Seeds of Fire: A People’s Chronology
Recalling events that happened on this day in history.
Memories of struggle, resistance and persistence.
Compiled by Ulli Diemer
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December 25
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In the early-to-mid 4th century, the Western Christian Church chooses December 25 as the date on which the birth of Jesus Christ (whose actual birthdate is unknown) will be celebrated.
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December 25, 1831
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The ‘Christmas Rebellion’ in Jamaica breaks out with as many as 60,000 slaves rising in revolt. The rebellion is put down by British troops; afterwards Jamaican slaveowners take brutal reprisals, killing hundreds.
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December 25, 1914
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The Christmas Truce of 1914. On Christmas Day, in the first year of World War I, German, British and French soldiers disobey their superiors and fraternize with “the enemy” along two-thirds of the Western Front. German troops hold Christmas trees up out of the trenches with signs, “Merry Christmas.” “You no shoot, we no shoot.” Thousands of troops stream across the no-man’s land strewn with rotting corpses. Soldiers embrace men they had been trying to kill a few short hours before. Afterwards, a shudder runs through the high command on both sides. Here is the ultimate disaster in the making: soldiers declaring their brotherhood with each other and refusing to fight.
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December 25, 1989
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A revolt which broke out on December 16 overthrows the Ceausescu regime in Romania. President Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife are executed.
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