Day in History: Santa on skis visits children in hospital

1990 – 25 years ago

• The Christmas shopping season turned out to be a disappointment for many retailers as holiday gift giving took a back seat to worries about the economy and the Middle East.\

• Grade 7 honor roll for Spring Valley High School included Liva Boyd, Matthew Mangan, Aaron McCabe, Christopher Parker and Carolyn Rose.

1965 – 50 years ago

• The "Unsinkable Molly Brown," Meredith Wilson's comedy about a mountain girl who "gets society," will be staged by the Rochester John Marshall musical and drama departments.

• The outdoor Christmas lighting display of Mr. and Mrs. John Terry, of Riverview Heights, won first place in the 1965 Christmas lighting contest conducted by the Rochester Chamber of Commerce. Second place went to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Lehman of 9th Ave. NE.

1940 – 75 years ago

• Squeals of joy and excited waving of little arms greeted the Santa Claus who skied over the hill in the back of Saint Marys Hospital to pay his annual visit to the pediatric department of the hospital. Approximately 45 children watched the skier come down the hill. Bright-eyed girls and boys watched with awe as the Santa arrived in the department and handed out gifts, greeted them and led them in singing Christmas carols. Dr. Charles Fishback was the outdoor Santa that glided down the hill to the hospital entrance and Dr. Roger L. J. Kennedy was the Santa who visited the pediatric department.

1915 – 100 years ago

• An increase of at least 25percent in the number of parcels delivered in Rochester through the local post office during the nine days preceding Christmas was made over the same period in 1914. This is a record in the volume of parcels as well as stamps sold.

• Newton Holland will be attending a reunion of the Camp Hayes boys of Winona, where he was a member. He will be one of the speakers in the program. Mr. Holland is currently attending the University of Minnesota.

From news services

Ten years ago: Iraq's governing Shiite coalition called on Iraqis to accept results showing the religious bloc leading in parliamentary elections and moved ahead with efforts to form a "national unity" government. Michael Vale, the actor best known for portraying sleepy-eyed Fred the Baker in Dunkin' Donuts commercials, died in New York at age 83.

Five years ago:Pope Benedict XVI ushered in Christmas Eve with an evening Mass amid heightened security concerns following package bombings at two Rome embassies and Christmas Eve security breaches at the Vatican the previous two years. John Warhola, the older brother who helped raise pop art icon Andy Warhol and later helped establish the Andy Warhol Museum, died in Pittsburgh at age 85.

One year ago: Sony Pictures broadly released "The Interview" online — an unprecedented counterstroke against the hackers who'd spoiled the Christmas opening of the comedy depicting the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. A Jordanian pilot, Lt. Mu'ath al-Kaseasbeh, was captured by the Islamic State group after his warplane crashed in Syria; he was later killed. TCU's Gary Patterson was named The Associated Press college football coach of the year. Western Kentucky held on to defeat Central Michigan 49-48 in a wild inaugural Bahamas Bowl.

Today's birthdays: Songwriter-bandleader Dave Bartholomew is 97. Author Mary Higgins Clark is 88. Federal health official Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., is 75. Recording company executive Mike Curb is 71. Rock singer-musician Lemmy (Motorhead) is 70. Actress Sharon Farrell is 69. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., is 69. Actor Grand L. Bush is 60. Actor Clarence Gilyard is 60. Actress Stephanie Hodge is 59. The former president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, is 58. Rock musician Ian Burden (The Human League) is 58. Actor Anil Kapoor is 56. Actor Wade Williams is 54. Designer Kate Spade is 53. Rock singer Mary Ramsey (10,000 Maniacs) is 52. Actor Mark Valley is 51. Actor Diedrich Bader is 49. Actor Amaury Nolasco is 45. Singer Ricky Martin is 44. Author Stephenie Meyer is 42. "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest is 41. Actor Michael Raymond-James is 38. Rock singer Louis Tomlinson (One Direction) is 24.