On December 25, 1929, Charlie Lawson murdered his wife and six of their seven children before killing himself in Stokes County. His motive remains a mystery.
On December 24, 1902, Reginald Fessenden, who had previously engaged in experiments on the Outer Banks, made the first intentional wireless radio broadcast, playing his violin and reading a passage from the Bible.
On December 24, 1937, writer and cultural leader Mary Van Landingham died in Charlotte.
On December 24, 1960, fiddle and banjo player and old-time ballad singer Sarah Samantha Biddix Bumgarner died.