About December 24
December 24, 2025 is the 358th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 7 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Wednesday.
You can browse the full year calendar in case you need it.
Is this your birthday? Are you not curious to learn who shares your special day? Find out the December 24 famous birthdays and expand your knowledge today. (Sponsored link)
Capricorn is the sun sign of a person born on this day. Turquoise is the modern birthstone for this month. Onyx is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.
According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 55 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.
What Happened On December 24
- 563 –The Byzantine church Hagia Sophia in Constantinople is dedicated for the second time after being destroyed by earthquakes.
- 1814 –The Treaty of Ghent is signed ending the War of 1812.
- 1826 –The Eggnog Riot at the United States Military Academy begins that night, wrapping up the following morning.
- 1906 –Radio: Reginald Fessenden transmits the first radio broadcast; consisting of a poetry reading, a violin solo, and a speech.
- 1911 –Lackawanna Cut-Off railway line opens in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
- 1914 –World War I: The “Christmas truce” begins.
- 1929 –Assassination attempt on Argentine President Hipólito Yrigoyen.
- 1941 –World War II: Kuching is conquered by Japanese forces.
- 1942 –World War II: French monarchist, Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle, assassinates Vichy French Admiral François Darlan in Algiers.
- 1953 –Tangiwai disaster: A railway bridge is destroyed by a lahar at Tangiwai, in the Central North Island of New Zealand, sending a fully loaded passenger train into the Whangaehu River, and killing 153 people.
- 1955 –NORAD Tracks Santa for the first time in what will become an annual Christmas Eve tradition.
- 1964 –Vietnam War: Viet Cong operatives bomb the Brinks Hotel in Saigon to demonstrate they can strike an American installation in the heavily guarded capital.
- 1966 –A Canadair CL-44 chartered by the United States military crashes into a small village in South Vietnam, killing 129.
- 1968 –Apollo Program: The crew of Apollo 8 enters into orbit around the Moon, becoming the first humans to do so. They performed 10 lunar orbits and broadcast live TV pictures that became the famous Christmas Eve Broadcast, one of the most watched programs in history.
- 1979 –The first European Ariane rocket is launched.
- 1980 –Witnesses report the first of several sightings of unexplained lights near RAF Woodbridge, in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England, an incident called “Britain’s Roswell”.
- 1997 –The Sid El-Antri massacre (or Sidi Lamri) in Algeria kills 50-100 people.
- 2000 –The Texas 7 hold up a sports store in Irving, Texas. Police officer Aubrey Hawkins is murdered during the robbery.
- 2003 –The Spanish police thwart an attempt by ETA to detonate 50 kg of explosives at 3:55 p.m. inside Madrid’s busy Chamartín Station.
- 2005 –Chad–Sudan relations: Chad declares a state of war against Sudan following a December 18 attack on Adré, which left about 100 people dead.
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