ON THIS DAY

DECEMBER 21

1804: Benjamin Disraeli, twice prime minister, was born in London.

1913: The first crossword puzzle was published – in the New York World, compiled by Liverpool-born Arthur Wynne.

1937: Walt Disney’s Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, the first full-length animated cartoon with colour and sound, was premiered in the USA.

1988: Terrorists blew up a Pan-Am jumbo jet which crashed on top of the Scottish town of Lockerbie. The plane was en route from London to New York when it exploded, killing all 259 people on board and 11 people on the ground. 1989: US troops invaded Panama to oust dictator Manuel Noriega.

DECEMBER 22

1715: James Stuart, the ‘Old Pretender’, landed at Peterhead to lead a Jacobite rebellion. It failed.

1895: Wilhelm Roentgen made the first radiograph, or X-ray – of his wife’s hand. 1989: A Romanian revolution overthrew president Ceausescu; Ceausescu’s son Nicu was arrested.

DECEMBER 23

1834: Hansom cabs were patented by Joseph Hansom. He also designed Birmingham Town Hall and Plymouth Roman Catholic Cathedral. 1888: Vincent Van Gogh, suffering severe depression which historians claim was increased by his companion Gauguin’s decision to leave their lodgings at Arles to escape winter, cut off his ear. 1981: Geoffrey Boycott took his score to 86 not out against India at Delhi to become the (then) most prolific runscoring batsman in Test history.

1986: The US plane Voyager completed the first non-stop flight round the world without refuelling.

DECEMBER 24

1524: Vasco da Gama, Portuguese navigator who found the sea route from Europe to the East, died on his second voyage after landing in India.

1828: The trial of body-snatcher William Burke began in Edinburgh. His accomplice William Hare, turned King’s evidence and was not brought to trial. DECEMBER 25

440: The leaders of the Christian Church fixed this day as the date to observe the birth of Christ.

1066: The Coronation of William the Conqueror took place at Westminster Abbey.

1899: Actor Humphrey Bogart was born in New York.

1914: British and German troops bogged down in the trenches on the western front staged an impromptu truce, swapping presents in no-man’s land.

1950: The Stone of Scone was stolen from Westminster Abbey, where it had rested for 650 years. Scottish Nationals claimed responsibility.

1957: The Queen’s Christmas broadcast was televised for the first time.