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December 26 is the 360th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, 361st in leap years. There are 5 days remaining.
Events
- 1481 - Battle of Westbroek - Holland defeats troops of Utrecht
- 1606 - King Lear performed in the Court of England
- 1620 - Elizabeth Bathory's crimes are uncovered
- 1620 - Pilgrim Fathers land of what becomes New Plymouth in Massachusetts
- 1776 - American Revolutionary War: The British were 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 - Final trial of Louis XVI of France begins in Paris
- 1793 - Battle of Geisberg - French defeat Austrians
- 1793 - Wedding of Prince Friedrich Ludwig of Prussia and Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
- 1806 - Battle of Pultusk - indecisive battle between Napoleon and the Russians
- 1812 - Delaware and Chesapeake blockaded during the War of 1812
- 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 Britain
- 1862 - 38 starving and angry Dakota men are hanged for killing white people after a brief rebellion
- 1898 - Marie and Pierre Curie announce the isolation of radium
- 1908 - Jack Johnson becomes the first African American heavyweight boxing champion by defeating Tommy Burns in Sydney, Australia
- 1916 - Joseph Joffre is made Marshal of France
- 1925 - Communist Party of India founded
- 1925 - Turkey adopts Gregorian Calendar
- 1931 - Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity was founded
- 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
- 1945 - CFP franc and CFA franc are created
- 1946 - Flamingo Hotel opens in Las Vegas
- 1947 - 26 inches of snowfall in 16 hours in New York City
- 1948 - Cardinal Mindszenty arrested in Hungary
- 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 such a display as expected
- 1973 - Soyuz 13 lands
- 1974 - Salyut 4 launched
- 1975 - Tupolev Tu-144 goes into service in Soviet Union
- 1979 - Soviet Special forces troops take over presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan
- 1980 - Aeroflot puts the Ilyushin Il-86 into service.
- 1982 - TIME magazine's Man of the Year was for the first time given to a non-human; a computer
- 1984 - Princess Astrid of Belgium marries Archduke Lorenz of Austria-Este
- 1986 - The first long-running American television soap opera, Search for Tomorrow, airs its final episode after thirty-five years on the air
- 1988 - Start of the Nanjing Anti-African protests
- 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
- 1996 - United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification goes into force
- 1998 - Iraq announced its intention to fire upon US and British warplanes that patrol the northern and southern "no-fly zones"
- 1998 - Severe gales over Ireland, northern England, and southern Scotland. Widespread disruption, widespread power outages in Northern Ireland and southern Scotland
- 1999 - On the 26-28th, France and countries to east hit by severe storms and rain. Over 100 people were killed, and the storm caused extensive damage to property and trees and the French national power grid.
- 2002 - French Raelian scientist Brigitte Boisselier says Clonaid has delivered the first of a supposed five clone babies through cesarean section
- 2003 - Major earthquake devastates southeast Iranian city of Bam, with up to 43,300 killed, and 90,000 homeless; the citadel of Arg-é Bam destroyed.
- 2004 - A major earthquake and ensuing tsunami causes devastation in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, The Maldives and many other areas around the rim of the Indian Ocean. The death toll is currently estimated at around 226,000. Officials say the true toll may never be known, due to rapid burials.
Births
- 1194 - Frederick II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (d. 1250)
- 1532 - Guilielmus Xylander, German classical scholar (d. 1576)
- 1536 - the Confucian scholar Yi I (Yulgok) of Joseon (d. 1584)
- 1716 - Thomas Gray, poet and letter-writer (d. 1771)
- 1735 - Prince Josias of Coburg, Holy Roman Empire general (d. 1815)
- 1751 - Clement Mary Hofbauer, Redemptorist missionary (d. 1820)
- 1780 - Mary Fairfax Somerville, UK mathematician (d. 1872)
- 1791 - Charles Babbage, English mathematician and inventor of computing machines (d. 1871)
- 1819 - E. D. E. N. Southworth, US novelist (d. 1899)
- 1822 - Dion Boucicault, Irish actor and playwright (d. 1890)
- 1837 - George Dewey, Admiral in the United States Navy (d. 1917)
- 1853 - René Bazin, French novelist (d. 1932)
- 1883 - Maurice Utrillo, painter (d. 1955)
- 1891 - Henry Miller, writer (d. 1980)
- 1893 - Mao Zedong, Chinese military leader and politician (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 (d. 2004)
- 1940 - Phil Spector, music producer
- 1942 - Gray Davis, former Governor of California
- 1945 - John Walsh, talk show host, television presenter
- 1947 - Carlton Fisk, Baseball Hall of Famer
- 1949 - José Ramos Horta, East Timorean Human Rights activist
- 1954 - Ozzie Smith, Baseball Hall of Famer
- 1956 - David Sedaris, essayist
- 1971 - Jared Leto, actor
Deaths
- 268 - Pope Dionysius
- 418 - Pope Zosimus
- 1458 - Arthur III, the Justicier, Duke of Brittany
- 1530 - Babur, first of the Mogul dynasty (b. 1483?)
- 1624 - Simon Marius, German astronomer
- 1771 - Claude Adrien Helvétius, French philosopher
- 1869 - Jean Louis Marie Poiseuille, French physiologist (b. 1797)
- 1890 - Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist (b. 1822)
- 1909 - Frederic Remington, artist (b. 1861)
- 1960 - Watsuji Tetsuro, Japanese ethicist and philosopher (b. 1889)
- 1963 - Gorgeous George, professional wrestler, television personality
- 1972 - Harry S. Truman, 33rd president of the United States (b. 1884)
- 1973 - Harold B. Lee, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, (b. 1899)
- 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)
- 2002 - Armand Zildjian, cymbal manufacturer
- 2003 - Sir Alan Bates, British actor
- 2003 - Hope Lange, television actress
- 2004 - Reggie White, American football player (b. 1961)
- 2004 - Sir Angus Ogilvy, husband of HRH Princess Alexandra of Kent (b. 1928)
- 2004 - Dr. Marianne Heiberg, Oslo accords mediator (b. 1945)
Holidays and observances
December 26 is a public holiday in most Christian countries, a notable exception being the United States.
Other annual occurrences
December 25 - December 27 - November 26 - January 26 -- listing of all days
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