December 24th in NYC History
Hitmaker Harry Warren;
Behind the Headlines I.F. Stone.
Rock Center's surprising first tree;
Joe Namath;
Caruso's last stand;
Idlewild->JFK
Posted: Dec 23, 2012 | 11:36 PM
1893: Harry Warren, 3-time Academy Award winning composer of "42nd St.," "Lullaby of Broadway," "Shuffle off to Buffalo, "September in the rain," and 300 others, born. His birthname: Salvatore Gauranga from Brooklyn.
1907: I. F. Stone, a guru and conscience for generations of political journalists, born. He eventually started his own journal: "I.F. Stone's Weekly". He died in 1989
![](/cm/images/Madison_Square_Park_1910s first public christmas tree and electric light.jpg)
1912: The first public and electrically lit Christmas tree in Madison Square Park is celebrated by rich and poor alike.
![](/cm/images/madison%20square%20park%20christmas%20tree%20poem%201912.jpg)
![](/cm/images/madison%20square%20park%2023rd-street-park1.jpg)
1920: Enrico Caruso's last public performance at the Metropolitan Opera.
1931: Working on Christmas Eve, construction workers decorate the Rockefeller Center development (when whole thing was called "Radio City") with a makeshift humble Christmas Tree.
![](/cm/images/rock%20center%20tree%201.jpg)
Is it decorated with TP? They are getting their paychecks.
![](/cm/images/saarinen twa 1.jpg)
1963: Idlewild International Airport renamed for John F. Kennedy, a month after he was killed.
![](/cm/images/saarinen%20twa%202.jpg)
1967: 'Broadway' Joe Namath leads Jets football to its first winning season in its history, passing 4007 yards.
1997: Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn marry. He 62; she 27. But there is more to the story than that, so click the link. I saw them once.