26th
December, on this day
0268 St
Dionysius ends his reign as Catholic Pope
0418 St
Zosimus ends his reign as Catholic Pope
0795 St
Leo III begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1198 French bishop Odo van Sully condemns Zottenfeest
1481 Battle
at Westbroek:
Dutch army beats Utrecht
1492 1st Spanish settlement in New World founded, by Columbus
1568 Uprising of Morisco's against suppression in Granada
1620 Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth, MA
1659 Long
Parliament reforms in Westminster
1767 Christoph
Willibald Gluck's opera "Alceste"
premieres
1773 Expulsion of tea ships from Philadelphia
1776 Battle
of Trenton-major British defeat
1776 George Washington defeats Hessians
at Trenton
1799 George Washington is eulogized by Colonel Henry Lee as "1st
in war, 1st in peace and 1st in the hearts of his countrymen"
1805 France and Austria sign Peace
of Pressburg
1809 English invasionary troop leaves
Vlissingen
1813 Zamose, Modlin, Torgau surrender to allied armies
1825 Erie
Canal opens
1830 Gaetano
Donizetti's opera "Anna Bolena" premieres in Milan
1831 Vincenzo
Bellini's opera "Norma" premieres in Milan<
1834 Sir
Robert Peel becomes British Prime Minister.
1848 1st gold seekers arrive in Panamá en route to San Francisco
1848 William
and Ellen Craft escape from slavery in Georgia
1854 Wood-pulp paper 1st exhibited, Buffalo
1860 Maiden voyage of 1st steamship owned by 1 man (C
Vanderbilt)
1860 Major Robert
Anderson, under cover of darkness, concentrated his small force
at Fort Sumter
1861 Battle
of Chustenahlah
1862 1st US navy hospital ship enters service
1862 38 Santee Sioux Indians hanged in Mankato MN, due to their uprising
1862 Battle of Dumfries, VA
1865 James H Mason (Massachusetts) patents 1st US coffee
percolator
1874 Boxing
Day is officially recognised in Britain as a Bank Holiday
1877 Socialist Labor Party of North America holds 1st national convention
1878 1st US store to install electric lights, Philadelphia
1879 John
Brahms' "Tragic Ouverture" premieres
1890 King
Mwanga of Uganda signs contract with East Africa Company
1892 The opera "Cristoforo Colombo" is produced (La Scala)
1898 French chemists Marie
and
Pierre Curie discover radium
1899 Mafeking: Bathe-Powells failed assault up fort Game Tree: 24
killed
1901 Completion of the Uganda Railway between Mombasa and Lake Victoria
1902 Most knock downs in a fight, Oscar Nelson (5) and Christy Williams
(42)
1906 The world's first full length feature film, "The
Story of the Kelly Gang" is screened in Melbourne, Australia
1908 Jack
Johnson from Texas becomes the first black boxer to win the world
heavyweight title - knocking out Tommy Burns in Round 14 of their
championship bout in Sydney, Australia
1916 Joseph
Joffre becomes marshal of France
1917 Federal government took over operation of American RR for duration
of WWI
1924 Judy
Garland, age 2½, billed as Baby Frances, show business
debut
1925 Turkey adopts Gregorian calendar
1926 Prince-regent Hirohito becomes emperor of Japan
1928 Johnny
Weissmuller announces his retirement from amateur swimming
1931 George/Ira Gershwin's Pulitzer Prize-winning musical play "Of
Thee I Sing" premieres on Broadway
1931 SS-Sturmbannführer
Reinhard Heydrich marries Lina von Osten
1932 Earthquake kills 70,000 in Kansu China
1933 US forswears armed intervention in the Western Hemisphere
1935 Stalin views Dmitri
Shostakovich's opera "Lady Macbeth"
1936 Israel Philharmonic Orchestra forms
1939 Earthquake in East Anatolia Turkey
1939 Mine strikes in Borinage, Brussels
1941 Winston
Churchill becomes 1st British PM to address a joint meeting of
Congress, warning that the Axis would "stop at nothing"
1942 Heavy fighting continues on Guadalcanal,
now focused on Mount Austen in the West.
1943 World War II: the German battleship Scharnhorst
is sunk by the Royal Navy.in the North Sea during the Battle of North
Cape
1943 American Marines land on Cape
Gloucester, New Britain.
1944 Battle
of Bastogne-US General Patton's 4th Pantzers repulse the Germans
1944 Budapest surrounded by soviet army
1944 Tennessee
Williams' play "Glass
Menagerie" premieres in Chicago
1946 Flamingo
Hotel in Las Vegas opens (start of an era)
1947 British transfer Heard
and McDonald Islands (Indian Ocean) to Australia
1948 Hungarian cardinal Mindszenty
arrested
1955 RKO
is 1st to announce sale of its film library to TV
1956 Fidel
Castro attempts a secret landing in Cuba to overthrow the Batista
regime but all bar a handful of his supporters are killed
1957 Roger
Sessions' 3rd Symphony premieres in London
1963 Beatles release "I
Want To Hold Your Hand"/"I Saw Her Standing There"
1963 US furnishes cereal to USSR
1964 Beatles' "I
Feel Fine" single goes number 1 and stays for 3 weeks
1964 Moors
Murderers claim last victim
1965 "Funny
Girl" with Barbra Streisand closes on Broadway
1965 Paul
McCartney is interviewed on pirate radio station Radio Caroline
1966 Maulana
Karenga establishes Kwanzaa (1st fruits of harvest) holiday
1967 The BBC broadcasts "The
Magical Mystery Tour"
1967 Dave
Brubeck Quartet formally disbands
1968 Arab terrorists in Athens fire on El Al plane, kills 1
1968 Led
Zeppelin's concert debut in Boston as opener for Vanilla Fudge
1973 2 Skylab
3 astronauts walk in space for a record 7 hours
1973 Soyuz
13 returns to Earth
1973 "The
Exorcist", starring Linda
Blair and rated X, premieres
1975 1st supersonic transport service (USSR-Tupolev-144)
1977 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk
USSR
1978 India's former PM, Indira
Gandhi, released from jail
1982 TIME's
Man of the Year is a computer
1982 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk
USSR
1983 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk
USSR
1986 Hijackers take over an Iraqi Airways Boeing 737 with 91 people
on board during a flight from Baghdad to Amman - it lands in Arar,
Saudi Arabia where it explodes, killing 62 people.
1988 Anti-African student rebellion in China People's Republic
1990 Garry
Kasparov beats Antatoly Karpov to retain chess championship
1991 Jack
Ruby's gun sells for $220,000 in auction
1991 Militant Sikhs kill 55 and wound 70 in India
1993 Antonov-26 crashes at Gyumri, Armenia, 36 killed
1994 French commando's terminate Air France hijacking in Marseille
1994 President's ½ brother Roger
Clinton (37) weds 8-month pregnant Molly Nartin (25)
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 announced 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 and trees and the French national power grid (see
Lothar).
2002 French Raelian scientist Brigitte
Boisselier says Clonaid has delivered the first of a supposed
five clone babies through cesarean section.
2003 A strong magnitude 6.6 earthquake devastates southeast Iranian
city of Bam, killing tens of thousands and destroying the citadel
of Arg-é Bam.
2004 An
earthquake measuring 9.3 on the Richter magnitude scale 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 more than 300,000
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Birthdates which
occurred on 26th December :
1194 Frederick
II Iesi Italy, German Emperor (1212-1250)/King of Sicily
1618 Elisabeth Paltsgravin of Rhine/abbess
1633 Charles E Biset Flemish painter, baptised
1660 Peter Schenck German/Netherlands engraver/publisher, baptised
1687 Johann Georg Pisendel German violinist/composer
1716 Thomas Gray English poet (Elegy Written in a Country Church Yard)
1731 Anthony Ziesenis architect/sculptor (Town Hall of Westzaan)
1738 Thomas Nelson merchant, signer of the Declaration of Independence
1747 Cornelis Stevens Belgium, Roman Catholic foreman/polemist (Le
sophisme dévoilé)
1762 Franz Wilhelm Tausch composer
1770 Pierre earl de Cambronne French general (Waterloo, Elba)
1771 Heinrich J von Collin Austria dramatist/poet (Regulus)
1778 Juan Lovera Venezuela, artist
1792 Charles Babbage English inventor (calculating machine)
1793 Franz Hunten composer
1797 Hans Skramstad composer
1805 Joseph-Leon Gatayes composer
1808 Albert Grisar composer
1809 William Nelson Pendleton Brigadier-General (Confederate Army),
died in 1883
1812 Wilhelm Volkmar composer
1815 Israel Bush Richardson Major General (Union volunteers), died
in 1862
1820 Gustavus Adolphus Smith Brigadier-General (Union volunteers),
died in 1885
1822 Dion Boucicault Irish/Us actor/playwright (Rip van Winkle)
1824 Augustus Louis Chetlain Major General (Union volunteers), died
in 1914
1826 Franz Coenen composer
1826 Martinus Nijhoff founder Nijhoff's book/publisher (Van Dale)
1837 Admiral George Dewey American naval hero of Manila
1845 Salvatore Auteri Manzocchi composer
1849 Samuel E "Sam" van Beem actor (Fanfan la Tulipe)
1855 Arnold Ludwig Mendelssohn composer
1859 Johan F van Bemmelen Dutch zoologist
1861 Friedrich Engel German mathematician (group theory)
1862 Alexander V Amfiteatrov Russian/French/Italian writer
1867 Julien Benda French philosopher/writer (Dialogues à Byzance)
1869 Harry Redman composer
1873 Hubert Cuypers Dutch composer/choir conductor (Minstrels)
1873 Karel Moor composer
1874 Norman Angell [Lane] English cowboy/journalist (Nobel 1933)
1878 Isaiah Bowman US, geography/co-founder (Geographical Review)
1879 Armen Tigran Tigranyan composer
1879 Julius Weismann composer
1883 Carl Oscar Ahues Germany, International Chess Master (1950)
1883 Frank Debenham Australian geographer/geologist
1886 Gyula Gömbös von Jákfa general/dictator of Hungary
(1932-35)
1888 Hiroshi "Can" Kikuchi Japanese stagewriter (Tjitj Kaeru)
1891 Henry Miller author (Tropic of Capricorn, Tropic of Cancer, Sexus)
1891 Jean Galtier-Boissière French writer/cartoonist/journalist
1893 Evgeny Karlovich Tikotsky composer
1893 Mao Tse-tung of little red book fame, PM of China People's Republic
(1949-76)
1893 Yury Nikolayevich Tyulin composer
1894 Antonio Molina composer
1897 Willie Corsari [Wilhelmina A Schmidt] Dutch writer
1901 Georgy Mikhaylovich Rimsky-Korsakov composer
1901 Victor Hely-Hutchinson composer
1902 Elisha Cook Jr San Francisco CA, actor (Maltese Falcon, Shane,
Magnum PI)
1904 Alentejo Carpentier Cubans/French writer (Guerra del Tiempo)
1906 BVA Röling Dutch lawyer
1908 Ralph Hill US, 5K runner (Olympics-1932)
1908 Hanns Maassen writer
1910 Lucy Faithfull children's campaigner
1914 Richard Widmark Sunrise MN, actor (Madigan, Judgement at Nüremberg)
1915 Hans [Henri A] Gomperts Dutch literature (Duck on Attic)
1915 Una Mae Carlisle US pianist/vocalist (Walkin' at the River)
1916 Helmut Eder composer
1917 Rosemary Woods Nixon's secretary, keep her away from your tapes
1920 Gote Carlid composer
1921 Steve Allen New York NY, comedian/TV host (Tonight Show, Steve
Allen Show)
1925 Baron Baker activist
1926 Earle Brown composer
1926 Edgar D Ngoyi South African ANC leader (17 years in Robbeneiland
Jail)
1926 Zlatko Pibernik composer
1927 Alan King Brooklyn NY, comedian/actor (Anderson Tapes, Memories
of Me)
1927 Denis Quilley London England, actor (Masada)
1930 Donald Moffat Plymouth England, actor (Kent-Logan's Run)
1930 Sayed Mutawli imam ad-Darsh scholar/broadcaster
1931 Thomas Eden Binkley musician
1931 Thomas K "Tom" van Brook actor/interpreter (Soldier
of Orange)
1932 Walter Leblanc Belgian painter
1935 Abdul "Duke" Fakir Detroit MI, rock vocalist (Four
Tops)
1935 Barbara J Jacket US athletic coach (Olympics-1972)
1935 Rohan Kanhai cricketer (one of West Indies' finest batsmen)
1936 Kitty Dukakis 1st lady of Massachusetts/wife of Michael (Governor-MA)
1939 [Harvey] Phil Spector record producer (Wall of Sound)
1939 Lynn Martin US Secretary of Labor (1991-93)
1940 Harmen Siezen Dutch TV-journal host
1941 Daniel Schmid actor/director (Paloma, Violanta, Hecate, Amateurs)
1942 Earl Cate Fayetteville AR, country singer/twin of Ernie (Cate
Brothers-Fire on the Tracks)
1942 Ernie Cate Fayetteville AR, country singer/twin of Earl (Cate
Brothers-Fire on the Tracks)
1942 Barry Wood cricketer (England opener in early 70's)
1942 Marco Vinicio Cerezo Arévalo President of Guatemala (1986-91)
1942 Rob de Nijs Dutch singer (Put a candle in your window)
1944 Jane Lapotaire actress (Spirit of the Dead)
1945 John Walsh activist/TV host (America's Most Wanted)
1946 Gordon Edwards rocker
1946 Lisette Hordijk Dutch TV broadcaster
1947 Carlton Fisk Vermont, all star catcher (Red Sox, White Sox)
1947 Joyce Jillson Cranston RI, psychic/actress (Superchick)
1948 Chris Chambliss 1st baseman (New York Yankee)
1949 Ira Newborn New York NY, orchestra leader (Manhattan Transfer)
1950 Michael Jones rocker (BT Express-Here Comes the Express)
1950 Victoria Racimo New York NY, actress (Corene-Falcon Crest)
1951 Richard Skinner British DJ
1952 André-Michel Schub Paris France, pianist (Van Cliburn-1981)
1953 Matthew Harding businessman/soccer supporter
1953 Valeri Yuriyevich Sharov Russian cosmonaut
1954 Peter Woods rocker (Romeo Void-Girl in Trouble)
1954 Ullrich Diessner German Democratic Republic, 4 man cox/twin of
Walter (Olympics-silver-1976)
1954 Walter Diessner German Democratic Republic, 4 man cox/twin of
Ullrich (Olympics-silver-1976)
1954 Ozzie Smith Mobile AL, infielder (St Louis Cardinals)
1954 Susan H Butcher dog sled driver (Iditarod)
1956 Gail Tatterson WBL center (New York Stars)
1956 Karen Smith WBL forward (New York Stars)
1959 Lesley Tomlinson Derbyshire England, cyclist (Olympics-96)
1960 Terri Garber Miami FL, actress (Leslie Carrington-Dynasty)
1961 Storm Davis Dallas TX, pitcher (Kansas City Royals)
1961 Tahnee Welch [La Tahn Renee Welch] San Diego CA, actress (Cocoon)
1963 Lars Ulrich Gentofte Denmark, rock drummer (Metallica-Unforgiven,
Nothing Else Matters)
1964 Colleen Dion Newburgh NY, actress (Felicia-Bold & Beautiful,
Brett Gardner-Another World)
1964 Jeff King Marion IN, infielder (Pittsburgh Pirates)
1965 Ben Husaby Eden Prairie MN, cross country skier (Olympics-1994)
1966 Tim Legler NBA guard (Washington Wizards/Bullets)
1967 Tony Covington NFL safety (Seattle Seahawks)
1968 Darren Barber Victoria British Columbia, rower (Olympics-96)
1970 Lisa Gathright Moline IL, WPVA volleyballer (US Open-17th-1993)
1970 Radka Zrubakova Bratislava Slovakia, tennis star (1994 Futures-Germany)
1970 Willie Williams NFL cornerback (Pittsburgh Steelers, Seahawks)
1971 Mark Lathwell cricketer (England opening batsman vs Australia
1993)
1972 Burnell Roques NFL wide receiver (Atlanta Falcons)
1972 Derrick Cullors running back (New England Patriots)
1972 Jared Leto Bossier City LA, actor (Jordan-My So Called Life)
1973 Ryan Berube US, 800 meter freestyle relay (Olympics-gold-96)
1974 Tiffany Brissette actress (Vicki-Small Wonder)
1974 Tony Brackens defensive end (Jacksonville Jaguars)
1975 Marcelo Rios Santiago Chile, tennis star (1995 Amsterdam)
1977 Brandee Layne Loving Miss Mississippi Teen USA (1996)
1980 Serena Phillips Corvallis OR, figure skater (1997 Pruetten Champion)
1985 Steven Hartman Westlake CA, actor (Rick Forrester-Bold &
Beautiful)
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Deaths which occurred on 26th December:
0267 Dionysius bishop of Rome/saint, dies
1476 Galeazzo Maria Sforza duke of Milan, murdered
1530 Zahir al-Din Mohammed Babur Shah founder Mogols-dynasty, dies
at 47
1574 Charles Guise archbishop/cardinal of Reims, dies at 50
1624 Simon Marius astronomer, dies in Bavaria at 54
1627 Gonzaga Italian monarch of Mantua/Monferrato, dies
1658 Simon Guillain French sculptor (Castle of Blois/Sorbonne), dies
at 78
1676 Domenicus van Tol Dutch painter, dies
1679 John van de Cappelle Amsterdam landscape painter, dies at 53
1736 Antonio Caldara composer, dies
1740 Mauritius Louis II earl of Nassau Lieutenant-General (12 children),
dies
1771 Claude A Helvétius French encyclopedist (L'esprit), dies
at 56
1776 Johann Gottlieb Rall Hessian colonel/mercenary, dies in battle
1797 John Wilkes English journalist/Higher/Lower house leader, dies
at 72
1827 Jan David Holland composer, dies at 81
1836 Hans Georg Nageli composer, dies at 63
1837 Martinus van Marum chemist/physicist (giant salamander), dies
at 87
1861 Philip St George Cocke Confederate Brigadier-General, commits
suicide at 52
1862 38 Santee Sioux Indians hanged in Mankato
1866 Samuel Ryan Curtis Union General-Major, dies at 49
1879 Jean Leonard Marie Poiseuille dies
1887 Jules François Blasini Curaçao pianist/composer,
dies at 40
1890 Heinrich Schliemann German archaeologist (Trojan War), dies at
86
1916 Bernhard Scholz composer, dies at 81
1916 Frank Penn cricketer (one Test for England vs Australia 1880),
dies
1917 Louise J Gautier French poetess/daughter of Théophile
G, dies at 71
1918 Bertram Luard-Selby composer, dies at 65
1933 Lunatscharski writer, dies
1937 Ivor Gurney composer, dies at 47
1942 Bosinier de la Chapelle French murderer of Admiral Darlan, executed
at 24
1950 Emile Enthoven composer, dies at 47
1950 James Stephens Irish poet (Crock of Gold), dies at 68
1952 Pietro Pancrazi Italian critic (Pegaso), dies at 59
1956 Holmes Herbert actor (The Kiss), dies at 74
1957 Artur Malawski composer, dies at 53
1958 Harry Redman composer, dies on 89th birthday
1960 Eduard Ludwig German architect (Hansa quarter, Berlin), dies
at 54
1961 Charlie Frank cricketer (South Africa Test centurion vs Australia
1921-22), dies
1963 "Gorgeous George" Wagner wrestler, dies
1965 Anthonie Donker Dutch [Professor N Donkersloot], literary, dies
at 63
1966 Klaziena "Ina" Boudier-Bakker Dutch author (Poverty),
dies at 88
1966 Noel Gallon composer, dies at 75
1967 S F Barnes cricketer (27 Tests for England, 189 wickets), dies
1969 Louise L de Vilmorin French poet/author (History d'aimer), dies
at 67
1971 Robert Lowery actor (Circus Boy, Pistols 'n' Petticoats), dies
at 57
1972 Harry Truman 33rd US President dies in Kansas City MO at 88
1973 Harold B Lee US head of Mormon Church, dies at 74
1973 Steven Geray actor (French Line), dies at 69
1973 William Haines actor (Little Annie Rooney), dies of cancer at
73
1974 Jack Benny comedian (Jack Benny Show), dies at 80
1974 Knudage Riisager composer, dies at 77
1974 Robert Levine Sanders composer, dies at 68
1976 Philip A Hart (Senator-D-MI), dies at 64
1977 Howard Hawks director (Rio Lobo, Hatari!), dies at 81
1977 Ivan Rezak composer, dies at 53
1985 Dian Fossey zoologist (Gorillas in the Mist), murdered at 53
1986 Elsa Lanchester actress (Bride of Frankenstien), dies at 84
1988 John Loder actor (Sabotage, Java Head), dies at 90
1989 Samuel Beckett Irish playright dies in Paris
1989 Lennox Berkeley composer, dies at 86
1989 Peggy Thorpe-Bates actress (Alcatraz Island), dies
1990 Nancy Cruznan accident victim/right-to-die case, dies at 33
1991 Dehl Berti actor (John Taylor-Guns of Paradise), dies at 70
1991 Sam Cresson dies at 73
1992 Bert [Lambertus H] Voeten Dutch poet (Antipodes), dies at 74
1992 Constance Carpenter actress (2 Worlds), dies of stroke at 87
1992 John G Kemeny US computer pioneer (BASIC), dies
1992 Nikita Magaloff Russian/Swiss pianist, dies at 80
1993 Jeff Morrow actor (Robe, Harbor Lights, Blood Legacy), dies at
80
1994 Asta ER Elstak Suriname/Netherlands welfare worker, dies at 74
1994 Johannes J "Joop" Klant Netherlands/South African economist/author,
dies
1994 Karl Schiller minister of RFA Economics (1966-72), dies
1994 Robert Emhardt actor (Mac Cory-Another World), dies at 80
1994 Sylvia Brandts Buys actress (Hague's Post), dies at 85
1994 Sylvia Koscina Croatian/Italian actress (Hercules), dies at 61
1997 John Hinde photographer/circus promoter, dies at 81
1997 John Whitley air-Marshal, dies at 92
2006 Gerald
Ford, the first - and so far only - US president never to win
a national election
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