Published
On this day, Dec. 25 ...
1991: Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev announces his resignation as the eighth and final leader of a communist superpower.
Also on this day:
- A.D. 336: The first known commemoration of Christmas on Dec. 25 takes place in Rome.
- 1066: William the Conqueror is crowned King of England.
- 1776: Gen. George Washington and his troops cross the Delaware River for a surprise attack against Hessian forces at Trenton, N.J. during the American Revolutionary War.
- 1926: Hirohito becomes emperor of Japan, succeeding his father, Emperor Yoshihito.
- 1931: New York’s Metropolitan Opera broadcasts an entire live opera over radio for the first time -- "Hansel and Gretel" by Engelbert Humperdinck.
- 1961: Pope John XXIII formally announces the upcoming convocation of the Second Vatican Council, which would open in Oct. 1962.
- 1977: Comedian Sir Charles Chaplin dies in Switzerland at age 88.
- 1989: Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, Elena, are executed following a popular uprising.
- 1989: Former baseball manager Billy Martin dies in a traffic accident near Binghamton, N.Y. at age 61.
- 1990: The World Wide Web, the system providing quick access to websites over the internet, is born in Geneva, Switzerland, as computer scientists Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau create the world’s first hyperlinked webpage.
- 1995: Singer Dean Martin dies at his Beverly Hills home at age 78.
- 2006: James Brown, the "Godfather of Soul," dies in Atlanta at age 73.
- 2008: Singer, dancer and actress Eartha Kitt dies in Weston, Conn. at age 81.
- 2017: In his traditional Christmas message, Pope Francis calls for a two-state solution in the Middle East, and prays that confrontation could be overcome on the Korean Peninsula.