Wednesday, December 25, 2013

December 25th in History


333 - Emperor Constantine the Great elevates his youngest son Constans to the rank of Caesar.

336 - First documentary sign of Christmas celebration in ancient Rome

496 - Clovis I, King of the Franks, is Baptised into the Catholic faith at Rheims, by Saint Remigius.

597 - Augustine of Canterbury and his fellow-labourers baptises in Kent more than 10,000 Anglo-Saxons.

800 - Coronation of Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor, in Rome.

1000 - The foundation of the Kingdom of Hungary: Hungary is established as a Christian kingdom by Stephen I of Hungary.

1066 - William the Conqueror is crowned King of England, at Westminster Abbey, London.

1100 - Baldwin of Boulogne is crowned the first King of Jerusalem in the Church of the Nativity.

1130 - Count Roger II of Sicily is crowned the first King of Sicily

1643 - Christmas Island found and named by Captain William Mynors of the East India Company vessel, the Royal Mary.

1776 - George Washington and the Continental Army cross the Delaware River at night to attack Hessian forces serving Great Britain at Trenton, New Jersey, the next day.

1868 - US President Andrew Johnson grants unconditional pardon to all Civil War Confederate soldiers.

1926 - Emperor Taishō of Japan dies. His son, Prince Hirohito succeeds him as Emperor Shōwa.

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.

1950 - The Stone of Scone, traditional coronation stone of British monarchs, is taken from Westminster Abbey by Scottish nationalist students. It later turns up in Scotland on April 11th, 1951.

1989 - Nicolae Ceauşescu, former communist President of Romania and his wife, First-Deputy Prime-Minister Elena are condemned to death and executed after a summary trial.

1991 - Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as president of the Soviet Union (the union itself is dissolved the next day). Ukraine's referendum is finalized and Ukraine officially leaves the Soviet Union.

2003 - The ill-fated Beagle 2 probe, released from the Mars Express Spacecraft on December 19, disappears shortly before its scheduled landing.

Famous Birthdays

Circa 7-2 BC - Jesus Christ - Son of God / Christian messiah

1137 - Saladin, Sultan of Egypt and Syria

1250 - John IV Laskaris, Byzantine Emperor

1461 - Christina of Saxony, Queen consort of Denmark, Norway and Sweden

1584 - Margaret of Austria, Queen of Spain and Portugal

1642 - Sir Isaac Newton, scientist and mathematician

1821 - Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross

1865 - Evangeline Booth, the 4th General of The Salvation Army

1876 - Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan

1901 - Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester

1924 - Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Prime Minister of India

1936 - HRH Princess Alexandra of Kent, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy

1948 - Alia al Hussein, of Jordan, Queen consort of Jordan and the third spouse of King Hussein of Jordan until her death.

1954 - Annie Lennox, singer

1981 - Katie Wright, actress

1988 - Eric Gordon, basketball player

1990 - Conny Perrin, tennis player

No comments:

Post a Comment