On This Day for December 25 - Christmas celebrated worldwide, Anwar Sadat is featured, and more

This message contains graphics. If you do not see the graphics, [click here to view](. December 25 [Sadat, Anwar]( FEATURED BIOGRAPHY 1918 Anwar Sadat Born this day in 1918, army officer and politician [Anwar Sadat]( who shared the 1978 [Nobel Prize]( for Peace for his peace negotiations with [Israel]( served as president of [Egypt]( from 1970 until his assassination in 1981. [SEE ALL BORN ON THIS DAY]( [Merry Old Santa Claus by Thomas Nast.]( FEATURED EVENT Today Christmas celebrated worldwide Though the precise origin of the date is unclear, [Christmas]( commemorating the birth of [Jesus Christ]( is celebrated on this day, having been first identified as the date of Jesus' birth by [Sextus Julius Africanus]( in 221. [SEE ALL EVENTS ON THIS DAY]( Advertisement Advertisement MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY [James Brown, 1967.] 2006: American singer and songwriter [James Brown]( known as “the Godfather of Soul,” died in Atlanta. [Gorbachev, Mikhail] 1991: [Mikhail Gorbachev]( resigned the presidency of the [Soviet Union]( which ceased to exist at the end of the year. [Chaplin, Charlie] 1977: [Charlie Chaplin]( the British comedic actor and director who is widely regarded as one of the most important figures in [motion-picture]( history, died in Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland. [Gregory Peck (centre left) in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962).] 1962: The [film adaptation]( of [Harper Lee]( To Kill a Mockingbird premiered and became a classic, especially noted for [Gregory Peck]( portrayal of Atticus Finch. [Clara Barton, photograph by Mathew B. Brady, 1866.] 1821: [Clara Barton]( founder of the American [Red Cross]( was born in Oxford, Massachusetts. [George Washington Crossing the Delaware, oil on canvas by Emanuel Leutze, 1851; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.] 1776: During the [American Revolution]( General [George Washington]( crossed the Delaware River and surprised the British at Trenton, New Jersey. [SEE ALL EVENTS ON THIS DAY]( ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY 1971 [Justin Trudeau]( prime minister of Canada 1876 [Mohammed Ali Jinnah]( Pakistani governor-general 1899 [Humphrey Bogart]( American actor 1924 [Atal Bihari Vajpayee]( prime minister of India 1949 [Nawaz Sharif]( prime minister of Pakistan 1924 [Rod Serling]( American writer [SEE ALL BIOS ON THIS DAY]( Advertisement FOLLOW: [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [YouTube]( To unsubscribe from Britannica e-mails, [click here](. Encyclopædia Britannica 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 Chicago, Illinois 60654 United States © 2018 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. [Privacy Policy]( • [Help](