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Today December 26th in history click read more below to view detail events, deaths, births, Holidays and observances, and video clips in hisotry. Please comments, last database updated: Jan 17th, 2009
Events
1251 – Alexander III, the King of Scots, was married to Margaret, the daughter of Henry III, King of England, in York.
1481 – Battle of Westbrook – Holland defeats troops of Utrecht.
1613 – Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset, marries Frances Howard, occasioning John Donne s Eclogue.
1620 – Elizabeth Báthory s crimes are uncovered.
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.
1916 – Joseph Joffre is made Marshal of France.
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.
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.
1973 – Comet Kohoutek reaches perihelion but is not as spectacular a display as expected.
1973 – Soyuz 13 lands on earth after a week in orbit.
1974 – Salyut 4 is launched.
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.
1988 – The Nanjing Anti-African protests in Nanjing, the People s Republic of China begin.
1990 – Results of a national referendum for independence of Slovenia were published.
1991 – The Supreme Soviet 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.
1996 – The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification goes into force.
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.
1998 – Severe gales over Ireland, northern England, and southern Scotland cause widespread disruption and widespread power outages in Northern Ireland and southern Scotland.
1999 – Severe weather in France kills over 100 people and causes extensive damage to property, trees and the French national power grid (see Lothar).
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 9.0 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 230,000 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
1940 – Edward C. Prescott, American economist, Nobel laureate
1940 – Ray Sadecki, American Major league baseball pitcher
1940 – Phil Spector, American music producer
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
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)
1954 – Ozzie Smith, American baseball player
1954 – Steve Steen, English 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 – John Lynch, Irish actor
1963 – Lars Ulrich, Danish-born drummer (Metallica)
1964 – Elizabeth Kostova, American author
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
1980 – Todd Dunivant, American soccer player
1982 – Kenneth Darby, American National Football League player
1982 – Oguri Shun, Japanese Actor/Model
1984 – Alex Schwazer, Italian race walker
1985 – Yuu Shirota, Japanese Idol
1987 – Adam Walker, British flautist
1989 – Sergio Pérez, Mexican racing driver
1990 – Aaron Ramsey, Welsh footballer
1995 – Zach Mills, American actor
Deaths
211 – Publius Septimius Geta – Roman Emperor (b. 189)
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)
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 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 – Savithri, 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)
1996 – JonBenét Ramsey, American murder victim (b. 1990)
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, Hong Kong, Italy, Ireland, and in Slovakia.
Synaxis of Theotokos and feast of St. Joseph,King and Prophet David and St. James the Just (Orthodox Christianity)
The first 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.
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