December 24
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Events on This Day
1818 - Franz Gruber of Oberndorf, Germany composed the music for Silent Night to words written by Josef Mohr. The traditional song was sung for the first time during Midnight Mass this night.1867 - “Oh by gosh by golly!” Is it that time already? It was Christmas Eve that R.H. Macy’s Department Store in New York City remained open until midnight to catch last-minute shoppers. The store took in a record $6,000 ($97,000 in today’s dollars), giving itself a very Merry Christmas.
1871 - Opera-goers in Cairo, Egypt were treated to Verdi’s Aida in its world premiere. The composer was commissioned to write the opera for festivities celebrating the opening of the Suez Canal.
1889 - Daniel Stover and William Hance, of Freeport, Illinois, were up late putting together bicycles for their tiny tots when, lo and behold, they patented the back pedal brake! It would later be known as the safety brake and became a standard feature on most brands of bikes. Today, we have 18 gears on a bike (more than on a big rig truck!). We need two hands to use the brakes instead of just pedaling backwards with our feet. Ah, those were the days.
1893 - Henry Ford completed construction of his first useful gasoline engine. It would not be long before old Henry changed the world with his Model T Ford cars.
1906 - Professor Reginald A. Fessenden sent his first radio broadcast -- from Brant Rock, MA. The program included a little verse, some violin and a speech.
1936 - The first radioactive medicine (radioactive isotope of phosphate) was administered -- in Berkeley, CA.
1943 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed General Dwight D. Eisenhower Supreme Commander of Allied Forces. The appointment was part of Operation Overlord, the plan to invade Europe in World War II.
1948 - The first completely solar-heated house was occupied by the first solar-heated people -- in Dover, MA. The system was developed by Dr. Maria Telkes of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
1950 - Coach Paul Brown won his fifth straight pro-football championship as Lou Groza kicked a field goal in the final 20 seconds. The Cleveland Browns edged the Los Angeles Rams, 30-28.
1951 - NBC-TV presented the first opera written for television. Amal and the Night Visitors became a Christmas classic.
1953 - Dragnet, starring Jack Webb as Detective Joe Friday, became the first network program to be sponsored. Dragnet was on NBC-TV, for you who want the facts, just the facts. “Who was the sponsor, you ask?” Fatima cigarettes, that’s who.
1955 - The lovely Lennon Sisters debuted as featured vocalists on The Lawrence Welk Show on ABC-TV. They became regulars with Welk within a month and stayed on the show until 1968.
1963 - New York’s Idlewild Airport was renamed JFK Airport in honor of the late U.S. president John F. Kennedy.
1966 - A military-chartered CL-44 plane crashed into a village in Binh Thai, South Vietnam. 129 people were killed.
1968 - The moon seemed a little closer to Earth this day ... and the world got a little smaller. Three astronauts, James A. Lovell, William Anders and Frank Borman, had reached the moon. It had been just three days earlier that Borman, Captain of Apollo 8, and his team left Cape Kennedy. Before their return to Earth, the three astronauts would orbit the moon ten times, paving the way for the first Earthling to walk on the lunar surface some seven months down the road. People all around the globe were able to see (via direct TV transmission) the most important parts of the Apollo 8 mission. This night proved to be one of the most emotional moments of the space flight. It was Christmas Eve, and Lovell, Anders and Borman, 250,000 miles from home, were reading verses from their bible and transmitting a message to all mankind calling for “peace on earth.”
<1970 - Walt Disney’s The Aristocats was released. The movie featured the voices of Phil Harris, Eva Gabor, Sterling Holloway, Scatman Crothers, Paul Winchell and many more.
1976 - Takeo Fukuda became prime minister of Japan. He was the political boss until Dec 1978.
1977 - The Bee Gees spent Christmas and New Year’s Eve at the top of the music charts. How Deep Is Your Love became #1 this day and stayed that way for three weeks.
1981 - Reggie Jackson picked Christmas Eve to announce that he would join Gene Autry’s California Angels for the 1982 season.
1985 - A graying beard, olive-green uniform and Cuban cigar -- once trademarks of Fidel Castro -- were no more. The Cuban presidente announced that he was a non-smoker.
1988 - Giving You the Best that I’ve Got, by Anita Baker, was #1 on U.S. album charts for four weeks. The other albums in the top five that week: Rattle and Hum by U2; The soundtrack from Cocktail; Appetite for Destruction by Guns N’ Roses; and Bon Jovi’s New Jersey.
1989 - Ousted Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega, who had succeeded in eluding U.S. forces, took refuge at the Vatican’s diplomatic mission in Panama City. It took weeks of negotiation and loud rock music played incessantly outside the embassy by American forces before Noriega agreed to give himself up.
1992 - U.S. President George Bush (I) pardoned former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and five others involved in the Iran-Contra scandal.
1993 - Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, who applied Christianity to everyday problems and had a keen understanding of human psychology, died at age 95. Peale’s book, The Power of Positive Thinking, has sold many millions of copies worldwide and has been translated into more than 40 languages.
1994 - Pearl Jam’s album Vitalogy hit #1 for one week in the U.S. The other top-five albums of the week were: Miracles: The Holiday Album, by Kenny G; Live at the BBC, by The Beatles; Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas; and II, by Boyz II Men.
1995 - A holiday meal and Christmas Eve religious services were planned for the U.S. troops in Bosnia. President Bill Clinton, wishing the troops well in a videotaped message from the White House, said, “You will make the difference between horror and hope, between a war that resumes and a peace that takes hold.”
1997 - The world’s first civilian spy satellite, EarlyBird I, was launched from Russia. It was built by EarthWatch Inc. of Longmont, CO.
1998 - A bus carrying New Yorkers to Atlantic City casinos skidded and flipped on the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey. Eight people were killed and fifteen injured.
2000 - Nick Massi, one of the original members of The Four Seasons music group, died. He was 73 years old.
2002 - 27-year-old Laci Peterson disappeared from her Modesto, CA neighborhood. She was 8-months pregnant. A reward for her return soon reached $500,000. On Jan 24, 2003 Amber Frey stepped forward and admitted to an affair with Scott Peterson, the husband of Laci. Laci's body was found April 14 near the San Francisco Bay Berkeley Marina, where Scott had gone fishing on Dec 24. (On Nov. 13, 2004, Scott Peterson was convicted of murdering Lacy and her unborn child.)
2003 - A U.S. federal appeals court blocked the George Bush (II) administration from implementing a major environmental rule change that would have allowed power plants to upgrade their facilities without installing anti-pollution equipment.
2005 - Foxy Brown was handcuffed and threatened with jail after she stuck her tongue out at a New York judge who had asked her to stop chewing gum. Judge Melissa Jackson told the rapper she had showed disrespect for the court. Brown was in court on charges of assaulting two nail salon workers during a row over payment.
2006 - A study was published saying traces of cocaine could be found on 94% of banknotes in Spain, a country that has one of the world’s highest rates of drug users.
2007 - Merrill Lynch agreed to sell $5 billion of new stock to Temasek Holdings, Singapore’s sovereign investment company. Merrill Lynch also announced the write down of $8 billion in mortgage investments for the 4th quarter of 2007.
2008 - U.K. stores increased discounts, hoping to lure last-minute shoppers on Christmas Eve.
2008 - Nobel Prize-winning British playwright Harold Pinter died at 78 years of age. Pinter was one of theatre’s biggest names for nearly half a century. His 32 plays include The Birthday Party, The Dumb Waiter and The Homecoming. His first play, The Room, appeared in 1957 and his breakthrough came with The Caretaker in 1960.
2009 - A woman jumped a barrier at the Vatican and rushed toward Pope Benedict XVI, managing to knock him down. The attacker was quickly pulled away by security. The pope was unhurt but retired Vatican diplomat, French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray (87), suffered a fractured femur during the commotion.
2010 - Dahmer vs. Gacy opened in U.S. movie theatres. The action, horror, comedy stars Ford Austin, Art LaFleur, Randal Malone, Ethan Phillips and Harland Williams.
2010 - Heavy snow stranded thousands of Christmas travelers in Europe, with airports closed and icy roads choked with traffic.
2011 - Egypt’s two leading Islamist parties won about two-thirds of votes for party lists in the second round of polling for a parliament that would help draft a new constitution -- after decades of autocratic rule.
2012 - Actor Charles Durning died in Manhattan, New York at 89 years of age. Longtime agent and friend, Judith Moss, said that Durning died of natural causes in his home in the borough of Manhattan. “Not only was Charlie a World War II hero but he was also a hero to his family. Charlie loved Christmas and if he could have chosen a time to pass, he would have chosen this day,” said a statement from his stepdaughter, Anita Gregory. “He loved that holiday and played Santa Claus many times in films and TV shows,” Gregory said. “Charlie lived the spirit of Christmas each and every day of his life. He taught me to believe that nothing was impossible. He brought joy and a smile to everyone’s life.” Durning appeared in more than 200 movies, TV shows and plays and was nominated for an Academy Award for his roles in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and To Be or Not to Be. He won the Golden Globe award for his performance in The Kennedys of Massachusetts and was nominated nine times for Emmys.
2012 - Another giant in the film and TV industry, Jack Klugman, died on this day in Woodland Hills, California. He was 90 years old. Klugman was best known for his Emmy Award-winning role in The Odd Couple TV series opposite Tony Randall (1970-1975) and in Quincy, M.E. from 1976-1983 (four Emmy nominations). Klugman began his acting career in 1950, moving to TV and film work with roles in 12 Angry Men (1957) and Cry Terror! (1958). Klugman won his first Emmy Award for his guest-starring role on The Defenders in 1964. A longtime smoker, he was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1974. The cancer returned in 1989. During the course of treatment, Klugman lost a vocal cord which left him with a raspy voice. In later years, he regained limited strength in his voice.
2012 - William Guest of Gladys Knight and the Pips died of heart failure at the age of 74. His background vocals can be heard on all of the group’s hits, including Midnight Train to Georgia, I Heard It Through the Grapevine and the Grammy winning Neither One of Us (Wants to be the First to Say Goodbye).
2013 - Hurricane-force winds and torrential rain from a Christmas Eve storm disrupted transportation networks and interrupted power supplies in Britain and France on one of the busiest travel days of the year.
2014 - Police in Israel reported the arrests of some 30 serving and former public officials -- the result of an investigation into alleged corruption linked to Yisrael Beiteinu, a right-wing party in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition.
2015 - Japan’s Cabinet approved a record-high military spending plan, endorsing proposals to purchase U.S. surveillance drones and F-35 fighter jets. This, as Tokyo stepped up cooperation with Washington amid China’s increasingly assertive activity in regional seas.
2016 - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry defended the Obama administration’s decision to effectively allow the U.N. to condemn Israel for attempting to build more settlements in the disputed West Bank, saying the “unprecedented” effort has spawned terrorism and violence that jeopardizes lasting peace in the region. The U.S. had abstained from a U.N. Security Council vote to adopt a resolution condemning Israel’s settlement expansion, which allowed for the measure’s passage and resulted in the disapproval of incoming Republican POTUS Donald Trump. “Things will be different after Jan. 20,” Trump tweeted minutes after the U.N. vote.
2017 - The U.S. Mission to the United Nations said that the U.N.’s budget would be slashed by $285 million. The mission said reductions would also be made to the U.N.’s management and support functions. Conservatives had long criticized the U.N. as not being in the U.S.’s best interests, and many had become more concerned after the U.N. overwhelmingly voted for a resolution to oppose POTUS Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
2017 - Guatemala’s President President Jimmy Morales announced that his country would move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, becoming the first nation to follow the lead of POTUS Donald Trump after ordering the change. Guatemala and Israel had long had close ties, especially in security matters (including arms sales to Guatemala).
2018 - Some 3,000 people were evacuated from a 36-story Sydney, Australia high-rise when cracking was heard after an internal support wall failed. This, at the newly opened Opal Tower overlooking Olympic Park. (As of June 2019, about half of the tower’s rooms were still not fit for reoccupation.)
2018 - South Korea fined BMW 11.2 billion won ($9.9 million) and filed a criminal complaint against the company. Prosecutors alleged botched responses to dozens of engine fires reported in South Korea. BMW had apologized and recalled some 172,000 vehicles of 65 different models.
2019 - President Vladimir Putin said that Russia had a strong edge in new weapons and that it has become the only country in the world to deploy hypersonic weapons. Well, Merry Christmas to you too Vlad.
2020 - Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch in California was sold to billionaire businessman Ron Burkle for $22 million. This, some five years after it was listed for $100 million
2020 - Italy reported 505 coronavirus-related deaths. The daily tally of new infections increased to 18,040 from 14,522, taking the total number of cases since Italy’s epidemic began past 2 million. Police in Italy enforced new COVID-19 travel restrictions aimed at limiting far-flung families from gathering over Christmas.
2021 - The Biden administration lifted travel restrictions on eight southern African countries that had been imposed over concerns about the fast-spreading COVID-19 Omicron variant. The decision (recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) came because health experts had learned that existing Covid vaccines were effective at preventing severe disease for those infected with omicron.
2021 - Japan approved a record 5.4 trillion yen ($47 billion) defense budget for fiscal 2022 that included funding for development of a new fighter jet and other “game-changing” weapons. This, as Japan bolstered its defense capabilities in response to China’s growing military threat.
2022 - Some 200 million people were feeling the icy grip of a massive winter storm that was linked to at least 12 deaths. More than 1.5 million people lost power and thousands of flights were cancelled. Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg said the U.S. aviation system was “operating under enormous strain”. The huge storm was estimated to be 2,000 miles wide and extended from Texas to Quebec.
2022 - U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson ruled that movie fans disappointed that their favourite actor was cut from a movie after appearing in the trailer could sue the studio for false advertising. Peter Michael Rosza of San Diego and Conor Woulfe of Maryland said Universal Pictures tricked them into renting the movie Yesterday because the trailer featured actor Ana de Armas. They spent over $3.99 each to watch the musical comedy on Amazon Prime, only to discover that de Armas had not made the final cut.
and more...
Birthdays on This Day December 24
1745 - Benjamin Rush
‘father of psychiatry’: physician: paper: Inquiry: the 1st American to recognize alcoholism as a disease; signer of America’s Declaration of Independence; died Apr 19, 18131809 - Kit (Christopher) Carson
frontiersman: subject of adventure novels; fur trapper, guide, American Indian agent and brevet Union general; died May 23, 18681818 - James Joule
physicist: discovered the SI unit of work or energy: Joule’s Law, also called the newton-meter; died Oct 11, 18891822 - Matthew Arnold
poet, essayist: Culture and Anarchy; died Apr 4, 18881894 - Harry Warren (Salvatore Guaragna)
composer: Song Writer’s Hall of Famer: Best Song Oscars: Lullaby of Broadway [1935], You’ll Never Know [1943], On the Atcheson, Topeka and Santa Fe [w/Johnny Mercer-1946]; You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby, That’s Amore; died Sep 22, 19811905 - Howard Hughes
industrialist: Hughes Aircraft; pilot [the ‘Spruce Goose’]; Hollywood producer: Jean Harlow’s career; The Front Page, Scarface, The Outlaw; eccentric recluse: long fingernails; died Apr 5, 19761906 - Franz Waxman
film composer: Bride of Frankenstein, Sorry, Wrong Number, Prince Valiant, Miracle in the Rain, Taras Bulba, Cimarron, The Nun’s Story; died Feb 24, 19671907 - I.F. (Isidor Feinstein) Stone
journalist: I.F. Stone’s Weekly, I.F. Stone’s Bi-Weekly; died July 17, 19891914 - Ralph Marterie
‘Caruso of the trumpet’: musician, bandleader: Pretend, Caravan, Skokiaan; died Oct 10, 19781918 - Dave Bartholomew
Rock & Roll/Songwriters Hall of Famer: musician: trumpet, band leader, composer, arranger; discovered and produced rock legend Fats Domino; died Jun 23, 20191922 - Ava Gardner
actress: The Barefoot Contessa, Earthquake, The Long Hot Summer, The Night of the Iguana; once married to Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw, Frank Sinatra; died Jan 25, 19901923 - David F. Friedman
filmmaker/producer: Goldilocks and the Three Bares, The Adult Version of Jekyll and Hide, The Headmistress, Blood Feast, Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS, Charlie and Sadie, An American Werewolf in Paris, Redneck Revenge, Matinee Idol, House of a Thousand Dreams, She Freak, Blood Feast; died Feb 14, 20111924 - Carol Haney
dancer: member of Jack Cole dance company, worked with Bob Fosse; in film: Pajama Game; died May 10, 19641927 - Mary Higgins Clark
novelist, author: All Through the Night, Before I Say Goodbye, Daddy’s Little Girl, On the Street Where You Live, We’ll Meet Again; died Jan 31, 20201930 - Robert Joffrey (Khan)
choreographer: The Joffrey Ballet; died Mar 25, 19881931 - Jill Bennett
actress: For Your Eyes Only, The Old Curiosity Shop, The Charge of the Light Brigade, The Sheltering Sky; died Oct 4, 19901931 - Ray Bryant
pianist, composer: Slow Freight, Little Susie, Cubano Chant, The Madison Time, Sack of Woe, After Hours; died Jun 2, 20111940 - Janet Carroll
actress: Broadway: Carousel, Guys and Dolls, Gypsy, Hello, Dolly!, Mame, South Pacific, The Pajama Game; films: Risky Business, Secret Admirer, The Killing Time, Memories of Me, Family Business, Talent for the Game, Destiny Turns on the Radio, Forces of Nature, The Omega Code, Hill Street Blues, The Bronx Zoo, Murphy Brown, Married... with Children, Melrose Place; died May 22, 20121940 - Anthony Fauci
physician, immunologist: Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; headed 2020 et al. press conferences concerning the Coronavirus pandemic1944 - Mike Curb
music executive: producer: Oscar-winner: You Light Up My Life [1977]; Curb Records; The Mike Curb Congregation: United We Stand, Sweet Gingerbread Man1945 - Cas Banaszek
football: San Francisco 49ers OT1945 - (Ian) Lemmy Kilmister
musician: bass, singer: group: Motorhead: Ace of Spades; LP: No Sleep ’til Hammersmith; died Dec 28, 20151945 - Nicholas Meyer
playwright, director: Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country, Company Business, Time After Time; playwright: Sommersby, Start Trek 4: The Voyage Home, The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, Invasion of the Bee Girls; director: Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan, The Deceivers, Volunteers, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, The Day After1946 - Jan Akkerman
musician: guitar, lute: bands: Friendship Sextet, Johnny and the Cellar Rockers, Brainbox, Focus, Eli1955 - Grand L. Bush
actor: Lethal Weapon, Lethal Weapon 2, Secret Agent OO Soul, Hunter, Demolition Man, Nash Bridges, Chicago Hope, Building Bridges, JAG1955 - Clarence Gilyard Jr.
actor: Walker, Texas Ranger, CHiPs, Top Gun, The Karate Kid, Part II, Die Hard, Big One: The Great Los Angeles Earthquake, Left Behind: The Movie; died Nov 28, 20221956 - Stephanie Hodge
comedienne, actress: Combustion, Evolution, Almost an Angel, Big Top Pee-wee, NCIS1957 - Ian Burden
musician: bass: group: Human League: Don’t You Want Me, [Keep Feeling] Fascination, Mirror Man, The Lebanon, Life on Your Own, Louise1959 - Lee Daniels
film director: Precious, The Butler, Empire, Star1959 - Anil Kapoor
actor: Slumdog Millionaire, Mashaal, Beta, Mr. India, Virasat, Pukar, No Entry, Welcome, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol; producer: Gandhi My Father1961 - Wade Williams
actor: Flicka, The Naughty Lady, I Witness, Ken Park, Bark!, Ali, Terror Tract, Prison Break1962 - Kate Spade
fashion designer: co-founder of the Kate Spade New York brand; died Jun 5, 20181964 - Mark Valley
actor: Body of Proof, Harry’s Law, Human Target, Boston Legal, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Shrek the Third, Stolen, The Next Best Thing, Jericho1966 - Diedrich Bader
actor: The Drew Carey Show, The Beverly Hillbillies [1993], Hercules, Hollywood Squares, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back1970 - Amaury Nolasco
actor: Prison Break, Rum Diary, Transformers, Work It, The Librarians, The Benchwarmers, Street Kings, The Rum Diary1971 - Ricky Martin
Latin music star, singer: group: Menudo; solo: LPs: Ricky Martin, Me Amaras, A Medio Vivir; actor: General Hospital, Barefoot in Paradise, Mas que Alcanzar una Estrella; Broadway actor: Les Miserables1973 - Stephenie Meyer
author of the vampire romance series Twilight, The Host, Prom Nights From Hell1973 - Matt Passmore
actor: The Glades, McLeod’s Daughters, Blue Heelers, Masterwork, The Cut, Last Man Standing, Son of the Mask1974 - Kevin Millwood
baseball [pitcher]: Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers1974 - Ryan Seacrest
TV host: American Idol: The Search for a Superstar, On-Air with Ryan Seacrest, Ultimate Revenge, NBC Saturday Night Movie, The Click, The New Edge, Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, Live with Kelly and Ryan1974 - Jamey Wright
baseball [pitcher]: Colorado Rockies, Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals1977 - Michael Raymond-James
actor: Once Upon a Time, True Blood, Jack Reacher, The Salvation, Terriers1983 - Gregor Blanco
baseball [outfield]: Atlanta Braves [2008-2010] Kansas City Royals [2010] Washington Nationals [2011] San Francisco Giants [2012–2016]: 2012, 2014 World Series champs; Arizona Diamondbacks [2017]1984 - Austin Stowell
actor: Dolphin Tale, Dolphin Tale 2, Love and Honor, Whiplash, Bridge of Spies1997 - Neeraj Chopra
javelin thrower: won 2020 Olympic gold: first-ever Indian Olympic track & field gold
and still more...
Hit Music on This Day December 24
1950Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer (facts) - Gene Autry
White Christmas (facts) - Bing Crosby
1959
1968
1977
1986
1995
2004
2013
2022
and even more...
Those were the days, my friend. We thought they’d never end...
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