Once Upon A Time – Dec. 26 – 1982 – TIME’s Man Of The Year Is A Computer
1492 1st Spanish settlement La Navidad in the New World is founded by Christopher Columbus (modern Môle-Saint-Nicolas in Haiti).
1790 Ordination of Sattyanadan Pillai (also spelled Satyanathan), the first Tamil missionary of the Lutheran Church in India. Sattyanadan will serve as pastor-teacher in Tirunelveli and will be one of the leaders in a movement of mass conversion of Indians to Christianity.
1792 Trial of French King Louis XVI, court hears the kings defense brought by Raymond Desèze.
1825 Decembrist uprising in Russia against Tsar Nicholas I begins [O.S. 14 December].
1952 Demos Shakarian, founder of the Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship International, sees so little success that he announces the meeting of this date will be the last. However, he has a vision the night before of dead men in chains coming to life and this changes his mind. From that day things change and the fellowship grows into a huge international movement with over one thousand chapters world wide and results in the conversion of hundreds of thousands of people.
2004 9.3 magnitude earthquake creates a tsunami causing devastation in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Maldives and edges of the Indian Ocean, killing 230,000 people.
Historical Events Today Today in Film & TV 1940 “The Philadelphia Story” film directed by George Cukor, based on the Broadway play of the same name, starring Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn and James Stewart, is released (Academy Awards Best Actor 1941).
Today in Music 1966 Jimi Hendrix writes “Purple Haze” backstage at the Upper Cut Club, London.
Today in Sport 1860 First ever inter-club football match between Hallam F.C. and Sheffield F.C. at Sandygate Road ground in Sheffield, England.
Would you believe this fact about today? Would You Believe? 1982 TIME’s Man of the Year is a computer.
336 First recorded instance of Jesus’ nativity celebrated as a feast on December 25, appears in the Calendar of Filocalus (or Philocalus)
597 Thousands of Anglo-Saxons are baptized by the missionary Augustine, an important date in the Christianization of Southern England.
800 Pope Leo III crowns Charles the Great (Charlemagne), Roman Emperor
1066 William the Conqueror is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey, completing the Norman conquest of England
1621 Puritans Attempted to Abolish Christmas
1741 Astronomer Anders Celsius introduces Centigrade temperature scale
1821 James Montgomery’s Christmas carol, “Angels from the Realms of Glory,” is first used in a public service, despite having been written in 1816. It is sung at the English Moravian center in Fulneck, Yorkshire, England.
1868 Despite bitter opposition, US President Andrew Johnson grants unconditional pardon to all persons involved in Southern rebellion (Civil War)
1991 Mikhail Gorbachev formally resigns as President of USSR in a televised speech
Historical Events Today Today in Film & TV 1962 “To Kill a Mockingbird”, a film adaptation of the novel by Harper Lee, directed by Robert Mulligan and starring Gregory Peck, is released (Gregory Peck – Best Actor Academy Awards 1963)
Today in Music 1896 “Stars & Stripes Forever” written by John Philip Sousa
Today in Sport 1862 40,000 watch Union army men play baseball at Hilton Head, South Carolina
Do you know this fact about today? Did You Know? 1914 Legendary “Christmas Truce” takes place on the battlefields of WWI between British and German troops. Instead of fighting, soldiers exchange gifts and play football
Would you believe this fact about today? Would You Believe? 1989 Japanese scientist achieve -271.8°C, coldest temperature ever recorded
Buhari said this in a statement signed by him titled ‘PRESIDENT BUHARI’S 2021 CHRISTMAS MESSAGE’
The message read, “I rejoice with Christians in Nigeria as they join fellow believers all over the world to celebrate this season.
“It is a special period that brings peoples of the world together with one purpose; to celebrate togetherness, joy, peace, and above all, to share love with one another through the exchange of goodwill and gifts.
“For the second Christmas running, the world will not be able to celebrate as we used to in years past.
“The silver lining, however, is that humanity has been able to rise up with one voice and purpose, to confront the foisted conditions.
“I commend the efforts of members of the PSC under the headship of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation as they continue to chart a roadmap out of the pandemic and associated issues.
“On security, despite the remarkable successes generally recorded, we still have some challenges.
“Our courageous security forces, bolstered by the necessary support from this administration, daily confront the wicked ones amongst us, who continue to threaten the peace of the land.
“Recently, during the meeting with fellow Heads of State of the ECOWAS, I discussed the need to intensify efforts to jointly confront this menace causing instability in our sub-region.
“I am confident that with the renewed commitment and empowerment of our committed security personnel, all these issues which inflict pain and trauma on us will soon be history.
“Let us utilize the opportunity that this festive period brings to encourage ourselves so that the machinations of the wicked ones in our midst will find no place to thrive.
“Christmas is a season when hope is rekindled. Hope, Peace, Joy, Love are the recurring themes of this time.
“It is in the midst of hardship that the true test of a nation emerges.
“I urge Nigerians to invoke the indomitable spirit in us and see the present order of things as a phase that will also pass, just like other unsavoury situations in the nation’s history.
“This government will not abandon the promises made to Nigerians for a better lease of life.
“The diversification of the economy embarked upon is yielding fruits.
“We shall continue to create opportunities for our teeming youths to ventilate their tremendous energy.
“As we felicitate with family, friends, colleagues, associates, let us spare moments to reach out to the less privileged.
“Let us also pray and give words of encouragement to our gallant security personnel fulfilling their oaths to keep us safe.
“I assure my compatriots that this administration remains resolute at ensuring that the standard of living of the average Nigerian is elevated.
Guatemala is a very diverse country with more than 20 ethnic groups. Each of them has their own special traditions for celebrating Christmas.
Most Guatemalans, like other Latin-American counties, plan and build, with the entire family, a Nativity Scene called a “Nacimiento” or “Belen”. Although it is originally a Spanish tradition, many indigenous (Guatemalan) elements are now used in the design and construction of the Nativity scenes.
The “Nacimiento” is normally put under the Christmas Tree. One unique characteristic of Guatemalan Nativity scenes is the use of sawdust dyed in many bright colors.
On Christmas Eve families celebrate together and eat the main Christmas meal.
It is made of several traditional dishes, but it always includes some Guatemalan tamales. In some regions they are made of corn and other of rice or potatoes.
They can be sweet or not, and have several different ingredients inside like olives, prunes, peppers, chicken or pork.
Everyone waits until midnight to light hundreds of fireworks or firecrackers to celebrate the birth of Jesus. A family prayer is said around the tree and it is the custom to open the presents shortly after midnight.
Christmas is an amazing time of year. There are so many things to do, to plan for and to see. One of those things is Christmas lights. Every year people dig them out or buy the latest trend and decorate their trees, and their homes with these colorful and cheerful reminders of the holiday season.
Christmas lights actually started out just as candles. These candles were attached to the tree using wax or pins.
The practice began in Germany during the 17th century and over the next 200 or so years; it became an established practice in Germany and began to spread out into other countries of Eastern Europe.
The practice was originally started in order to bring illumination to the ornaments that were placed on the tree.
This practice continued until around 1900 when candleholders became popular and people started to use them instead of wax or pins to hold the candles to the trees.
The purpose however, stayed the same. It was to illuminate and make those beautiful works of art that decorated the tree become even more visible.
It was not until around 1915 that glass balls and lanterns were also used replacing the candles on trees as the main form of illuminating and providing glittering beauty to these wonderful symbols of Christmas with the masses.
The world of Christmas lights really became something amazing with the invention of the light bulb and electricity. In 1882, the first Christmas tree to be lit by electric lights was seen in New York.
It was lit by Edward Johnson who happened to be a friend of Thomas Edison. The Christmas tree was lit with beautiful red, white, and blue lights, which still favourites of many today.
It also led to the creation of the first string of Christmas lights, were easily massed produced and were available for sale around 1890.
This of course was the start of the wonderful traditions we have today of placing strings of Christmas lights around our trees and homes to liven the holiday.
The first White House Christmas tree to have electric lights was seen in 1895 and lit by President Cleveland.
The first sets of sting lights were too expensive for the majority of people to afford but by 1900, many department stores were using Christmas lights to liven up their holiday displays and attract customers.
The American Eveready company produced the first Christmas light set however in 1903.
The first sets were expensive $12 for 24 lights which in today’s money would be about $80.00, too expensive for the masses however, a wonderful idea was struck and Christmas lights became available for rent at a much cheaper price allowing them to be used by everyone to liven up the holiday displays in homes and businesses. These lights were created by GE.
They came in seven colors, clear, frosted, green, blue, purple, ruby, and opal.
In 1917, a fire caused by the Christmas lights led to some reworking and Albert Sadacca came up with safe lights, which helped to reduce the risk of fire from Christmas light strings.
Outdoor light displays, the ones that see us driving around every year to see the variety of Christmas lighting at homes or even see us visiting specially designed light shows and displays with 1000s of Christmas light bulbs was started in North America.
The idea, however, was catching and these beautiful displays quickly became a worldwide phenomenon for everyone to enjoy.
These lighting displays were started after the first safe outdoor Christmas light bulbs and Christmas light strings were seen in 1927.
Novelty lights, started to make an appearance during the 1930s as a way to continue spreading the holiday spirit and increase light sales during the depression. This, of course, lead to the wonderful world of snowman lights, icicle lights, and other holiday-themed lighting representations.
The Bubble Christmas light became big after World War II. The bubble light was a light that contained a liquid that was boiled inside the light.
They were produced by the NOMA electric company initially and then spread. They were incredibly popular lights in the late 1940’s in fact, because of the materials they used not only did they bubble happily but also gave a slight tinkling noise as parts of the plug used for holding the chemicals came loose to rattle around as the lights bubbled.
These lights were produced until around the 1970s. However, many of them are still in use today, working as wonderfully as they did between the 1940’s when they were first introduced, and the 1970’s.
Aluminum trees became popular after the 1950’s, which lead Christmas light producers to come up with a form of multi colored rotating floodlight in order to compensate for the use of such trees.
This, of course, helped to lead to the use of such lighting in outdoor displays and increased both the attractiveness and versatility of them.
Recent years have seen no drop in the love neither of Christmas lights nor in their ever-expanding uses and the creativity of displays created with them. In fact, some people keep them use them all year round as lighting for various purposes.
Recent years have seen an increase in things like tube and track lighting.
These are small mini lights in solid plastic tubing. They come in a variety of wonderful colors and provide wonderful additions for outlining. LED Christmas lights have also come up in recent years. These lights take up less power, and really show the advancement of Christmas lights.
They are not easily viewed during the day but create amazing displays at night.
Christmas lights are one of the symbols of the holiday season. They are versatile ways to create beautiful displays.
Many people have created a tradition out of decorating the tree, the home both inside and out and the yard with Christmas lights. It is a fun way to bring family and even friends together in a creative and fun way.
1565 Compromise of the Nobles in Habsburg Netherlands closes against inquisition.
1814 Treaty of Ghent signed, ending the War of 1812 between the United States, the United Kingdom and their allies.
1936 1st radioactive isotope medicine administered in Berkeley, California.
1943 US President FDR appoints General Eisenhower Supreme Commander of the Allied forces.
Historical Events Today
Today In Film & Tv
1922 BBC broadcasts first British radio play “The Truth about Father Christmas”.
Today In Music
1871 Giusseppi Verdi’s “Aida” opera premieres in Cairo.
Today In Sport
1889 Daniel Stover & William Hance patent bicycle with back pedal brake.
1982 Chaminade, with a student body of only 850 students, beats #1 ranked Virginia 77-72 in a Honolulu holiday basketball classic.
Do You Know This Fact About Today? Did You Know?
1818 Christmas carol “Silent Night” composed by Franz Xaver Gruber is first sung at St Nicholas parish church in Oberndorf, Austria.
Would You Believe?
1901 Private companies allowed to use the word “postcard” in the US. Previously they were labelled “Private Mailing Cards” and known as “souvenir cards”.
962 Byzantine-Arab Wars: Under the future Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, Byzantine troops storm the city of Aleppo, recovering the tattered tunic of John the Baptist
1688 King James II, the last Roman Catholic British monarch flees to France from William of Orange
1783 US General George Washington resigns his military commission as Commander-in-Chief of the Army to Congress
1888 Vincent van Gogh cuts off his left ear with a razor, after argument with fellow painter Paul Gauguin, and sends to a prostitute for safekeeping
1920 Government of Ireland Act / Home Rule Act passed partitioning Ireland
1954 The first human kidney transplant is performed by Dr. Joseph E. Murray at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts
Historical Events Today
Today In Film & Tv
1928 NBC sets up a permanent, coast-to-coast radio network
1951 National Football League Championship, LA Memorial Coliseum: Los Angeles Rams beat Cleveland Browns, 24-17; first coast-to-coast televised NFL title game
Today In Music
1893 Opera “Hansel und Gretel” by Engelbert Humperdinck and his sister Adelheid Wette premieres in Weimar, conducted by Richard Strauss
Today In Sport
1951 National Football League Championship, LA Memorial Coliseum: Los Angeles Rams beat Cleveland Browns, 24-17; first coast-to-coast televised NFL title game
Do You Know This Fact About Today? Did You Know?
1996 Four women ordained priests in Jamaica, 1st in 330-year Anglican history
Would You Believe?
2002 A MQ-1 Predator is shot down by an Iraqi MiG-25, making it the first time in history that an aircraft and a modern unmanned drone had engaged in combat
Two Kentucky infants placed in a bathtub with a blanket, pillow and a Bible by their grandmother as a deadly tornado approached survived even after the tub was ripped from the floor and “lifted”.
During the storm that killed at least 92 last weekend, grandmother Clara Lutz said a prayer and hid 15-month-old Kaden and three-month-old Dallas with a blanket, a pillow and a Bible in the bathtub just before it was ripped out of the ground.
“Next thing I knew, the tub had lifted and it was out of my hands.
“I couldn’t hold on. I just — oh my God.”
Lutz, who had been hit in the back of the head by the water tank from the tub, said she began looking everywhere among the wreckage for the children.
“All I could say was, ‘Lord please bring my babies back safely. Please, I beg thee’,” she said.
In bodycam footage police raced to lift the overturned bathtub, finding the boy and girl alive. One deputy said “both of them are okay Ma’am” handing them back to a distressed Lutz.
“Praise God, Lord Jesus I love you,” she replied as the pair were returned to her arms.
Dallas had a minor brain bleed from hitting his head but the bleeding had stopped before Lutz arrived at the hospital, she said.
Hopkins County Sheriff Matt Sanderson said that deputies Trent Arnold and Troy Blue, along with members of the public Timmy Vannoy and Michael Crook, helped find and untangle the children from their blankets.
The National Weather Service recorded at least 41 tornadoes, including 16 in Tennessee and eight in Kentucky.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino has suggested that the Africa Cup of Nations should be played between September and November as part of any revised international match schedule.
Football’s world governing body is proposing an overhaul of international football, including the World Cup being played every two years rather than four.
Traditionally, the Nations Cup was played in January and February but it took place in June and July when Egypt hosted in 2019.
Next month’s finals in Cameroon reverted to the beginning of the year due to concerns about the weather, a long-standing reason why the tournament has seldom been played in June-July.
“If we can streamline the calendar and make sure that an Africa Cup of Nations could be played as part of a longer international window in the autumn, then I think we would have already achieved something quite important,” Infantino said.
Follow-up communication with Fifa confirmed that ‘autumn’ was referring to any time between September and November in a calendar year.
However, Fifa is working on the idea of having at least two extended windows each year, so that confederations have the option of hosting their tournament at different times of the year because of weather conditions.
“[This would mean] less disruption for so many leagues who have players of African nationality.
“A few years ago, no one cared if the Africa Cup of Nations was played in January and February – more or less,” Infantino, 51, claimed.
“Today it is becoming an issue because in January and February many leagues in Europe, in particular but also in other parts of the world where African players are playing, are in the middle of their competition and they have to release these players.”
Club-versus-country rows have preceded the build-up to many Nations Cup in recent years, as a host of Europe-based coaches have hit out at the timing of the competition.
The Confederation of African Football (Caf) moved the timing of the tournament in 2017 in order to avoid this issue, only to have to switch back for Cameroon 2021.
Following Monday’s Fifa meeting, Infantino also highlighted the fact that moving to a biennial World Cup would offer more chances for African nations to host the tournament in the future.
Uefa, famous major leagues and South American football’s governing body Comebol have opposed the plans while Caf has given its backing.
Ghana head coach Milovan Rajevac has named a preliminary 30-man squad for the Africa Cup of Nations, holding in Cameroon in 18 days time.
The Serbian trainer released his squad for the upcoming tournament on Tuesday during a press conference at the Ghana Football Association.
Top stars Thomas Teye Partey, Andre Ayew, Jordan Ayew and Daniel Amartey have been named in the squad which will be trimmed to 28 before the start of the tournament.
AS Roma youngster Felix Afena-Gyan has also been named alongside 2021 Africa U20 Championship best player Abdul Fatawu Issahaku made the cut for the AFCON.
Salis Abdul Samed, Khalid Abdul Mumin, Ghana Premier League leading top scorer David Abagna Sandan, Maxwell Nii Abbey Quaye have earned their maiden national team invitations.
The Black Stars will be making their 23rd appearance where they have won the championship it four times in 1963, 1965, 1978 and 1982.
The home-based players will leave Ghana for Qatar on Wednesday 22 December 2022 to continue preparations for the next month’s tournament.
The Black Stars will play a local club, one other country and African champions Algeria in friendlies while camping in the Middle East.
Provisional Squad:
GOALKEEPERS: Joseph Wolacott (Swindon Town, England), Abdul Manaf Nurudeen (Eupen, Belgium), Richard Attah (Hearts of Oak), Lawrence Ati Zigi (St. Gallen, Switzerland)
DEFENDERS: Andy Yiadom (Reading FC, England), Philemon Baffuor (Dreams FC), Baba Abdul Rahman (Reading FC, england), Gideon Mensah (Girondins de Bordeaux, France), Daniel Amartey (Leicester City, England), Alexander Djiku (Strasbourg FC, France), Jonathan Mensah (Columbus Crew, USA), Khalid Abdul Mumin (Vitoria de Guimaraes, Portugal)
MIDFIELDERS: Baba Iddrissu (Real Mallorca, Spain), Edmund Addo (Sherif Tiraspol, Moldova), Thomas Teye Partey (Arsenal, England), Mubarak Wakaso (Shenzhen, China), Mohammed Kudus (Ajax Amsterdam, Netherlands), Daniel Kofi Kyere (St. Pauli, Germany), David Abagna (Real Tamale United), Salis Abdul Samed (Clermont Foot, France)
FORWARDS: Abdul Fatawu Issahaku (Dreams FC), Samuel Owusu (Al-Fayha, Saudi Arabia), Kamal Deen Suleymana (Rennes, France), Dede Ayew (Al Sadd, Qatar), Joseph Paintsil (Genk, Belgium), Jordan Ayew (Crystal Palace, England), Richmond Boakye Yiadom (Beitar Jerusalem, Israel), Maxwell Abbey Quaye (Great Olympics), Felix Afena Gyan (AS Roma, Italy), Benjamin Tetteh (Malatyaspor, Turkey)
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