Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

December 24

1968
First men to orbit the moon, Frank Borman, James Lovell, Jr. and William Anders aboard the Apollo 8.

1942
First surface-to-surface guided missile is launched, by German engineer Wernher von Braun.

1928
The Voice of Firestone debuts on radio.

1906
First Long-Range Radio Transmission of Voice: Reginald Fessenden transmits from Brant Rock, Massachusetts to ships at sea.

1865
Ku Klux Klan is organized, in Pulaski, Tennessee.

1844
Brigham Young is elected president of the Mormon Church.

1822
The Night Before Christmas: Clement Clarke Moore's famous Christmas poem is first recited.

1818
Silent Night, Holy Night: The famous Christmas carol is written; it was performed for the first time later that night. (Source: An Almanac of the Christian Church)

1814
War of 1812: Treaty of Ghent is signed ending the war between the U.S. and Britain. This news did not arrive in time to prevent the Battle of New Orleans.

1922     d. 1990
Ava Gardner, American actress, Hollywood's leading lady of the 1940s and '50s.

1905     d. 1976
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr., American billionaire, world-class aviator, motion picture executive. His eccentricity is described in the book I Caught Flies for Howard Hughes and the film The Aviator (2004).

1898     d. 1962
Irvin Charles Mollison, American judge. He was the first black U.S. Customs Court judge (1945).

1868     d. 1941
Emanuel Lasker, German chess master, world chess champion (1894-1921).

1818     d. 1889
James Prescott Joule, English physicist, for whom Joule's Law is named.

1818     d. 1889
Eliza Cook, English author. Her poem The Old Armchair made her a household word in England and America.

1809     d. 1868
Kit Carson (Christopher Carson), American frontiersman.

1745     d. 1813
Benjamin Rush, American physician, signer of the Declaration of Independence. He co-founded the first the first U.S. anti-slavery society (1774), and established the first U.S. free medical dispensary (1786).

1491     d. 1556
Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish ecclesiastic, in 1535 he founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuit order).

1994     b. 1916
Rossano Brazzi, Italian actor, specializing in Continental lover roles. Film: The Barefoot Contessa (1954), Summertime (1955), and South Pacific (1958). TV: The Survivors (Riakos).

1993     b. 1898
Norman Vincent Peale, American minister, author, and founder of Guideposts magazine (1945). Writings: The Power of Positive Thinking (1952). Radio: The Art of Living. His life was portrayed in the movie One Man's Way (1964).

1992     b. 1928
Pierre Culliford, Belgian cartoonist, creator of the Smurfs (1958).

1984     b. 1923
Peter Lawford, British-born American actor. TV: The Thin Man (Nick Charles).

1957     b. 1897
Norma Talmadge, American silent film actress. In 1927, she accidently stepped into wet cement at Grauman's Chinese Theater, starting a long tradition.

1873     b. 1795
Johns Hopkins, American businessman, philanthropist, contributed money for the Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Hospital.

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