Events on December 24 43
Year 759
Tang dynasty poet Du Fu departs for Chengdu, where he is hosted by fellow poet Pei Di.
Year 1144
The capital of the crusader County of Edessa falls to Imad ad-Din Zengi, the atabeg of Mosul and Aleppo.
Year 1500
A joint Venetian-Spanish fleet captures the Castle of St. George on the island of Cephalonia.
Year 1814
Representatives of Britain and the United States sign the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812.
Year 1818
The first performance of "Silent Night" takes place in the church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf, Austria.
Year 1826
The Eggnog Riot at the United States Military Academy begins that night, wrapping up the following morning.
Year 1906
Radio: Reginald Fessenden transmits the first radio broadcast; consisting of a poetry reading, a violin solo, and a speech.
Year 1913
The Italian Hall disaster in Calumet, Michigan results in the deaths of 73 Christmas party participants (including 59 children) when someone falsely yells "fire".
Year 1942
World War II: French monarchist, Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle, assassinates Vichy French Admiral François Darlan in Algiers, Algeria.
Year 1943
World War II: U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower is named Supreme Allied Commander for the Invasion of Normandy.
Year 1945
Five of nine children become missing after their home in Fayetteville, West Virginia, is burned down.
Year 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.
Year 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.
Year 1966
A Canadair CL-44 chartered by the United States military crashes into a small village in South Vietnam, killing 129.
Year 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 and broadcast live TV pictures.
Year 1969
The oil company Phillips Petroleum made the first oil discovery in the Norwegian sector of North Sea.
Year 1973
District of Columbia Home Rule Act is passed, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to elect their own local government.
Year 1980
Witnesses report the first of several sightings of unexplained lights near RAF Woodbridge, in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom, an incident called "Britain's Roswell".
Year 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.
Year 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).
Year 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.
Year 2005
Chad-Sudan relations: Chad declares a state of war against Sudan following a December 18 attack on Adré, which left about 100 people dead.
Year 2008
Lord's Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel group, begins a series of attacks on Democratic Republic of the Congo, massacring more than 400.