On Dec. 25, 1642, Sir Isaac Newton, the English mathematician who discovered the law of gravity, was born in Woolsthorpe in Lincolnshire.
In 1066 William the Conqueror was crowned King of England.
In 1776 George Washington’s troops began to cross the Delaware River for a surprise attack against Hessian forces encamped at Trenton, N. J.
In 1786 the Massachusetts farmers’ revolt known as Shays Rebellion, began. (The rioters sought to prevent the state Supreme Court from issuing writs for the collection of debts.)
In 1818 the Christmas carol “Silent Night” was sung for the first time in Oberndorf, Austria.
In 1865 Chicago’s Union Stock Yards, the world’s largest at the time, opened at Halsted and 39th Streets.
In 1893 Robert Ripley, creator of “Ripley’s Believe It or Not,” was born.
In 1936 Chinese warlords kidnaped President Chiang Kai-shek but released him after 12 days.
In 1941 Japan announced that the British garrison in Hong Kong had surrendered in World War II.
In 1946 comedian W. C. Fields died at 66 in Pasadena, Calif.
In 1971 a hotel fire in Seoul claimed 158 lives.
In 1973 the Skylab 3 astronauts left their craft for a record seven-hour walk in space.
In 1977 Charles Chaplin, 88, died in Switzerland.
In 1979 three U.S. clergymen celebrated Christmas with the American hostages in Tehran.
In 1989 baseball manager Billy Martin died in a car accident near his home in Binghamton, N.Y., at age 61. Also in 1989 deposed Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, Elena, were executed following their overthrow, capture and subsequent trial and conviction for crimes against the state.
In 1991 Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev resigned.
