1818 – Christmas carol “Silent Night” composed by Franz Xavier Gruber is sung at St. Nicholas Parish Church in Oberndorf, Austria.
1877 – Thomas Edison files for a patent for the cylinder phonograph.
1893 – Henry Ford completes his first useful petrol/gasoline fueled engine.
1901 – Private companies allowed to use the word “postcard.” Previously they were labelled “Private Mailing Cards” and known as “souvenir cards.”
1912 – Irving Fisher patents archiving system with index cards.
1941 – First ships of Admiral Nagumo’s Pearl Harbor fleet return to Japan.
1948 – First completely solar heated house in the United States is occupied in Dover, Massachusetts.
1956 – “I Love Lucy” Christmas show airs. It was never put in syndication.
1961 – AFL Championship, Balboa Stadium, San Diego: Houston Oilers beat San Diego Chargers 10-3. Billy Cannon scores the only touchdown.
1969 – Curt Flood writes to baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn refusing to accept the St. Louis Cardinals’ right to deal him and in favor of free agency.
1973 – District of Columbia Home Rule Act is passed, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to elect their own local government.
1974 – Former astronaut John Glenn joins the US Senate representing Ohio.
1982 – Chaminade, with a student body of only 850 students, beats top-ranked Virginia 77-72 in a Honolulu basketball tournament.
1990 – Saddam Hussein says Israel will be Iraq’s first target.
1999 – Opening of St. Peter’s Holy Door by Pope John Paul II in the approach of the third millennium.
2000 – The Texas 7 holds up a sports store in Irving, Texas. Police Officer Aubrey Hawkins is shot during the robbery.
2001 – Time magazine names New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani “Person of the Year” for his leadership after 9/11 attacks.
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