On This Day

What Happened on December 24 in History

8 events that happened on December 24, oldest first. Every entry is written in our own words and links to its source.

The Young Republic and the Civil War Era

1814
American and British diplomats signed the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812.
Negotiators met in Ghent, in present-day Belgium, and agreed to return all conquered territory and set up commissions to settle the border with Canada. News traveled slowly, and the Battle of New Orleans was fought after the signing.
Source: history.com; archives.gov

1913
A false cry of fire at a Christmas party in Calumet, Michigan, set off a stampede that killed 73 people.
The Italian Hall party was held for families of striking copper miners. There was no fire, but people rushed for the stairs at once, and 59 of the dead were children.
Source: nps.gov
1923
President Calvin Coolidge lit the first National Christmas Tree near the White House.
The 48-foot balsam fir from Coolidge's home state of Vermont stood on the Ellipse and carried 2,500 electric bulbs in red, white and green. The U.S. Marine Band and a church choir performed at the ceremony.
Source: history.com; nps.gov
1943
Franklin D. Roosevelt announced in a Christmas Eve fireside chat that Dwight Eisenhower would command the Allied invasion of Europe.
Roosevelt reported on his conferences in Cairo and Tehran with Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin and Chiang Kai-shek. He hinted at the coming invasion and named Eisenhower as the Supreme Allied Commander.
Source: millercenter.org; fdrlibrary.org
1944
Marines on Guadalcanal played the Mosquito Bowl, a football game packed with college stars and former NFL players.
Two regiments of the 6th Marine Division settled a rivalry over football talent in a Christmas Eve game while training for the invasion of Okinawa. More than a dozen of the players were later killed in that battle.
Source: history.com

1951
Libya declared its independence under King Idris I.
A 1949 United Nations resolution had called for Libya to become independent before January 1, 1952, making it the first country to gain independence through a UN resolution. Libya had been an Italian colony and then under British and French control after World War II.
Source: pbs.org
1964
A Viet Cong car bomb exploded at the Brinks Hotel in Saigon, which housed U.S. officers.
Two Americans were killed and 65 Americans and Vietnamese were injured. President Lyndon Johnson declined to order retaliatory raids but signaled for the first time that he was weighing sending American combat troops.
Source: history.com
1979
The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, beginning a war that lasted a decade.
A massive Soviet airlift into Kabul began near midnight, and within days Soviet forces had secured the capital and installed Babrak Karmal as head of government. The long conflict was often called the Soviet Union's Vietnam.
Source: history.com; pbs.org