December 24

Holidays

• December 24 is celebrated as the day before Christmas, thus called Christmas Eve.
• It is the day when food is traditionally set out for Santa Claus and his reindeer. Children around the world are urged to go to bed early so they are not awake when he arrives.
• In Hungary, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Norway, the Czech Republic and Slovakia among others, this is the day that presents are exchanged and opened.
• The Declaration of Christmas Peace takes place in the Old Great Square of Turku, Finland's official Christmas City, according to old traditions dating back to the Middle Ages.

Events

• 2018 The Dow Jones Industrial Average drops 2.9%, its worst performance ever on Christmas Eve. (NPR)
• 2017 Typhoon Tembin: Officials raise the death total from this storm to 182, with at least 153 people missing and more than 70,000 displaced. (Malay Mail)
• 2016 Boko Haram insurgency: President Muhammadu Buhari announces that the Nigerian Armed Forces have successfully driven out Boko Haram militants from their last stronghold in the Sambisa Forest in northeastern Nigeria. (BBC News) (Business Insider)
• 2015 2015 Zaria Shia Massacre: Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports Nigeria’s military has quickly buried the corpses of at least 300 Shia Muslims killed during raids at the house of Ibrahim Zakzaky in Zaria earlier in December. (BBC) (International Business Times)
• 2014 Iraqi insurgency:: A suicide bombing in Madaen among a group of pro-government Sunni militiamen kills at least 33 people and leaves 55 others wounded. (Reuters)
• 2013 Islamist protests in Egypt (July 2013–present):: A huge explosion hits the Dakahlia security directorate in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura, killing 16 and injuring at least 134. (Al Ahram) (Reuters)
• 2012 Syrian civil war:: Seven Syrian rebel fighters are killed and a number of others injured at their base in Homs by toxic gas inhalation. (NBC) (RT)
• 2011 Arab League monitors meet Syria's foreign minister, a day after deadly bombings occurred in the capital Damascus. (Al Jazeera)
• 2010 At least 32 people are killed in bomb blasts detonated during Christmas Eve celebrations near the city of Jos, Nigeria, while at least six people die in attacks on churches by suspected Islamists in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri.(BBC)
• 2009 The Barack Obama administration pledges to back mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac up to US$810 billion during 2010, up from the current US$200 billion, no matter how big their losses may be in the next three years.
• 2008 Lord's Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel group, begins a series of attacks on Democratic Republic of the Congo, massacring more than 400.
• 2007 The Nepalese government announces that the country's 240-year-old monarchy will be abolished in 2008 and a new republic will be declared.
• 2006 United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan warns of ampquottroubling developmentsampquot in Burundi that could lead to violence. (allAfrica)
• 2005 The Egyptian opposition leader, Ayman Nour, was found guilty of fraud and jailed for five years. (BBC)
• 2004 400 m asteroid 2004 MN4 (later named 99942 Apophis in July 2005) is estimated to have a roughly one-in-forty chance of colliding with Earth in 2029. Its Torino Scale rating is 4. (Space.com) (SpaceRef.com)
• 2003 A BSE (mad cow disease) outbreak in Washington State is announced. Several countries including Brazil, Australia and Taiwan ban the import of beef from the United States of America.
• 2002 A number of US Muslim groups have initiated a class action lawsuit against the US Attorney General, John Ashcroft and the US immigration services over the arrest and detention of Muslim men.
• 2000 The Texas 7 hold up a sports store in Irving, Texas. Police officer Aubrey Hawkins is murdered during the robbery.
• 1997 The Sid El-Antri massacre (or Sidi Lamri) in Algeria kills 50-100 people.
• 1993 Alexander Mackendrick, British/US director (Lady Killers, Whiskey Galore!), dies at age 81.
• 1992 US President Bush pardons Caspar Weinberger of role in Iran-contra affair.
• 1991 Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as head of Soviet Union
• 1990 Ramsewak Shankar is ousted as President of Suriname by a military coup .
• 1989 Charles Taylor enters Liberia to unseat President Samuel K Doe.
• 1987 In the USA, the Illinois State Lottery draw for US$39.5 million is split between four winners.
• 1986 French hostage Aurel Cornea, held in Lebanon for 9 months, released.
• 1985 Right wing extremist David Lewis Rice murders civil rights attorney Charles Goldmark as well as Goldmark's wife and two children in Seattle, Washington.
• 1984 Palace coup in Mauritania.
• 1982 Chaminade, with a student body of only 850 students, beats #1 ranked Virginia 77-72 in a Honolulu holiday basketball classic.
• 1981 Guardian Angels Curtis Sliwa and Lisa Evers marry
• 1980 Americans remembered Iran hostages by shining lights for 417 seconds
• 1979 1st Ariane-rocket launched
• 1975 Bernard Herrmann, American film composer (Born 1911)
• 1974 Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin, Australia.
• 1973 In New Mexico, USA, a magnitude 4.1 earthquake occurs.
• 1972 Swedish Prime minister Olof Palme compares the American bombings of North Vietnam to Nazi massacres. The U.S. breaks diplomatic contact with Sweden.
• 1971 Peruvian Airlines Electra crashes at headwaters of Amazon, killing all except Juliane Margaret Koepcke (found ten days later).
• 1970 Buena Vista releases the animated feature film The Aristocats to theatres. It cost US$4 million to make. It is Disney's first animated feature film completed without Walt Disney.
• 1968 Apollo 8 Astronauts read passages from Book of Genesis
• 1967 Pirate Radio Pegasus starts broadcasting off New Zealand
• 1966 Joyful Noise closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 12 performances
• 1964 Shooting begins on The Cage the pilot for Star Trek
• 1962 Cuba releases the last 1,113 participants in the Bay of Pigs Invasion to the U.S., in exchange for food worth $53 million.
• 1961 Houston Oilers beat San Diego Chargers 10-3 in AFL championship game.
• 1960 Dutch bishops question papacy values.
• 1958 A BOAC Bristol Britannia (312 G-AOVD) crashes near Winkton, England during a test flight.
• 1956 I Love Lucy Christmas show airs, never put in syndication
• 1955 NORAD Tracks Santa for the first time in what will become an annual Christmas Eve tradition.
• 1954 Council for the Children Protection forms in Netherlands.
• 1953 KHOL (now KHGI) TV channel 13 in Kearney, NB (ABC) begins broadcasting
• 1951 1st televised opera (Amahl & Night Visitor)
• 1950 Cleveland Browns win NFL championship, beat LA 30-28
• 1948 First US house completely sunheated is occupied (Dover, Massachusetts).
• 1946 US General MacNarney gives 800,000 "minor Nazis" amnesty.
• 1943 FDR appoints General Eisenhower Supreme Commander of Allied forces
• 1942 World War II: French monarchist, Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle, assassinates Vichy French Admiral Francois Darlan in Algiers.
• 1941 (about 0930 hours) US forces on Wake Island surrender to the Japanese.
• 1940 Mahatma Gandhi, Indian spiritual non-violence leader writes his second letter to Adolf Hitler addressing him quotMy friendquot, requesting him to stop the war Germany had begun.
• 1939 World War II: Pope Pius XII makes a Christmas Eve appeal for peace.
• 1937 Dutch government recognizes Italian king Emanuel III as emperor of Abyssinia.
• 1936 The first radioactive isotope medicine is administered in Berkeley, California.
• 1935 National Council of Negro Women forms
• 1934 Grimmett takes 9-180 for SA as Queensland make 430
• 1933 Paris express train derails and kills 160, injures 300 (France).
• 1932 Arturo Alessandri wins presidental election in Chile.
• 1930 Bandung, Java: ir Sukarno 4 years jail sentenced
• 1929 Assassination attempt on Argentine President Hipolito Yrigoyen.
• 1928 George Abbott Theater (Adelphi, 54 St) opens at 152 W 54th St, New York City
• 1924 1st radio transmission of NCRV in the Netherlands
• 1922 BBC sends first British radio play "Truth about Father Christmas".
• 1920 Enrico Caruso gives his last public performance (New York City, New York).
• 1914 German plane drops bombs on Dover England.
• 1913 In the Italian Hall Disaster, seventy-three men, women, and children are trampled to death when someone falsely yells quotfirequot at a crowded Christmas party.
• 1912 Irving Fisher patents archiving system with index cards.
• 1906 Reginald A Fessenden became 1st to broadcast music over radio (Mass)
• 1904 German SW Africa abolishes slavery of young children.
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Top #1 songs in the USA

• 2017 Ed Sheeran - Perfect
• 2016 Rae Sremmurd Featuring Gucci Mane - Black Beatles
• 2015 Adele - Hello
• 2014 Taylor Swift - Blank Space
• 2013 Eminem - The Monster
• 2012 Bruno Mars - Locked Out Of Heaven
• 2011 Rihanna - We Found Love
• 2010 Katy Perry - Firework
• 2009 Jay-Z - Empire State Of Mind
• 2008 T.I. - Live Your Life
• 2007 Alicia Keys - No One
• 2006 Beyonce - Irreplaceable
• 2005 Chris Brown - Run It!
• 2004 Snoop Dogg - Drop It Like It's Hot
• 2003 OutKast - Hey Ya!
• 2002 Eminem - Lose Yourself
• 2001 Nickelback - How You Remind Me
• 2000 Destiny's Child - Independent Women Part I
• 1999 Santana - Smooth
• 1998 R. Kelly - I'm Your Angel
• 1997 Elton John - Something About The Way You Look Tonight
• 1997 Elton John - Candle In The Wind 1997
• 1996 Toni Braxton - Un-Break My Heart
• 1995 Mariah Carey - One Sweet Day
• 1994 Ini Kamoze - Here Comes The Hotstepper
• 1993 Mariah Carey - Hero
• 1992 Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You
• 1991 Michael Jackson - Black Or White
• 1990 Stevie B - Because I Love You (The Postman Song)
• 1989 Phil Collins - Another Day In Paradise
• 1988 Poison - Every Rose Has Its Thorn
• 1987 George Michael - Faith
• 1986 Bangles - Walk Like An Egyptian
• 1985 Lionel Richie - Say You, Say Me
• 1984 Madonna - Like A Virgin
• 1983 Paul McCartney - Say Say Say
• 1982 Daryl Hall & John Oates - Maneater
• 1981 Olivia Newton-John - Physical
• 1980 Kenny Rogers - Lady
• 1979 Rupert Holmes - Escape (The Pina Colada Song)
• 1978 Chic - Le Freak
• 1977 Bee Gees - How Deep Is Your Love
• 1976 Rod Stewart - Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright)
• 1975 K.C and the Sunshine Band - That's The Way (I Like It)
• 1974 Harry Chapin - Cat's In The Cradle
• 1973 Charlie Rich - The Most Beautiful Girl
• 1972 Billy Paul - Me And Mrs. Jones
• 1971 Melanie - Brand New Key
• 1970 Smokey Robinson - The Tears Of A Clown
• 1969 Peter, Paul and Mary - Leaving on A Jet Plane
• 1968 Marvin Gaye - I Heard It Through The Grapevine
• 1967 The Monkees - Daydream Believer
• 1966 The New Vaudeville Band - Winchester Cathedral
• 1965 The Dave Clark Five - Over And Over
• 1964 The Supremes - Come See About Me
• 1963 The Singing Nun - Dominique
• 1962 The Tornadoes - Telstar
• 1961 The Tokens - The Lion Sleeps Tonight
• 1960 Elvis Presley - Are You Lonesome To-Night?
• 1959 Guy Mitchell - Heartaches By The Number
• 1958 The Teddy Bears - To Know Him, Is To Love Him
• 1957 Sam Cooke - You Send Me
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Top #1 Rock songs

• 2017 Imagine Dragons - Thunder
• 2016 twenty one pilots - Heathens
• 2015 Elle King - Ex's & Oh's
• 2014 Hozier - Take Me To Church
• 2013 Lorde - Royals
• 2012 The Lumineers - Ho Hey
• 2011 The Black Keys - Lonely Boy
• 2010 The Black Keys - Tighten Up
• 2009 Three Days Grace - Break