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This day in history

This day in history: 25 December

Events, births and deaths on this date, ordered by how many people look them up.

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Born on this day · Died on this day229 · 133

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Key facts

432 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 25 December.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
2024: Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 crashes in Aktau, Kazakhstan, killing 38 of its occupants.

Holidays and observances

Children's Day (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Republic of Congo)

Christian feast day: Anastasia of Sirmium (Catholic Church)

Christian feast day: December 25 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Christian feast day: Stephen (Armenian Apostolic Church)

Christmas Day, Christian festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. (Internationally observed)

Constitution Day (Taiwan)

Good Governance Day (India)

Quaid-e-Azam's Day (Pakistan)

Takanakuy (Chumbivilcas Province, Peru)

Tulsi Pujan Diwas (India)

Events

2024Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 crashes in Aktau, Kazakhstan, killing 38 of its occupants.

2021The James Webb Space Telescope is launched.

2020An explosion in Nashville, Tennessee, occurs, leaving three civilians in the hospital.

2019Twenty people are killed and thousands are left homeless by Typhoon Phanfone in the Philippines.

2016A 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.

2012Air Bagan Flight 011, a Fokker 100, crashes on approach to Heho Airport in Heho, Myanmar, killing two people.

2012An Antonov An-72 plane crashes close to the city of Shymkent, killing 27 people.

2007A Siberian tiger named Tatania escapes her exhibit at the San Francisco Zoo and attacks three people, killing one and injuring two more.

2004The Cassini orbiter releases Huygens probe which successfully landed on Saturn's moon Titan on January 14, 2005.

2003The ill-fated Beagle 2 probe, released from the Mars Express spacecraft on December 19, stops transmitting shortly before its scheduled landing.

2003UTA Flight 141, a Boeing 727-223, crashes at the Cotonou Airport in Benin, killing 141 people.

1999Cubana de Aviación Flight 310, a Yakovlev Yak-42, crashes near Bejuma, Carabobo State, Venezuela, killing 22 people.

1996The body of American child beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey was found in her family's Boulder, Colorado, home. Her murder remains unsolved.

1991Mikhail 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.

1989Romanian Revolution: Deposed President of Romania Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife, Elena, are condemned to death and executed after a summary trial.

1986Iraqi Airways Flight 163, a Boeing 737-270C, is hijacked and crashes in Arar, Saudi Arabia, killing 63 people.

1977Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin meets in Egypt with its president Anwar Sadat.

1976EgyptAir Flight 864, a Boeing 707-366C, crashes on approach to Don Mueang International Airport, killing 71 people.

1971A fire at the Daeyeonggak Hotel in Seoul, South Korea kills 164 people.

1968Apollo 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.

1968Kilvenmani 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.

1963Turkish Cypriot Bayrak Radio begins transmitting in Cyprus after Turkish Cypriots are forcibly excluded from Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation.

1962The Soviet Union conducts its final above-ground nuclear weapon test, in anticipation of the 1963 Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

1951A 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.

1950The 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.

1946The first European self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction is initiated within the Soviet Union's F-1 nuclear reactor.

1941Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, appointed commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet on December 17, arrives at Pearl Harbor.

1941Admiral 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.

1941World War II: Battle of Hong Kong ends, beginning the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong.

1932A magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Gansu, China kills 275 people.

1927B. R. Ambedkar and his followers burn copies of the Manusmriti in Mahad, Maharashtra, to protest its treatment of Dalit people.

1915The 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.

1914World War I: A series of unofficial truces occur across the Western Front to celebrate Christmas.

1913Disfellowshipped Adventist lay preacher Felix Manalo begins the new religious movement known as the Iglesia ni Cristo with the baptism of its first members.

1870Wagner's Siegfried Idyll is first performed.

1868Pardons for ex-Confederates: United States President Andrew Johnson grants an unconditional pardon to all Confederate veterans.

1837Second Seminole War: American general Zachary Taylor leads 1,100 troops against the Seminoles at the Battle of Lake Okeechobee.

1831The Great Jamaican Slave Revolt begins; up to 20% of Jamaica's slaves mobilize in an ultimately unsuccessful fight for freedom.

1826The Eggnog Riot at the United States Military Academy concludes after beginning the previous evening.

1815The Handel and Haydn Society, oldest continually performing arts organization in the United States, gives its first performance.

Born on this day

2000Wilfried Singo, Ivorian footballer

1999Adut Akech, South Sudanese-Australian fashion model

1996Emiliano Buendía, Argentine footballer

1993Emi Takei, Japanese actress, fashion model and singer

1992Mitakeumi Hisashi, Japanese sumo wrestler

1991Avu-chan, Japanese musician, songwriter, actor, model and producer

1988Eric Gordon, American basketball player

1988Joãozinho, Brazilian footballer

1988Lukas Hinds-Johnson, German rugby player

1987Ceyhun Gülselam, Turkish footballer

1987Demaryius Thomas, American football player (died 2021)

1985Martin Mathathi, Kenyan runner

1985Rusev, Bulgarian-American professional wrestler

1985Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukrainian politician, 19th Prime Minister of Ukraine

1984Alastair Cook, English cricketer

1984Chris Cahill, Samoan footballer

1984Chris Richard, American basketball player

1982Chris Rene, American singer-songwriter and producer

1982Ethan Kath, Canadian keyboard player, songwriter and producer

1982Rob Edwards, Welsh footballer

1982Shawn Andrews, American football player

1981Camille Herron, American ultramarathon runner

1981Christian Holst, Danish-Faroese footballer

1981Trenesha Biggers, American wrestler and model

1981Willy Taveras, Dominican baseball player

1980Laura Sadler, English actress (died 2003)

1980Marcus Trufant, American football player

1979Ferman Akgül, Turkish singer-songwriter

1979Hyun Young-min, South Korean footballer

1979Laurent Bonnart, French footballer

1979Robert Huff, English race car driver

1978Jeremy Strong, American actor

1978Joel Porter, Australian footballer and manager

1978Simon Jones, Welsh cricketer

1977Ali Tandoğan, Turkish footballer

1977Israel Vázquez, Mexican boxer (died 2024)

1976Armin van Buuren, Dutch DJ and record producer

1976Atko Väikmeri, Estonian footballer

1976Tuomas Holopainen, Finnish keyboard player, songwriter, and producer

1975Choi Sung-yong, South Korean footballer and manager

Died on this day

2024Bill Bergey, American football player (born 1945)

2024Britt Allcroft, English writer (born 1943)

2024Jax Dane, American professional wrestler (born 1976)

2024M. T. Vasudevan Nair, Indian author and screenwriter (born 1933)

2024Osamu Suzuki, Japanese businessman (born 1930)

2023Jim Breaks, British wrestler (born 1940)

2022Fabián O'Neill, Uruguayan footballer (born 1973)

2021Wayne Thiebaud, American artist (born 1920)

2020K. C. Jones, American basketball player and coach (born 1932)

2019Ari Behn, Norwegian writer (born 1972)

2018Sulagitti Narasamma, Indian midwife (born 1920)

2017D. Herbert Lipson, American magazine publisher (Philadelphia, Boston) (born 1929)

2016George Michael, British singer and songwriter (born 1963)

2016Valery Khalilov, Russian military musician and composer (born 1952)

2016Vera Rubin, American astronomer (born 1928)

2015Dorothy M. Murdock, American author and historian (born 1961)

2015George Clayton Johnson, American author and screenwriter (born 1929)

2014David Ryall, English actor (born 1935)

2014Geoff Pullar, English cricketer (born 1935)

2014Ricardo Porro, Cuban-French architect (born 1925)

2013Anthony J. Bryant, American historian and author (born 1961)

2013David R. Harris, English geographer, anthropologist, archaeologist and academic (born 1930)

2013Lola Lange, Canadian rural feminist and appointee to the Royal Commission on the Status of Women (born 1922)

2013Mel Mathay, Filipino politician, 8th Mayor of Quezon City (born 1932)

2013Mike Hegan, American baseball player and sportscaster (born 1942)

2013Wayne Harrison, English footballer (born 1967)

2012Erico Aumentado, Filipino journalist, lawyer, and politician (born 1940)

2012Halfdan Hegtun, Norwegian radio host and politician (born 1918)

2012Joe Krivak, American football player and coach (born 1935)

2012Şerafettin Elçi, Turkish lawyer, politician, government minister (born 1938)

Quote of the day

“Nothing is so certain as that the evils of idleness can be shaken off by hard work.”

Seneca

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From Wikipedia’s on-this-day pages for this language, updated once a day and ordered by how often each article is read.

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