25 December History
- 376 - In Milan, Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan, forces the emperor Theodosius to perform public penance for his massacre.
- 800 - The pope crowns Charlemagne emperor in Rome.
- 1066 - William I is crowned king of England.
- 1621 - The governor of New Plymouth prevents newcomers from playing cards.
- 1651 - The General Court of Boston levies a five shilling fine on anyone caught "observing any such day as Christmas."
- 1776 - Patriot General George Washington crosses the Delaware River with 5,400 troops during the American Revolution. Washington hoped to surprise a Hessian force celebrating Christmas at their winter quarters in Trenton, New Jersey.
- 1861 - Stonewall Jackson spends Christmas with his wife; their last together.
- 1862 - John Hunt Morgan and his raiders clash with Union forces near Bear Wallow, Kentucky.
- 1862 - President and Mrs. Lincoln visit hospitals in the Washington D.C. area on this Christmas Day.
- 1912 - Italy lands troops in Albania to protect its interests during a revolt there.
- 1914 - German and British troops on the Western Front declare an unofficial truce to celebrate Christmas during World War I.
- 1918 - A revolt erupts in Berlin.
- 1925 - U.S. troops in Nicaragua disarm insurgents in support of the Diaz regime.
- 1927 - The Mexican congress opens land to foreign investors, reversing the 1917 ban enacted to preserve the domestic economy.
- 1939 - Finnish troops enter Soviet territory.
- 1941 - Free French troops occupy the French Islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon off the Canadian coast.
- 1944 - Prime Minister Winston Churchill goes to Athens to seek an end to the Greek civil war.
- 1946 - Chiang Kai-shek offers a new Chinese constitution in Nanking pledging universal suffrage.
- 1950 - Scottish nationalists steal the Stone of Scone from the British coronation throne in Westminster Abbey. The 485 pound stone was recovered in April 1951.
- 1962 - The Bay of Pigs captives, upon their return to the United States, vow to return to Cuba and topple Fidel Castro.
- 1965 - Entertainer Chris Noel gives her first performance for the USO at two hospitals in California, she will eventually entertain in Vietnam.
- 1973 - U.S. astronauts onboard the Skylab space station take a seven-hour walk in space and photograph the comet Kohoutek.
- 1976 - Over 100 Muslims, returning from a pilgrimage to Mecca, die when their boat sinks.
- 1979 - Egypt begins major restoration of the Sphinx.
- 1991 - Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union's first and last executive president, resigns. The Soviet Union no longer exsists.
- 2006 - James Brown, the "Godfather of Soul", dies at age 73.
25 December Birthdays
- 1642 - Sir Isaac Newton, English mathematician and scientist who enunciated the laws of motion and the law of gravity.
- 1841 - Clara Barton, founder of the Red Cross.
- 1870 - Rosa Luxemburg, Polish-born founder of the Spartacus League which later became the German Communist Party.
- 1907 - Cab Calloway, band leader, the first Jazz singer to sell a million records.
- 1918 - Anwar Sadat, Egyptian president (1970 to 1981) and Nobel Peace Prize winner.