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

Not only was this the first White House “community” Christmas
tree, but it was the first to be decorated with electric lights—a
strand of 2,500 red, white and green bulbs.

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, including the Epiphany Church choir and the
U.S. Marine Band.

Later that evening, President Coolidge and first lady Grace were
treated to carols sung by members of Washington, D.C.’s First Congregational Church.

According to the White House Historical Association, President
Benjamin Harrison was the first president to set up an indoor
Christmas tree for his family and visitors to enjoy in 1889. It
was decorated with ornaments and candles.

On December 23, 1823, “A Visit From St. Nicholas,” perhaps
the most famous and influential Christmas poem ever was
published in the Troy Sentinel newspaper in New York by
an anonymous author.

It wasn’t until nearly 20 years later, in 1844, that American
writer Clement Clarke Moore claimed authorship after
seeing the poem misattributed in the Washington
National Intelligencer.

Moore took credit for the poem, claiming to have authored 
“some lines, describing a visit from St. Nicholas, which I
wrote many years ago, not for publication, but to amuse
my children.”

              
   SANDY KOZEL

A Charlie Brown Christmas is a animated television special.
It is the first TV special based on the comic strip Peanuts,
by Charles M. Schulz.

The special aired on this day in 1965 for the first time and
CBS executives, unhappy with the music, the pacing, lack 
of a  laugh track and Linus reading a Bible verse (from Luke)
almost refused to air it.        

       
However, contrary to their collective apprehension, A
Charlie Brown Christmas received high ratings and
acclaim from critics. It received an Emmy, a Peabody
Award, and became an annual presentation

   
    

Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz 
(November 26, 1922 – February 12, 2000)

On November 30, 1876, Yale defeated Princeton, 2-0, in
Hoboken, New Jersey in the first collegiate football game
played on Thanksgiving.

The football was oval and made of leather, the Times noted,
"similar to those used in Rugby Union rules." The game
resembled rugby more than a present-day football game.