Today is Friday, December 24, the 358th day of 2010. There are seven days left in the year.
1476 ― 400 Burgundy soldiers freeze to death during siege of Nancy
1799 ― Jakobijns plot against Napoleon uncovered
1818 ― ``Silent Night" composed by Franz Joseph Gruber; sung for first time the next day
1870 ― Giuseppe Verdi's ``Aida" premieres at Cairo Opera, one year after the opening of the Suez Canal, for which it was commissioned
1893 ― Henry Ford completes his first useful gas motor
1920 ― Enrico Caruso gives his last public performance (New York City)
1922 ― BBC sends first British radio play ``Truth about Father Christmas"
1943 ― FDR appoints General Eisenhower supreme commander of allied forces
1948 ― First U.S. house completely sun-heated is occupied (Dover, MA.)
1991 ― Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as head of the Soviet Union