December 24 is the 358th day of the year (359th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are seven days remaining until the end of the year.

Events[link]

• 563 – The Byzantine church Hagia Sophia in Constantinople is dedicated for the second time after being destroyed by earthquakes.
• 1294 – Pope Boniface VIII is elected Pope, replacing St. Celestine V, who had resigned.
• 1777 – Kiritimati, also called Christmas Island, is discovered by James Cook.
• 1814 – The Treaty of Ghent is signed ending the War of 1812.
• 1818 – The first performance of "Silent Night" takes place in the church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf, Austria.
• 1826 – The Eggnog Riot at the United States Military Academy begins that night, wrapping up the following morning.
• 1851 – Library of Congress burns.
• 1865 – The Ku Klux Klan is formed.
• 1871 – Aida opens in Cairo.
• 1906 – Radio: Reginald Fessenden transmits the first radio broadcast; consisting of a poetry reading, a violin solo, and a speech.
• 1911 – Lackawanna Cut-Off railway line opens in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
• 1913 – The Italian Hall Disaster ("1913 Massacre") in Calumet, Michigan, results in the death of 73 Christmas party goers held by striking mine workers, including 59 children.
• 1914 – World War I: The "Christmas truce" begins.
• 1924 – Albania becomes a republic.
• 1929 – Assassination attempt on Argentine President Hipólito Yrigoyen.
• 1939 – World War II: Pope Pius XII makes a Christmas Eve appeal for peace.
• 1941 – World War II: Kuching is conquered by Japanese forces.
• 1942 – World War II: French monarchist, Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle, assassinates Vichy French Admiral François Darlan in Algiers.
• 1943 – World War II: U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes the Supreme Allied Commander.
• 1951 – Libya becomes independent from Italy. Idris I is proclaimed King of Libya.
• 1953 – Tangiwai disaster: A railway bridge is destroyed by a lahar at Tangiwai, in the Central North Island of New Zealand, sending a fully loaded passenger train into the Whangaehu River, and killing 153 people.
• 1955 – NORAD Tracks Santa for the first time in what will become an annual Christmas Eve tradition.
• 1964 – Vietnam War: Viet Cong operatives bomb the Brinks Hotel in Saigon to demonstrate they can strike an American installation in the heavily guarded capital.
• 1966 – A Canadair CL-44 chartered by the United States military crashes into a small village in South Vietnam, killing 129.
• 1968 – Apollo Program: The crew of Apollo 8 enters into orbit around the Moon, becoming the first humans to do so. They performed 10 lunar orbits and broadcast live TV pictures that became the famous Christmas Eve Broadcast, one of the most watched programs in history.
• 1972 Japan Airlines Flight 472, operated Douglas DC-8-53 landed at Juhu Aerodrome instead of Santacruz Airport in Bombay.
• 1973 – District of Columbia Home Rule Act is passed, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to elect their own local government.
• 1974 – Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin, Australia.
• 1979 – The first European Ariane rocket is launched.
• 1980 – Witnesses report the first of several sightings of unexplained lights near RAF Woodbridge, in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England, an incident called "Britain's Roswell".
• 1997 – The Sid El-Antri massacre (or Sidi Lamri) in Algeria kills 50-100 people.
• 2000 – The Texas 7 hold up a sports store in Irving, Texas. Police officer Aubrey Hawkins is murdered during the robbery.
• 2003 – The Spanish police thwart an attempt by ETA to detonate 50 kg of explosives at 3:55 p.m. inside Madrid's busy Chamartín Station.
• 2005 – Chad–Sudan relations: Chad declares a state of war against Sudan following a December 18 attack on Adré, which left about 100 people dead.
• 2008 – Lord's Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel group, begins a series of attacks on Democratic Republic of the Congo, massacring more than 400.

Births[link]

• 3 BC – Servius Sulpicius Galba, Roman Emperor (d. 69)
• 1166 – King John of England (d. 1216)
• 1389 – John VI, Duke of Brittany (d. 1442)
• 1475 – Thomas Murner, German writer (d. c. 1537)
• 1508 – Pietro Carnesecchi, Italian humanist (d. 1567)
• 1588 – Constance of Austria, queen of Poland (d. 1631)
• 1609 – Philip Warwick, English writer and politician (d. 1683)
• 1625 – Johann Rudolph Ahle, German composer, organist, theorist, and Protestant church musician (d. 1673)
• 1635 – Mariana of Austria, second wife of king Philip IV of Spain (d. 1696)
• 1679 – Domenico Sarro, Italian composer (d. 1744)
• 1698 – William Warburton, English Bishop of Gloucester (d. 1779)
• 1724 – Johann Conrad Ammann, Swiss physician and naturalist (d. 1811)
• 1726 – Johann Hartmann, Danish composer (d. 1793)
• 1745 – Benjamin Rush, doctor and Founding Father of the United States (d. 1813)
• 1754 – George Crabbe, British poet and naturalist (d. 1832)
• 1761 – Jean-Louis Pons, French astronomer (d. 1831)
• 1784 – Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia (d. 1803)
• 1798 – Adam Mickiewicz, Polish poet (d. 1855)
• 1809 – Kit Carson, American frontiersman (d. 1868)
• 1810 – Wilhelm Marstrand, Danish painter (d. 1873)
• 1812 – Karl Eduard Zachariae von Lingenthal, German jurist (d. 1894)
• 1818 – James Prescott Joule, British physicist (d. 1889)
• 1822 – Matthew Arnold, British poet (d. 1888)
• 1837 – Elisabeth of Bavaria, also known as Sissi, Empress of Austria (d. 1898)
• 1843 – Lydia Koidula, Estonian poet (d. 1886)
• 1845 – King George I of Greece (d. 1913)
• 1867 – Kantarō Suzuki, 42nd Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1948)
• 1868 – Emanuel Lasker, German chess player (d. 1941)
• 1877 – Sigrid Schauman, Finnish painter (d. 1979)
• 1879 – Queen Alexandrine of Denmark, Queen Consort to Christian X (d. 1952)
• 1879 – Émile Nelligan, Quebec poet (d. 1941)
• 1880 – Johnny Gruelle, American cartoonist, children's book writer and creator of Raggedy Ann (d. 1939)
• 1881 – Charles Wakefield Cadman, American composer (d. 1946)
• 1881 – Juan Ramón Jiménez, Spanish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
• 1886 – Michael Curtiz, Hungarian-born director (d. 1962)
• 1887 – Louis Jouvet, French actor and producer (d. 1951)
• 1893 – Ruth Chatterton, American actress (d. 1961)
• 1893 – Harry Warren, American composer and lyricist (Chattanooga Choo Choo – I Only Have Eyes for You) (d. 1981)
• 1894 – Georges Guynemer, French aviator (d. 1917)
• 1895 – E. Roland Harriman, American financier (d. 1978)
• 1895 – Noel Streatfeild, English children's writer (d. 1986)
• 1896 – Jens Oliver Lisberg, Faroese law student, designer of the Flag of the Faroe Islands (d. 1920)
• 1898 – Baby Dodds, American jazz drummer (d. 1959)
• 1898 – Héctor Scarone, Uruguayan footballer (d. 1967)
• 1900 – Joey Smallwood, Canadian politician, Premier of Newfoundland (d. 1991)
• 1903 – Ava Helen Pauling, American human rights activist (d. 1981)
• 1904 – Joseph Moses Juran, American industrial engineer and philanthropist (d. 2008)
• 1905 – Howard Hughes, American film producer and inventor (d. 1976)
• 1906 – Franz Waxman, German film composer (d. 1967)
• 1907 – I. F. Stone, American journalist (d. 1989)
• 1910 – Fritz Leiber, American writer (d. 1992)
• 1910 – Max Miedinger, typeface designer, famous for creating Helvetica in 1957. (d. 1980)
• 1914 – Ralph Marterie, American trumpet player and big band leader (d. 1978)
• 1914 – Herbert Reinecker, German writer (d. 2007)
• 1919 – Qateel Shifai, Pakistani Urdu poet, Lyricist (d. 11 July 2001)
• 1920 – Yevgeniya Rudneva, Russian World War II heroine (d. 1944)
• 1922 – Ava Gardner, American actress (d. 1990)
• 1923 – Michael DiBiase, American wrestler (d. 1969)
• 1923 – George Patton IV, American general (d. 2004)
• 1924 – Lee Dorsey, American singer (d.1986)
• 1924 – Mohammed Rafi, Indian actor and playback singer (d. 1980)
• 1924 – Norman Rossington, British actor (d. 1999)
• 1926 – Paul Buissonneau, French-born Quebec theatre director
• 1927 – Mary Higgins Clark, American author
• 1930 – Robert Joffrey, American choreographer (d. 1988)
• 1931 – Ray Bryant, American jazz pianist and composer
• 1931 – Mauricio Kagel, Argentine composer (d. 2008)
• 1932 – On Kawara, Japanese conceptual artist
• 1934 – Stjepan Mesić, president of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Secretary General of Non-Aligned Movement and president of Croatia
• 1937 – Félix Miéli Venerando, Brazilian football player
• 1938 – Bobby Henrich, American baseball player
• 1938 – Valentim Loureiro, Portuguese politician, and former football chairman of Boavista F.C. and Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional
• 1940 – Janet Carroll, American actress and singer (d. 2012)
• 1941 – John Levene, British actor
• 1942 – Jonathan Borofsky, American artist
• 1942 – Doan Viet Hoat, Vietnamese dissident journalist
• 1943 – Tarja Halonen, President of Finland
• 1944 – Barry Chuckle, British comedian
• 1944 – Mike Curb, American musician, record company executive and politician
• 1944 – Oswald Gracias, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Bombay
• 1944 – Daniel Johnson, Jr., Quebec politician, Premier of Quebec
• 1945 – Lemmy, British singer, bassist (Motörhead)
• 1945 – Nicholas Meyer, American author
• 1945 – Steve Smith, Canadian Comedian, The New Red Green Show, Duct Tape Forever
• 1946 – Brenda Howard, American bisexual activist (d. 2005)
• 1946 – Jeff Sessions, American politician
• 1946 – Jan Akkerman, Dutch guitarist, Focus
• 1947 – Kevin Sheedy, coach of Australian Football League club Essendon FC
• 1948 – Frank Oliver, New Zealand rugby player
• 1949 – Warwick Brown, Australian racing driver
• 1949 – Randy Neugebauer, American politician
• 1950 – Dana Gioia, American poet
• 1951 – John D'Acquisto, baseball player
• 1952 – Christopher Buckley, American author and political commentator
• 1953 – Timothy Carhart, American actor
• 1953 – François Loos, French politician
• 1954 – José María Figueres, Costa Rican politician
• 1955 – Grand L. Bush, American actor
• 1955 – Clarence Gilyard, American actor
• 1957 – Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan
• 1957 – Diane Tell, Quebec singer
• 1958 – Munetaka Higuchi, Japanese drummer (d. 2008)
• 1958 – Paul Pressey, American basketball player
• 1958 – Gene Sperling, American economist and government official
• 1959 – Keith Deller, British darts player
• 1959 – Anil Kapoor, Indian actor
• 1960 – Glenn McQueen, American animator (d. 2002)
• 1960 – Carol Vorderman, British television presenter
• 1961 – Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan
• 1961 – Jay Wright, American basketball coach
• 1963 – Caroline Aherne, British comedienne, writer and actress
• 1963 – Jay Bilas, American basketball analyst
• 1963 – Mary Ramsey, American singer (10,000 Maniacs)
• 1964 – Mark Valley, American actor
• 1965 – Millard Powers, American musician (Counting Crows)
• 1966 – Diedrich Bader, American actor
• 1967 – Mikhail Shchennikov, Russian race walker
• 1968 – Choi Jin-sil, South Korean actress and model (d. 2008)
• 1968 – Doyle Bramhall II, American guitarist
• 1968 – Marleen Renders, Belgian athlete
• 1969 – Brad Anderson, American professional wrestler
• 1969 – Sean Michael, South African actor
• 1969 – Ed Miliband, British politician
• 1969 – Mark Millar, Scottish comic book writer
• 1970 – Amaury Nolasco, American actor
• 1970 – Will Oldham, American singer and songwriter
• 1971 – Giorgos Alkaios, Greek singer
• 1971 – Christopher Daniels, American professional wrestler
• 1971 – Sascha Fischer, German rugby player
• 1971 – Ricky Martin, Puerto Rican singer
• 1971 – Oro, Mexican professional wrestler (d. 1993)
• 1972 – Alvaro Mesen, Costa Rican footballer
• 1972 – Klaus Schnellenkamp, German-Chilean author
• 1973 – Stephenie Meyer, American author
• 1973 – Eddie Pope, American soccer player
• 1973 – Ali Salem Tamek, Sahrawi independence activist
• 1974 – Thure Lindhardt, Danish actor
• 1974 – Marcelo Salas, Chilean footballer
• 1974 – Ryan Seacrest, American television host
• 1976 – Yuri, Korean singer
• 1978 – Yıldıray Baştürk, Turkish footballer
• 1978 – Warren Tredrea, Australian rules footballer
• 1979 – Chris Hero, American professional wrestler
• 1980 – Tomas Kalnoky, Czech musician (Streetlight Manifesto)
• 1981 – Dima Bilan, Russian pop artist
• 1981 – Shane Tuck, Australian rules footballer
• 1982 – Robert Carmine, American singer
• 1982 – Masaki Aiba, Japanese singer and actor (Arashi)
• 1985 – Alexey Dmitriev, German ice hockey player
• 1985 – David Ragan, American race car driver
• 1986 – Tim Elliott, American Mixed Martial Artist
• 1986 – Kyrylo Fesenko, Ukrainian basketball player
• 1986 – Riyo Mori, Japanese model
• 1987 – Jane Summersett, American ice dancer
• 1988 – Stefanos Athanasiadis, Greek footballer, striker at PAOK F.C.
• 1991 – Wasim Tareen, Pakistani footballer
• 1992 – Melissa Suffield, English actress
• 1995 – Anett Kontaveit, Estonian tennis player
• 2000 – Ethan Bortnick, American musician

Deaths[link]

• 427 – Archbishop Sisinnius I of Constantinople
• 738 – Maslamah ibn Abd al-Malik, Umayyad prince and general
• 1257 – John I, Count of Hainaut (b. 1218)
• 1400 – Archibald the Grim, Scottish magnate (b. 1328)
• 1453 – John Dunstaple, English composer (b. c.1390)
• 1524 – Vasco da Gama, Portuguese explorer (b. c.1469)
• 1660 – Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange (b. 1631)
• 1707 – Noël Coypel, French painter (b. 1628)
• 1813 – Empress Go-Sakuramachi of Japan (b. 1740)
• 1863 – William Makepeace Thackeray, British writer (b. 1811)
• 1865 – Sir Charles Lock Eastlake, British painter and writer (b. 1793)
• 1868 – Adolphe d'Archiac, French paleontologist and geologist (b. 1802)
• 1872 – William John Macquorn Rankine, British physician and engenier (b. 1820)
• 1873 – Johns Hopkins, Baltimore philanthropist and businessman (b. 1795)
• 1889 – Jan Jakob Lodewijk ten Kate, Dutch poet and clergyman (b. 1819)
• 1898 – Sharbel Makhluf, Lebanese monk canonized in 1977 by Pope Paul VI (b. 1828)
• 1914 – John Muir, Scottish-American naturalist (b. 1838)
• 1920 – Stephen Mosher Wood, American politician (b. 1832)
• 1935 – Alban Berg, Austrian composer (b. 1885)
• 1938 – Bruno Taut, German architect (b. 1880)
• 1941 – Siegfried Alkan, German composer (b. 1858)
• 1942 – François Darlan, vice-premier of Vichy France (b. 1881)
• 1957 – Norma Talmadge, American actress (b. 1893)
• 1965 – William M. Branham, Christian minister (b. 1906)
• 1967 – Burt Baskin, American entrepreneur (b. 1913)
• 1971 – Maria Koepcke, ornithologist (b. 1924)
• 1972 – Gisela Richter, British art historian (b. 1882)
• 1972 – Melville Ruick, American actor (b. 1898)
• 1975 – Bernard Herrmann, American film composer (b. 1911)
• 1976 – Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza, heir to the throne of Portugal (b. 1907)
• 1977 – Samael Aun Weor, Columbian writer (b. 1917)
• 1980 – Karl Dönitz, German naval admiral, and last leader of Nazi Germany (b. 1891)
• 1980 – Siggie Nordstrom, model, actress, entertainer, socialite and lead singer of The Nordstrom Sisters (b. 1893)
• 1982 – Louis Aragon, French writer (b. 1897)
• 1984 – Peter Lawford, British actor (b. 1923)
• 1985 – Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, Last Lincoln descendant (b. 1904)
• 1985 – Camille Tourville, Professional wrestler (b. 1927)
• 1986 – Gardner Fox, American writer (b. 1911)
• 1987 – Joop den Uyl, Dutch politician (b. 1919)
• 1987 – Betty Noyes, singer who dubbed Debbie Reynold's singing voice in Singin' in the Rain
• 1987 – M. G. Ramachandran, Chief Minister of the Tamil Nadu (b. 1917)
• 1990 – Thorbjørn Egner, Norwegian author (b. 1922)
• 1992 – Bobby LaKind, American musician and singer (The Doobie Brothers) (b. 1945)
• 1992 – Peyo, Belgian comics artist, and creator of The Smurfs (b. 1928)
• 1993 – Norman Vincent Peale, American writer (b. 1898)
• 1994 – John Boswell, American historian (b. 1947)
• 1994 – Rossano Brazzi, Italian actor and singer (b. 1916)
• 1997 – Toshirō Mifune, Japanese actor (b. 1920)
• 1997 – Pierre Péladeau, Quebec businessman, founder of Quebecor (b. 1925)
• 1998 – Syl Apps, Canadian ice hockey player and pole vaulter (b. 1915)
• 1999 – Bill Bowerman, American track and field coach (b. 1911)
• 1999 – Maurice Couve de Murville, French politician, Prime minister of France (b. 1907)
• 1999 – João Figueiredo, President of Brazil (b. 1918)
• 2000 – John Cooper, English race car designer (b. 1923)
• 2000 – Nick Massi, American singer (The Four Seasons) (b. 1935)
• 2002 – Kjell Aukrust, Norwegian author (b. 1920)
• 2002 – Laci Peterson, American murder victim (b. 1975)
• 2002 – Jake Thackray, English singer-songwriter (b. 1938)
• 2004 – Johnny Oates, baseball player and manager (b. 1946)
• 2005 – Michael Vale, American commercial actor (b. 1922)
• 2006 – "Braguinha", Brazilian songwriter (b. 1907)
• 2006 – Kenneth Sivertsen, Norwegian singer, poet and comedian (b. 1961)
• 2006 – Frank Stanton, American television executive (b. 1908)
• 2007 – Nicholas Pumfrey, British judge (b. 1951)
• 2007 – Akbar Radi, Iranian dramatist and playwright (b. 1939)
• 2008 – Harold Pinter, British playwright (b. 1930)
• 2009 – Marcus Bakker, Dutch politician (b. 1923)
• 2009 – Rafael Caldera, lawyer, sociologist, writer, speaker, politician, and ex-president of Venezuela (b. 1916)
• 2009 – George Michael, American sportscaster (The George Michael Sports Machine) (b. 1939)
• 2010 – Elisabeth Beresford, British author and creator of The Wombles (b. 1926)
• 2010 – Frans de Munck, Dutch football goalkeeper (b. 1922)
• 2010 – Orestes Quércia, Brazilian politician (b. 1938)
• 2010 – Eino Tamberg, Estonian composer (b. 1930)
• 2011 – Johannes Heesters, Dutch actor and singer (b. 1903)

Holidays and observances[link]

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Adela and Irmina
• Christmas Eve (Christianity) and its related observances:
  • Aðfangadagskvöld, the day when the 13th and the last Yule Lad arrives to towns. (Iceland)
  • Feast of the Seven Fishes (Italy)
  • Jul (Denmark, Norway and Sweden)
  • Nochebuena (Spain and Spanish-speaking countries)
  • The Declaration of Christmas Peace (Old Great Square of Turku, Finland's official Christmas City)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: December 24

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

Imran Khan Niazi عمران خان نیازی
Personal details
Born	(1952-11-25) 25 November 1952 (age 59) Lahore, West Punjab, Dominion of Pakistan
Political party	Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
Spouse(s)	Jemima Khan (1995–2004)
Children	Sulaiman Qasim Khan
Residence	Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Alma mater	Keble College, Oxford
Occupation	Politician Philanthropist Cricketer
Religion	Islam
Website	PTI

Imran Khan Niazi (Urdu: عمران خان نیازی; born 25 November 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former cricketer, playing international cricket for two decades in the late twentieth century. After retiring, he entered politics. Currently, besides his political activism, Khan is also a philanthropist, cricket commentator, Chancellor of the University of Bradford and Founder and Chairman Board of Governors of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre.

Arguably Pakistan's most successful cricket captain, Khan played for the Pakistani cricket team from 1971 to 1992 and served as its captain intermittently throughout 1982–1992.^[1] After retiring from cricket at the end of the 1987 World Cup, he was called back to join the team in 1988. At 39, Khan led his teammates to Pakistan's first and only World Cup victory in 1992. He has a record of 3807 runs and 362 wickets in Test cricket, making him one of eight world cricketers to have achieved an 'All-rounder's Triple' in Test matches.^[2] On 14 July 2010, Khan was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.^[3]

In April 1996, Khan founded and became the chairman of a political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice).^[4] He represented Mianwali as a member of the National Assembly from November 2002 to October 2007.^[5] Foreign Policy magazine has described him as "Pakistan's Ron Paul".^[6]

Through worldwide fundraising, he has also helped establish the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre in 1996 and Mianwali's Namal College in 2008.

Family, education, and personal life[link]

Imran Khan was born in Lahore, the only son of Ikramullah Khan Niazi, a civil engineer, and his wife Shaukat Khanum.^[7] Although long settled in Mianwali in Punjab, the family were of Pashtun ethnicity and belonged to the Niazi Shermankhel tribe.^[8] A quiet and shy boy in his youth, Khan grew up with his four sisters in relatively affluent (upper middle-class) circumstances^[9] and received a privileged education. He was educated the Cathedral School in Lahore, the Royal Grammar School Worcester in England, where he excelled at cricket, and at Aitchison College, Lahore. In 1972, he enrolled to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Keble College, Oxford, where he graduated with a second-class degree in Politics and a third in Economics.^[10] Khan's mother hailed from the Burki family which had produced several successful hockey players,^[7] as also cricketers such as Javed Burki and Majid Khan.^[8] Early in life, Khan developed an interest in cricket, which is an extremely popular sport in Pakistan.

Marriage to Jemima Marcelle Goldsmith[link]

On 16 May 1995, Khan married Jemima Goldsmith, in an Islamic ceremony in Paris. A month later, on 21 June, they were married again in a civil ceremony at the Richmond register office in England, followed by a reception at the Goldsmiths' house in Surrey.^[11] . The marriage, described as "tough" by Khan,^[8] produced two sons, Sulaiman Isa (born 18 November 1996) and Kasim (born 10 April 1999).^[12] As an agreement of his marriage, Khan spent four months a year in England. On 22 June 2004, it was announced that the Khans had divorced because it was "difficult for Jemima to adapt to life in Pakistan".^[13] The marriage ended amicably. Imran has regular access to his children and his relationship with his ex-wife is friendly. Khan now resides in Bani Gala, Islamabad, where he built a farmhouse with the money he gained from selling his London flat. He grows fruit trees, wheat, and keeps cows, while also maintaining a cricket ground for his two sons, who visit during their holidays.^[8]

Cricket career[link]

Pride of Performance Award Recipient
Imran Khan was recipient of the Pride of Performance Award 1983
Presented by	Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Date	1983
Country	Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Khan made a lacklustre first-class cricket debut at the age of sixteen in Lahore. By the start of the 1970s, he was playing for his home teams of Lahore A (1969–70), Lahore B (1969–70), Lahore Greens (1970–71) and, eventually, Lahore (1970–71).^[14] Khan was part of Oxford University's Blues Cricket team during the 1973–75 seasons.^[10] At Worcestershire, where he played county cricket from 1971 to 1976, he was regarded as only an average medium pace bowler. During this decade, other teams represented by Khan include Dawood Industries (1975–76) and Pakistan International Airlines (1975–76 to 1980–81). From 1983 to 1988, he played for Sussex.^[2]

In 1971, Khan made his Test cricket debut against England at Birmingham. Three years later, he debuted in the One Day International (ODI) match, once again playing against England at Nottingham for the Prudential Trophy. After graduating from Oxford and finishing his tenure at Worcestershire, he returned to Pakistan in 1976 and secured a permanent place on his native national team starting from the 1976–77 season, during which they faced New Zealand and Australia.^[14] Following the Australian series, he toured the West Indies, where he met Tony Greig, who signed him up for Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket.^[2] His credentials as one of the fastest bowlers of the world started to establish when he finished third at 139.7 km/h in a fast bowling contest at Perth in 1978, behind Jeff Thomson and Michael Holding, but ahead of Dennis Lillee, Garth Le Roux and Andy Roberts.^[2]