On This Day — 25 December

2024

Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 crashes in Aktau, Kazakhstan, killing 38 of its occupants.

Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243

2021

The James Webb Space Telescope is launched.

James Webb Space Telescope

2020

An explosion in Nashville, Tennessee, occurs, leaving three civilians in the hospital.

2020 Nashville bombing

2019

Twenty people are killed and thousands are left homeless by Typhoon Phanfone in the Philippines.

Typhoon Phanfone

2016

A Russian Defence Ministry Tupolev Tu-154 carrying members of the Alexandrov Ensemble crashes into the Black Sea shortly after takeoff, killing all 92 people on board.

Ministry of Defence (Russia)

2012

An Antonov An-72 plane crashes close to the city of Shymkent, killing 27 people.

Antonov An-72

2012

Air Bagan Flight 011, a Fokker 100, crashes on approach to Heho Airport in Heho, Myanmar, killing two people.

Air Bagan Flight 011

2007

A Siberian tiger named Tatania escapes her exhibit at the San Francisco Zoo and attacks three people, killing one and injuring two more.

Siberian tiger

2004

The Cassini orbiter releases Huygens probe which successfully landed on Saturn's moon Titan on January 14, 2005.

Cassini–Huygens

2003

UTA Flight 141, a Boeing 727-223, crashes at the Cotonou Airport in Benin, killing 141 people.

UTA Flight 141

2003

The ill-fated Beagle 2 probe, released from the Mars Express spacecraft on December 19, stops transmitting shortly before its scheduled landing.

Beagle 2

1999

Cubana de Aviación Flight 310, a Yakovlev Yak-42, crashes near Bejuma, Carabobo State, Venezuela, killing 22 people.

Cubana de Aviación Flight 310

1996

The body of American child beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey was found in her family's Boulder, Colorado, home. Her murder remains unsolved.

Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

1991

Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as President of the Soviet Union (the union itself is dissolved the next day). Ukraine's referendum is finalized and Ukraine officially leaves the Soviet Union.

Mikhail Gorbachev

1989

Romanian Revolution: Deposed President of Romania Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife, Elena, are condemned to death and executed after a summary trial.

Romanian revolution

1986

Iraqi Airways Flight 163, a Boeing 737-270C, is hijacked and crashes in Arar, Saudi Arabia, killing 63 people.

Iraqi Airways Flight 163

1977

Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin meets in Egypt with its president Anwar Sadat.

Menachem Begin

1976

EgyptAir Flight 864, a Boeing 707-366C, crashes on approach to Don Mueang International Airport, killing 71 people.

EgyptAir Flight 864

1971

A fire at the Daeyeonggak Hotel in Seoul, South Korea kills 164 people.

Daeyeonggak Hotel fire

1968

Apollo program: Apollo 8 performs the first successful Trans-Earth injection (TEI) maneuver, sending the crew and spacecraft on a trajectory back to Earth from Lunar orbit.

Apollo program

1968

Kilvenmani massacre: Forty-four Dalits (untouchables) are burnt to death in Kizhavenmani village, Tamil Nadu, a retaliation for a campaign for higher wages by Dalit laborers.

Kilvenmani massacre

1963

Turkish Cypriot Bayrak Radio begins transmitting in Cyprus after Turkish Cypriots are forcibly excluded from Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation.

Bayrak

1962

The Soviet Union conducts its final above-ground nuclear weapon test, in anticipation of the 1963 Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

Soviet Union

1951

A bomb explodes at the home of Harry T. Moore and Harriette V. S. Moore, early leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, killing Harry instantly and fatally wounding Harriette.

Murders of Harry and Harriette Moore

1950

The Stone of Scone, traditional coronation stone of British monarchs, is taken from Westminster Abbey by Scottish nationalist students. It later turns up in Scotland on April 11, 1951.

Stone of Scone

1946

The first European self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction is initiated within the Soviet Union's F-1 nuclear reactor.

Nuclear chain reaction

1941

Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, appointed commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet on December 17, arrives at Pearl Harbor.

Chester W. Nimitz

1941

World War II: Battle of Hong Kong ends, beginning the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong.

World War II

1941

Admiral Émile Muselier seizes the archipelago of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, which become the first part of France to be liberated by the Free French Forces.

Émile Muselier

1932

A magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Gansu, China kills 275 people.

1932 Changma earthquake

1927

B. R. Ambedkar and his followers burn copies of the Manusmriti in Mahad, Maharashtra, to protest its treatment of Dalit people.

B. R. Ambedkar

1915

The National Protection War breaks out against the Empire of China, as military leaders Cai E and Tang Jiyao proclaim the independence of Yunnan and begin a campaign to restore the Republic.

National Protection War

1914

World War I: A series of unofficial truces occur across the Western Front to celebrate Christmas.

World War I

1870

Wagner's Siegfried Idyll is first performed.

Richard Wagner

1868

Pardons for ex-Confederates: United States President Andrew Johnson grants an unconditional pardon to all Confederate veterans.

Pardons for ex-Confederates

1837

Second Seminole War: American general Zachary Taylor leads 1,100 troops against the Seminoles at the Battle of Lake Okeechobee.

Second Seminole War

1831

The Great Jamaican Slave Revolt begins; up to 20% of Jamaica's slaves mobilize in an ultimately unsuccessful fight for freedom.

Baptist War

1826

The Eggnog Riot at the United States Military Academy concludes after beginning the previous evening.

Eggnog riot

1815

The Handel and Haydn Society, oldest continually performing arts organization in the United States, gives its first performance.

Handel and Haydn Society

1814

Rev. Samuel Marsden holds the first Christian service on land in New Zealand at Rangihoua Bay.

Samuel Marsden

1809

Dr. Ephraim McDowell performs the first ovariotomy, removing a 22-pound tumor.

Ephraim McDowell

1793

Northwest Indian War: General "Mad Anthony" Wayne and a 300 man detachment identify the site of St. Clair's 1791 defeat by the large number of unburied human remains at modern Fort Recovery, Ohio.

Northwest Indian War

1776

American Revolutionary War: General George Washington and the Continental Army cross the Delaware River at night to attack Hessian forces serving Great Britain at Trenton, New Jersey, the next day.

American Revolutionary War

1766

Mapuches in Chile launch a series of surprise attacks against the Spanish starting the Mapuche uprising of 1766.

Mapuche

1758

Halley's Comet is sighted by Johann Georg Palitzsch, confirming Edmund Halley's prediction of its passage. This was the first passage of a comet predicted ahead of time.

Halley's Comet

1725

J. S. Bach leads the first performance of the Christmas cantata Unser Mund sei voll Lachens, BWV 110, making laughter audible in singing.

Johann Sebastian Bach

1724

J. S. Bach leads the first performance of Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ, BWV 91, in Leipzig, based on Luther's 1524 Christmas hymn.

Johann Sebastian Bach

1559

Pope Pius IV is elected, four months after his predecessor's death.

Pope Pius IV

1553

Battle of Tucapel: Mapuche rebels under Lautaro defeat the Spanish conquistadors and executes the governor of Chile, Pedro de Valdivia.

Battle of Tucapel

1492

The carrack Santa María, commanded by Christopher Columbus, runs onto a reef off Haiti due to an improper watch.

Carrack

1356

Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, promulgates the Golden Bull, a constitution for his empire.

Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor

1261

Eleven-year-old John IV Laskaris of the restored Eastern Roman Empire is deposed and blinded by orders of his co-ruler Michael VIII Palaiologos.

John IV Doukas Laskaris

1130

Count Roger II of Sicily is crowned the first king of Sicily.

Roger II of Sicily

1100

Baldwin of Boulogne is crowned the first King of Jerusalem in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

Baldwin I of Jerusalem

1076

Coronation of Bolesław II the Generous as king of Poland.

Bolesław II the Bold

1066

William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy is crowned king of England, at Westminster Abbey, London.

William the Conqueror

1046

Henry III is crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Clement II.

Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor

1025

Coronation of Mieszko II Lambert as king of Poland.

Mieszko II Lambert

1013

Sweyn Forkbeard takes control of the Danelaw and is proclaimed king of England.

Swein Forkbeard

1000

The foundation of the Kingdom of Hungary: Hungary is established as a Christian kingdom by Stephen I of Hungary.

AD 1000

820

Eastern Emperor Leo V is murdered in a church of the Great Palace of Constantinople by followers of Michael II.

Leo V the Armenian

800

The coronation of Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor, in Rome.

Charlemagne

597

Augustine of Canterbury and his fellow-labourers baptise in Kent more than 10,000 Anglo-Saxons.

Augustine of Canterbury

508

Clovis I, king of the Franks, is baptized into the Catholic faith at Reims, by Saint Remigius.

Clovis I

350

Vetranio meets Constantius II at Naissus (Serbia) and is forced to abdicate his imperial title. Constantius allows him to live as a private citizen on a state pension.

Vetranio

336

First documented sign of Christmas celebration in Rome.

Christmas

333

Roman Emperor Constantine the Great elevates his youngest son Constans to the rank of Caesar.

Constantine the Great

274

A temple to Sol Invictus is dedicated in Rome by Emperor Aurelian.

Temple of the Sun (Rome)

36

Forces of Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han, under the command of Wu Han, conquer the separatist Chengjia empire, reuniting China.

AD 36