0352 - 1st definite date Christmas was celebrated on Dec 25th
0597 - England adopts Julian calendar
0800 - Pope Leo III crowns Charlemagne Roman emperor
1066 - William the Conqueror crowned king of England
1223 - St Francis of Assisi assembles 1st Nativity scene
1492 - Columbus' ship Santa Maria docks at Dominican Republic
1621 - Gov Bradford of Plymouth forbids game playing on Christmas
1741 - Astronomer Anders Celcius introduces Centigrade temperature
1758 - Halley's comet 1st sighted
1776 - Washington crosses Delaware
1818 - 1st known Christmas carol ("Silent Night") is sung
1818 - Handel's Messiah, US premiere in Boston
1831 - Louisiana & Arkansas 1st states to observe Christmas as holiday
1843 - 1st theatre matinee (Olympic Theatre, NYC)
1848 - New Haven Railroad opens
1868 - President Johnson grants pardon to all Civil War soldiers
1888 - 1st indoor baseball game played (Philadelphia)
1896 - "Stars & Stripes Forever" written by John Philip Sousa
1922 - Lenin dictates his "Political testament"
1923 - Imperial Theater opens at 249 W 45th St NYC
1926 - Hirohito becomes emperor of Japan (1926-1989)
1930 - 1st US bobsled run open to public (Lake Placid, NY)
1931 - NY's Metropolitan Opera broadcasts an entire opera over radio
1938 - George Cukor announces Vivien Leigh will play Scarlett O'Hara
1939 - Montgomery Ward introduces Rudolph the 9th reindeer
1950 - Dick Tracy marries Tess Truehart
1959 - Rinog Starr [Richard Starkey] receives his 1st drum set
1963 - Walt Disney's "The Sword in the Stone" is released
1968 - Frank Borman's Christmas reading while orbiting Moon
1971 - Longest NFL game (82 min 40 sec) - Dolphins beat Chiefs
1983 - 1st live telecast of Christmas Parade
1989 - Japanese scientist achieve -271.8øC, coldest temp recorded
1991 - Mikhail Gorbachev formally resigns as Pres of USSR
1997 - Jerry Seinfeld says this is the final season of his TV show
|
