On December 24, 1923, President Calvin Coolidge touched a button
and lights up the first national Christmas tree to grace the White
House grounds.

The balsam fir came from Coolidge’s home state of Vermont and
stood 48 feet tall. Several musical groups performed at the tree-
lighting ceremony.

President Calvin Coolidge and his wife First Lady Grace.

(FOX NEWS) – Founding Dixie Chicks member Laura Lynch was
killed in a head-on collision in Texas. She was 65.

A spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety told
Fox News Digital Laura Lynch was killed about 7 miles west of
Cornudas on Friday morning while driving her car, stating a car
hit her head-on while attempting to pass another vehicle on a
two-way highway.

On this day in 1968, the crew and captain of the U.S.
intelligence gathering ship Pueblo were released after
11 months imprisonment by the  government of North
Korea. The ship, and its 83-man crew, was seized by
North Korean warships on January 23, 1968 and
charged with intruding into North Korean waters.

Lt. Cmdr. Lloyd Bucher, commanding officer of the USS
Pueblo, confesses to espionage at a press conference in Pyongyang, North Korea, in 1968, with crew members
looking on.

USS Pueblo today is a Pyongyang, North Korea museum
piece. It was never decommissioned and is the only U.S.
naval vessel in captivity.

    
(September 1, 1927 – January 28, 2004)