December 25, Washington crosses Delaware
Today is Sunday, December 25th, the 359th day of the year 2022. The year has six days left. This is Christmas Day.
Today’s highlight in history:
On December 25, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War, General George Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware River in a surprise attack on Hessian troops at Trenton, New Jersey.
On this date:
In the year 336 AD the first known Christmas commemoration took place on December 25th in Rome.
In 1066 William the Conqueror was crowned King of England.
In 1818, “Silent Night” was first performed publicly during the Christmas midnight mass at the Church of St. Nicholas in Oberndorf, Austria.
In 1926 Hirohito became Emperor of Japan, succeeding his father Emperor Yoshihito.
In 1946, comedian WC Fields died at the age of 66 in Pasadena, California.
Comedian Sir Charles Chaplin died in Switzerland in 1977 at the age of 88.
In 1989, the ousted Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu (chow-SHES’-koo) and his wife Elena were executed after a popular uprising. Former baseball executive Billy Martin, 61, died in a traffic accident near Binghamton, New York.
In 1991, Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev announced on television his resignation as the eighth and final leader of a communist superpower that had already died out.
In 1999, the astronauts of the Space Shuttle Discovery completed their repair work on the Hubble Space Telescope and released it back into orbit.
In 2003, 16 people were killed by mudslides that swept through campgrounds in California’s San Bernardino Valley. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf (pur-VEHZ’ moo-SHAH’-ruhv) survived a second assassination attempt in 11 days, but 17 other people were killed.
In 2009, passengers aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253 thwarted an attempt to blow up the plane as it landed in Detroit by shouting Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (OO’-mahr fah-ROOK’ ahb-DOOL’-moo- TAH’-lahb) arrests. who tried to detonate explosives in his underwear. (Abdulmutallab later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment.)
In 2020, early on Christmas morning, an RV parked on the deserted streets of downtown Nashville exploded, damaging dozens of buildings, causing widespread communications blackouts and preventing vacation travel at the city’s airport. Investigators later determined that the bomber, a 63-year-old man from the Nashville area, was killed in the blast.
Ten years ago: In his Christmas message to the world, Pope Benedict XVI. called for an end to the slaughter in Syria and for more meaningful negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, while encouraging greater religious freedom under China’s new leadership. Chicago mobster Frank Calabrese Sr., 75, died in a federal prison in North Carolina.
Five years ago: In his traditional Christmas message, Pope Francis called for a two-state solution in the Middle East and prayed for the end of the confrontation on the Korean Peninsula. Harsh winter weather gripped much of the country at Christmas, with bitter cold in the Midwest and a blizzard moving into New England. Russian election officials formally banned opposition leader Alexei Navalny from running for president, prompting him to call for a boycott of the March 2018 vote.
A year ago: NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, the world’s largest and most powerful space telescope, swooped down from French Guiana in South America to see the light of the first stars and galaxies and to scan the universe for signs of life. Airlines canceled hundreds of flights as staffing issues related to COVID-19 disrupted holiday celebrations during one of the busiest travel times of the year. Pope Francis used his Christmas address to pray for an end to the coronavirus pandemic.
Birthdays Today: Author Anne Roiphe is 87. Actress Hanna Schygulla (SHEE’-goo-lah) is 79. R&B singer John Edwards (The Spinners) is 78. Actor Gary Sandy is 77. Singer Jimmy Buffett is 76. Professional and collegiate football Hall of Famer Larry Csonka is 76. Country singer Barbara Mandrell is 74. Actress Sissy Spacek is 73. Blues singer/guitarist Joe Louis Walker is 73. Former advisor to the White House member Karl Rove is 72. Actor CCH Pounder is 70. Singer Annie Lennox is 68. Reggae singer and musician Robin Campbell (UB40) is 68. Country singer Steve Wariner is 68. Singer Shane MacGowan (The Pogues , The Popes) is 65. Baseball Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson is 64. Former Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers Christina Romer is 64. Actor Klea Scott is 54. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is 51. Rock musician Noel Hogan (The Cranberries) is 51. The singer Dido is 51. Rock singer Mac Powell (Third Day) is 50. R&B singer Ryan Shaw is 42. Country singer Alecia Elliott is 40. Pop singers Jess and Lisa Origlia sso (The Veronicas) are 38. The actor Perdita Weeks is 37. Rock singer and musician Lukas Nelson (Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real) is 34.
