| 144481 | December 24 | Event | 1500 – A joint Venetian–Spanish fleet captures the Castle of St. George on the island of Cephalonia. |
| 144482 | December 24 | Event | 1777 – Kiritimati, also called Christmas Island, is discovered by James Cook. |
| 144483 | December 24 | Event | 1800 – The Plot of the rue Saint-Nicaise fails to kill Napoleon Bonaparte. |
| 144484 | December 24 | Event | 1814 – The Treaty of Ghent is signed ending the War of 1812. |
| 144485 | December 24 | Event | 1818 – The first performance of "Silent Night" takes place in the church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf, Austria. |
| 144486 | December 24 | Event | 1826 – The Eggnog Riot at the United States Military Academy begins that night, wrapping up the following morning. |
| 144487 | December 24 | Event | 1851 – Library of Congress burns. |
| 144488 | December 24 | Event | 1865 – The Ku Klux Klan is formed. |
| 144489 | December 24 | Event | 1871 – Aida opens in Cairo, Egypt. |
| 144490 | December 24 | Event | 1906 – Radio: Reginald Fessenden transmits the first radio broadcast consisting of a poetry reading, a violin solo, and a speech. |
| 144491 | December 24 | Event | 1911 – Lackawanna Cut-Off railway line opens in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. |
| 144492 | December 24 | Event | 1913 – The Italian Hall disaster ("1913 Massacre") in Calumet, Michigan, results in the death of 73 Christmas party goers held by striking mine workers, including 59 children. |
| 144493 | December 24 | Event | 1914 – World War I: The "Christmas truce" begins. |
| 144494 | December 24 | Event | 1924 – Albania becomes a republic. |
| 144495 | December 24 | Event | 1929 – Assassination attempt on Argentine President Hipólito Yrigoyen. |
| 144496 | December 24 | Event | 1939 – World War II: Pope Pius XII makes a Christmas Eve appeal for peace. |
| 144497 | December 24 | Event | 1941 – World War II: Kuching is conquered by Japanese forces. |
| 144498 | December 24 | Event | 1942 – World War II: French monarchist, Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle, assassinates Vichy French Admiral François Darlan in Algiers, Algeria. |
| 144499 | December 24 | Event | 1943 – World War II: U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower is named Supreme Allied Commander for the Invasion of Normandy. |
| 144500 | December 24 | Event | 1951 – Libya becomes independent from Italy. Idris I is proclaimed King of Libya. |
| 144501 | December 24 | Event | 1953 – 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. |
| 144502 | December 24 | Event | 1955 – NORAD Tracks Santa for the first time in what will become an annual Christmas Eve tradition. |
| 144503 | December 24 | Event | 1964 – 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. |
| 144504 | December 24 | Event | 1966 – A Canadair CL-44 chartered by the United States military crashes into a small village in South Vietnam, killing 129. |
| 144505 | December 24 | Event | 1968 – Apollo program: The crew of Apollo 8 enters into orbit around the Moon, becoming the first humans to do so. They performed ten lunar orbits and broadcast live TV pictures. |
| 144506 | December 24 | Event | 1969 – Charles Manson is allowed to defend himself at the Tate–LaBianca murder trial. |
| 144507 | December 24 | Event | 1969 – The oil company Phillips Petroleum made the first oil discovery in the Norwegian sector of North Sea. |
| 144508 | December 24 | Event | 1969 – Nigerian troops capture Umuahia, the last Biafran capital before its dissolution became Owerri |
| 144509 | December 24 | Event | 1973 – District of Columbia Home Rule Act is passed, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to elect their own local government. |
| 144510 | December 24 | Event | 1974 – Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin, Australia. |