December 24th Christmas Eve
What Happened on the day you were born on This day in History
For Those With Birthdays 24th December or looking for specific year these years are Included on this date 1865, 1902, 1903, 1927, 1933, 1943, 1944, 1958, 1962, 1968, 1975, 1979, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1997, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, Born This Day,
1962 U.S.A. Return Of Captured Americans From Bay Of Pigs Operation December 24th , 1962 : The US government reaches an agreement with Cuba for the return of prisoners captured during the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba paying a ransom of $53 million in food and medical supplies when the last of more than 1,000 men taken prisoner are returned to the United States in time for Christmas.

1865 U.S.A. Ku Klux Klan December 24th , 1865 : A group of Confederate veterans convenes to form the secret society the "Ku Klux Klan." The KKK wished to ensure the local African American population did not gain civil and legal rights.

1903 England First Number Plate December 24th , 1903 : The first car number plate ( A1 ) is issued to Earl Russel who camped outside the London County Council issuing office overnight to be sure he got it, ( he was the brother of the philosopher Bertrand Russell )

1902 Mexico War Minister Resigns December 24th , 1902 : Mexico’s Minister of War, General Hernando Reyes, has quit his post and it is believed this would have a big political impact on Mexican politics. Senor Limantour who was the finance minister was in line to be take the post of Minister of War.

1927 Ireland Immigrants In US December 24th , 1927 : Irish workers in the U.S. sent an estimated $150,000 per week to poor relatives in Ireland. The republican war had devastated the country. In Kerry county 30% of the people were destitute. Their girls are sold to become domestic servants in America.


1933 Italy Benito Mussolini December 24th , 1933 : Benito Mussolini gave a speech in which he emphasized that agriculture was the main thing holding Italy together. He commented, “Fascist policy has leaned to agricultural rather than industry because we have far greater interests in agriculture.”

1943 World War II Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower December 24th , 1943 : Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower is appointed as the supreme commander of Allied forces.

1944 Germany December 24th , 1944 : Those Germans who fled Adolf Hitler and his Nazis all expressed loathing for the dictator and his repression. Once allowed to live in a democracy like the U.S. they became very individualistic.

1958 U.S.A. Telephone Use December 24th , 1958 : According to a study by the telephone company Americans possessed 50% of the world’s telephones, but Canada topped the charts for use of the phone with 497 phone discussions per year followed by 491 for Sweden and 460 for the United States.

1967 Israel Bethlehem and Jerusalem December 24th , 1967 : As a result of Israel’s victory in war pilgrims to Bethlehem and Jerusalem were allowed in for the first time in 16 years. The mayor believed that 20,000 Arab and Christian travellers would flood in to the Holy Land.

1968 U.S.A. Orbit The Moon December 24th , 1968 : The first men ever to circle the moon and visit the dark side of the moon are Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders when Apollo 8 orbits the Moon, becoming the first manned space mission to achieve the feat.

1975 Iran Push Up Oil Prices December 24th , 1975 : The Shah of Iran and autocrat Muammar el-Qaddafi managed to quadruple the cost of oil. Shah Mohammed Raza Pahlavi told U.S. President Ford that he, the Shah, was going to play a leading role in Persian Gulf matters.

1979 Europe Ariane 1 December 24th , 1979 : The first European built rocket, Ariane 1, part of the European Space Agency has successfully completed its maiden flight. The primary objective of the Ariane Program is to launch satellites on behalf of European nations

1989 China Welcomed To US December 24th , 1989 : President George Bush went against congress and extended the welcome mat to China even though the Chinese government was guilty of human rights violations and the murder of students at Tinammen Square.

1990 Russia Mikhail S. Gorbachev December 24th , 1990 : Mikhail S. Gorbachev, President of Russia, had proposed a new framework for Russian government and a cabinet shuffle. However, the average Russian on the street was experiencing deteriorating living conditions.

1992 U.S.A. Bush Pardons Iran Contra December 24th , 1992 : President Bush pardoned former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and five others involved in the arms for hostages Iran Contra scandal

1994 France Hijack December 24th , 1994 : Four Islamic extremists hijack Air France Flight 8969 in Algiers, flying the aircraft to Marseilles . The French Prime Minister Edouard Balladur uses French commandos to storm the aircraft killing all the terrorists and remaining hostages were released unharmed.

1997 France Carlos the Jackal December 24th , 1997 : Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, the self-proclaimed leftist revolutionary and mercenary known as Carlos the Jackal, was sentenced by a French court to life in prison for the 1975 murders of two French investigators and a Lebanese national at the OPEC headquarters in Vienna.

2002 U.S.A. Laci Peterson December 24th , 2002 : Laci Peterson was reported missing from her Modesto, California, home, by her husband, Scott, who was later convicted of murdering her and their unborn son.

2004 U.S.A. Texas Snowstorm December 24th , 2004 : A huge snowstorm strikes Texas and Louisiana before it headed northeast into the New England states. It was the most snow that Texas received since 1899. Some places in the state only received a few inches while other places, like Victoria, received up to 13 inches overnight.

2005 U.S.A. Import Of Prescription Drugs From Canada December 24th , 2005 : In the hopes of driving drug prices down in the U.S. senators and house officials were pushing for a change in federal law that would allow the importation of prescription drugs from Canada and other countries.
This Day In History For Tomorrow December 25th Day After December 26th Or You Can Use Our Calendar at the top of the page to find the day or month you are looking for

2006 Iran Iran’s president rejects Resolution 1737 December 24th , 2006 : Iran's president has rejected U.N. Security Council sanctions against Tehran, insisting his country would be pressing ahead with its nuclear program. Ahmadinejad said the resolution passed on Saturday was a "piece of paper," and added that the fifteen countries who voted in its favor would regret it. Iran said it would begin installing three thousand centrifuges at a uranium enrichment plant at Natanz.

2006 UK Queen Elizabeth addresses her soldiers December 24th , 2006 : The Queen has acknowledged the 'great personal risk' that British servicemen and women face in Iraq and Afghanistan in a special Christmas message to them. The Queen said their 'courage and loyalty are not lightly taken.' She also told them that her thoughts and prayers were with the families of servicepeople who had been killed. The pre-recorded Christmas Eve radio broadcast is played to armed forces personnel at home and abroad. It is the second time in recent years that the Queen has recorded a specific message for troops in addition to her annual 25 December broadcast to the rest of the nation..

2008 China The world’s largest Santa is unveiled December 24th , 2008 : A giant Father Christmas made of ice, which is claimed to be the world's biggest Santa has been unveiled in China. The 525 feet long sculpture is the centerpiece at the world-renowned ice festival in the city of Harbin, where temperatures drop to well below freezing in the winter. But sculptor Tang Guangjun said unseasonably warm temperatures and hazardous conditions had made it very difficult to carve the figure, which centers on an enormous face of Father Christmas, complete with flowing beard and hat. An estimated 800,000 tourists from around China are expected to visit the festival, which traditionally runs from mid-December to early February.

2008 Ukraine Serial killer of 100 people has been jailed December 24th , 2008 : A court in eastern Ukraine has sentenced a man to life imprisonment for the murder and rape of about eighty girls and young women over twenty-five years. The trial took place in Dnipropetrovsk, and Serhiy Tkach claimed that he had murdered one hundred people, and that he was an animal who deserved the death penalty. An ex-policeman, he suffocated girls aged between eight and eighteen, and performed sexual acts on their bodies. Over the years ten innocent people were jailed for the murders that he had committed.

2009 United States The Senate passes health care reform bill December 24th , 2009 : The Senate has passed the final version of the historic health care reform bill, which aims to cover about 31 million uninsured Americans, and lead to the biggest change in U.S. healthcare for decades. Barack Obama has welcomed the bill as a 'real and meaningful' reform, saying that it was the most important piece of social legislation since the 1930s. It still has to be be reconciled with the legislation passed by the House of Representatives. The process of reconciling the two bills is expected to begin in January. Once this has been done President Obama will be able to sign the measure into law

2009 Vatican Pope knocked down by a woman at Mass December 24th , 2009 : Pope Benedict was knocked over by a female spectator when he was celebrating Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. The woman, who is said to be unstable, had managed to grab him by his vestments near the neck before a security guard had been able to overwhelm her. The Vatican said she had tried to jump on the Pope last year as well. Proceeding with the Mass, the Pope looked slightly shaken.

Cuba 2011 Cuba Cuba To Free 2,900 Prisoners 24th December, 2011 : The Cuban government has announced that it will free 2,900 prisoners, some political, as a goodwill gesture towards families and religious organizations that had been asking for the release of some prisoners.

United States
2012 United States Actor Jack Klugman Dies

24th December, 2012 : Actor Jack Klugman died at the age of ninety in Los Angeles. Klugman was known for his roles on The Odd Couple and Quincy M.E., including a number of guest starring roles later in his career.