1974

Cyclone Tracy

Severe Tropical Cyclone Tracy was a small but destructive tropical cyclone that devastated the city of Darwin, in the Northern Territory of Australia, in December 1974. The small but developing easterly storm was originally expected to pass clear of the city, but it turned towards it early on 24 December. After 10:00 p.m. ACST, damage became severe, with wind gusts reaching 217 km/h before instruments failed. The anemometer in Darwin Airport control tower had its needle bent in half by the strength of the gusts.

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Cyclone Tracy

1979

Ariane 1

Ariane 1 was the first rocket in the Ariane family of expendable launch systems. It was developed for and operated by the European Space Agency (ESA), which had been formed in 1973, the same year that development of the launcher had commenced. Aérospatiale was designated to lead the programme. Ariane 1 was the first launcher to be developed with the primary purpose of sending commercial satellites into geosynchronous orbit. Crucially, it was designed with the ability of sending a pair of satellites into orbit on a single launcher, thus reducing costs.

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Ariane 1

1983

Aeroflot Flight 601

Aeroflot Flight 601 was a scheduled Soviet domestic passenger flight from Arkhangelsk to Leshukonskoye in the Russian SSR, operated by Aeroflot. The Antonov An-24RV that was involved crashed on 24 December 1983 during approach to Leshukonskoye. Forty-four people were killed; five survived the accident. Pilot error was cited as the cause of the accident.

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Aeroflot Flight 601

1994

Air France Flight 8969

Air France Flight 8969 was an Air France flight that was hijacked on 24 December 1994 by the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria (GIA) at Houari Boumediene Airport, Algiers. The militants murdered three passengers and their intention was either to detonate the aircraft over the Eiffel Tower or the Tour Montparnasse in Paris. When the aircraft reached Marseille, the GIGN, a counterterrorism and hostage rescue unit of the French National Gendarmerie, stormed the plane and killed all four hijackers. The incident led to Air France halting their flights to Algeria until 2004, two years after the end of the Algerian Civil War.

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Air France Flight 8969

1996

Learjet 35

The Learjet Model 35 and Model 36 are a series of American multi-role business jets and military transport aircraft manufactured by Learjet between 1973 and 1993. When used by the United States Air Force, they carry the designation C-21A. Learjet was acquired by Bombardier Aviation in 1990 as a subsidiary, so the aircraft is also known as the Bombardier Learjet 35.

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Learjet 35

1997

Sid El-Antri massacre

The Sid El-Antri massacre was a mass killing of civilians in the hamlets of Shari and Sidi el Antar, near Tiaret, Algeria, on the night of 23-24 December 1997, during the Algerian Civil War. Contemporary reports gave sharply different casualty figures. Algerian authorities said that 48 people were killed near Tiaret, while newspaper reports placed the toll for the two hamlets at between 81 and 120 dead. The victims included large numbers of women and children.

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Sid El-Antri massacre

1999

Indian Airlines Flight 814

Indian Airlines Flight 814, commonly known as IC 814, was an Indian Airlines Airbus A300 that was hijacked on 24 December 1999 by five members of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. The passenger flight, en route from Kathmandu to Delhi, was taken over shortly after it entered Indian airspace at about 16:53 IST. The aircraft had 190 occupants: 179 passengers and 11 crew members including Captain Devi Sharan, First Officer Rajinder Kumar, and Flight Engineer Anil Kumar Jaggia.

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Indian Airlines Flight 814

2003

ETA (separatist group)

ETA, an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, was an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization active in Spain and France between 1959 and 2018. It was founded in 1959, during Francoist Spain, by a group of Basque nationalist students seeking to promote Basque identity and independence. Over time, ETA evolved into a clandestine paramilitary group that conducted a campaign of assassinations, bombings, and kidnappings primarily in Spain, particularly in the Basque Country and surrounding regions. ETA was considered the main organization of the Basque National Liberation Movement and played a central role in the Basque armed conflict, in which more than 850 people were killed, 2,600 were wounded, and nearly 90 were kidnapped. The group announced a definitive end to its armed activity in 2011 and formally dissolved in 2018.

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ETA (separatist group)

2005

Chad–Sudan relations

The populations of eastern Chad and western Sudan established social and religious ties long before either nation's independence, and these remained strong despite disputes between governments. In recent times, relations have been strained due to the conflict in Darfur and a civil war in Chad, which both governments accuse the other of supporting.

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Chad–Sudan relations

2008

Lord's Resistance Army

The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) is a Christian extremist and Acholi nationalist organization operating in Central and East Africa. Its origins were in the Ugandan insurgency (1986–1994) against Yoweri Museveni, during which Joseph Kony founded the LRA in 1987.

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Lord's Resistance Army

2018

2018 Puebla helicopter crash

On December 24, 2018, a helicopter carrying Martha Érika Alonso Hidalgo, the newly elected governor of the Mexican state of Puebla, and her husband, senator and former governor Rafael Moreno Valle Rosas, crashed on a hill in Coronango near the city of Puebla. All five people on board the helicopter were killed in the crash: Alonso, Moreno, the two pilots, Captain Roberto Coppe Obregón and Captain Marco Antonio Tavera Romero, and an assistant to the senator. Alonso was 10 days into her term as governor at that time of the crash. The accident investigation found a preexisting problem with a stability system on the helicopter.

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2018 Puebla helicopter crash

2021

Tatmadaw

The Tatmadaw, also known as the Sit-Tat, is the armed forces of Myanmar. It is administered by the Ministry of Defence and composed of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Navy and the Myanmar Air Force. Auxiliary services include the Myanmar Police Force, the Border Guard Forces, the Myanmar Coast Guard, and the People's Militia Units. Since independence in 1948, the Tatmadaw has faced significant ethnic insurgencies, especially in Chin, Kachin, Kayin, Kayah, and Shan states. General Ne Win took control of the country in a 1962 coup d'état, attempting to build an autarkic society called the Burmese Way to Socialism. Following the violent repression of nationwide protests in 1988, the military agreed to free elections in 1990, but ignored the resulting victory of the National League for Democracy and imprisoned its leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The 1990s also saw the escalation of the conflict involving Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State due to RSO attacks on the Tatmadaw forces, which saw the Rohingya minority facing oppression and, starting in 2017, genocide.

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Tatmadaw

1994

Birth of Fa'amanu Brown

Fa'amanu Brown, New Zealand rugby league player

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Fa'amanu Brown

1995

Birth of Anett Kontaveit

Anett Kontaveit, Estonian tennis player

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Anett Kontaveit

1997

Birth of Neeraj Chopra

Neeraj Chopra, Indian javelin thrower

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Neeraj Chopra