Almanac - December 26

Charles Babbage 1792-1871

Events

• 1135 – Coronation of King Stephen of England.
• 1481 – Battle of Westbroek: Holland defeats troops of Utrecht.
• 1613 – Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset, marries Frances Howard.
• 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 – Second Battle of Wissembourg: French defeat Austrians.
• 1793 – The wedding of Prince Friedrich Ludwig of Prussia and Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz takes place.
• 1799 – Four thousand people attend George Washington's funeral where Henry Lee declares him as "first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen."
• 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 – Advocates of liberalism in Russia rise up against Tsar Nicholas I and are put down in the Decembrist Revolt in St. Petersburg.
• 1846 – Trapped in snow in the Sierra Nevadas and without food, members of the Donner Party resort to cannibalism.
• 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.
• 1900 – A relief crew arrives the the lighthouse on the Flannan Isles of Scotland, only to find the previous crew has disappeared without a trace.
• 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.
• 1933 – FM radio is patented.
• 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.
• 1972 – Vietnam War: As part of Operation Linebacker II, 120 American B-52 Stratofortress bombers attacked Hanoi, including 78 launched from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, the largest single combat launch in Strategic Air Command history.
• 1975 – The Tupolev Tu-144 goes into service in Soviet Union.
• 1976 – The Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist) is founded.
• 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 35 years on the air.
• 1991 – The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union meets and formally dissolves the USSR.
• 1994 – Four Armed Islamic Group hijackers seize control of Air France Flight 8969. When the plane lands at Marseille, a French Gendarmerie assault team boards the aircraft and kills the perpetrators.
• 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.
• 1999 – The storm Lothar sweeps across Central Europe, killing 137 and causing US$1.3 billion in damage.
• 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 230,000 people including over 1700 on a moving train.
• 2004 – Orange Revolution: The final run-off election is held under heavy international scrutiny.
• 2005 – A gang-related shooting on a busy shopping street in Toronto kills one and injures six.
• 2006 – A 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit Hengchun, Pingtung, Taiwan, killing two people and causing severe communication disruptions in southeast Asia.
• 2006 – An oil pipeline in Lagos, Nigeria explodes, killing at least 260.

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)
• 1646 – Robert Bolling, English settler in Virginia (d. 1709)
• 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 – Clemens Maria 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)
• 1820 – Dion Boucicault, Irish actor and playwright (d. 1890)
• 1837 – George Dewey, U. S. admiral (d. 1917)
• 1837 – Morgan Bulkeley, American politician, 54th Governor of Connecticut and baseball commissioner (d. 1922)
• 1853 – René Bazin, French novelist (d. 1932)
• 1859 – William Stephens, American politician and 24th Governor of California (d. 1944)
• 1863 – Charles Pathé, French pioneer of film and record industries (d. 1957)
• 1867 – Phan Boi Chau, Vietnamese nationalist (d. 1940)
• 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 III, American newspaper publisher, (d. 1981)
• 1906 – Imperio Argentina, Argentine actress and singer (d. 2003)
• 1907 – Al 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, American politician and 37th Governor of California
• 1944 – Jane Lapotaire, British actress
• 1945 – John Walsh, American talk show host
• 1946 – Alan Frumin, Parliamentarian of the United States Senate
• 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, 46th Governor of Indiana, and United States Senator from Indiana
• 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 – Christian Müller, German footballer
• 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 – Jay Farrar, American musician and songwriter
• 1966 – Sandra Taylor, American model and actress
• 1966 – Jay Yuenger, American musician and producer
• 1968 – Dennis Knight, American professional wrestler
• 1968 – Tricia Leigh Fisher, American actress
• 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 – Shane Meadows, British filmmaker
• 1972 – Robert Muchamore, English children's author
• 1973 – Gianluca Faliva, Italian rugby player
• 1973 – Reichen Lehmkuhl, American television personality
• 1973 – Paulão, Brazilian footballer
• 1974 – Zach Blair, American guitarist (Rise Against)
• 1974 – Tiffany Brissette, American TV actress
• 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 – Nadia Litz, Canadian actress
• 1976 – Lea De Mae, Czech actress (d. 2004)
• 1978 – Kaoru Sugayama, Japanese volleyball player
• 1979 – Fabián Carini, Uruguayan footballer
• 1979 – Chris Daughtry, American singer
• 1979 – Dimitry Vassiliev, Russian ski jumper
• 1979 – Craig Wing, Australian Rugby League Player
• 1980 – Todd Dunivant, American soccer player
• 1981 – Pablo Canavosio, Argentine-born Italian rugby player
• 1982 – Kenneth Darby, American football player
• 1982 – Oguri Shun, Japanese actor/model
• 1982 – Aksel Lund Svindal, Norwegian skier
• 1984 – Leonardo Ghiraldini, Italian rugby player
• 1984 – Alex Schwazer, Italian race walker
• 1985 – Beth Behrs, American actress
• 1985 – Yuu Shirota, Japanese Idol
• 1986 – Hugo Lloris, French goalkeeper
• 1987 – Adam Walker, British flautist
• 1989 – Jennica Garcia, Filipina actress
• 1990 – Aaron Ramsey, Welsh footballer
• 1994 – Souleymane Coulibaly, Ivorian footballer
• 1995 – Zach Mills, American actor
• 2000 – Samuel Sevian, American chess player

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 and lexicographer (b. 1858)
• 1960 – Watsuji Tetsuro, Japanese philosopher (b. 1889)
• 1963 – "Gorgeous" George Wagner, 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 (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 – Amber Reeves, British feminist writer (b. 1887)
• 1981 – Savitri, Indian actress (b. 1937)
• 1983 – Violet Carson, British actress (b. 1898)
• 1985 – Dian Fossey, American gorilla specialist (b. 1932)
• 1985 – Margarete Schön, German actress (b. 1895)
• 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)
• 1988 – Pablo Sorozábal, Basque-Spanish composer (b. 1897)
• 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 poetess (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 – Troy Broadbridge, Australian rules footballer (b. 1980)
• 2004 – Jonathan Drummond-Webb, South African heart surgeon (b. 1959)
• 2004 – Marianne Heiberg, Norwegian mediator (b. 1945)
• 2004 – Khun Bhumi Jensen, Thai Royal Family member (b. 1983)
• 2004 – Sigurd Køhn, Norwegian jazz musician (b. 1959)
• 2004 – Sir Angus Ogilvy, British businessman (b. 1928)
• 2004 – Aki Sirkesalo, Finnish musician (b. 1962)
• 2004 – Mieszko Talarczyk, Polish-born Swedish musician (Nasum) (b. 1974)
• 2004 – Reggie White, American football player (b. 1961)
• 2005 – Muriel Costa-Greenspon, American mezzo-soprano (b. 1937)
• 2005 – Kerry Packer, Australian businessman (b. 1937)
• 2005 – Vincent Schiavelli, American actor (b. 1948)
• 2005 – Erich Topp, German submarine commander (b. 1914)
• 2006 – Gerald Ford, 38th President of the United States (b. 1913)
• 2006 – Ivar Formo, Norwegian skier (b. 1951)
• 2007 – Joe Dolan, Irish entertainer (b. 1943)
• 2007 – John A. Garraty, American author (b. 1920)
• 2007 – Stu Nahan, American sportscaster (b. 1926)
• 2008 – Gösta Krantz, Swedish actor (b. 1925)
• 2009 – Felix Wurman, American cellist and composer (b. 1958)
• 2010 – Teena Marie, American singer and composer (b. 1956)
• 2010 – Edward Bhengu, South African activist (b. 1934)

Holidays and observances

• Boxing Day, except when 26 December is a Sunday. If it is a Sunday, Boxing Day is transferred to 27 December by Royal Proclamation. (Commonwealth of Nations), and its related observances:
  • Day of Good Will (South Africa and Namibia)
• Christian Feast Day:
  • Abadiu of Antinoe (Coptic Church)
  • Earliest day on which Feast of the Holy Family can fall, celebrated on Sunday after Christmas or 30 if Christmas falls on a Sunday.
  • James the Just (Eastern Orthodox Church)
  • Stephen (Western Church)
  • Synaxis of the Theotokos (Eastern Orthodox Church)

• Independence and Unity Day (Slovenia)
• Mauro Hamza Day (Houston, Texas)
• Mummer's Day (Padstow, Cornwall)
• St. Stephen's Day (public holiday in Alsace, Austria, Catalonia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg, Poland and Slovakia), and its related observances:
  • Father's Day (Bulgaria)
• Thanksgiving (Solomon Islands)
• The first day of Kwanzaa, celebrated until January 1 (United States)
• The first day of Junkanoo street parade, the second day is on the New Year's Day (the Bahamas)
• The second day of Christmas (Western Christianity)
• The first of Twelve Holy Days (Esoteric Christianity)
• Wren Day (Ireland and the Isle of Man)