SUNDAY IN HISTORY

Today is Sunday, Dec. 24, the 358th day of 2017. There are seven days left in the year. This is Christmas Eve.

Highlight in History:

On Dec. 24, 1914, during World War I, impromptu Christmas truces began to take hold along parts of the Western Front between British and German soldiers.

On this date:

In 1814, the United States andBritainsignedtheTreatyof Ghent, which ended the War of 1812 following ratification by both the British Parliament and theU.S. Senate.

In 1851, fire devastated the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., destroying about 35,000 volumes.

In 1865, several veterans of the Confederate Army formed a private social club in Pulaski, Tenn., that was the original version of the Ku Klux Klan.

In 1906, Canadian physicist Reginald A. Fessenden became the first person to transmit the human voice (his own) as well as music over radio.

In 1939, Pope Pius XII delivered a Christmas Eve address in which he offered a five-point program for peace and denounced “premeditated aggressions.”

In 1968, the Apollo 8 astronauts, orbiting the moon, read passages from the Old Testament Book of Genesis during a Christmas Eve telecast.

In 1980, Americans remembered the U.S. hostages in Iran by burning candles or shining lights for 417 seconds — one second for each day of captivity.

Ten years ago: President George W. Bush made Christmas Eve calls to 10 U.S. troops serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and other spots around the world, thanking them for their sacrifice and wishing thema happy holiday.

Five years ago: An ex-con gunned down two firefighters in Webster, N.Y., after luring them to his suburban Rochester neighborhood by setting a car and a house ablaze, then took shots at police and committed suicide as seven homes burned down.

One year ago: Presidentelect Donald Trump said he would dissolve his charitable foundation before taking office to avoid conflicts of interest.

Today’s Birthdays: Songwriter-bandleader Dave Bartholomew is 99. Author Mary Higgins Clark is 90. Actress Sharon Farrell is 71. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is 71. Actor Anil Kapoor is 58. Designer Kate Spade is 55. Singer Ricky Martin is 46. TV personality Ryan Seacrest is 43.

Thought for Today: “Christmas is the day that holds all time together.” — Alexander Smith, Scottish poet and essayist (1830-1867).