Today in History, 12/25

1066: William the Conqueror is crowned king of England at Westminster Abbey. The cries of exultation outside were misinterpreted by guards as the start of a rebellion and they immediately set fire to the town.
1223: St. Francis of Assisi assembles the first Nativity scene.
1635: Samuel de Champlain dies.
1642: Sir Isaac Newton is born.
1643: Captain William Mynors finds (and names) Christmas Island.
1650: Thomas Cooper is hanged as a Royalist rebel.
1776: George Washington and his army cross the Delaware River and attack the Hessian troops in Trenton, NJ.1821: Clara Barton, founder of the Red Cross is born.
1868: President Andrew Jackson grants an unconditional pardon to all Civil War Confederate soldiers.
1890: Robert Ripley is born.
1899: Humphrey Bogart is born. I just watched Treasure of the Sierra Madre for the first time a few weeks ago and it's as good as everyone says it is.

1907: Cab Calloway is born.
1924: Rod Serling is born.1938: Karel Capek dies. He is credited with coining the term "robot" in his play R.U.R (Rossum's Universal Robots).
1945: Rick Berman, producer of most modern Star Trek is born. While many Trek fans revile him, he did preside over the heyday of Trek in the 90's, so he gets credit for that.
1945: Gary Sandy is born. He played Andy Travis on WKRP.1946: Jimmy Buffet is born. Margeruitaville is an excruciating song and I have no idea why people like it so much.
1946: W.C. Fields dies.
1948: Barbara Mandrell is born. I had a huge crush on her when I was a little kid and her variety show was on.1950: The Stone of Scone, first stolen from Scotland by Edward I and installed as the seat of the English coronation throne is stolen back by Scottish nationalists.1952: CCH Pounder is born.
1954: Annie Lennox is born.
1962: Darren Warren, keyboardist for Thin Lizzy is born.
1977: Charlie Chaplin dies.
1989: Nicolae Ceaucescu, former dictator of Romania and his wife are executed.
1989: Billy Martin dies. George Steinbrenner falls into a deep depression upon learning that you can't fire a dead man.1995: Dean Martin dies.
1997: Denver Pyle dies. He played Uncle Jesse on The Dukes of Hazzard.2006: James Brown dies.