Things that happened on Christmas Day; 1066: William the Conquerer is crowned in London, during which his men accidentally set the Tower on fire. This is a popular day for crownings, going right back to Charlemange. - ThreadSky

e350tb.bsky.social • 62 days ago

Things that happened on Christmas Day;

1066: William the Conquerer is crowned in London, during which his men accidentally set the Tower on fire. This is a popular day for crownings, going right back to Charlemange.

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e350tb.bsky.social•62 days ago

In 1553, Lautaro of the Mapuche defeats the Spaniards at Tupacel and kills the Governor of Chile in a major win for indigenous forces. There are a lot of grim stories about how Pedro de Valdivia died, but they're probably all myths.

e350tb.bsky.social•62 days ago

In 1776, Washington crosses the Delaware and takes a Hessian force at Trenton in New Jersey by surprise. Not a huge battle but a big morale boost for the Continentals. The Hessians were led by Johann Rall, who died in battle. Painting by Don Troiani, who I'd recommend looking up.

e350tb.bsky.social•62 days ago

In 1914, there's the famous Christmas Truces between Britain, Germany and to a lesser extent France. These weren't universal and they were never repeated, but it's still a remarkable story.

e350tb.bsky.social•62 days ago

1941 saw mixed fortunes in the Pacific - Hong Kong surrendered, landing it's British and Canadian garrison in Japanese captivity, which would be a gruelling experience for them. On the other hand, Chester Nimitz arrives to command the US Pacific Fleet; he'll be one of the best commanders of the war.

e350tb.bsky.social•62 days ago

In 1968, Apollo 8 performs the first successful Trans-Earth injection, which must have been nice for the crew, as being stranded in Lunar orbit would have a terrible Christmas present.

e350tb.bsky.social•62 days ago

In a double whammy for the Eastern Bloc, 1989 saw the sentencing and summary execution of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife, while 1991 saw the resignation of the final Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev. And there was no instability in Eastern Europe ever again.

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