Important Events From This day in History – 24th December

Today in History

• 1955 NORAD’s Santa tracking service begins

  The North American Aerospace Defense Command now tracks Santa Claus as he travels worldwide, delivering gifts to children as a Christmas tradition. The event began due to a printing error in a Sears catalogue instructing children to contact Santa Claus. The printed number was the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Center in Colorado Springs.

• 1951 Libya gains independence from Italy

  Italy had ruled the North African country since 1912. It became a constitutional monarchy under King Idris after independence. In 1969, Muammar Gaddafi led a military coup that deposed King Idris.

• 1914 Christmas Truce begins

  The Christmas Truce, a well-studied event in war and peace studies, was a brief unofficial ceasefire between British and German troops along the Western Front of World War I. Soldiers from both sides sang carols, shared food, exchanged gifts, and played football during the truce (soccer). Attempts to hold similar ceasefires around Christmas time in the past have failed.

• 1865 Ku Klux Klan created

  Confederate Army veterans founded the extremist white supremacist organization known as the Klan in Pulaski, Tennessee.

• 1826 Eggnog riots begin at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York

  These riots, also known as the Grog Mutiny, began on Christmas Eve after cadets drank copious amounts of eggnog made with smuggled whiskey. The riots lasted until the 25th of December.