Replies

I am very proud of and extremely grateful to our Veterans. Thank you...Thank you for serving your country with little or no gratitude. Thank you for sacrificing time with your families. Thank you for spending countless hours, days, months, away from home and loved ones, often in dangerous and extreme conditions. Thank you for fighting for MY freedoms. And to those that fell, thank you for paying the ultimate price. I for one am proud to be an American. I am proud of our Veterans. Thank you with all my heart.

In Honor of the Veteran

For those who have served in the Armed Forces of the United States of America we are eternally grateful.

For the lost sons and daughters of war we can only swear on our sacred honor that we will never forget their courageous sacrifice, and pray that theirs may be the last. Though war is not intrinsically a noble and honorable endeavor, it is those who rise to the challenge and engage in it for the greater good that make it so. They are all of us, and we are they. When one of them dies or is missing, our resolve is strengthened by the loss equal to the degree that the lost soldier is honored and remembered by we who remain alive and free. Thus, it is our patriotic duty to honor those who have been lost in the service of our country, and never allow them to be forgotten.

For those who have served honorably and returned alive, we celebrate the opportunity to welcome them home and thank them for their service. For they are the ones who, at an age when life is boundless and experience limited, leave their homes and families and travel to foreign lands to take up arms on our behalf. Too soon they become aware that victory, honor, and their very survival require more of them than idealistic rhetoric had ever revealed. No amount of training has prepared them for what they must endure. And yet they stay...noble paladins...they obey, they endure, they fight on...they survive. When finally they return home, they are forever changed. Some outwardly, some in other ways. Now we must do no less than thank and honor them for doing what the rest of us could not, and welcome them home as the heroes they have become. To do less diminishes us all.

For those brave soldiers who fought but have not returned, and whose fate is known only to God, we must pledge together to them and to their families to remember them each day and to do everything in our power to speak on their behalf. To find them and return them to their own soil, living and dead alike, during a time of relative peace seems a small enough sacrifice in comparison. Can we in good conscience do less for the patriots who sacrificed their existence for us and our well-being? This is not simply the American thing to do, and the humane thing to do, it is the right thing to do.

Ron Fleischer

Very well put Sam. Merry Christmas. I can't believe that it is Christmas Day. The years go by so fast now. Thanks for the thanks. I was home many years before anyone other than my family thanked me for serving in 'nam. It is very important to me to know that our young men and women get thanked quickly and often for their service to our country. I don't want them wondering if they should be proud or ashamed of what they did either. Many they all fine courage and comfort in God's love, and return home safely. God bless you for what you are doing here in the Foxhole. That goes for Misty, AntiJen, and all the rest of you wonderful people, too!

Sam, that poem was so touching. I also want to thank all the Veterans and active duty men and women who have sacrificed for our freedom. And you, Sam. You also made those sacrifices. For that, I thank you. And for what you are doing now, I thank you. May today and all the days that follow hold special blessings for you, all our Vets, and all our military. I will say a special prayer that our leaders and all those who have the power to make decisions and guide our future, do so with a new integrity and honor.

Merry Christmas!

American late night TV star David Letterman visits U.S. base in southern Afghanistan

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on December 25:
0004 -BC- Jesus of Nazareth religious leader/philosopher (estimated date)
1583 Orlando Gibbons English composer (O Clap Your Hands), baptized
1601 Jose Ximenez composer
1624 Angelus Silesius [Johann Scheffler] German mystic (St Seelenlust)
1628 Noel Coypel French painter
1642 [Sir] Isaac Newton Woolsthorpe Lincolnshire England, physicist/mathematician/astronomer (Laws of Motion and Gravity)
1646 Harald Vallerius composer
1686 Giovanni Battista Somis composer
1698 Jacobus Houbraken Dutch engraver/illustrator
1711 Jean-Joseph Cassenea de Mondonville composer
1717 Pius VI [Giovanni A Braschi] Italy, Pope (1775-99)
1721 William Collins Chichester England, (Mayor-Chichester)/poet
1728 Johann Adam Hiller composer
1750 John "Christmas" Beckwith composer
1763 Claude Chappe French engineer (optical telegraph)
1765 Joseph Mazzinghi composer
1771 Dorothy Wordsworth
1775 Antun Sorkocevic composer
1808 Stephen Cleeg Rowan Commander (Union Navy), died in 1890
1811 Wilhelm E Freiherr von Ketteler German politician/bishop of Mainz
1813 Milledge Luke Bonham (Confederacy) died in 1890
1814 Jan de Liefde II Dutch vicar/founder (Co-op of Welfare of the People)
1815 Temistocle Solera composer
1821 Clara Harlowe Barton Oxford MA, nurse (founder-American Red Cross)
1823 Preston Smith Brigadier-General (Confederate Army), died in 1863
1825 Esteban Salas y Castro composer
1829 Patrick S Gilmore composer
1831 Johann Herbeck composer
1832 Thomas Alfred Smyth Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1865
1837 Cosima Liszt wife of Austrian composer Richard Wagner
1855 James Galvin pitcher, shut-out every opposing team in 1884
1859 Raoul Gunsbourg composer
1863 E Fernández Arbós Spanish violinist/conductor/composer
1865 Evangeline Cory Booth Salvation Army general (1904-34)
1867 Alfred Kerr writer
1868 Eugenie Besserer Watertown NY, actress (Jazz Singer)
1875 Theodor Innitzer cardinal/archbishop Vienna
1875 Walter Lees cricketer (Surrey pace bowler toured for England 1905-06)
1876 Quaid-i-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah Karachi, founded Pakistan (1947)/Governor (1947-58)
1878 W Starling Burgess yacht designer (America Cup's Enterprise)
1881 Joseph V McCarthy baseball manager (New York Yankees)
1883 Fran Lhotka composer
1883 Maurice Utrillo France, painter (Port St Martin, Montmartre)
1887 Conrad Hilton hotel mogul (Hilton Hotels)
1887 Jacobus W G Balfoort Dutch actor (Bulldog Drummond)
1887 John Davidson New York NY, actor (Charlie Chan-Chinese Cat)
1891 Clarrie Grimmett cricketer (in Dunedin Great Australian leg-spinner)
1891 Earle Foxe Oxford OH, actor (Dance Fools Dance)
1891 Kenneth A N Anderson British general (Dunkerk, North Africa)
1892 Rebecca West [Cicely Isabel Fairfield] English author
1893 Fred Hillebrand Brooklyn NY, actor (Martin Kane)
1893 Ropert L Ripley Santa Rosa CA, cartoonist (Believe It or Not)
1893 Bert Bertram actor (How to Steal a Million)
1898 Theo Swagemakers Dutch portrait painter
1899 Frank Fergusson actor (My Friend Flicka, Peyton Place)
1899 Humphrey Bogart New York NY, actor, Here's looking at you, kid (Casablanca)
1899 Raphael Soyer artist (Arts & Letters 1945, Depression Scenes in NYC)
1900 Gladys Swarthout Deepwater MO, mezzo-soprano (La Gioconda)
1900 W L "Tich" Cornford cricketer (Sussex keeper played for England 1930)
1901 Alice C English duchess of Gloucester/aunt of Elizabeth II
1902 Barton MacLane Columbia SC, actor (The Geisha Boy, General Peterson-I Dream of Jeannie)
1903 Antiochos Evanghelatos composer
1903 Corry Lievens [Isabella MJ Adriaens] Flemish actress (Blue Bird)
1903 J Edward Bromberg Hungary, actor (Mark of Zorro, Under 2 Flags)
1904 Gerhard Herzberg Canada, physicist (molecular structure-Nobel 1971)
1906 Clark M Clifford US Secretary of Defense (1968-69)
1906 Lord Lew Grade British TV mogul (ATV)/movie producer (Boys from Brazil)
1906 William McChesney Martin Chairman of Federal Reserve Bank (1951-70)
1906 Herman J Scheltema [NEM Pareau] Dutch jurist/poet
1907 Cab[ell] Calloway [III] Rochester NY, bandleader (Minnie the Moocher, Jazzball, Blues Brothers)
1908 Frank Ferguson California, actor (Wagons West, Dynamite, My Gal Sal)
1908 Helen [Marie Jurgens] Twelvetrees Brooklyn NY, actress (State's Attorney, Painted Desert)
1908 Jan Seidel composer
1909 Mike Mazurki Tarnopal Austria, actor/wrestler (Centerfold Girls)
1909 Louis van Lint Belgian painter
1909 Marguerite Churchill Kansas City MO, actress (Dracula's Daughter, Big Trail)
1910 David Lichine [Lichtenstein] Russian/US dancer (Make Mine Music)
1911 Burne Hogarth strip-cartoon artist
1912 Tony Martin Oakland CA, singer (Tony Martin Show, Tonight We Love)
1912 Donald McRae cricketer (Test for New Zealand, the 1946 debacle vs Australia)
1912 Herman W Filarski Dutch bridge journalist
1912 Leighton Noble singer/bandleader
1912 Werner Fussan composer
1912 Willian Noel Moffat architect
1913 Henri Nannen journalist
1914 Tony Martin [Alvin Morris] San Francisco CA, singer (It's a Blue World, To Each)
1915 Noelle de Mosa Netherlands/British dancer/teacher (Brigadoon)
1915 Nora Dunfee actress (Forrest Gump, Lorenzo's Oil)
1915 Pete Rugolo bandleader/arranger (Fugitive)
1916 Daniel Devoto composer
1918 Anwar el-Sadat Egyptian President (1970-81, Nobel 1978)
1918 Eddie Safranski Pittsburgh PA, orchestra leader (Jonathan Winters Show)
1920 Artur Agostinho Lisbon Port, actor (Capas Negras, Leao da Estrela)
1920 Henry Charnock oceanographer
1922 Kitty Kallen Philadelphia PA, singer (Judge For Yourself)
1923 Louis Lane Eagle Pass TX, conductor (Oere Orchestra 1968-73)
1923 Nöel Vandernotte France, cox (Olympics-bronze-1936)
1924 Mihály Váci Hungarian poet/politician
1925 Ossi Reichert German Federal Republic, giant slalom (Olympics-gold-1956)
1925 Christmas F Tinto South African ANC'er/UDF-leader
1927 Nellie Fox White Sox infielder (American League MVP 1959)
1928 Earl Brown Salt Lake City UT, actor (Stovall-Operation Petticoat)
1929 Billy Horton rocker (The Silhouettes-Get a Job)
1929 Irish McCalla Pawnee City NE, actress (Sheena Queen of Jungle)
1929 Chris Kenner rocker
1931 Carlos Castaneda US, writer/mystic (Eagle's Gift, Fire From Within)
1931 Uzo Egonu painter/print maker
1932 Mabel King Charleston SC, actress (Mama-What's Happening?)
1932 José Maria Capricorne Curaçao graphically designer/painter
1932 Peter John Swales football club chairman
1934 John Ashley Kansas City MO, actor (Clipper-Straightaway)
1934 Bob Martinez (Governor-FL)
1934 Giancarlo Baghetti racing driver/journalist
1934 McKinley Mitchell US gospel/singer (The Town I Live In)
1935 Gunter Friedrichs composer
1936 Alexandra English princess/daughter of Sir Angus Ogilvy
1936 Ismail Merchant Bombay India, producer (Householder)
1937 O'Kelly Isley Cincinnati OH, singer (Isley Brothers-Twist & Shout)
1938 David Borden composer
1938 Wibo van de Linde Dutch TV host/director (Avro)
1939 Bob James rocker
1939 Christopher Wates English real estate developer/multi-millionaire
1940 Frans Moor Dutch MP (PvdA)
1940 Peter Brown Chicago IL, rocker
1941 Don Pullen pianist/composer
1941 Lex Hixon religious teacher/author
1941 Ronald Perera composer
1942 François Durr France, tennis player (1976 US indoor Doubles)
1942 Mani Kaul director (Idiot, Nazar, Dhrupad, Duvidha)
1943 Hanna Schygulla Katowice Silesia, actress (Love is Colder than Death)
1943 Hedley Howarth cricketer (brother of Geoff, New Zealand lefty spinner 1969-77)
1943 Ravish Malhotra India cosmonaut (Soyuz T-11 backup)
1943 Trevor Lucas rocker (Fairport Convention)
1944 Henry Vestine rock guitarist (Canned Heat-On the Road Again)
1944 Kenny Everett [Maurice James Cole] British TV personality (Kenny Everett Show)
1944 Rick Berman [Richard] producer (Star Trek Generations)
1945 Gary Sandy Dayton OH, actor (Andy-WKRP in Cincinnati)
1945 Noel Redding rocker (The Jimi Hendrix Experience-Purple Haze)
1945 Ken "The Snake" Stabler NFL quarterback (Oakland Raiders, Super Bowl XI)
1945 Kenny Everett British TV personality (Kenny Everett Show)
1945 Steve Mancha [Clyde Wilson] US singer/songwriter (Too Many Cooks)
1946 Jimmy Buffett Mobile AL, singer/songwriter (Margaritaville, Volcano)
1946 Larry Csonka NFL running back (Miami Dolphins, New York Giants)
1947 Connie Petracek Chambersburg PA, swimmer (Olympics-92, 96)
1948 Barbara Mandrell Houston TX, singer/TV host (Mandrell Sisters)
1948 Merry Clayton rocker
1949 Sissy Spacek Quitman TX (Carrie, Badlands, Coal Miner's Daughter)
1950 Barry Pearson NFLer
1950 Manny Trillo baseball infielder (Philadelphia Phillies)
1951 Ria Thielsch Dutch singer (Luv)
1953 Arnella Flynn Rome Italy, Errol Flynn's daughter
1953 Dave Wasick NFLer
1954 Annie Lennox Aberdeen Scotland, singer (Eurythmics-Sweet Dreams, Here Comes The Rain Again)
1954 Robin Campbell British reggae vocalist/guitarist (UB40-Red Red Wine)
1954 Steve Wariner Noblesville IN, country singer (Small Town Girl)
1955 Claus Strigel director (Obituary for the Automobile, Act of God)
1955 William Andrews actor (Sealed Cargo)
1956 Mansoor Akhtar cricketer (Pakistani batsman early 80's)
1957 Shane McGowan rock vocalist (The Pogues-Red Roses For Me)
1957 Jan Rot Dutch composer/writer (Wrong Nights)
1957 Jillie Mack Mrs Tom Selleck/actress (Magnum PI)
1958 Joop Hiele soccer player (Dordrecht '90, Go Ahead Eagles)
1958 Rickey Henderson Chicago IL, baseball player (stolen base king, A's, Yankees)
1959 Missy Cleveland Jackson MS, playmate (April, 1979)
1959 Chris Spice Australian field hockey coach (Olympics-96)
1959 Michael P Anderson Plattsburgh NY, major USAF/astronaut (STS 89)
1959 Ton Lokhoff Dutch soccer player (NAC)
1960 Amy Grant singer (That's What Love Is, Baby Baby)
1961 Storm Davis baseball player
1962 Dean Cameron Morrison IL, actor (Herbie-Spencer)
1962 Mary Ellen Clark Abington PA, diver (Olympics-2 bronze-92, 96)
1963 Joop Gall Dutch soccer player (FC Groningen)
1964 Anil Kaul Amritsar India, Canadian badminton player (Olympics-96)
1964 Janet Soulsby Corbridge Australia, golfer (Curtis Cup 1982)
1964 Peter Hanson English/Sierra Leone/Dutch actor (Darling How Could You)
1964 Raymond Libregts soccer player (MVV)
1965 Dmitri Mironov Moscow Russia, NHL defenseman (Pittsburgh Penguins, Anaheim)
1965 Kathleen Luciano Munich Germany, WPVA volleyballer (Nationals-17th-1993)
1966 Sandy Corn model/Penthouse Pet (March, 1991)
1966 Craig Veasey NFL defensive tackle/defensive end (Houston Oilers)
1966 Javier Frana Rafaela Argentina, tennis star
1967 Kathleen Franey Brooklyn NY, 1.5k runner
1968 Corey Widmer NFL linebacker (New York Giants)
1968 Don Silvestri NFL/WLAF kicker (New York Jets, London Monarchs)
1968 Helena Christensen Copenhagen Denmark, model/actress (Inferno)
1968 Jim Dowd Brick, NHL center (Vancouver Canucks)
1968 Scott Bullett Martinsburg WV, outfielder (Chicago Cubs)
1969 Bernhard Jr Prince of Netherlands
1970 Azhar Saeed UAE cricketer (opening batsman 1996 World Cup)
1970 Ghalid Salamat soccer player (MVV)
1970 Stu Barnes Spruce Grove, NHL center (Florida Panthers)
1971 Marlon Forbes safety (Chicago Bears)
1971 Noel Hogan musician (Cranberries)
1971 Terry Vaughn CFL receiver (Calgary Stampeders)
1972 Fantasia [Tonya Manley] Detroit MI, dancer/actress (Pump it Up)
1974 Chris Naeole guard (New Orleans Saints)
1974 Grayson Shillingford NFL wide receiver (Seattle Seahawks)
1976 Scott Vermillion Independence MO, soccer defender (Olympics-gold-96)
1976 Yazmin Fiallos Miss Universe-Honduras (1996)

Deaths which occurred on December 25:
0795 Adrian I Italian Pope (772-95), dies
0820 Leo V the Armenian, Byzantine general/Emperor (813-20), murdered
1156 Peter Venerabilis French theologist/9th abbot of Cluny, dies at about 61
1249 Peter Nolascus Spanish monastery founder/St, dies
1513 Johannes Amerbach Swiss publisher/printer, dies at about 70
1530 Babur emperor of Delhi, dies
1683 Kara Mustapha Turkish grand-vizier (1676-83), executed
1761 Empress Elizabeth dies
1761 Elisabeth Petrovna tsarina of Russia (1741-62), dies at about 51
1765 Antonio Tonelli composer, dies at 79
1788 John Logan Scottish conductor (Ode to the Cuckoo), dies at about 40
1824 Barbara Krudener mystic visionary who renounced nobility, dies at 60
1842 Bedrich Divis Weber composer, dies at 76
1848 Johann Erik Nordblom composer, dies at 60
1868 Linus Yale developer of cylinder lock, dies
1878 Anna Claypoole Peale US painter of miniatures, dies
1883 Marek Konrad Sokolowski composer, dies at 65
1895 Raul d'Avila Pompeia Brazilian writer (Boarding-school), dies at 32
1899 Raphael Soyer artist (Depression scenes in NYC)
1903 Albert Schäffle German sociologist, dies at 72
1904 Per Jonas Fredrik Vilhelm Svedbom composer, dies at 61
1921 Hans Huber composer, dies at 69
1921 Korolenko writer, dies
1922 Alphonse Goovaerts composer, dies at 75
1925 Sergei Jessenin writer, dies at 30
1926 Yoshihito 123rd Emperor of Japan (1912-26), dies at 47
1927 Sergei D Sazonov Russian Foreign minister (1910-16), dies at 66
1930 Harvey Worthington Loomis composer, dies at 65
1936 Pierre Maurice composer, dies at 68
1938 Karel Capek Czechoslovakian author/antifascist (Bílá Nemoc), dies at 48
1940 Agnes Ayres actress (Johnny Belinda, Sheik), dies at 42
1942 Vojislav Vuckovic composer, dies at 32
1943 Ilona Durigo Hungarian singer, dies at 62
1943 Raymond Huntington Woodman composer, dies at 82
1946 W[illiam] C[laude] Fields writer/comedian/actor (Bank Dick, It's A Gift), dies from pneumonia at 67
1950 Xavier Villaurrutia Mexican poet (Nostalgia de la muerte), dies at 47
1951 Harry T Moore Florida NAACP official, killed by bomb
1954 Johnny Ace ballad singer, dies at 25 in a game of Russian Roulette
1954 Liberty Hyde Bailey US botanist (Plantbreeding), dies at 96
1954 Rosario Scalero composer, dies at 84
1956 Robert Walser writer, dies at 78
1957 Frederick Law Olmsted US architect (Central Park), dies at 87
1961 Dr Rheinhold Rudenberg inventor of the electron microscope dies
1963 Tristan Tzara writer, dies at 67
1964 Cheerio Meredith actress (One Happy Family), dies at 74
1971 Byron Arnold composer, dies at 70
1973 Ismet Inönü [Mustapha Ismet Pasha] Turkish PM (1923..65), dies at 89
1975 Gaston Gallimard French publisher (Library Gallimard), dies at 94
1976 Arthur Mitchell cricketer (batted in 6 Tests for England 1933-36), dies
1976 Frankie Darro actor (Radio Ranch, Valley of Wanted Men), dies at 58
1977 Charlie Chaplin actor (Modern Times), dies in Switzerland at 88
1979 Joan Blondell actress (Real McCoys), dies at 70
1979 Lee Bowman actor (Ellery Queen, Miami Undercover), dies at 64
1980 Fred Emney actor (Adventures of a Private Eye), dies at 80
1980 Louis Neefs Belgian singer, dies at 43
1980 Oscar Romero archbishop of El Salvador, murdered
1983 Joan Miro Spanish surrealist, dies at his home in Majorca at 90
1985 George Rhodes orchestra leader (Sammy Davis Jr Show), dies at 66
1989 Billy Martin New York Yankee manager, killed in a car accident at 61
1989 Barrel Regtien student leader, dies
1989 Elena Ceausescu wife of Romanian dictator Nicolae, executed
1989 Nicolae Ceausescu Romanian dictator (1945-89), executed
1989 Roger Pigaut actor (Indoptable Angélique), dies
1989 Ton Regtien Dutch student leader, dies at 51
1990 Marguerite N Wittenberg entertainer, dies of cancer at 77
1991 Curt Bois actor (Great Waltz, Boat is Full), dies at 90
1991 Mahmood Hussain cricketer (27 Tests for Pakistan, 68 wickets), dies
1991 Orane Demazis French actress (Marius, Fanny et César), dies at 87
1991 Sal Provenza entertainer, dies of lymphoma at 45
1992 Garrison H Davidson US Lieutenant-General commandant (West Point), dies
1992 Helen B M Fennell Joseph English/South Afr anti-apartheid, dies at 87
1992 Monica Dickens English/US journalist/author, dies at 77
1992 Ted Croker RAF-pilot/secretary English soccer team (sponsoring), dies
1994 Pierre Dreyfus French director of Renault (1955-75), dies at 87
1994 Zail Singh President of India (1982-87), dies at 78
1995 Dean Martin singer/actor (Return to Me), dies at 78
1995 Emmanuel Levinas philosopher, dies at 89
1995 Jimmy Boucher cricketer (great Irish all-rounder 1929-54), dies
1995 Nikolai [Nicolas Leonidovich] Slonimsky musicologist, dies at 101
1996 Derek Prouse writer actor/director (Le Scandale), dies at 74
1996 Jon Benet Ramsey Colorado child beauty queen, murdered at 6
1996 Rupert John Governor-General of Grenadines (1970-76), dies
1997 Anatoli Boukreev mountaineer, dies at 39
1997 Denver Pyle actor (Dukes of Hazzard), dies at 77
1997 Giorgio Strehler theatre director, dies at 76
1997 Laurence Gower academic, dies at 84

On this day...
0001 1st Christmas, according to calendar-maker Dionysus Exiguus
0337 Earliest possible date that Christmas was celebrated on Dec 25th
0352 1st definite date Christmas was celebrated on Dec 25th
0390 Roman emperor Theodosius admits debt on mass murder in Thessalonica
0498 French king Clovis baptises himself
0597 England adopts Julian calendar
0604 Battle at Etampes (Stampae): Burgundy beat Neustriers
0795 Adrian I ends his reign as Catholic Pope
0800 Pope Leo III crowns Charles the Great (Charlemagne), Roman emperor
0875 Charles, the Bare, crowned emperor of Rome
0967 John XIII crowned Otto II the Red German compassionate emperor
0969 Johannes I Tzimisces, crowned emperor of Byzantium
0979 Rotardus appointed as bishop of the kingdom
0999 Heribertus becomes bishop of Cologne
1000 Monarch István crowned king of Hungary
1046 Pope Clemens VI crowns Henry III Roman Catholic-German emperor
1048 Parliament of Worms: Emperor Henry III names his cousin count Bruno van Egisheim/Dagsburg as Pope Leo IX
1066 William the Conqueror, crowned king of England
1100 Boudouin I of Boulogne crowned king of Jerusalem
1101 Henry I of Limburg becomes duke of Netherlands-Lutherans
1121 Norbertus van Xanten finds order of the Norbertijnen
1130 Anti-pope Anacletus II crowns Roger II the Norman, king of Sicily
1223 St Francis of Assisi assembles 1st Nativity scene (Greccio, Italy)
1492 Columbus' ship Santa Maria docks at Dominican Republic
1522 Turkish troops occupy Rhodos
1582 Zealand/Brabant adopts Gregorian calendar, yesterday was Dec 14th
1613 Johan Sigismund of Brandenburg becomes protestant
1621 Governor William Bradford of Plymouth forbids game playing on Christmas day
1640 Pierre de Fermat writes to Marin Mersenne about Fermat's church thesis
1641 Emperor Ferdinand III makes appointments with Sweden & France
1651 Massachusetts General Court ordered a fine (five shillings) for "observing any such day as Christmas"
1683 English Whig-leader duke of Monmouth flees to Holland
1688 English king James II lands in Ambleteuse, France
1688 Lord Delamere sides with King James II
1717 Floods ravage Dutch coast provinces, 1000s killed
1741 Astronomer Anders Celcius introduces Centigrade temperature scale
1745 Prussia/Austria signs Treaty of Dresden; gives much of Silesia to the Prussians
1758 Halley's comet 1st sighted by Johann Georg Palitzsch during return
1760 Jupter Hammon, New York slave, publishes poetry in "An Evening Thought"
1775 Pope Pius VI encyclical on the problems of the pontificate
1776 Washington crosses Delaware & surprises & defeats 1,400 Hessians
1818 1st US performance of Handel's Messiah, Boston
1818 1st known Christmas carol ("Silent Night, Holy Night" by Franz Joseph Gruber & Joseph Mohr) sung (Austria)
1830 Hector Berlioz's "Symphony Fantastic" premieres
1831 Louisiana & Arkansas are 1st states to observe Christmas as holiday
1832 Charles Darwin celebrates Christmas in St Martin at Cape Receiver
1833 Charles Darwin celebrates Christmas in Port Desire, Patagonia
1834 Charles Darwin celebrates Christmas on Beagle at Tres Montes, Chile
1835 Charles Darwin company celebrates Christmas in Pahia, New Zealand
1837 Battle of Okeechobee-US forces defeat Seminole Indians
1843 1st theatre matinee (Olympic Theatre, New York NY)
1848 New Haven Railroad opens
1862 40,000 watch the Union army men play baseball at Hilton Head SC
1868 Despite bitter opposition, President Andrew Johnson grants unconditional pardon to all persons involved in the Southern rebellion (the Civil War)
1875 The Lambs Club in New York is founded
1888 1st indoor baseball game played at fairgrounds in Philadelphia
1894 1st midwestern football team to play on west coast, University of Chicago defeats Stanford 24-4 at Palo Alto CA
1896 "Stars & Stripes Forever" written by John Philip Sousa
1900 Arthur Schnitzlers "Leutnant Gustl" forbidden in Germany
1901 Battle at Tweefontein Orange-Free state: Boers surprise attack British
1902 Clyde Fitch' "Girl with Green Eyes" premieres in New York NY
1905 V Herbert/H Blossoms musical "Mlle Modiste" premieres in New York NY
1908 Jack Johnson KO Tommy Burns & becomes 1st black heavyweight champion
1911 Edward Knoblock's "Kismet" premieres in New York NY
1914 Legendary/unofficial "Christmas Truce" takes place (British & Germans)
1917 "Why Marry", 1st drama to win Pulitzer Prize, premieres in New York NY
1917 Hirsch/Harbach's musical "Going Up" premieres in New York NY
1922 Lenin dictates his "Political testament"
1923 Imperial Theater opens at 249 W 45th St NYC
1926 Hirohito becomes emperor of Japan (1926-1989)
1928 Christmas Day attendance at cricket MCG (Victoria vs New South Wales) 14,887
1928 New South Wales (v Victoria) go from 8-74 to 9-113 to be 9-367 at stumps
1929 Grimmett takes 6-146 for South Africa, Queensland all out 380 Crowd 5,390
1930 1st US bobsled run open to the public (Mount Van Hoevenberg bobsled run at Lake Placid NY)
1930 Slinger Nitschke scores 142 South Africa vs Queensland at Adelaide before 5,422
1930 Tasmania all out 280, West Indies 2-139 at Hobart Crowd 2,500
1931 New York's Metropolitan Opera broadcasts an entire opera over radio
1931 Albert Lonergan scores 137 South Africa vs Queensland at Adelaide before 5,697
1931 Fleetwood-Smith takes 5-69 Victoria vs Tas at Hobart
1932 During King George V Christmas dinner speech, his chair collapes
1933 Another Christmas Day five-wicket haul by Clarrie Grimmett
1933 Belgian Working people's party accept Henry de Mans Plan of Labor
1933 Stan Smith takes 8-33 for Victoria vs Tasmania at Hobart
1934 Four centuries for South Africa as they make 7-644 vs Queensland before 6,180
1934 Samson Raphaelson's "Accent on Youth" premieres in New York NY
1936 Belgian bishops condemn fascism & communism
1936 Ron Hamence scores 104 for South Africa vs Queensland before 4,865
1937 Arturo Toscanini conducts 1st Symphony of the Air over NBC Radio
1937 Queensland all out for 93 vs South Africa in front of 10,436
1938 George Cukor announces Vivien Leigh will play Scarlett O'Hara
1939 Montgomery Ward introduces Rudolph the 9th reindeer
1939 Grimmett & Ward rip through Queensland except Bill Brown (156)
1940 Bradman out 1st ball for South Africa vs Victoria before 6213
1940 Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart's "Pal Joey" premieres in New York NY
1941 Japan announces surrender of British-Canadian garrison at Hong Kong
1941 Japanese aircraft carriers Akagi/Kagu back in Kure, Japan
1942 Admiral Dalans, murderer of Bosinier de la Chapelle, sentenced to death
1942 British Colonel S W Bailey reaches Mihailovics headquarters
1942 Russian artillery/tank battle on German armies at Stalingrad
1946 Constitution accepted in Taiwan
1947 Taiwan passes Human Rights laws (Day of Earth Law)
1950 Cleveland Browns beat Los Angeles Rams 30-28 in NFL championship game
1950 Coronation Stone, taken from Scone in Scotland by Edward I in 1296, stolen from Westminster Abbey & smuggled back to Scotland
1950 Dick Tracy marries Tess Truehart
1951 West Indies defeat Australia by 6 wickets on 3rd day of 3rd Test Cricket
1953 Avalanche of lava kills 150 (Ruapehu volcano, New Zealand)
1954 WSFA TV channel 12 in Montgomery AL (NBC) begins broadcasting
1955 Cleveland Browns win NFL championship
1955 Pope Pius XII encyclical on sacred music & popular music
1957 Ed Gein judged insane and committed to Waupan State Hospital for a life sentence for the murders of Mary Hogan and Bernice Worden
1958 Alan Freed's Christmas Rock & Roll Spectacular opens
1959 A synagogue in Cologne Germany desecrated with swastikas
1959 Richard Starkey [Ringo Starr] receives his 1st drum set
1959 Sony brings transistor TV 8-301 to the market
1962 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
1963 Walt Disney's "The Sword In The Stone" is released
1964 "Goldfinger" premieres in US
1964 George Harrison's girlfriend Patti Boyd attacked by female Beatle fans
1967 Paul McCartney & Jane Asher get engaged
1969 5 Israeli gunboats escape from Cherbourg harbor
1969 India all out for 163 at Madras vs Australia, Ashley Mallett 5-91
1971 Longest NFL game (82 minutes 40 seconds) as Dolphins beat Chiefs 27-24
1971 Worst hotel fire in history kills 163 at Taeyokale Hotel in Seoul
1971 Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity) form Jesse Jackson
1972 England beats India by six wickets in the 1st Test Cricket at Delhi
1973 Tommy Chambers (Scotland) finishes 51 year cycle tour (799,405 miles)
1974 Cyclone Tracy virtually destroys Darwin Australia
1976 Egyptian SS Patria sinks in Red Sea, about 100 killed
1976 Takeo Fukuda becomes Japanese premier
1977 Israeli PM Menachem Begin meets in Egypt with Egyptian President Sadat
1979 Opening day of 4th Test Cricket, India 8-112 vs Pakistan at Kanpur
1979 USSR airlifts invasionary army to Afghánistán
1982 Mudassar Nazar scores century, then Imran rips through Indians
1983 1st live telecast of Christmas Parade
1984 NBA's Bernard King scores 60 points
1987 Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, who escaped 2 days earlier, recaptured
1989 Japanese scientist achieves -271.8ºC, coldest temp ever recorded
1990 "Godfather III" premieres
1991 Last day of a washout Pakistan vs Sri Lanka at Gujranwala
1991 Mikhail Gorbachev formally resigned as President of USSR
1994 "Comedy Tonight" closes at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC after 8 performances
1997 For 1st time US movie box office receipts pass $6 billion
1997 Jerry Seinfeld says this is the final season of his TV show

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

England : New Year's Day observed before 1068
Taiwan : Constitution Day (1946)

Religious Observances
Christian : Christmas Day Peace on Earth, good will towards men
Roman Catholic : New Years Day (until 12th century)

Religious History
0336 This is the earliest known year that Jesus' nativity was celebrated on December 25th, as mentioned in the Philocalian Calendar of A.D. 354. Jesus' birth was commemorated on January 6th in Greek Orthodoxy, although by the 400s most of the Eastern churches had accepted the Roman date.
1413 Two years before his martyrdom, Bohemian reformer and martyr Jan Huss wrote in a letter: 'Rejoice, that the immortal God is born, so that mortal men may live through eternity.'
1537 German reformer Martin Luther was recorded as saying: 'It is the most ungodly and dangerous business to abandon the certain and revealed will of God in order to search in to the hidden mysteries of God.'
1723 The Dunkards (Baptists from Germany) held their first immersion service in America at Germantown (near Philadelphia), Pennsylvania.
1923 In Washington, D.C., during Calvin Coolidge's first Christmas as president, the first electrically_lit Christmas tree appeared in the White House.

Thought for the day :
" The weed of crime bears bitter fruit. "

Be sure and
Click the Pics
J

Click Here for Christmas Graphics J

Thank you.
Kit.
Kuwait

Merry Christmas! Come on in to the FReeper Foxhole!

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Merry Christmas Sam and excellent post. I posted the same poem last night, but this one is better.

Thank a soldier today ping!!!!

If you want on or off the Western Civilization Military History ping list, let me know.

Just a moment to bump for some auxiliary "troops"...
such as all the entertainers who have gone out into the field to give our folks a lift...
far from home and on significant days.

From older days, Glenn Miller comes to mind. My understanding is that he
jumped aboard a single engine plane to get to the continent of Europe to plan
a Christmas-time concert...but apparently was lost due to an ill-timed flight over a
British bomb-dumping area.

And to Bob Hope. Aside from all his field trips, I'll never forget seeing some old
film footage of some of his radio show broadcasts from the USA in WWII.
I especially liked him broadcasting "sounds from home"..the sound of a steak
sizzling as it hit a hot pan.....and a beautiful young lady uttering a feminine, sensual "sigh"
into the microphone.

And for all their successors up to the present day...they deserve thanks for
making holidays far from home and family tolerable, if not enjoyable.

Merry Christmas to all of you here at the Foxhole, and keep on doing what you're doing. It's a really nice daily addition to FR!

Merry Christmas and thanks to all current and former military personnel and their families, for all that you do and have done for this great nation.

Thank you so much for the Freeper Foxhole. Your hard work is really appreciated.
Merry Christmas to you and all the FReepers. Have a wonderful day everyone!

Merry Christmas to all the members of the Armed Forces!!!

Merry Christmas sam, and to all those far from home, on the front lines of War, protecting our freedoms.They are in our thoughts today, and in the coming days ahead when their valour will be tested and needed in defense of their nation.God Bless and protect those looking over us, and those who have come before them in the service of their country.

For our troops overseas who can't be with their families today, Merry Christmas, and thank you for your selfless dedication to our country!

God bless us, every one.

Thanks for keeping the flame for our soldiers: true freedom fighters! Merry Christmas to ye all!

Merry Christmas! So far, it's been a God one! hehe