Here's a quick look at our top stories for Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025:
Watch the latest weather forecast
TOP HEADLINES:
Butte's pre-release center moves to new facility after 42 years in Uptown location
Bozeman honors 6 unhoused individuals who died this year during the longest night memorial service
12 Scams of Christmas: Rental scams can slam doors
THAT’S INTERESTING:
Major Historical Events on December 24th
World War I Christmas Truce (1914)
- The most famous event: Impromptu Christmas truces began along parts of the Western Front, primarily between British and German soldiers
- Soldiers laid down their arms, sang Christmas carols together, exchanged gifts, and even played football (soccer)
- German troops placed candlelit Christmas trees along their trenches and began singing carols
- About 100,000 British and German troops participated in various truces along the front
- This was the only time in military history that peace spontaneously arose from the lower ranks during a major conflict
Other Significant Historical Events:
563 - Byzantine church Hagia Sophia in Constantinople was dedicated for the second time after being destroyed by earthquakes
1822 - French chemist and biologist Louis Pasteur was born
1826 - The "Eggnog Riots" began at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York (also known as the Grog Mutiny)
1865 - The Ku Klux Klan was founded
1905 - The first American-made Christmas movie, "The Night Before Christmas," was produced
1914 - Human voice was first transmitted via radio
1923 - President Calvin Coolidge lit the first national Christmas tree on the White House grounds with electric lights (2,500 red, white, and green bulbs)
1943 - General Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force during World War II
1951 - Libya became an independent nation
1968 - Apollo 8 astronauts orbited the moon for the first time
1979 - Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan
1990 - The bells of St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow rang for the first time since Lenin's death
1991 - Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev announced the dissolution of the Soviet Union
Notable Births on December 24th
- Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) - French chemist and microbiologist
- Giovanni Cassini (1625) - Italian astronomer
- Muhammad Rafi (1924-1980) - Legendary Indian playback singer, recorded over 25,000 songs
- Anil Kapoor (1959) - Indian film actor and producer
- Howard Hughes (1905-1976) - American aviator, film producer, and business magnate
- Louis Tomlinson (1991) - British singer, member of One Direction
- Edwin Hubble (1889-1953) - American astronomer
- Dr. William H. Dobelle (1941) - Pioneer in artificial vision technology
Notable Deaths on December 24th
- M.G. Ramachandran (1987) - Tamil cinema actor and Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, India
- Harold Pinter (2008) - Nobel Prize-winning English playwright
- Vasco da Gama (1524) - Portuguese explorer
Interesting Facts
- December 24th is National Eggnog Day in the United States
- It's also known as Last-Minute Shopper's Day
- People born on Christmas Eve were likely conceived around April 2nd of the same year
- The tradition of NORAD tracking Santa Claus began due to a printing error in a Sears catalog asking children to call Santa
- In 1970, the first airport shopping mall opened at Los Angeles International Airport on this date
Parts of this story were converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
