Today in History for Dec. 25:
Christian tradition associates the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem with Dec. 25th, however the exact day and year of Christ's birth have never been determined. The year 6 B.C., two years before the death of King Herod, has been suggested as the possible year of Christ's birth.
In 336, in Rome, the first recorded celebration of Christmas on Dec. 25th took place.
In 800, Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III, in an attempt to revive the lost glories of the Roman Empire.
In 1066, William the Conqueror was crowned king of England after defeating Harold, Earl of Wessex, in the Battle of Hastings.
In 1535, the first Christmas in Canada was celebrated at Stadacona, Que., by French explorer Jacques Cartier and his crew.
In 1635, Samuel de Champlain, known as the "Father of New France," died in Quebec, which he founded. Records indicate he was in his 50s. Champlain's explorations in Canada included parts of what are now New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and along the St. Lawrence into Ontario as far west as Lake Huron as he established a vast fur trading empire. In 1633, he was appointed governor of New France and oversaw the promising beginning of the colony he had long planned.
In 1642, British mathematician Sir Isaac Newton was born.
In 1652, the English Parliament officially abolished Christmas. For the next eight years, just before Christmas, town criers reminded citizens that Christmas was not to be observed.
In 1776, Gen. George Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware River for a surprise attack against Hessian forces at Trenton, N.J.
In 1850, Isabella Valancy Crawford, first woman poet of distinction in Canada, was born in Ireland. The family immigrated to Canada in 1858 and Crawford finally settled in Toronto. Between 1873 and her death in 1887, her poems, short stories and serialized novels appeared in Canadian and U.S. publications.
In 1855, the first recorded game of ice hockey was played in Kingston, Ont., by members of the Royal Canadian Rifles. The soldiers tied blades to their boots, borrowed field hockey sticks and played field hockey on ice using a lacrosse ball. Windsor, N.S., also claims credit as the sport's birthplace.
In 1876, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan and its first governor general, was born.
In 1898, the British Imperial penny postage was introduced.
In 1914, the famous Christmas truce between British and German troops took place during the First World War. Bogged down in the trenches on the western front, the troops fraternized and swapped presents in no man's land. At midnight, the shooting started again.
In 1926, Hirohito, the longest-reigning emperor in Japan's history, became emperor upon the death of his father Yoshihito.
In 1926, Kenhiro Takayanagi of Japan successfully transmitted a 40-line electronic TV picture.
In 1932, King George V broadcast the first Christmas message carried by radio from a reigning British monarch.
In 1940, the First Canadian Corps was organized in England under the command of General Andrew McNaughton.
In 1941, Japan announced the surrender of the British-Canadian garrison at Hong Kong, during the Second World War.
In 1950, the historic Stone of Scone was stolen from Westminster Abbey by Scottish nationalist students. It was recovered by police the following April. The stone was returned to Scotland in 1996 -- 700 years after it was taken to London.
In 1957, Queen Elizabeth II delivered her first televised Christmas message.
In 1971, Justin Trudeau was born. He was only the second child ever born to a Canadian prime minister while in office and the first since 1869. In October 2008, Justin followed his father's footsteps to Ottawa by winning the Montreal riding of Papineau in the federal election. In April 2013, he was elected leader of the federal Liberal Party. In 2015, he was elected Canada's 23rd prime minister.
In 1973, a second son, Sacha (Alexandre) Trudeau, was born to the prime minister.
In 1983, Joan Miro, Spanish surrealist painter, died at age 90.
In 1986, an Iraqi Airways Boeing 737 crashed in the Saudi Arabian desert after a hijacking attempt in which the attackers exploded grenades during a shootout with sky marshals. At least 62 people were killed.
In 1989, ousted Romanian leader Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, Elena, were executed by firing squads after a secret trial.
In 1989, former baseball manager Billy Martin died in a traffic accident in Fenton, N.Y., at age 61.
In 1990, the World Wide Web, the system providing quick access to websites over the Internet, was born in Geneva, Switzerland, as computer scientists Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau created the world's first hyperlinked webpage.
In 1991, Canada recognized 11 former republics of the Soviet Union as independent countries. Canada recognized Ukraine on Dec. 2.
In 1991, the hammer-and-sickle flag was lowered over the Kremlin in Moscow for the last time, symbolically ending the Soviet state founded by Lenin after the 1917 Bolshevik revolution. All political power, including control of nuclear weapons, was passed to Russian President Boris Yeltsin and his new Commonwealth of Independent States.
In 1995, singer-actor Dean Martin died of respiratory failure at his Beverly Hills, Calif., home. He was 78. Martin first gained fame in a comedy duo with Jerry Lewis in the late 1940s. They were top movie, TV and nightclub stars when Martin ended the act in 1956. He went on to further stardom on his own, both as an actor and singer.
In 1996, Bill Hewitt, play-by-play announcer for the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1951-1981, died at age 68.
In 1998, British mogul Richard Branson, American millionaire Steve Fossett and Per Lindstrand of Sweden gave up their attempt to make the first non-stop, round-the-world balloon flight, seven days into their journey, ditching off Hawaii.
In 2006, singer James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, died at age 73.
In 2008, Eartha Kitt, a sultry singer, dancer and actress who rose from South Carolina cotton fields to become an international symbol of elegance and sensuality, died at age 81.
In 2008, Canada had its first coast-to-coast white Christmas since 1971 as heavy snow, winds and below-freezing temperatures blanketed much of the country.
In 2009, a woman jumped a barrier in St. Peter鈥檚 Basilica and rushed at Pope Benedict, managing to knock him down, just hours before the Pope delivered his traditional Christmas Day greetings.
In 2009, a Nigerian man who claimed to be an al-Qaeda supporter, tried to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane with 289 people on board as it was preparing to land in Detroit. Passengers and crew quickly extinguished the fire and subdued him.
In 2016, British pop superstar George Michael, first a teenybopper heartthrob with WHAM! and then a mature solo artist who blended soul and dance music with social commentary, was found dead in bed at his London home. He was 53.
In 2017, Canada moved to expel a Venezuelan diplomat from the country and strip his credentials in retaliation after his Canadian counterpart was kicked out of the South American nation.
In 2018, three people died in a Christmas morning crash on a Saskatchewan highway. RCMP say a 51-year-old woman, 48-year-old man and 16-year-old boy were in an SUV that was struck head-on by a half-ton truck that investigators believe crossed the centre line on Highway 10 west of Melville.
In 2018, the Queen and other members of the Royal Family received cheers from a Christmas crowd when they arrived for a church service on the grounds of one of the monarch's country estates. A chauffeured limousine delivered the 92-year-old monarch to St. Mary Magdalene Church, while younger royals walked from the Queen's grand country house in Sandringham.
In 2020, a recreational vehicle parked in the deserted streets of downtown Nashville exploded, causing widespread communications outages. Authorities said the blast was intentional, and two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press that human remains were found in the vicinity. Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake said police were responding to a report of shots fired when they encountered an RV blaring a recording that said a bomb would detonate in 15 minutes.
In 2021, the world's largest and most powerful space telescope blasted off from a spaceport in French Guiana. NASA partnered with space agencies in Canada and Europe to build the $10-billion infrared observatory. The James Webb Space Telescope will use state-of-the-art technology to behold light from the first stars and galaxies.
In 2023, Harry Rosen, the founder of the Canadian men's clothing retailer that bears his name, died at 92. Rosen opened his first made-to-measure menswear store on Parliament Street in Toronto in 1954 along with his brother Lou and ran the company for 51 years until his son Larry became chairman and CEO in 2005.
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The Canadian Press
