On This Day:
Wednesday December 24, 2014 This is the 358th day of the year, with 7 days remaining in 2014. Fact of the Day: Santa Claus Thomas Nast, a 19th century political cartoonist, created three of the most famous drawings in history. He invented the donkey of the Democratic Party, the elephant for the Republicans, and the modern version of Santa Claus with his familiar red suit and beard. He was German-born, but lived in America and was also known for his political attacks on William M. "Boss" Tweed of Tammany Hall, New York City.
Holidays Christmas Eve.
Feast day of St. Gregory of Spoleto, Saints Tharsilla and Emiliana, St. Adela, St Irmina, St Delphinus, and St. Sharbel Makhlouf.
Libya: Independence Day (from Italy, 1951).
Events 1814 - The War of 1812 officially ended as the United States and Britain signed the Treaty of Ghent in Belgium.
1851 - Fire devastated the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., destroying around 2/3 of its collection, including 2/3 of Thomas Jefferson's personal library, sold to the institution in 1815.
1865 - Some veterans of the Confederate Army formed a private social club in Pulaski, Tennessee, called the Ku Klux Klan. The name of the Ku Klux Klan is derived from the Greek word kuklos, meaning circle, and clann, a Scottish Gaelic word for the traditional tribal units of Scotland that reflects the Scottish ancestry of many of the KKK's founding members.
1871 - Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Aida" had its world premiere in Cairo, Egypt, to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal.
1914 - In World War I, the first air raid on Britain was made when a German airplane dropped a bomb on the grounds of a rectory in Dover.
1919 - John D. Rockefeller, thought to be the world's richest man, gave away $100 million dollars.
1942 - German rocket engineer Wernher von Braun launched the first surface-to-surface guided missile.
1943 - General Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed the Allied Supreme Commander, even though most thought Chief of Staff George C. Marshall would get the nod.
1948 - "The Perry Como Show" premiered on TV.
1951 - Libya achieved independence as the United Kingdom of Libya, under King Idris I.
1963 - New York's Idlewild Airport was renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport in honor of the assassinated President John F. Kennedy.
1979 - Afghanistan was invaded by Soviet Union troops as the Kabul government fell.
1992 - President George Bush pardoned six Reagan aides involved in the Iran-Contra Affair, including Caspar W. Weinberger, former secretary of defense, and Robert C. McFarlane, former national security advisor.
2002 - Laci Peterson was reported missing from her Modesto, California home by her husband, Scott, who was later convicted of murdering her and their unborn son.
Births 1491 - Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish founder of the Jesuits.
1745 - Benjamin Rush, American medical pioneer and signer of the Declaration of Independence.
1809 - Kit Carson, American frontiersman, subject of adventure novels, fur trapper, guide, American Indian agent, and Union general.
1822 - Matthew Arnold, English poet and essayist.
1905 - Howard Hughes, American industrialist, pilot, Hollywood producer and director.
1922 - Ava Gardner (Lucy Johnson), American actress.
Deaths 1863 - William Makepeace Thackeray, English novelist and author of "Vanity Fair" and other works.
1914 - John Muir, American naturalist, born in Dunbar, Scotland.
1993 - Norman Vincent Peale, American theologian and author.
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