WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2014

Today is Wednesday, December 24, the 358th day of 2014. There are seven days left in the year.

1818 ― “Silent Night” composed by Franz Joseph Gruber; sung for first time the next day

1870 ― Giusseppi 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

1906 ― Reginald A Fessenden became first to broadcast music over radio (Massachusetts)

1920 ― Enrico Caruso gives his last public performance (New York City)

1943 ― FDR appoints General Eisenhower supreme commander of Allied forces

1946 ― Fourth French republic established

1948 ― First U.S. house completely sun-heated is occupied (Dover, Mass.)

1986 ― Iran offensive against Iraqi islands of Shatt al-Arab

1989 ― Panama’s dictator, Manual Noriega seeks asylum at the Vatican embassy

1991 ― Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as head of the Soviet Union