Today:
563 CE – The Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) is dedicated for the second time after being rebuilt following a fire.
1294 – Pope Boniface VIII is elected, succeeding Celestine V, who had abdicated the papacy earlier that month.
1777 – Kiritimati (Christmas Island) is discovered by Captain James Cook during his third voyage.
1814 – The Treaty of Ghent is signed, ending the War of 1812 between the United States and Britain.
1818 – The first performance of “Silent Night” (Stille Nacht) takes place at St. Nicholas Church in Oberndorf, Austria.
1851 – The Library of Congress burns, destroying 35,000 books, including much of Thomas Jefferson’s personal library.
1865 – The Ku Klux Klan is formed in Pulaski, Tennessee, by six Confederate veterans.
1914 – The “Christmas truce” of World War I begins as German and British soldiers exchange greetings and cease hostilities on the Western Front.
1951 – Libya gains independence from Italy under King Idris I, becoming the United Kingdom of Libya.
1968 – Apollo 8, the first manned mission to orbit the Moon, broadcasts a live reading of the Book of Genesis as part of a Christmas Eve message to Earth.
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