23 sourced historical events are currently published for December 24. Browse the chronology below or filter this date by place and event type. This collection is expanding, not an exhaustive account of the day.
The published December 24 chronology runs from 1144 to 2021, a span of 877 years. It contains 23 sourced records across 19 countries and 4 event categories. These figures describe the current collection, not all events that occurred on this date.
Start at the earliest published record or jump to the latest. The counts below show where this collection is concentrated.
These pairs share a category and calendar date; the pairing does not imply a historical connection.
Some events have more than one location, so country counts can overlap. Read about coverage and source limits.
Imad al-Din Zengi captured Edessa, capital of the crusader County of Edessa, on December 24 after a siege that began in November. The loss of the city became a major cause of the Second Crusade. Edessa is the present-day city of Şanlıurfa in southeastern Turkey.
Edessa (present-day Şanlıurfa), Turkey · War & conflict · Checked 2026-09-23
The Battle of Bhopal was fought on 24 December 1737 in Bhopal between the Maratha Empire and the combined army of Mughals and their allies (Rajputs of Amber).
India · War & conflict · Checked 2026-09-23
Source excerpt from the 2016-10 Wikipedia snapshot; automated source checks. Original revision · CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikipedia contributors. Consecutive opening sentences selected; whitespace normalized.
A bomb exploded on Rue Saint-Nicaise in Paris on December 24 as First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte was traveling to the opera. Bonaparte survived the assassination attempt. The attack became known as the Plot of the Rue Saint-Nicaise or the machine infernale plot.
Rue Saint-Nicaise, Paris, France · War & conflict · Checked 2026-09-23
British and American negotiators signed the Treaty of Ghent on December 24 in the city now in Belgium. The agreement set the terms for ending the War of 1812 and largely restored the two sides to their prewar territorial positions. Signing did not immediately stop the fighting: the treaty still needed ratification, and news crossed the Atlantic slowly. The Battle of New Orleans was fought before word of the agreement reached the United States. The treaty took effect after ratification in February 1815. Its signing marked a decisive diplomatic step toward ending the conflict between Britain and the United States.
Ghent, present-day Belgium · Politics & society · Checked 2026-09-23
The Eggnog Riot, sometimes known as the Grog Mutiny, was a riot that took place at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, on 24–25 December 1826. It was caused by a drunken Christmas Day party in the North Barracks of the academy. Two days prior to the incident, a large quantity of whiskey was smuggled into the academy to make eggnog for the party, giving the riot its name. The riot eventually involved more than one-third of the cadets by the time it ceased on Christmas morning.
United States · Politics & society · Checked 2026-09-23
Source excerpt from the 2016-10 Wikipedia snapshot; automated source checks. Original revision · CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikipedia contributors. Consecutive opening sentences selected; whitespace normalized.
The Battle of Hallue was a battle of the Franco-Prussian War on 23 and 24 December 1870. The battle was fought between 40,000 French under General Louis Faidherbe and 22,500 Prussian troops under Edwin Freiherr von Manteuffel. The French lost heavily in the village lying in front of their position. However, the Prussians were unable to carry the entrenchments on the heights.
Amiens, France · War & conflict · Checked 2026-09-23
Source excerpt from a recorded current Wikipedia revision; automated source checks. Original revision · CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikipedia contributors. Consecutive opening sentences selected; whitespace normalized.
A Christmas Eve party for striking copper miners and their families ended in disaster at Italian Hall in Calumet, Michigan. Someone shouted that there was a fire, triggering a rush toward the stairs from the crowded upstairs hall. Seventy-three people died, many of them children. The identity and motive of the person who raised the alarm remained unresolved, so claims of deliberate sabotage should not be stated as fact. The tragedy occurred during a bitter labor dispute in Michigan's Copper Country and remains part of the region's public memory. A memorial now marks the former hall site.
Calumet, Michigan, United States · Disasters · Checked 2026-09-23
The Third Battle of Changsha (24 December 1941 – 15 January 1942; Chinese: 第三次長沙會戰) was the first major offensive in China by Imperial Japanese forces following the Japanese attack on the Western Allies and the attack on Pearl Harbor, and Japan's third of four attempts to capture the Chinese city of Changsha. It was conducted with the purpose of severing Chinese lines of communication with British Hong Kong, and seizing control of Changsha's food production.
People's Republic of China · War & conflict · Checked 2026-09-23
Source excerpt from a recorded current Wikipedia revision; automated source checks. Original revision · CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikipedia contributors. Consecutive opening sentences selected; whitespace normalized.
The islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, a colony of France off the coast of Newfoundland, were taken over by Free French Naval Forces on 24 December 1941. At the time, the islands' authorities had sworn their allegiance to the Vichy French government.
Saint Pierre and Miquelon · War & conflict · Checked 2026-09-23
Source excerpt from a recorded current Wikipedia revision; automated source checks. Original revision · CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikipedia contributors. Consecutive opening sentences selected; whitespace normalized.
The Christmas Eve Battle took place during the Mau Mau Uprising on 24 December 1953 between British, African and Mau Mau forces and resulted in the death of Earl Wavell, the only son of Archibald Wavell. It took place around 25 miles north of Nairobi. Wavell was leading a patrol of British troops and African police pursuing from Mau Mau who had beheaded a loyal Kikuyu tribesman in the Thaika area. They tracked down about 20 of the Mau Mau who opened fire, killing Wavell immediately. The battle went for ten hours. Wavell had lost an arm during World War II.
Thika, Kenya · War & conflict · Checked 2026-09-23
Source excerpt from the 2016-10 Wikipedia snapshot; automated source checks. Original revision · CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikipedia contributors. Consecutive opening sentences selected; whitespace normalized.
The Tangiwai disaster was a railway accident that occurred at 10:21 p.m. on 24 December 1953, when a railway bridge over the Whangaehu River collapsed beneath an express passenger train at Tangiwai, North Island, New Zealand. The locomotive and the first six carriages derailed into the river, killing 151 people. The subsequent board of inquiry found that the accident was caused by the failure of the tephra dam holding back nearby Mount Ruapehu's Crater Lake, creating a rapid mudflow (lahar) in the Whangaehu River which destroyed one of the bridge piers at Tangiwai only minutes before the train reached the bridge.
New Zealand · Disasters · Checked 2026-09-23
Source excerpt from a recorded current Wikipedia revision; automated source checks. Original revision · CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikipedia contributors. Consecutive opening sentences selected; whitespace normalized.
On December 24, 1966, a Flying Tiger Line Canadair CL-44 flying from Tachikawa Air Force Base in Japan to Da Nang Airport struck an obstacle, stalled, and crashed into Binh Thai village, killing all four crew members and 107 people on the ground. The flight was on a subcontract for the United States Air Force. This was the first fatal accident for the CL-44 and the deadliest as well.
Japan · Disasters · Checked 2026-09-23
Source excerpt from a recorded current Wikipedia revision; automated source checks. Original revision · CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikipedia contributors. Consecutive opening sentences selected; whitespace normalized.
Allegheny Airlines Flight 736 was a regularly scheduled flight that crashed while attempting to land at Bradford Regional Airport in Bradford, Pennsylvania, on December 24, 1968. Of the 47 occupants on board, 20 were killed.
Pennsylvania, United States · Disasters · Checked 2026-09-23
Source excerpt from a recorded current Wikipedia revision; automated source checks. Original revision · CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikipedia contributors. Consecutive opening sentences selected; whitespace normalized.
LANSA Flight 508 was a Lockheed L-188A Electra turboprop operated as a scheduled domestic passenger flight by Lineas Aéreas Nacionales Sociedad Anonima (LANSA) that crashed in a thunderstorm en route from Lima to Pucallpa in Peru on 24 December 1971, killing 91 people – all 6 crew on board and 85 of its 86 passengers.
Peru · Disasters · Checked 2026-09-23
Source excerpt from a recorded current Wikipedia revision; automated source checks. Original revision · CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikipedia contributors. Consecutive opening sentences selected; whitespace normalized.
Presidential elections were held in Rwanda on 24 December 1978, a week after the country's new constitution was approved in a referendum. The constitution had made the country a one-party state with the National Revolutionary Movement for Development the sole legal party. Its leader, incumbent President Juvénal Habyarimana, who had taken power in a coup in 1973, was the only candidate.
Rwanda · Politics & society · Checked 2026-09-23
Source excerpt from the 2016-10 Wikipedia snapshot; automated source checks. Original revision · CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikipedia contributors. Consecutive opening sentences selected; whitespace normalized.
The 1979 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts at the Kooyong Stadium in Melbourne in Victoria in Australia and was held from 24 December 1979 through 2 January 1980. It was the 68th edition of the Australian Open and the fourth Grand Slam tournament of the year. The singles titles were won by Argentinian Guillermo Vilas and American Barbara Jordan.
Australia · Sport · Checked 2026-09-23
Source excerpt from the 2016-10 Wikipedia snapshot; automated source checks. Original revision · CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikipedia contributors. Consecutive opening sentences selected; whitespace normalized.
The eighth legislative assembly election for Tamil Nadu was held on December 24, 1984. Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (ADMK) won the election and its leader, incumbent M. G. Ramachandran (MGR) was sworn in as Chief Minister, for the third time. The election victory was mainly attributed to the sympathy wave created by Indira Gandhi's assassination and MGR's illness coupled with Rajiv Gandhi's popularity.
India · Politics & society · Checked 2026-09-23
Source excerpt from the 2016-10 Wikipedia snapshot; automated source checks. Original revision · CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikipedia contributors. Consecutive opening sentences selected; whitespace normalized.
The 1990 Surinamese coup d'état, usually referred to as the Telephone Coup (Dutch: De Telefooncoup), was a military coup in Suriname on 24 December 1990. The coup was carried out by the acting commander-in-chief of the Suriname National Army (SNL), Police Chief Ivan Graanoogst. As a result of the coup, President Ramsewak Shankar was dismissed from power, and parliament and government were disbanded.
Paramaribo, Suriname · War & conflict · Checked 2026-09-23
Source excerpt from a recorded current Wikipedia revision; automated source checks. Original revision · CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikipedia contributors. Consecutive opening sentences selected; whitespace normalized.
Air France Flight 8969 (Operation Rock Climber) was an Air France Airbus A300 flight that was hijacked on 24 December 1994 at Houari Boumediene Airport, Algiers. The militants murdered three passengers and their intention was either to detonate the aircraft over the Eiffel Tower or the Tour Montparnasse in Paris. When the aircraft reached Marseille, the GIGN, a counterterrorism and hostage rescue unit of the French National Gendarmerie, stormed the plane and killed all four hijackers.
Algeria · Disasters · Checked 2026-09-23
Source excerpt from a recorded current Wikipedia revision; automated source checks. Original revision · CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikipedia contributors. Consecutive opening sentences selected; whitespace normalized.
Presidential elections were held in Kyrgyzstan on 24 December 1995. The result was a victory for incumbent President Askar Akayev, who received 72% of the vote. Voter turnout was reported to be 86%. These were the first presidential elections in Kyrgyzstan since independence.
Kyrgyzstan · Politics & society · Checked 2026-09-23
Source excerpt from a recorded current Wikipedia revision; automated source checks. Original revision · CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikipedia contributors. Consecutive opening sentences selected; whitespace normalized.
Indian Airlines Flight 814, commonly known as IC 814, was an Indian Airlines Airbus A300 that was hijacked on 24 December 1999 by five members of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. The passenger flight, en route from Kathmandu to Delhi, was taken over shortly after it entered Indian airspace at about 16:53 IST. The aircraft had 190 occupants: 179 passengers and 11 crew members including Captain Devi Sharan, First Officer Rajinder Kumar, and Flight Engineer Anil Kumar Jaggia.
India · Nepal · Disasters · Checked 2026-09-23
Source excerpt from a recorded current Wikipedia revision; automated source checks. Original revision · CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikipedia contributors. Consecutive opening sentences selected; whitespace normalized.
On December 24, 2019, militants from the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara attacked the Burkinabe government military base in Arbinda, Sahel Region, Burkina Faso along with the town of Arbinda itself. The attack was halted due to French and Burkinabe air intervention, although 35 civilians were killed in the jihadists' massacre. The Arbinda attack was the deadliest incident in the jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso in several years.
Burkina Faso · War & conflict · Checked 2026-09-23
Source excerpt from a recorded current Wikipedia revision; automated source checks. Original revision · CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikipedia contributors. Consecutive opening sentences selected; whitespace normalized.
The Mo So Massacre, also known as the Christmas Eve Massacre, was a mass killing of civilians that occurred on the afternoon of 24 December 2021, in Hpruso Township in Kayah State, Myanmar. During the massacre, Myanmar Army troops killed and burned over forty people. The following day, the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) found the victims burned in their vehicles.
Myanmar · War & conflict · Checked 2026-09-23
Source excerpt from a recorded current Wikipedia revision; automated source checks. Original revision · CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikipedia contributors. Consecutive opening sentences selected; whitespace normalized.