Earliest documented Christmas celebration recorded in Rome (336), and Putin signs law adopting new Russian national anthem (2000). Born on this day: Justin Trudeau, Anwar Sadat and Humphrey Bogart. Died: Charlie Chaplin, Joan Miró and George Michael.
29 events, 76 births and 69 deaths on this date.
The Chronograph of 354 is the oldest surviving record of Christmas being marked on 25 December, in Rome. It shows the festival was already established in the city by the 330s, long before the date became common across Christendom.
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo · Public domainRussia gave itself a new anthem by law, reviving a melody Alexander Alexandrov wrote for the Soviet Union. The tune was kept, but the words were rewritten to suit a post-Soviet state.
The USSR detonated a nuclear device in the atmosphere for the final time, ahead of a treaty banning such tests. The move came as both superpowers were looking for ways to limit fallout from weapons trials.
Pope Leo III placed the crown on Charlemagne, Frankish king who had united much of Western and Central Europe. Historians still argue over what the title really meant, but it marked the height of his authority.
Charlemagne. Autorité émettrice de monnaie indéterminé. Atelier monétaire. Émetteur · Public domain
Berners-Lee unveiled WorldWideWeb, a program that let people view and edit hypertext pages on one screen. It was also the first browser to offer a WYSIWYG editor for writing web pages in HTML.
Stephen I turned Hungary into a Christian kingdom, tying the realm to the Latin West rather than to its older traditions. That decision shaped the country's church and its links with western Europe for centuries afterwards.
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Canadian politician and son of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, he led the country from 2015 to 2025. His government legalised recreational cannabis and introduced the Canada Child Benefit.
European Union · Attribution
Egyptian soldier and politician who led his country in the 1973 war against Israel, then made peace with it through the Camp David Accords. He was assassinated in 1981 by militants during a military parade in Cairo.
Press · Public domain
Humphrey Bogart played hard-edged gangsters and detectives in classics like Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon. He won the Best Actor Oscar for The African Queen and became one of Hollywood's enduring screen icons.
WCCO (AM) , a CBS affiliate--the network where the program originated. This local affiliate intended to use the photo in its local ads for the Minneapolis-St. Paul area it serves. · Public domain
Charlie Chaplin was an English comic actor and filmmaker whose screen persona, the Tramp, made him one of the most recognised faces of the silent era. He died on this day in 1977, a year before the end of a career that spanned more than seventy-five years.
Strauss-Peyton Studio · Public domain
Catalan painter, sculptor and ceramicist whose playful, dreamlike art drew on the unconscious mind and helped shape Surrealism. He died in Palma, Mallorca, the city where he had lived for much of his later life.
Carl Van Vechten · Public domain
George Michael was an English singer-songwriter whose albums Faith and Listen Without Prejudice made him one of the best-selling artists of his era. He was also a campaigner for LGBTQ rights and HIV/AIDS charities, and was remembered for his songwriting and voice.
University of Houston Digital Library · Public domain
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