Christmas Day Celebrating the birth of Christ.

1964 James Bond Goldfinger premiers in the U.S. It was 3rd in the James Bond series and starred Sean Connery as 007.

1868 Civil War Pres. Johnson grants amnesty to all those who participated in the war, including Jefferson Davis.

1776 American Revolution Washington makes his famous crossing of the Delaware to attack the Hessians in Trenton, New Jersey.

1760 First black in America to publish his own poetry Jupiter Hammon publishes An Evening Thought.

1758 Halley's Comet As predicted by Sir Edmund Halley, it arrives. This was the first time a comet's return had been accurately predicted.

800 Emperor Charlemagne is crowned at St. Peter's.

1954 Annie Lennox Scottish singer, with the Eurythmics. Music: Sweet Dreams (1982, #1).

1949 Sissy Spacek (Mary Elizabeth Spacek), American Oscar-winning actress. Film: Carrie (1976) and Coal Miner's Daughter (1979, Oscar).

1948 Barbara Mandrell American country singer. Music: Sleeping Single In a Double Bed (1977, #1). She was the Country Music Association's Female Vocalist of the Year (1979) and Entertainer of the Year (1980 and 1981).

1946 Larry Csonka American Football Hall-of-Famer, Super Bowl VIII MVP.

1946 Jimmy Buffet American singer, songwriter. Music: Margaritaville (1977) and Cheeseburger in Paradise (1978).

1945 Gary Sandy American actor. TV: Somerset (Randy Buchanan) and WKRP in Cincinnati (Andy Travis).

1937 O'Kelly Isley d. 1986 American Grammy-winning singer, with the Isley Brothers. Music: Twist and Shout (1962), This Old Heart of Mine (1966), and It's Your Thing (1970, Grammy).

1924 Rod Serling d. 1975 (Rodman Edward Serling), American Emmy-winning writer. Film: Planet of the Apes (1968, writer). TV: The Twilight Zone (producer, creator, and host) and Night Gallery (host).

1918 Anwar as-Sadat d. 1981 Egyptian president (1970-81), Time magazine's Man of the Year (1977), and co-winner of the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize (with Menachem Begin).

1907 Cab Calloway d. 1994 (Cabell Calloway), American singer, bandleader, actor. His orchestra was one of the leading bands of the 1930s and '40s. Music: Minnie the Moocher (the first million-selling jazz record).

1889 Lila Bell Acheson Wallace d. 1984 American publisher. She and her husband DeWitt founded Reader's Digest (1921). It obtained the largest magazine circulation in the world.

1887 Conrad Hilton d. 1979 American hotel executive. He bought his first hotel in Texas in 1919.

1880 Johnny Gruelle d. 1938 (John Barton), American children's author, creator of Raggedy Ann (1917) and Raggedy Andy (1922).

1876 Quaid-i-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah d. 1948 Indian statesman, founder and first governor (1947-48) of Pakistan.

1821 Clara Barton d. 1912 American nurse, philanthropist, Mother of the Red Cross. Known as the "Angel of the Battlefield," she helped organize and was the first president of the American Red Cross Society (1881).

1642 Sir Isaac Newton d. 1727 English mathematician, philosopher, astronomer. He discovered the three laws of motion, the law of gravity, and invented calculus.

2006 James Brown b. 1933 American soul singer, "The Godfather of Soul." Music: I Feel Good (1965) and Living in America (1986).

2005 Birgit Nilsson b. 1918 (Birgit Märta Svensson), Swedish soprano, famed for her roles in Brunnhilde, Salome, and Elektra.

1997 Denver Pyle b. 1920 American actor. TV: The Dukes of Hazzard (Uncle Jesse) and The Doris Day Show (1968-70, Buck Webb - Doris Day's Father).

1996 JonBenét Patricia Ramsey b. 1990 American child beauty pageant queen, murder victim. Her murder in her Boulder, Colorado home drew national attention.

1995 Dean Martin b. 1917 (Dino Paul Crocetti), American singer, actor, partner of Jerry Lewis. He boxed professionally under the name "Kid Crochet."

1977 Sir Charles Chaplin b. 1889 British silent film actor who endeared audiences with his "little tramp" character. He also co-founded United Artists (1919).

1973 Ismet Inönü b. 1884 Turkish statesman and its first prime minister (1923-37) and second president (1938-50).

1952 Dinty Moore b. 1869 (James H. Moore), American restaurateur, known as the "Corned Beef and Cabbage King."

1946 W.C. Fields b. 1879 (William Claude Dukenfield), American actor. Film: You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939) and My Little Chickadee (1940). Quote: "A thing worth having is a thing worth cheating for" and " 'Twas a woman who drove me to drink. I never had the courtesy to thank her."

795 Adrian I b. ???? Italian religious leader, 95th Pope (772-795).

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