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December 26 is the 360th day of the year (361st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are five days remaining until the end of the year.
Events
- 1481 – Battle of Westbrook – Holland defeats troops of Utrecht.
- 1613 – Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset, marries Frances Howard.
- 1620 – Pilgrim Fathers land at what becomes New Plymouth in Massachusetts.
- 1776 – American Revolutionary War: The British are defeated in the Battle of Trenton.
- 1790 – Louis XVI of France gives his public assent to Civil Constitution of the Clergy during the French Revolution.
- 1792 – The final trial of Louis XVI of France begins in Paris.
- 1793 – Battle of Geisberg: French defeat Austrians.
- 1793 – The wedding of Prince Friedrich Ludwig of Prussia and Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz takes place.
- 1805 – Austria and France sign the Treaty of Pressburg.
- 1806 – Battles of Pultusk and Golymin: Russian forces hold French forces under Napoleon.
- 1811 – A theater fire in Richmond, Virginia kills the Governor of Virginia George William Smith and the president of the First National Bank of Virginia Abraham B. Venable.
- 1825 – Several Imperial Russia army officers lead circa 3000 soldiers on the Senate Square in the failed Decembrist uprising.
- 1848 – The Phi Delta Theta fraternity is founded at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.
- 1860 – The first ever inter-club football match takes place between Hallam F.C. and Sheffield F.C. at the Sandygate Road ground in Sheffield, England.
- 1861 – American Civil War: The Trent Affair: Confederate diplomatic envoys James M. Mason and John Slidell are freed by the United States government, thus heading off a possible war between the United States and Britain.
- 1862 – American Civil War: The Battle of Chickasaw Bayou begins.
- 1862 – Four nuns serving as volunteer nurses on board USS Red Rover are the first female nurses on a U.S. Navy hospital ship.
- 1862 – The largest mass-hanging in U.S. history took place in Mankato, Minnesota, 38 Native Americans die.
- 1870 – The 12.8-km long Fréjus Rail Tunnel through the Alps is completed.
- 1871 – Gilbert and Sullivan collaborate for the first time, on their lost opera, Thespis. It does modestly well, but the two would not collaborate again for four years.
- 1883 – The Harbour Grace Affray between Irish Catholics and Protestant Orangemen causes five deaths in Newfoundland.
- 1898 – Marie and Pierre Curie announce the isolation of radium.
- 1919 – Babe Ruth of the Boston Red Sox is sold to the New York Yankees by owner Harry Frazee.
- 1925 – Turkey adopts the Gregorian Calendar.
- 1925 – The Communist Party of India is founded.
- 1931 – Phi Iota Alpha, the Oldest Latino Fraternity in Existence, was founded in Troy, NY.
- 1933 – FM radio is patented.
- 1933 – The Nissan Motor Company is organized in Tokyo, Japan.
- 1941 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day in the United States.
- 1943 – World War II: German warship Scharnhorst is sunk off of Norway's North Cape after a battle against major Royal Navy forces.
- 1944 – World War II: Patton's Third Army breaks the encirclement of surrounded U.S. forces at Bastogne, Belgium.
- 1945 – CFP franc and CFA franc are created.
- 1948 – Cardinal Mindszenty is arrested in Hungary and accused of treason and conspiracy.
- 1966 – The first Kwanzaa is celebrated by Maulana Karenga, the chair of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach.
- 1975 – The Tupolev Tu-144 goes into service in Soviet Union.
- 1976 – The Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist) is founded.
- 1979 – Opening night of the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea at the Hammersmith Odeon; a benefit concert for the citizens of Cambodia who were victims of dictator Pol Pot.
- 1980 – Aeroflot puts the Ilyushin Il-86 into service.
- 1982 – Time Magazine's Man of the Year is for the first time a non-human, the personal computer.
- 1986 – The first long-running American television soap opera, Search for Tomorrow, airs its final episode after thirty-five years on the air.
- 1986 – World Population reaches 5 billion according to www.ibiblio.org world population tracker.
- 1991 – The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union meets and formally dissolves the USSR.
- 1996 – Six-year-old beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey is found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family's home in Boulder, Colorado.
- 1996 – Start of the largest strike in South Korean history.
- 1997 – The Soufriere Hills volcano on the island of Montserrat explodes, creating a small tsunami offshore.
- 1998 – Iraq announces its intention to fire upon U.S. and British warplanes that patrol the northern and southern no-fly zones.
- 2003 – A magnitude 6.6 earthquake devastates southeast Iranian city of Bam, killing tens of thousands and destroying the citadel of Arg-é Bam.
- 2004 – A 9.3 magnitude earthquake creates a tsunami causing devastation in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Maldives and many other areas around the rim of the Indian Ocean, killing over 250,000 people.
- 2005 – Boxing Day shooting on a busy shopping street in Toronto.
- 2006 – The 2006 Hengchun earthquake with 7.1 magnitude hit Taiwan.
Births
- 1194 – Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1250)
- 1532 – Guilielmus Xylander, German classical scholar (d. 1576)
- 1536 – Yi I, Korean Confucian scholar (d. 1584)
- 1542 – Tokugawa Ieyasu, unifier of Japan and first Tokugawa Shogun (d. 1616)
- 1646 – Robert Bolling, English settler in Virginia (d. 1709)
- 1666 – Guru Gobind Singh, Tenth Guru of Sikhism (d. 1708)
- 1687 – Johann Georg Pisendel, German musician (d. 1755)
- 1716 – Thomas Gray, English writer (d. 1771)
- 1716 – Jean François de Saint-Lambert, French poet (d. 1803)
- 1723 – Friedrich Melchior, baron von Grimm, German writer (d. 1807)
- 1737 – Prince Josias of Coburg, Austrian general (d. 1815)
- 1751 – Clement Hofbauer, Austrian missionary and saint (d. 1820)
- 1771 – Julie Clary, queen consort of Naples (d. 1845)
- 1780 – Mary Fairfax Somerville, British mathematician (d. 1872)
- 1782 – Filaret Drozdov, Metropolitan of Moscow (d. 1867)
- 1791 – Charles Babbage, English mathematician and inventor (d. 1871)
- 1819 – E. D. E. N. Southworth, American novelist (d. 1899)
- 1822 – Dion Boucicault, Irish actor and playwright (d. 1890)
- 1837 – George Dewey, U. S. admiral (d. 1917)
- 1837 – Morgan Bulkeley, American politician and baseball commissioner (d. 1922)
- 1853 – René Bazin, French novelist (d. 1932)
- 1859 – William Stephens, U.S. political figure (d. 1944)
- 1872 – Norman Angell, British politician, Nobel laureate (d. 1967)
- 1873 – Thomas Wass, English cricketer (d. 1953)
- 1883 – Maurice Utrillo, French artist (d. 1955)
- 1887 – Arthur Ernest Percival, British Army officer (d. 1966)
- 1890 – Uncle Charlie Osborne, American fiddler (d. 1992)
- 1891 – Henry Miller, American writer (d. 1980)
- 1893 – Mao Zedong, Chinese military leader and politician (d. 1976)
- 1894 – Jean Toomer, American writer (d. 1967)
- 1902 – Anatoli Lvovich Kaplan, Russian painter (d. 1980)
- 1903 – Elisha Cook Jr., American actor (d. 1995)
- 1904 – Alejo Carpentier, Cuban writer (d. 1980)
- 1905 – William Loeb, American newspaper publisher, (d. 1981)
- 1906 – Imperio Argentina, Argentine actress and singer (d. 2003)
- 1907 – Albert Gore Sr., American Politician (d. 1998)
- 1911 – Arsenio Lacson, Filipino politician and sportswriter (d. 1962)
- 1913 – Frank Swift, English footballer and journalist (d. 1958)
- 1914 – Annemarie Wendl, German actress (d. 2006)
- 1914 – Richard Widmark, American actor (d. 2008)
- 1918 – George Rallis, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2006)
- 1921 – Steve Allen, American comedian (d. 2000)
- 1922 – Richard Mayes, English actor (d. 2006)
- 1924 – Frank Broyles, American athlete, long time athletic director of the University of Arkansas.
- 1926 – Gina Pellón, Cuban painter
- 1927 – Alan King, American comedian (d. 2004)
- 1927 – Stu Miller, American baseball player
- 1927 – Denis Quilley, British actor (d. 2003)
- 1929 – Régine, French singer and nightclub owner
- 1930 – Donald Moffat, English-born actor
- 1930 – Jean Ferrat, French singer and songwriter
- 1933 – Ugly Dave Gray, Australian television personality
- 1933 – Caroll Spinney, American puppeteer
- 1935 – Abdul "Duke" Fakir, American singer (The Four Tops)
- 1935 – Norm Ullman, Canadian hockey player
- 1937 – John Horton Conway, British mathematician
- 1937 – Jay Heimowitz, American poker player
- 1938 – Bahram Beizai, Iranian playwright and film director
- 1938 – Alamgir Kabir, Bangladeshi film director (d. 1989)
- 1939 – Fred Schepisi, Australian film director
- 1939 – Phil Spector, American music producer
- 1940 – Edward C. Prescott, American economist, Nobel laureate
- 1940 – Ray Sadecki, American Major league baseball pitcher
- 1941 – Daniel Schmid, Swiss film director (d. 2006)
- 1942 – Marco Vinicio Cerezo Arévalo, Guatemalan president
- 1942 – Gray Davis, former Governor of California
- 1944 – Jane Lapotaire, British actress
- 1945 – John Walsh, American talk show host
- 1947 – James T. Conway, 34th Commandant of the United States Marine Corps
- 1947 – Carlton Fisk, American baseball player
- 1947 – Richard L. McCormick, President of Rutgers University
- 1948 – Candy Crowley, American journalist
- 1949 – José Ramos-Horta, President of East Timor, Nobel laureate
- 1951 – Richard Skinner, British radio presenter
- 1951 – John Scofield, American jazz guitarist
- 1953 – Leonel Fernández, Dominican politician and current President of the Dominican Republic
- 1953 – Henning Schmitz, German musician (Kraftwerk)
- 1953 – Toomas Hendrik Ilves, President of Estonia
- 1954 – Peter Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer
- 1954 – Ozzie Smith, American baseball player
- 1954 – Steve Steen, English actor
- 1954 – Tony Rosato, Italian-Canadian actor
- 1955 – Evan Bayh, American politician
- 1956 – David Sedaris, American essayist
- 1957 – Dermot Murnaghan, British broadcaster
- 1958 – Adrian Newey, British engineer
- 1959 – Koji Morimoto, Japanese animated film director
- 1960 – Temuera Morrison, New Zealand actor
- 1960 – Jim Toomey, American syndicated cartoonist
- 1960 – Tina Wesson, Winner of Survivor: The Australian Outback
- 1961 – Andrew Lock, Australian mountaineer
- 1961 – John Lynch, Irish actor
- 1963 – Lars Ulrich, Danish-born drummer (Metallica)
- 1963 – Bill Wennington, Canadian basketball player
- 1964 – Elizabeth Kostova, American author
- 1966 – Tim Legler, American basketball player
- 1966 – Sandra Taylor, American model and actress
- 1968 – Dennis Knight, American professional wrestler
- 1970 – James Mercer, American musician (The Shins)
- 1970 – Krissada Terrence, Thai singer and actor
- 1971 – Jared Leto, American actor and singer (30 Seconds to Mars)
- 1971 – Mika Nurmela, Finnish footballer
- 1971 – Jonathan M. Parisen, American film director
- 1972 – Esteban Fuertes, Argentine footballer
- 1972 – Robert Muchamore, English children's author
- 1973 – Reichen Lehmkuhl, American television personality
- 1974 – Josie Ho, Hong Kong singer and actor
- 1974 – Joshua John Miller, American actor
- 1975 – Marcelo Ríos, Chilean tennis player
- 1976 – Simon Goodwin, Australian rules footballer
- 1976 – Lea De Mae, Czech actress (d. 2004)
- 1976 – Nadia Litz, Canadian actress
- 1978 – Kaoru Sugayama, Japanese volleyball player
- 1979 – Fabián Carini, Uruguayan footballer
- 1979 – Chris Daughtry, American singer
- 1979 – Mzbel, Ghanaian singer
- 1979 – Dimitry Vassiliev, Russian ski jumper
- 1979 – Craig Wing, Australian Rugby League Player
- 1980 – Todd Dunivant, American soccer player
- 1982 – Kenneth Darby, American National Football League player
- 1982 – Oguri Shun, Japanese Actor/Model
- 1982 – Aksel Lund Svindal, Norwegian skier
- 1984 – Alex Schwazer, Italian race walker
- 1985 – Yuu Shirota, Japanese Idol
- 1987 – Adam Walker, British flautist
- 1988 – Alistair Taylor, English Entrepreneur
- 1989 – Jennica Garcia, Filipina actress
- 1989 – Sergio Pérez, Mexican racing driver
- 1990 – Aaron Ramsey, Welsh footballer
- 1995 – Zach Mills, American actor
Deaths
- 268 – Pope Dionysius
- 418 – Pope Zosimus
- 1350 – Jean de Marigny, French bishop
- 1458 – Arthur III, Duke of Brittany (b. 1393)
- 1476 – Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan (b. 1444)
- 1530 – Babur, Emperor of the Mogul empire (b. 1483)
- 1574 – Charles of Guise, French cardinal (b. 1524)
- 1624 – Simon Marius, German astronomer (b. 1573)
- 1731 – Antoine Houdar de la Motte, French writer (b. 1672)
- 1771 – Claude Adrien Helvétius, French philosopher (b. 1715)
- 1780 – John Fothergill, English physician (b. 1712)
- 1784 – Seth Warner, American revolutionary leader (b. 1743)
- 1786 – Gasparo Gozzi, Italian critic and dramatist (b. 1713)
- 1869 – Jean Louis Marie Poiseuille, French physiologist (b. 1797)
- 1890 – Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist (b. 1822)
- 1909 – Frederic Remington, American artist (b. 1861)
- 1923 – Dietrich Eckart, German Nazi politician (b. 1868)
- 1931 – Melvil Dewey, inventor of the Dewey decimal classification (b. 1851)
- 1933 – Anatoly Lunacharsky, Russian literary critic and politician (b. 1875)
- 1933 – Henry Watson Fowler, English schoolmaster, lexicographer and commentator on the usage of the English language (b. 1858)
- 1957 – Charles Pathé, French film and recording industries pioneer (b. 1863)
- 1960 – Watsuji Tetsuro, Japanese philosopher (b. 1889)
- 1963 – George Wagner (Gorgeous George), American professional wrestler and television personality (b. 1915)
- 1966 – Herbert Otto Gille, German SS officer (b. 1897)
- 1970 – Lillian Board, British track and field athlete (b. 1948)
- 1972 – Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States (b. 1884)
- 1973 – Harold B. Lee, 11th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1899)
- 1974 – Farid al-Atrash, Arab composer, singer, virtuoso oud player, and actor (b. 1915)
- 1974 – Jack Benny, American comedian (b. 1894)
- 1977 – Howard Hawks, American film director and writer (b. 1896)
- 1980 – Tony Smith, American sculptor (b. 1912)
- 1981 – Savitri, Indian actress (b. 1937)
- 1981 – Amber Reeves, feminist writer (b. 1887)
- 1983 – Violet Carson, British actress (b. 1898)
- 1985 – Dian Fossey, American gorilla specialist (b. 1932)
- 1985 – Harold P. Warren, American movie director (d. 1928)
- 1986 – Elsa Lanchester, British-born actress (b. 1902)
- 1988 – Glenn McCarthy, American oil tycoon and businessman (b. 1907)
- 1989 – Doug Harvey, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1924)
- 1990 – Gene Callahan, American film art and production designer (b. 1923)
- 1992 – Nikita Magaloff, Russian pianist (b. 1912)
- 1994 – Parveen Shakir, Pakistani Woman Poet (b. 1952)
- 1997 – Cornelius Castoriadis, Greek philosopher and economist (b. 1922)
- 1999 – Curtis Mayfield, American musician (b. 1942)
- 1999 – Shankar Dayal Sharma, President of India (b. 1918)
- 2000 – Jason Robards, American actor (b. 1922)
- 2001 – Nigel Hawthorne, English actor (b. 1929)
- 2002 – Herb Ritts, American photographer (b. 1952)
- 2002 – Armand Zildjian, American cymbal manufacturer (b. 1921)
- 2004 – Sir Angus Ogilvy, British businessman (b. 1928)
- 2004 – Marianne Heiberg, Norwegian mediator (b. 1945)
- 2004 – Jonathan Drummond-Webb, South African heart surgeon (b. 1959)
- 2004 – Sigurd Køhn, Norwegian jazz musician (b. 1959)
- 2004 – Reggie White, American football player (b. 1961)
- 2004 – Aki Sirkesalo, Finnish musician (b. 1962)
- 2004 – Mieszko Talarczyk, Polish-born Swedish musician (Nasum) (b. 1974)
- 2004 – Troy Broadbridge, Australian rules footballer (b. 1980)
- 2004 – Khun Bhumi Jensen, Thai Royal Family member (b. 1983)
- 2005 – Erich Topp, German submarine commander (b. 1914)
- 2005 – Muriel Costa-Greenspon, American mezzo-soprano (b. 1937)
- 2005 – Kerry Packer, Australian businessman (b. 1937)
- 2005 – Vincent Schiavelli, American actor (b. 1948)
- 2006 – Gerald Ford, 38th President of the United States (b. 1913)
- 2006 – Ivar Formo, Norwegian skier (b. 1951)
- 2007 – John A. Garraty, American author (b. 1920)
- 2007 – Stu Nahan, American sportscaster (b. 1926)
- 2007 – Joe Dolan, Irish entertainer (b. 1943)
- 2008 – Gösta Krantz, Swedish actor (b. 1925)
Holidays and observances
- St. Stephen's Day, a public holiday in Alsace, Austria, Catalonia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg, Poland and in Slovakia.
- Synaxis of Theotokos and feast of St. Joseph, King and Prophet David and St. James the Just (Orthodox Christianity)
- The second of the twelve days of Christmas in Western Christianity.
- Boxing Day in the Commonwealth of Nations except when 26 December is a Sunday Boxing Day is transferred to 27 December by Royal Proclamation.
- Wren day in Ireland and the Isle of Man.
- Australia – Proclamation Day (South Australian public holiday), for the foundation of the Australian state of South Australia on December 28, 1836 but commemorated on this day.
- Solomon Islands – Thanksgiving public holiday.
- South Africa – Day of Goodwill, a public holiday.
- First day of Kwanzaa
- Abadiu of Antinoe is commemorated in the Coptic Church on this date.
- First day of Junkanoo street parade in the Bahamas (the second day is on the New Year's Day)
- Slovenia – Day of independence and unity, national holiday.
- December 26 is Mauro Hamza Day in Houston, Texas
External links
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