WHAT HAPPENED ON 24. DECEMBER
Want to find out what all happened on 24. December

World War II: U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower is named Supreme Allied Commander for the Normandy Invasion. (24. December 1943)

Libya becomes independent from Italy. Idris I is proclaimed King of Libya. (24. December 1951)

Tangiwai disaster: In New Zealand's North Island, at Tangiwai, a railway bridge is damaged by a lahar and collapses beneath a passenger train, killing 151 people. (24. December 1953)

NORAD Tracks Santa for the first time in what will become an annual Christmas Eve tradition. (24. December 1955)

Vietnam War: Viet Cong operatives bomb the Brinks Hotel in Saigon, South Vietnam to demonstrate they can strike an American installation in the heavily guarded capital. (24. December 1964)

A Canadair CL-44 chartered by the United States military crashes into a small village in South Vietnam, killing 129. (24. December 1966)

Apollo program: The crew of Apollo 8 enters into orbit around the Moon, becoming the first humans to do so. They performed 10 lunar orbits and broadcast live TV pictures that became the famous Christmas Eve Broadcast, one of the most watched programs in history. (24. December 1968)

Charles Manson is allowed to defend himself at the Tate-LaBianca murder trial. (24. December 1969)

Japan Airlines Flight 472, operated Douglas DC-8-53 landed at Juhu Aerodrome instead of Santacruz Airport in Bombay, India. (24. December 1972)

District of Columbia Home Rule Act is passed, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to elect their own local government. (24. December 1973)

Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin, Australia. (24. December 1974)

The first European Ariane rocket is launched. (24. December 1979)

Witnesses report the first of several sightings of unexplained lights near RAF Woodbridge, in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom, an incident called "Britain's Roswell". (24. December 1980)

Air France Flight 8969 is hijacked on the ground at Houari Boumedienne Airport, Algiers, Algeria. Over the course of 3 days 3 passengers are killed, as are all 4 terrorists. (24. December 1994)

The Sid El-Antri massacre (or Sidi Lamri) in Algeria kills 50-100 people. (24. December 1997)

The Texas Seven hold up a sports store in Irving, Texas. Police officer Aubrey Hawkins is murdered during the robbery. (24. December 2000)

The Spanish police thwart an attempt by ETA to detonate 50 kg of explosives at 3:55 p.m. inside Madrid's busy Chamartín Station. (24. December 2003)

Chad–Sudan relations: Chad declares a state of war against Sudan following a December 18 attack on Adré, which left about 100 people dead. (24. December 2005)

Lord's Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel group, begins a series of attacks on Democratic Republic of the Congo, massacring more than 400. (24. December 2008)