December 24, 1223: Francis of Assisi stages history's first living nativity scene, complete with live animals, in a cave near Greccio, Italy (see issue 42: Francis of Assisi).
December 24, 1491: Spanish ascetic and theologian Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, is born in Guipuzcoa, Spain. His order quickly became a great power in Roman Catholicism and led the Counter-Reformation.
December 24, 1818: Franz Gruber composes "Silent Night" in the St. Nicholas Church of Oberndorf, Austria.
