisi assembles 1st Nativity scene (Greccio, Italy)
1621 The governor of New Plymouth prevents newcomers from playing cards.
1643 Christmas Island founded and named by Captain William Mynors of the East India Ship Company vessel, the Royal Mary.
1651 The General Court of Boston levies a five shilling fine on anyone caught “observing any such day as Christmas.”
1760 Jupter Hammon, New York slave, publishes poetry in “An Evening Thought”
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.
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. Instead of fighting, soldiers exchange gifts and play football
1927 The Mexican congress opens land to foreign investors, reversing the 1917 ban enacted to preserve the domestic economy.
1939 Montgomery Ward introduces Rudolph the 9th reindeer
1950 Scottish nationalists steal the Stone of Scone from the British coronation throne in Westminster Abbey. The 485 pound stone was recovered in April 1951.
1962 The Department of Commerce Census Clock in Washington, DC, recorded the U.S. population on this day as 188,000,000.
1973 U.S. astronauts onboard the Skylab space station take a seven-hour walk in space and photograph the comet Kohoutek
1976 Over 100 Muslims, returning from a pilgrimage to Mecca, die when their boat sinks.
1979 The USSR invaded Afghanistan in a bid to halt civil war and protect USSR interests.
1989 Former Romanian president Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife were executed.
1991 Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union’s first and last executive president, resigns. The Soviet Union no longer exsists.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
