December 25 facts for kids

December 25 is the 359th day of the year (360th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; six days remain until the end of the year.

Every day is special, and December 25 is packed with history! From ancient kingdoms to space missions, many important things have happened on this day. Let's explore some of the exciting events, famous people born, and notable figures who passed away on December 25th.

Events

Ancient Times to 1600

• 36 – The Han dynasty in China reunites the country. Their forces, led by General Wu Han, defeated the Chengjia empire.
• 274 – A special temple for the sun god, Sol Invictus, is opened in Rome. Emperor Aurelian dedicated it.
• 333 – Roman Emperor Constantine the Great gives his youngest son, Constans, the important title of Caesar.
• 336 – The first official record of Christmas being celebrated in Rome appears.
• 508 – Clovis I, the King of the Franks, is baptized into the Catholic faith in Reims. This was a big step for the Franks.
• 597 – Augustine of Canterbury and his helpers baptize over 10,000 Anglo-Saxons in Kent. This helped spread Christianity in England.
• 800 – Charlemagne is crowned the Holy Roman Emperor in Rome. This was a very important moment in European history.
• 1000 – The Kingdom of Hungary is founded. Stephen I of Hungary establishes it as a Christian kingdom.
• 1066 – William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy, is crowned King of England. This happened at Westminster Abbey in London.
• 1100 – Baldwin of Boulogne becomes the first King of Jerusalem. He was crowned in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
• 1130 – Count Roger II of Sicily is crowned the first king of Sicily.
• 1492 – Christopher Columbus's ship, the Santa María, hits a reef off Haiti. This happened because of a mistake during the night watch.
• 1553 – In the Battle of Tucapel, Mapuche rebels defeat the Spanish. Their leader, Lautaro, executes the governor of Chile, Pedro de Valdivia.

1601 to 1900

• 1758 – Halley's Comet is seen by Johann Georg Palitzsch. This confirmed Edmund Halley's prediction. It was the first time a comet's return was predicted.
• 1776 – During the American Revolutionary War, George Washington and his Continental Army cross the Delaware River. They plan to attack Hessian soldiers in Trenton, New Jersey, the next day.
• 1809 – Dr. Ephraim McDowell performs the first ovariotomy. He successfully removes a large tumor.
• 1814 – The first Christian church service in New Zealand is held. Rev. Samuel Marsden leads it at Rangihoua Bay.
• 1831 – The Baptist War, a large slave revolt, begins in Jamaica. Many enslaved people fight for their freedom.
• 1837 – In the Second Seminole War, American general Zachary Taylor leads troops against the Seminoles. This battle takes place at Lake Okeechobee.
• 1868 – U.S. President Andrew Johnson gives a full pardon to all Confederate veterans. This helped heal the country after the Civil War.

1901 to Today

• 1914 – During World War I, soldiers on the Western Front have a series of unofficial truces. They stop fighting to celebrate Christmas.
• 1915 – The National Protection War starts in China. Military leaders declare Yunnan independent and aim to bring back the Republic.
• 1941 – World War II: The Battle of Hong Kong ends. This marks the start of the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong.
• 1946 – The first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction in Europe happens. It takes place in the Soviet Union's F-1 nuclear reactor.
• 1950 – The Stone of Scone, used for crowning British monarchs, is taken from Westminster Abbey. It was taken by Scottish nationalist students.
• 1962 – The Soviet Union conducts its last above-ground nuclear weapon test. This was before the 1963 Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
• 1968 – Apollo program: The Apollo 8 spacecraft successfully performs a maneuver to return to Earth. This was after orbiting the Moon.
• 1989 – During the Romanian Revolution, President Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife, Elena, are executed. This happened after a quick trial.
• 1991 – Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as President of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union is dissolved the next day. Ukraine officially leaves the Soviet Union.
• 2004 – The Cassini orbiter releases the Huygens probe. This probe successfully landed on Saturn's moon Titan in January 2005.
• 2016 – A Russian Defence Ministry plane crashes into the Black Sea. All 92 people on board die.
• 2019 – Typhoon Phanfone hits the Philippines. It kills twenty people and leaves thousands without homes.
• 2021 – The James Webb Space Telescope is launched. This powerful telescope will help us learn more about space.

Famous Births

Before 1600

• 1250 – John IV Laskaris, a Byzantine emperor.
• 1461 – Christina of Saxony, who became Queen of Denmark.
• 1493 – Antoinette de Bourbon, a French noblewoman.
• 1583 – Orlando Gibbons, an English organist and composer.
• 1584 – Margaret of Austria, Queen of Spain.

1601 to 1900

• 1642 – Isaac Newton, a famous English physicist and mathematician. He discovered the laws of motion and gravity.
• 1717 – Pope Pius VI, a leader of the Catholic Church.
• 1757 – Benjamin Pierce, an American general and governor of New Hampshire.
• 1821 – Clara Barton, an American nurse and humanitarian. She founded the American Red Cross.
• 1856 – Pud Galvin, an American baseball player.
• 1872 – Helena Rubinstein, a Polish-American businesswoman and philanthropist. She created a famous cosmetics company.
• 1876 – Muhammad Ali Jinnah, a lawyer and politician. He was the first Governor-General of Pakistan.
• 1876 – Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus, a German chemist who won the Nobel Prize.
• 1878 – Louis Chevrolet, an American race car driver. He co-founded the famous Chevrolet car company.
• 1887 – Conrad Hilton, an American entrepreneur. He founded the Hilton Hotels chain.
• 1899 – Humphrey Bogart, a famous American actor.

1901 to Today

• 1901 – Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, a member of the British Royal Family.
• 1904 – Gerhard Herzberg, a German-Canadian physicist and chemist. He won a Nobel Prize.
• 1906 – Ernst Ruska, a German physicist who won a Nobel Prize.
• 1907 – Cab Calloway, an American singer-songwriter and bandleader.
• 1918 – Anwar Sadat, an Egyptian politician. He was the 3rd President of Egypt and won the Nobel Peace Prize.
• 1924 – Rod Serling, an American screenwriter and producer. He created The Twilight Zone.
• 1924 – Atal Bihari Vajpayee, an Indian poet and politician. He was the 10th Prime Minister of India.
• 1936 – Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy, another member of the British Royal Family.
• 1944 – Jairzinho, a famous Brazilian footballer.
• 1945 – Noel Redding, an English singer-songwriter and bass player.
• 1946 – Jimmy Buffett, an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.
• 1948 – Barbara Mandrell, an American country singer and actress.
• 1949 – Nawaz Sharif, a Pakistani politician who served as Prime Minister of Pakistan.
• 1949 – Sissy Spacek, a well-known American actress.
• 1954 – Annie Lennox, a Scottish singer-songwriter and pianist.
• 1957 – Shane MacGowan, an English-Irish singer-songwriter.
• 1958 & Rickey Henderson, an American baseball player and coach.
• 1971 – Dido, an English singer-songwriter.
• 1971 – Justin Trudeau, a Canadian educator and politician. He is the 23rd Prime Minister of Canada.
• 1976 – Armin van Buuren, a famous Dutch DJ and record producer.
• 1984 & Alastair Cook, an English cricketer.
• 1984 & Jessica Origliasso and Lisa Origliasso, Australian singers and fashion designers (The Veronicas).

Notable Deaths

Before 1600

• 795 – Pope Adrian I, a leader of the Catholic Church.
• 820 – Emperor Leo V, an Eastern Roman Emperor.
• 1156 – Peter the Venerable, a French abbot and saint.
• 1156 & Sverker the Elder, a king of Sweden.
• 1406 – Henry III of Castile, a king of Castile.

1601 to 1900

• 1635 – Samuel de Champlain, a French soldier, geographer, and explorer. He helped found New France (Canada).
• 1676 & William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle, an English soldier and politician.
• 1676 & Matthew Hale, an English lawyer and judge.
• 1784 & Yosa Buson, a Japanese poet and painter.
• 1875 & Young Tom Morris, a Scottish golfer.

1901 to Today

• 1926 – Emperor Taishō of Japan.
• 1938 & Karel Čapek, a Czech author and playwright. He introduced the word "robot" to the world.
• 1946 & W. C. Fields, a famous American actor and comedian.
• 1949 & Leon Schlesinger, an American animator and producer. He founded Warner Bros. Cartoons.
• 1956 & Robert Walser, a Swiss author.
• 1957 & Charles Pathé, a French record producer who founded Pathé Records.
• 1961 & Otto Loewi, a German-American pharmacologist who won a Nobel Prize.
• 1973 & İsmet İnönü, a Turkish general and politician. He was the 2nd President of Turkey.
• 1977 & Charlie Chaplin, a very famous English actor and director. He was a silent film star.
• 1979 & Joan Blondell, an American actress.
• 1983 & Joan Miró, a Spanish painter and sculptor.
• 1989 & Nicolae Ceaușescu and Elena Ceaușescu, the former President and First Lady of Romania.
• 1995 & Dean Martin, a popular American singer and actor.
• 1997 & Anatoli Boukreev, a Kazakh mountaineer and explorer.
• 2006 & James Brown, a famous American singer-songwriter, known as the "Godfather of Soul."
• 2008 & Eartha Kitt, an American singer and actress.
• 2016 & George Michael, a British singer and songwriter.
• 2016 & Vera Rubin, an American astronomer who studied dark matter.
• 2020 & K. C. Jones, an American basketball player and coach.
• 2021 & Wayne Thiebaud, an American artist known for his paintings of everyday objects.

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:
  • Saint Anastasia (Catholic Church)
  • Stephen (Armenian Apostolic Church)
  • December 25 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Christmas Day, a Christian festival celebrating the birth of Jesus. (Internationally observed)
• Tulsi Pujan Diwas (India)
• Constitution Day (Taiwan)
• Good Governance Day (India)
• Quaid-e-Azam's Day (Pakistan)
• Takanakuy (Chumbivilcas Province, Peru)

Images for kids

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  A friendly robot, representing learning and discovery.

See also

In Spanish: 25 de diciembre para niños