Historical timeline for December 25

Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 crashes in Aktau, Kazakhstan, killing 38 of its occupants.

The James Webb Space Telescope is launched.

An explosion in Nashville, Tennessee, occurs, leaving three civilians in the hospital.

Twenty people are killed and thousands are left homeless by Typhoon Phanfone in the Philippines.

A Russian Defence Ministry Tupolev Tu-154 carrying members of the Alexandrov Ensemble crashes into the Black Sea shortly after takeoff, killing all 92 people on board.

Air Bagan Flight 011, a Fokker 100, crashes on approach to Heho Airport in Heho, Myanmar, killing two people.

An Antonov An-72 plane crashes close to the city of Shymkent, killing 27 people.

A Siberian tiger named Tatania escapes her exhibit at the San Francisco Zoo and attacks three people, killing one and injuring two more.

The Cassini orbiter releases Huygens probe which successfully landed on Saturn's moon Titan on January 14, 2005.

The ill-fated Beagle 2 probe, released from the Mars Express spacecraft on December 19, stops transmitting shortly before its scheduled landing.

UTA Flight 141, a Boeing 727-223, crashes at the Cotonou Airport in Benin, killing 141 people.

Cubana de Aviación Flight 310, a Yakovlev Yak-42, crashes near Bejuma, Carabobo State, Venezuela, killing 22 people.

The body of American child beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey was found in her family's Boulder, Colorado, home. Her murder remains unsolved.

Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as President of the Soviet Union (the union itself is dissolved the next day). Ukraine's referendum is finalized and Ukraine officially leaves the Soviet Union.

Romanian Revolution: Deposed President of Romania Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife, Elena, are condemned to death and executed after a summary trial.

Iraqi Airways Flight 163, a Boeing 737-270C, is hijacked and crashes in Arar, Saudi Arabia, killing 63 people.

Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin meets in Egypt with its president Anwar Sadat.

EgyptAir Flight 864, a Boeing 707-366C, crashes on approach to Don Mueang International Airport, killing 71 people.

A fire at the Daeyeonggak Hotel in Seoul, South Korea kills 164 people.

Apollo program: Apollo 8 performs the first successful Trans-Earth injection (TEI) maneuver, sending the crew and spacecraft on a trajectory back to Earth from Lunar orbit.