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December 25 in the past years was a period of greatness, triumph, and celebration for many reasons
MANILA, Philippines – There’s more to Christmas than just celebrations every December 25.
It’s also a time to commemorate some historic events that happened years, even centuries, ago. They either had great impact on our lives or created world records worth remembering.
December 25 in the past years was a period of greatness, triumph, and celebration for many reasons:
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1642 Isaac Newton is born
Issac Newton, one of the world’s most famous physicists, was born in England. He formulated the laws of motion and universal gravitation, and made popular other studies in science. He lived until 1727.
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1643 Christmas Island is discovered
Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean rich in phosphate and other natural resources, was found and named on this day by Captain William Mynors while he was on board an East India Company ship.
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1741 The centigrade temperature scale is introduced
Astronomer Anders Celsius devised on this day the Centigrade temperature scale, which was incorporated into a Delisle thermometer. The boling point is set at 100 degrees, and the freezing point at 0.
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1758 The existence of Halley’s Comet is confirmed
Though Edmund Halley calculated in 1705 the existence and movement of the comet, it was on this day that it was first observed by an astronomer, Johann Georg Palitzsch. He confirmed the comet’s existence.
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1947 The Constitution of the Republic of China takes effect
Taiwan, official called the Republic of China, was founded on a constitution that was adopted on Christmas Day in 1946. It took effect exactly a year after but was suspended when the republic was put under martial law from 1948 to 1987.
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1968 Apollo 8 returns to Earth
After its succesful lunar landing, Apollo 8 performed on this day the very first successful Trans-Earth injection (TEI) maneuver to leave the lunar orbit and return to Earth.
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1990 Internet gets its first test run
Some people at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) worked on the very first web server, info.cern.ch, which ran for the first time on this day.
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1991 The Soviet Union is dissolved
The last leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Mikhail Gorbachev, resigns on this day, leading to the dissolution of the socialist state and the emergence of 15 independent post-Soviet states.
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2009 A terrorist attack attempt in US fails
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian national, fails to detonate on this day some explosives hidden in his underwear while on board a plane en route from Amsterdam to Michigan. He is sentenced to life imprisonment in 2012.
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2011 The warmest temperature in South Pole is recorded
The highest temperature in the South Pole reaches -12.3 °C (9.9 °F), and is recorded at the Amundsen-Scott Station on this day. The average high temperature in the South Pole is at -25.9 °C (-14.6 °F) and is recorded every January. – with research by Michael Bueza/Rappler.com
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Sources:
- Wikipedia
- http://www.historyorb.com/events/december/25
- http://thefw.com/historical-events-that-happened-on-christmas/
- http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-historical-events-of-december-25th.php
- http://listphobia.com/2010/12/25/10-significant-historical-events-on-christmas-day/
- http://www.brainyhistory.com/days/december_25.html
- http://www.cosmeo.com/viewTodayInHistoryEvents.cfm?guidAssetId=098c8db9-d2cc-4e56-9da1-149cbfba3da0&eventId=1384
Photo of Isaac Newton from Shutterstock
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