[Amnorix]

December 25.

800. Charlesmagne is crowned as Holy Roman Emperor in Rome.

1066. William the Conqueror is crowned King of England.

1130. Count Roger II is crowned first King of Sicily.

1261. On his eleventh birthday, John IV Laskaris, co-Emperor of the Byzantine Empire is blinded and deposes on the orders of his co-Emperor, Michael VIII Palaiologis. His blinding made John IV ineligible for the throne. His actions, however, will cause Michael VIII's excommunication and a revolt against his rule. John IV will spend the remainder of his life as a monk, and is visited 30 years later by Andronikos II Palaiologis, who will seek forgiveness for his father's actions. John IV will later be consecrated as a saint.

1776. George Washington and his men cross the Delaware River to assault the Hessian mercenaries of the British crown camped at Trenton, New Jersey.

1818. First performance of "Silent Night", in Austria.

1868. President Johnson grants an executive pardon of all Confederate Civil War veterans.

1941. Admiral Nimitz arrives in Hawaii and assumes command of the Pacific Fleet (CINCPAC) (prounounced "sink-pack").

1991. Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as President of the Soviet Union, which will dissolve the next day.