Everything you always wanted to know about ...

Information about December 26

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 * 1860 - 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 - JonBenet 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". Births: * 1194 - Frederick II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (+ 1250) * 1716 - Thomas Gray, poet and letter-writer († 1771) * 1751 - Clement Mary Hofbauer, Redemptorist missionary (+ 1820) * 1791 - Charles Babbage, English mathematician and inventor of computing machines (+ 1871) * 1837 - George Dewey, Admiral in the United States Navy (+ 1917) * 1883 - Maurice Utrillo, painter (+ 1955) * 1891 - Henry Miller, writer (+ 1980) * 1893 - Mao Zedong, Chinese politician and dictator (+ 1976) * 1903 - Elisha Cook Jr., actor (+ 1995) * 1914 - Richard Widmark, actor * 1921 - Steve Allen, actor, comedian, composer, author (+ 2000) * 1927 - Alan King, comedian, actor * 1940 - Phil Spector, music producer * 1942 - Gray Davis, Governor of California * 1945 - John Walsh, talk show host, television presenter * 1954 - Ozzie Smith, Baseball Hall of Famer * 1971 - Jared Leto, actor Deaths: * 1890 - Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist * 1909 - Frederic Remington, artist * 1963 - Gorgeous George, professional wrestler, television personality * 1972 - Harry S Truman, 33rd president of the United States * 1974 - Jack Benny, comedian * 1977 - Howard Hawks, film director, writer * 1985 - Dian Fossey, anthropologist * 1986 - Elsa Lanchester, actress * 1999 - Curtis Mayfield, musician * 2000 - Jason Robards, actor * 2001 - Nigel Hawthorne, actor * 2002 - Herb Ritts, celebrity photographer Holidays and Observances: * Boxing Day in the United Kingdom and Australia * St. Stephen's Day, a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland * First day of Kwanzaa * Feast day of Saint Stephen (in the western Christian church))

How to - History - Companies - Internet - Nintendo - List of Phobias - September 11, 2001 - Timelines - Chemistry - Genealogy - Family - Film - SARS - Cancer - Medicine - DVD - Calendar - Disease - Health Science - Dentistry - Economics - AIDS - Law - Autism - Statistics

This content is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
HOME - Help build the worlds largest free encyclopedia.

Premier Shopping Sites:
apparel baby books music computer dvd camera software games sports baseball basketball fitness football golf hockey soccer tennis