Today is Friday, December 25, the 359th day of 2009. There are six days left in the year.
1 _ First Christmas, according to calendar-maker Dionysus Exiguus
1066 _ William the Conqueror, crowned king of England
1818 _ First known Christmas carol (``Silent Night, Holy Night" by Franz Joseph Gruber and Joseph
Mohr, sung in Austria)
1922 _ Lenin dictates his ``Political testament"
1926 _ Hirohito becomes emperor of Japan (1926-1989)
1937 _ Arturo Toscanini conducts first Symphony of the Air over NBC Radio
1959 _ Sony brings transistor TV 8-301 to the market
1977 _ Israeli PM Menachem Begin meets in Egypt with Egyptian President Sadat
1989 _ Japanese scientist achieves -271.8 degrees centigrade, coldest temperature ever recorded
1990 _ ``Godfather III" premieres