Jay-Z stepping down from record label post

Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter said Monday he will leave his post as president of Universal Music Group's Def Jam Records label after his contract expires Dec. 31. The rapper said he will continue to release his own music through his record label, Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam.

Holiday cheer

$1,000 tradition

Salvation Army Maj. Richard Hathorn still doesn't know who slipped the $1,000 bill into one of the charity's Christmas kettles. Each Christmas since 1978, someone has covertly stuffed one of the big bills into a kettle in Morgantown, W.Va. This year's was found wrapped inside a $1 bill.

Returned a year later

A figure of the baby Jesus has been returned, a year after it was stolen from a nativity scene in Brazoria, Texas.

Giveaway

Shoppers got a Christmas Eve surprise Monday when a pair of brothers handed out $100 bills at a mall on Long Island, N.Y.

New home for Santa?

The tiny ex-Soviet state of Kyrgyzstan has declared itself the new home of Santa Claus. Citing a Swedish engineering firm that determined the ideal spot for Santa's global toy-delivery hub, officials in this predominantly Muslim country named a mountain peak after Santa and declared 2008 "The Year of Santa Claus."

Today in History

A.D. 336: The first recorded celebration of Christmas on Dec. 25 took place in Rome.

1066: William the Conqueror was crowned king of England.

1776: Gen. George Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware River for a surprise attack against Hessian forces at Trenton, N.J.

1818: "Silent Night," written by Franz Gruber and Father Joseph Mohr, was performed for the first time, at the Church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf, Austria.

1926: Hirohito became emperor of Japan, succeeding his father, Emperor Yoshihito. (Hirohito was formally enthroned almost two years later.)

1989: Ousted Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, Elena, were executed after a popular uprising.

1991: Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev went on television to announce his resignation as the eighth and final leader of a communist superpower that had already gone out of existence.

2006: James Brown, the "Godfather of Soul," died of heart failure in Atlanta at age 73.

Today's Birthdays

Singer Tony Martin, 94. Singer Jimmy Buffett, 61. Football Hall-of-Famer Larry Csonka, 61. Country singer Barbara Mandrell, 59. Actress Sissy Spacek, 58. Actress CCH Pounder, 55. Singer Annie Lennox, 53. Reggae singer-musician Robin Campbell (UB40), 53. Singer Shane MacGowan, 50. Actress Klea Scott, 39. Rock musician Noel Hogan (The Cranberries), 36. Singer Dido, 36. Country singer Alecia Elliott, 25.

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