December 25: Firehall burns; Henry Kalen, Ferdinand Eckhardt, George King and Lila Bell Wallace.

December 25, 1875 - In what likely led to some ribbing around the Christmas dinner table, the the Winnipeg Fire Brigade's main hall on Lombard Avenue burns to the ground. Nobody was hurt.

December 25, 1889 - Lila Bell Acheson Wallace is born in Virden, Manitoba. In 1922 she and husband DeWitt Wallace founded Reader's Digest magazine in their New York apartment.  

Fortune Magazine considers Wallace among the 100 most powerful women of the 20th century. For more on the Wallaces.

December 25, 1995 -  Artist, writer and composer Ferdinand Eckhardt dies. He came to Winnipeg in 1953 with wife composer Sophie Gramatté to become the director of the Winnipeg Art Gallery. For more on his time at the WAG.

December 25, 2004 - Henry Kalen dies. For more than 30 years he photographed the people and places of Manitoba. His collection of 200,000 images was donated to the U of M in 2009.

December 25, 1924 - Dauphin's George King dies. He founded a predecessor of the Dauphin Herald and served as the town's mayor from 1901 - 1903.  For a historical walking tour of Dauphin.

December 25, 1875 - Read the December 25, 1875  edition of the Manitoba Free Press.