Daily Calendar for Sunday, December 24, 2023

Events

• Treaty of Ghent signed between the U.S. and Great Britain, ending the War of 1812– 1814
• Stille Nacht (Silent Night) first performed, Oberndorf, Austria– 1818
• Clement Moore’s “A Visit From St. Nicholas” likely written– 1822
• The Eggnog Riot began at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York– 1826
• First great fire of San Francisco– 1849
• Two-thirds of the collection of the Library of Congress (35,000 volumes) and a portion of the Capitol were destroyed by fire– 1851
• Canadian-born Reginald A. Fessenden sent the first extended radio broadcast from Brant Rock, Massachusetts– 1906
• O Holy Night was played on the world’s first radio program broadcast, from Brant Rock, Massachusetts– 1906
• Unofficial Christmas truce began in areas of the Western Front during World War I– 1914
• CONAD (later, NORAD) began to track Santa Claus– 1955
• Catcher Jason Varitek was named captain of the Boston Red Sox– 2004