26th December
December 26 is the 360th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, 361st in leap years. There are 5 days remaining.
Events
- 1620 - Elizabeth Bathory's crimes are uncovered
- 1776 - American Revolutionary War: The British were defeated in the Battle of Trenton
- 1825 - The Erie Canal opens
- 1861 - Confederate diplomatic envoys James Mason and John Slidell are freed by the United States government, thus heading off a possible war between the United States and Great Britain
- 1908 - Jack Johnson becomes the first African American heavyweight boxing champion by defeating Tommy Burns in Sydney, Australia
- 1933 - The Nissan Motor Company was organized in Tokyo, Japan
- 1933 - FM radio is patented
- 1944 - The play The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams was first publicly performed.
- 1944 - American troops repulse German forces at Bastogne
- 1966 - The first Kwanzaa is celebrated by Maulana Karenga, the chair of Black Studies at California State University at Long Beach
- 1982 - TIME magazine's Man of the Year was for the first time given to a non-human; a computer.
- 1991 - Supreme Soviet meets and formally dissolves the USSR.
- 1996 - JonBenét Ramsey, a six-year-old beauty queen, was found murdered in her family's basement in Boulder, Colorado.
- 1998 - Iraq announced its intention to fire upon US and British warplanes that patrol the northern and southern "no-fly zones".
- 2003 - Major earthquake devastates southeast Iranian city, at least 5,000 killed, and 30,000 injured
Births
- 1194 - Frederick II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (d. 1250)
- 1716 - Thomas Gray, poet and letter-writer (d. 1771)
- 1751 - Clement Mary Hofbauer, Redemptorist missionary (d. 1820)
- 1791 - Charles Babbage, English mathematician and inventor of computing machines (d. 1871)
- 1837 - George Dewey, Admiral in the United States Navy (d. 1917)
- 1883 - Maurice Utrillo, painter (d. 1955)
- 1891 - Henry Miller, writer (d. 1980)
- 1893 - Mao Zedong, Chinese military leader, politician and dictator (d. 1976)
- 1903 - Elisha Cook Jr., actor (d. 1995)
- 1914 - Richard Widmark, actor
- 1921 - Steve Allen, actor, comedian, composer, author (d. 2000)
- 1927 - Alan King, comedian, actor
- 1940 - Phil Spector, music producer
- 1942 - Gray Davis, former Governor of California
- 1945 - John Walsh, talk show host, television presenter
- 1954 - Ozzie Smith, Baseball Hall of Famer
- 1956 - David Sedaris, essayist
- 1971 - Jared Leto, actor
Deaths
- 1890 - Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist (b. 1822)
- 1909 - Frederic Remington, artist (b. 1861)
- 1963 - Gorgeous George, professional wrestler, television personality
- 1972 - Harry S. Truman, 33rd president of the United States (b. 1884)
- 1974 - Jack Benny, comedian (b. 1894)
- 1977 - Howard Hawks, film director, writer (b. 1896)
- 1985 - Dian Fossey, anthropologist (b. 1932)
- 1986 - Elsa Lanchester, actress (b. 1902)
- 1999 - Curtis Mayfield, musician (b. 1942)
- 2000 - Jason Robards, actor (b. 1922)
- 2001 - Nigel Hawthorne, actor (b. 1929)
- 2002 - Herb Ritts, celebrity photographer (b. 1952)
Holidays and observances
See Also:
December 25 - December 27 - November 26 - January 26 -- listing of all days
January, February, March, April, May, June, July,
August, September, October, November, December
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