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1869
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Charles Finger (English-American Children's Author Awarded the 1925 Newbery Medal for Tales from Silver Lands)
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1915
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Eth Clifford (New York City-born Children's Author)
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1951
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Pam Muñoz Ryan (California-born Latin-American Children's Author)
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1883
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Maurice Utrillo (French Painter)
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1959
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Michael Anderson (New York-born African-American Astronaut; Perished 2/1/2003 in Space Shuttle Columbia)
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1642
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Isaac Newton (English-born Mathematician, Scientist; Founder of Calculus and Newton's Laws of Motion)
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1871
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Clara Barton (Massachusetts-born Nurse; Founder of the American Red Cross)
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1878
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Louis Chevrolet (French-American Automobile Designer)
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1887
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Conrad Hilton (New Mexico-born Businessman; Founder of Hilton Hotels)
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1828
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Benjamin F. Gue (Founder of Iowa State University)
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1835
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Benjamin Tucker Tanner (Pennsylvania-born Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church)
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1886
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Franz Rosenzweig (German-born Religious Philosopher, Writer)
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1834
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James Sidney Hinton (North Carolina-born First African American Elected to the Indiana House of Representatives)
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1835
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Gilbert Motier Woodward (Washington D.C.-born Member of the U.S. Congress from Wisconsin)
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1866
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John Slaton (Governor of Georgia)
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1897
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Stella Akin (First Woman Admitted to the Georgia Bar)
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1918
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Anwar Sadat (President of Egypt; Nobel Laureate for Peace)
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1950
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Karl Rove (Colorado-born Advisor to President George W. Bush)
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1886
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Edward "Kid" Ory (Louisiana-born African-American Dixieland Jazz Trombonist, Composer, Bandleader)
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1899
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Humphrey Bogart (New York City-born Actor)
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1907
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Cab Calloway (New York-born African-American Singer, Bandleader, Dancer)
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1937
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O'Kelly Isley (Ohio-born African-American Popular Singer, "The Isley Brothers")
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1946
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Jimmy Buffett (Mississippi-born Popular Singer, Songwriter)
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1949
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Sissy Spacek (Texas-born Actress)
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1954
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Annie Lennox (Scottish Singer, Songwriter, Composer)
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1957
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Shane MacGowan (English Singer, Songwriter)
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1938
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Karel Capek (Czech Playwright)
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1946
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W.C. Fields (Pennsylvania-born Comedic Actor)
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1977
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Charlie Chaplin (English Comedic Actor)
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1989
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Nicolae Ceausescu (Ousted Romanian President Executed with His Wife)
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1992
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Helen Beatrice May Joseph (South African Political and Human Rights Activist)
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1996
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Dean Martin (Ohio-born Popular Singer)
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2006
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James Brown (Georgia-born African-American Member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)
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2008
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Eartha Kitt (South Carolina-born African-American Emmy-Award Winning Actress, Singer)
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1066
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William the Conqueror Is Crowned King of England
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1241
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Mongol Forces Capture Budapest, Hungary
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1482
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England's King Edward IV Entertains 2,000 to a Special Christmas Feast
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1487
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Portuguese Seafarer Bartolomeu Dias Enters Lüderitz Bay After Sailing 3 Weeks Along the Namib Coast of South West Africa
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1539
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In Florida, Priests with Hernando de Soto's Expedition Conduct the First Christmas Service in North America
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1660
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Voyageurs, Huron Indians and Father René Menard Participate in Michigan's First Recorded Christmas Celebration
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1723
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J.S. Bach's "Sacred Cantata No. 63" Is Performed As Bach's First Annual Sacred Cantata Cycle in Leipzig, Germany
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1724
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J.S. Bach's "Sacred Cantata No. 91" Is Performed As Bach's Second Annual Sacred Cantata Cycle in Leipzig, Germany
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1725
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J.S. Bach's "Sacred Cantata No. 110" Is Performed As Bach's Third Annual Sacred Cantata Cycle in Leipzig, Germany
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1728
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J.S. Bach's "Sacred Cantata No. 197a" Is Performed As Bach's Fourth Sacred Cantata Cycle in Leipzig, Germany
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1734
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Part 1 ("Jauchzet, frohlocket") of J.S. Bach's 6-part "Christmas Oratorio," S. 248, Is Performed
in Leipzig, Germany
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1773
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The East India Company Ship Polly Loaded with Tea from England Is Turned Back at Philadelphia
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1776
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General Washington's 5,400 Troops Cross the Delaware River to Surprise Hessian Forces Celebrating Christmas in Trenton, New Jersey
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1815
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Beethoven Conducts a Cantata and His Name Day Fest Overture, Op. 115, at a Vienna Benefit for the Citizens' Hospital Fund
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1818
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"Silent Night" Is Performed for the First Time at the Church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorff, Austria
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1830
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The First Regularly Scheduled U.S. Passenger Train Begins Operation Out of Charleston, South Carolina Along a 6-mile Track
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1832
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The Ohio Government Authorizes the Creation of Carroll County
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1837
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Named for Major Francis Dade Who Was Massacred by Seminole Indians, Dade County Is Created as Georgia's 92nd County
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1837
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In Florida, U.S. Troops Led by Zachary Taylor Rout the Seminoles at the Battle of Okeechobee
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1838
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The First Communion Service Is Conducted for Episcopalians in Texas
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1842
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The First American Flag Is Hoisted in St. Paul, Minnesota
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1846
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U.S. Troops Defeat the Mexicans at Brazitos Near Las Cruces, in the Only Mexican War Battle Fought in New Mexico.
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Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Poems" Is Published
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1851
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Christmas Is First Celebrated in Seattle, Washington
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1861
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President Lincoln and His Cabinet Meet for 4 Hours to Consider a Solution to the Trent Affair
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President Lincoln Hosts a Large Gathering for Christmas Dinner, Including Family and Friends From Illinois and Kentucky
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1862
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President and Mrs. Lincoln Visit Hospitals
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1868
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President Andrew Johnson Grants an Unconditional Pardon for Everyone Involved in the Southern Rebellion That Resulted in the Civil War
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1870
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As a Present to His Wife, Richard Wagner Conducts an Ensemble in Playing "Siegfried Idyll" at His Villa in Switzerland
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1871
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In Texas, the Houston and Texas Central Railroad Is the First to Reach Austin
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1880
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In Delaware, the New Castle County Court House Is Completed on Wilmington's Rodney Square
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1886
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England's Dial Square Football Club Is Renamed to Royal Arsenal (from Royal Oak Public House and Woolwich Arsenal Station
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1899
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6.4 Magnitude Earthquake Causes Property Damage in San Jacinto, California
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1907
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The Yakima Valley Transportation Company Operates Its First Electric Trolley Over a 3-mile Line in North Yakima (Now Yakima).
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1912
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Arkansas Governor Donaghey Pardons 300 Convicts
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1913
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Minneapolis's First Public Christmas Tree Is Lit in Gateway Park
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1914
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Troops from Both Sides Emerge from Their Trenches for a Christmas Truce
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1917
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45 Mexicans Cross the Border Capturing and Looting the Luke Brite Ranch, Killing 3 People
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1926
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Hirohito Becomes Emperor of Japan, Succeeding His Father, Emperor Yoshihito
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1928
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The Pocahontas Theater Opens in Welch, West Virginia
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1929
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The U.S. Army Signal Corps Radio Station at Nome, Alaska Is Destroyed by Fire
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1931
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The First National Radio Broadcast of a Complete Opera Is Humperdinck's "Hänsel und Gretel" from the Metropolitan Opera, New York City
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1932
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7.4 Magnitude Earthquake in Changma, Gansu (Kansu), China Collapses 1,000 Houses, Kills 275 People
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1933
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In Seattle, Washington, Katherine Cornell, Basil Rathbone and Orson Welles Give a 4:00 a.m. Live Performance
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1936
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China's Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek (Jiang Jieshi) Is Released After Being Kidnapped 12 Days Earlier
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1937
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Arturo Toscanini Conducts His First Radio Concert by the NBC Symphony Orchestra
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1938
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Vivien Leigh Is Cast to Play Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind
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1941
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The British Garrison in Hong Kong Surrenders to the Japanese After a 17-Day Siege
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1940
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Rodgers and Hart's Pal Joey Premieres at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre with Gene Kelly in the Leading Role
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1951
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In Mims, Florida, Civil Rights Activists Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore Are Killed When a Bomb Explodes in Their Home
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1952
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Queen Elizabeth II Makes Her First Christmas Speech to the British People
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1956
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In Birmingham, Alabama, the Home of Minister and Civil Rights Leader Fred Shuttlesworth Is Bombed
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1974
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In Australia, Cyclone Tracy Kills 65 and Leaves 9,000 Homeless
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1982
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5.9 Magnitude Earthquake in the Flores Island Region of Indonesia Destroys 1,875 Homes, Killing 13 People
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1983
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Temperature in Delaware Reaches -7° F
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1989
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Ousted Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu and His Wife, Elena, Are Executed
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1991
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Mikhail Gorbachev Announces He Is Resigning as President of the Soviet Union
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2000
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In Luoyang, China, 300-500 People Die in a Fire at a Disco Nightclub
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2002
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Katie Hnida Is the First Woman to Play in a Division I College Football Game Attempting an Extra Point for New Mexico Against UCLA
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2003
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European Space Agency Mars Probe, Beagle 2, Disappears and Is Lost
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