Kamal Haasan

Anbe Sivam (Love Is God) is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language comedy-drama film directed by Sundar C. and produced by K. Muralitharan, V. Swaminathan and G. Venugopal of Lakshmi Movie Makers. The film was written by Kamal Haasan (pictured), with dialogues provided by Madhan. Featuring Haasan, Madhavan and Kiran Rathod in the lead roles, the film tells the story of an unexpected journey from Bhubaneswar to Chennai. The musical score was composed by Vidyasagar. Arthur A. Wilson and M. Prabhaharan undertook responsibility for the film's cinematography and art direction, respectively. Produced on a budget of ₹120 million, Anbe Sivam's themes include communism, atheism, altruism and humanism. The film garnered positive reviews from critics, but underperformed at the box office. It is now regarded as a classic and a cult film in Tamil cinema. At the 51st Filmfare Awards South, it received a Special Jury Award. Madhavan was awarded Best Actor at the 2003 Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. ( Full article...)

Jesus examining Melchior's gift in Mostaert's Adoration

• ... that the Mostaert Amsterdam Adoration (detail pictured) includes three scenes from the Old Testament and one from Christian legend?
• ... that One Voice at Christmas involves Aled Jones duetting Christmas carols with his younger self and the late Terry Wogan?
• ... that Giovanni Garbini's studies helped scholars interpret the biblical narrative in the larger context of the history of the ancient Near East?
• ... that the classic children's Christmas story The Littlest Angel was written in just three days?
• ... that in 1975, Finland's Minister of Education Marjatta Väänänen sent a petition to the Archbishop of Turku with almost 1 million signatures, advocating for the introduction of female priests?
• ... that O magnum mysterium, a motet for double choir by Morten Lauridsen, is a setting of a medieval Latin text for Christmas to music described as "ethereal sounds in imperturbable calmness"?
• ... that when Donald Trump owned the Plaza Hotel, he requested a cameo in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York in exchange for allowing the film crew to shoot in the lobby?
• ... that sending the real animals and personnel in The Twelve Days of Christmas resulted in a letter from G. Creep, solicitor?

Chang'e 5

• The closest great conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn since 1623 occurs.
• The Chang'e 5 (illustration shown) sample-return mission returns lunar material to Earth.
• Nana Akufo-Addo is re-elected for a second term as President of Ghana.

December 25: Christmas (Western Christianity; Gregorian calendar); Quaid-e-Azam Day in Pakistan

Coronation of Baldwin I of Jerusalem

• AD 36 – After the death of Emperor Gongsun Shu of Chengjia, the empire was conquered by the Eastern Han dynasty.
• 1100 – Baldwin I was crowned the first king of Jerusalem (depicted) in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
• 1950 – Four Scottish university students removed the Stone of Scone, used in the coronations of Scottish and British monarchs, from Westminster Abbey in London.
• 1990 – British computer programmer Tim Berners-Lee introduced WorldWideWeb, the world's first web browser and WYSIWYG HTML editor.
• 2000 – Russian president Vladimir Putin signed into law a bill officially adopting a new national anthem, with music by Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov originally composed for the anthem of the Soviet Union.