Christmasis the time of year when Christians celebrate the foundational event of their faith : The birth of Jesus . It ’s also a time of year when family and friends of all beliefs get together and love upright food , salute and conversation . greeting of " merry Christmas " and " well-chosen holidays " satisfy the snowy street . Television commercials and store window glow with words like " peace , " " joy " and " cheer . " It is , to cite one of the vacation ’s many mirthful tunes , " the most wonderful clock time of the year . "
With such high expectations , however , come in some pretty swelled letdowns . Bad weather strand travelers in the airport . Some " lucky " employees are forced to work while everyone else enjoys the day off . Family gatherings get awkward when the topic of conversation change by reversal to political science . And there ’s always that one uncle who drinks a small too much and starts airing relative ' dirty laundry .
If these and other looming headaches are getting you down , would it help you to know that it could be worse ? Yep , some moderately terrible thing have happened during the Christmas season . So when Scrooge and the Grinch endeavor to tag team your Santa - day spirit , be trusted to remember our list of the 10 bad things ever to find at Christmas .
10: Christmas Flood, 1717
" The snow is snowing / The wind is fumble / But I can brave out the storm / Why do I care how much it may ramp / I’ve get my erotic love to keep me warm . " When Irving Berlin write this classic Christmas tune in 1937 , he surely was n’t thinking of the Christmas Flood of 1717 . Love , it turns out , offered piddling trade protection against the gigantic North Sea storm that brought massivefloodingto the coast of northerly Europe .
It was around 1 o’clock on Christmas morning when floodwaters first wash across a big swath of farm and cities stretching fromHollandto Denmark . The nettle torrent broom thousands of people mighty out of their bed and charge many more scrambling for the relative safety of Tree and marvelous construction . There they await saving assevere thunderstorms , rain and hail continued to pound the soggy landscape until body of water levels get hold of as high as 10 metrical foot ( 3.1 meters ) . It was n’t until the next dawning that the storm began to weaken before mustering one last violent punch by and by that good afternoon [ source : Baart et al . ] .
By then , many of those who ab initio survived the floodwaters had perished from photo . When skies finally crystallize on Dec. 27 , as many as 13,700 hoi polloi were dead , and numberless stock and home were lost [ source : Sundberg ] . It was one of the worst disasters not just on Christmas , but in all of modern European history .
9: Library of Congress Burns, 1851
Some tyke are disappoint when they shoot down into a Christmas package and discover a al-Qur’an instead of the latest electronic gadget . But books were exactly what the Library of Congress needed after losing near two - thirds of its holdings in the Christmas Evefireof 1851 .
After Congress created the library in 1800 , its assemblage inhabited various position in the Capitol before settling in a 90- by 30 - foot ( 27.4- by 9.1 - meter ) way in the center of the west front of the building . It was there that an neglected candle closely torch the place in 1825 , but the flames were contained before any serious price could occur . That might have been a effective time for the politics to considerfireproofingthe place , but , in an heroic example of shortsightedness , they adjudicate it was too expensive [ source : Library of Congress , the Buildings ] .
tight - forward to Christmas Eve 1851 . A faultychimney fluelit the library ablaze , and this time there was no saving it . Thirty - five thousand of the 55,000 book of account die up in smoke . Among the ash was two - third of Thomas Jefferson ’s 6,487 - volume collection , which , alas , was intended to replace books lost the last prison term the library burned : in August 1814 , during the War of 1812 [ generator : Library of Congress , Jefferson ] . The Library of Congress reopen in 1853 in a repaired and enlarged way , this time construct of fireproof cloth .
8: Ku Klux Klan Founded, 1865
Here ’s a bit of trivia sure to control the cheer at your next Christmas party : The Ku Klux Klan , the United States ' most notorious hate group , was founded on Christmas Eve 1865 .
The secret society emerged in the wake of the Civil War during a period known asReconstruction . That ’s when the Union governing basically told the South what they had to do to be readmitted to the Union . Essentially , they wanted the one-time secessionist leader to guarantee full equality to blacks , which , at the time , did n’t sit down well with many Southerner [ source : PBS , Reconstruction ] .
Since then , the KKK has experienced a twain of resurgences , first in the 1920s and again in the 1960s . Today , numerous splinter groups using the Klan name boast somewhere between 5,000 and 8,000 fellow member [ source : Southern Poverty Law Center ] .
7: Iroquois Theater Fire, 1903
Today , a lot of multitude go to the theater during their Christmas holiday , which is why some of Hollywood ’s biggest blockbuster come out in December . The same was true 100 days ago , when most 2,000 people ( mostly women and baby out for Christmas break ) pack the Iroquois Theater in Chicago for a matinee carrying out of the musical " Mr. Blue Beard . " Although the yield star comic Eddie Foy , the Dec. 30 , 1903 , show turn out to be anything but fishy .
Everything was going smoothly until the second act , when a easy electric light malfunctioned and set a mantle afire . The flames rapidly spread to the scene hanging from the roof , and panic spew members take flight for safety as flaming bit of fabric rained down on the leg . Terrified theatergoers , serenaded with a dreamy waltz just moments sooner , stampede for the expiration as the point collapsed and the luminosity went dismal .
Tragically , many of the doorway were either hide by curtains or lock to keep people from lift into the field . Those who could n’t miss promptly fell victim to thesmokeand fire . When the attack section arrive , they found 575 people dead ; some 30 more would die from their injuries in the coming days . The only shiny side to this macabre Christmastime tragedy was the carrying out of many safety features we know today , include clearly mark passing and out - swinging doors that are always unlocked from the inside [ source : Secter ] .
6: Black Christmas, 1941
For a small garrison of British , Canadian , Hong Konger and Native American soldiers tasked with defend the British dependency of Hong Kong during World War II , the holiday blue started long before Christmas Day . In fact , it was early summertime when the threat of Japanese tone-beginning became so serious they began to evacuate women and nestling from the colony . The violation did n’t fall until Dec. 8 , but when it did , the outmanned and outgunned ally forces face the fight of their lives .
After a week of vehement combat , the Japanese had muscle their way to the threshold of the central city on Hong Kong Island . The Axis great power demanded that the British give up the colony , but they refused . The Japanese pushed on , slaughter confederative soldier even as they attempted to surrender .
By Dec. 25 , thing were take care forbidding for the British ; Japanese atmosphere foray had cut the city ’s piss mains and destroyed its tycoon plant . The British regulator , Sir Mark Young , made the tough decision to surrender at 3:30 p.m. on Christmas Day . By the metre the white flag run up , some 4,000 soldiers from both side had croak in the two - and - a - one-half week battle [ source : Coates ] .
Despite the yielding , violence continued in Hong Kong . Japanese soldier tortured , abused and famish their enemy captive and wreaked havoc on the settlement ’s Formosan population by plundering and destroying villages , murdering civilians and violate as many as 10,000 cleaning lady [ source : economic expert ] . It ’s no admiration the British giving up is known as " Black Christmas . "
5: Charlie Chaplain Dies, 1977
For many citizenry Christmas is a fourth dimension to get together with family , so it ’s in particular sorry when a loved one go past out on that twenty-four hour period . This is particularly true when that individual brought more smiles and laughter into the globe than just about anyone else . Such was the guinea pig with actor and comedianCharlie Chaplin , who died surrounded by family at his home in Switzerland on Christmas Day 1977 .
Chaplin made a name for himself during the era ofsilent films . He brought audience to rip with his knack for pantomime and slapstick , not to mention his iconic routines . One of his most famous personas was " the hiking , " a good - hearted but bumbling hobo dressed in loose-fitting pants , a tight coat and his trademark bowler chapeau . The film fable was also a master of satire , famously mocking German tyrant Adolf Hitler in the 1940 film " The Great Dictator . "
It ’s hard to explain just how much citizenry loved Chaplin . During his early career he was so democratic that one New York field screened his movie alone from 1914 to 1923 . Paris declared a public holiday when Chaplin ’s film " The Kid " premier in 1921 . By the sentence Chaplin passed away at age 88 , he had been involved in 80 movies over a 53 - yr life history and was wide viewed as one of the most influential figures in the chronicle of motion impression [ source : Crowther ] .
4: ‘Star Wars’ Holiday Special, 1978
A portion can go wrong when you seek to hale Christmas on something that is n’t inherently Christmas - y ; just expect almost every rock creative person who ’s ever released a Christmas album . So when " Star Wars " creator George Lucas presented the idea of a " Star Wars " holiday peculiar to CBS producer , someone belike should have stopped that sled before it ever left Santa ’s shop . Instead , the cringe - desirable television system case go forwards , only to have Lucas cancel all rebroadcasts and picture releases immediately after the premier .
But how bad could it really be ? For starters , the plot of land concentrate on around Chewbacca ’s home and their celebration of Life Day , a Wookiee vacation that seemed to be base on Thanksgiving or Christmas , though no one seems to love for trusted . The three family members — Chewbacca ’s wife , Malla , father Itchy , and boy Lumpy — alienated TV audience early on on with a 10 - minute conversation in Wookiee - speak , a series of grunts and howls without caption . Rounding out the show was a serial publication of bizarre guest performances , the most uncomfortable of which was an visual aspect by actress and singer Diahann Carroll , whose panorama with grandad Itchy was awkwardly sensual for a family plan .
In the closing , the " Star Wars " holiday special was almost universally panned , and both Lucas and the cast seldom mouth of it to this day . However , Lucas did say this about the show : " If I had the time and a sledgehammer , I would track down every copy of that show and blast it " [ germ : Warren ] .
3: Beagle 2 Spacecraft Lost, 2003
When scientist at the European Space Agency set in motion the Mars Express orbiter in 2003 , it carried with it a little parcel known as the Beagle 2 spacecraft . If everything go well , it would land onMarsand open , appropriately , on Christmas Day . But this Christmas miracle of modernistic space travel was not to be .
Mars Express arrived in the red planet ’s orbit in December 2003 . Right on schedule , it released Beagle 2 on Dec. 19 , sending the ballistic capsule hurtling into the planet ’s atmosphere at 12,400 miles per 60 minutes ( 20,000 klick per minute ) . A chute and three airbags were install to break Beagle 2 ’s blistering declivity and take it lightly to pillow on theMartianlandscape . There , four solar array were supposed to open and let on the radio receiver feeler by which the space vehicle would pass with Earth [ source : Knapton ] .
When Beagle 2 failed to make radiocommunication liaison after its schedule landing place , scientists worried they would n’t get the Christmas gift they had desperately desire for . After five old age of pattern and developing , six calendar month of travel , and $ 65 to $ 80 million drop , scientists declared it lose on Feb. 6 , 2004 [ sources : NASA , European Space Agency ] . Making matter worse , they would n’t roll in the hay what truly happened to it for another 12 geezerhood . That ’s when NASA ’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter snapped a photo of the perverse craft , showing that it had indeed land , but the solar panels did n’t deploy properly .
2: Indian Ocean Tsunami, 2004
On Dec. 26 , 2004 , a magnitude 9.1earthquakerocked the bottom of the Indian Ocean off the seashore of Indonesia , releasing the energy equivalent of 23,000 Hiroshima - point nuclear bombs . If the damage had been contained to the seafloor , it would n’t have been a big passel . But the powerful quake displaced a frightful amount of water , sending massive waves of devastation surging toward surrounding coastlines [ source : National Geographic ] .
Astsunamiwaves value no more than a groundwork ( 30 cm ) high up brush stealthily across the open ocean , people in circumvent nation locomote about their daily number . But soon , strange thing start to happen . Some masses report that the ocean was chop-chop move back while others hear a roar like a jet locomotive . As the wave pushed closer to shoring they grew taller , reaching as high as 98 feet ( 30 metre ) before crash onto homes , cars and hoi polloi in low - lying areas [ source : Paris et al . ] .
Most victims were take hold of completely off guard because the Indian Ocean part did n’t have a tsunami warning system in place . When the waters receded , they left behind 230,000 victims in 15 countries and $ 14 billion in property damage [ source : Kuhne ] . It was the deadliest tsunami in recorded history .
1: Underwear Bomber, 2009
Holiday travel is always a cephalalgia , and the relatively recent threat ofterrorismhas collapse fliers one more unlikely but appall thing to stress about . Luckily for passengers aboard a Christmas Day 2009 flight from Amsterdam to Detroit , Michigan , when these flak do happen they are n’t always successful .
The would - be attacker ’s name was Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab , a 23 - year - old Nigerian who attempted to blow up a dud concealed in his underclothes as the sheet made its access into Detroit . Passengers reported try a randomness like a firecracker , which turned out to be the sound of the bomb as it failed to detonate . Abdulmutallab was nevertheless immerse in a fireball and flames shortly spread to the woodworking plane ’s carpet and walls . Fortunately , passenger were able-bodied to subdue the man and extinguish the flames , and the plane shoot down without further incident .
Later investigations regulate that Abdulmutallab was radicalized by Yemen - base Islamic cleric Anwar al - Awlaki and sought to persuade out the flack in revenge for what he feel was the putting to death of devoid Muslims by the United States . He remain obstinate as he faced eight direction , including seek exercise of a weapon of mass devastation and confederacy to commit an act ofterrorism . A judge ultimately sentenced him to life in prison . But near of all , the 289 passengers and work party on that harrowing flight were able to return to their families for the holidays [ source : Ariosto and Feyerick ] .
Lots More Information
I am genuinely happy to see my family and friends when I make the 1,500 - mile ( 2,414 - kilometer ) trip home for Christmas each year . I really am . But that does n’t mean I hold on complaining about the other sunup flight of stairs , travel postponement , and unrelenting schedule of political party , meals and visit that have become mainstays of my holiday homecoming . When looking at my petty problems next to the horrific incident on this list , however , there ’s really no compare . It ’s difficult to think about what the multitude affected by these and so many other vacation tragedies must have go through while the rest of us were buck into gifts and share conversation by a warm fire . That does n’t imply we should n’t bask Christmas . Rather , we should savor every moment thanks to our healthy new venereal infection of perspective .
