December 25 - What happened today?

Home What happened today in history? Blamepro's Almanac for December 25 Christmas Day
In the headlines today:

2006	James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, dies of heart failure at age 73. (photo credit: Universal International)
1999	US astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery complete repairs on the Hubble Space Telescope.
1995	Entertainer Dean Martin dies at his Beverly Hills, California, home at age 78.
1991	USSR president Mikhail Gorbachev announces his resignation.
1989	Former Romanian president Nicolae Ceausescu is executed during a revolt.
1977	Comic film star Charlie Chaplin dies in Switzerland at age 88.
1965	The Beatles' lead guitarist George Harrison proposes to fashion model Pattie Boyd.
1950	Walt Disney makes his TV debut with a one hour special airing on NBC.
1946	Actor and comedian W.C. Fields dies in Pasadena, California, at age 66.
1939	Lionel Barrymore reads Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol on the CBS radio network for the first time.
1926	Hirohito is named Emperor of Japan.
1896	The Stars and Stripes Forever is written by Jon Philip Sousa.
1818	Silent Night is performed for the first time, at a church in Oberndorff, Austria.
1776	US General George Washington's forces cross the Delaware River for an attack against the British at Trenton, New Jersey. (photo credit: NARA)
1066	William the Conqueror is crowned King of England.
336	Christmas is celebrated on this day in Rome.
0 AD	Jesus of Nazareth is born in a stable in Bethlehem.