December 24

Servius Sulpicius Galba, who briefly became Roman emperor during the Year of the Four Emperors, was born near Terracina.

Benedetto Caetani was elected pope at Naples on Christmas Eve, taking the name Boniface VIII, succeeding the abdicated Celestine V.

Andreas Karlstadt, an early Reformation theologian and one-time colleague of Martin Luther, died of plague in Basel.

Apollo 8 entered orbit around the Moon, and astronaut William Anders photographed 'Earthrise', the first color image of Earth seen rising above the lunar horizon.