This is a list of selected December 25 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Please read the selected anniversaries guidelines before making your edit. However, if your addition might be controversial or on a day that is or will soon be on the Main Page, please post your suggestion on the talk page instead.
Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on how important or significant their subjects are. Only four to five events are posted at a time and thus not everything that is "most important and significant" can be listed. In addition, an event is generally not posted this year if it is also the subject of the scheduled featured article or picture of the day.
To report an error when this appears on the Main Page, see Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
Images
Use only ONE image at a time
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Mikhail Gorbachev -
A coin of Charlemagne -
Bust of Charlemagne -
Baldwin I of Jerusalem -
Washington Crossing the Delaware -
A Beagle 2 replica -
St Mel's Cathedral
Ineligible
| Blurb | Reason |
|---|---|
| 800 – In Rome's St. Peter's Basilica, Frankish King Charlemagne was crowned Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III as a rival of the Byzantine Emperor in Constantinople. | refimprove section |
| 1100 – Baldwin of Boulogne was crowned as the first King of Jerusalem in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. | {{more footnotes}} |
| 1643 – Captain William Mynors of the East India Company vessel, the Royal Mary, landed at an uninhabited island and named it Christmas Island. | refimprove sections |
| 1947 – The Constitution of the Republic of China went into effect, amid the ongoing Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang and the Communists. | {{refimprove}} |
| 1950 – The Stone of Scone, the traditional coronation stone of Scottish, English, and more recently British monarchs, disappeared from London's Westminster Abbey. | {{refimprove}} |
| 2003 – The Beagle 2 space probe, part of the European Space Agency's Mars Express mission, disappeared shortly before its scheduled landing on Mars. | needs more footnotes |
Eligible
- 1809 – American physician Ephraim McDowell performed the world's first removal of an ovarian tumor.
- 1815 – The Handel and Haydn Society, the oldest continuously performing arts organization in the United States, premiered at King's Chapel in Boston.
- 1927 – The Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng, a revolutionary socialist political party that sought Vietnamese independence from French colonial rule, was formed in Hanoi.
- 1941 – Second World War: The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began after Mark Aitchison Young, the Governor of Hong Kong, surrendered the territory to Japan after 18 days of fierce fighting.
- 1991 – In a nationally televised speech, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as President of the Soviet Union.
- 2000 – Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill into law that officially established a new National Anthem of Russia, with music adapted from the anthem of the Soviet Union that was composed by Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov.
- 2009 – Aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attempted to detonate plastic explosives hidden in his underwear.
- 2009 – The 19th-century St Mel's Cathedral in Longford, considered the "flagship cathedral" of the Irish midlands, was destroyed by fire.
Notes
- Kiritimati, also known as Christmas Island, appears on December 24, so Christmas Island should not appear in the same year
- Richard Reid/2001 shoe bomb plot appears on December 22, so Umar Abdulmutallab/Northwest Airlines Flight 253 should not appear in the same year
- Battle of the Assunpink Creek appears on January 2 and Battle of Princeton appears on January 3, so Washington's crossing of the Delaware/Battle of Trenton should not appear if either of the two are going to
December 25: Christmas Day (Gregorian calendar); Quaid-e-Azam Day (Pakistan)
- 1066 – Norman Conquest: William the Conqueror was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey, although he still faced rebellions over the following years and was not secure on his throne until after 1072.
- 1776 – American Revolutionary War: At night, George Washington and his army crossed the Delaware River to launch a surprise attack against the Hessian forces at the Battle of Trenton the next morning.
- 1926 – Emperor Taishō died of a heart attack, and was succeeded by his son, Hirohito, who ruled until his death in 1989, becoming the longest-reigning Emperor of Japan.
- 1989 – Romanian Revolution: Dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu (pictured) and his wife Elena were condemned to death under a wide range of charges and executed.
- 2007 – A tiger at the San Francisco Zoo escaped from its enclosure and attacked three patrons before it was shot and killed.