December 26
Today our friends in the UK celebrate
Boxing Day.
Ireland and the Isle of Man celebrate
Wren Day. <--Interesting read.
Today is the first day of
Kwanzaa.
Fencing Texans in Houston mark today as
Mauro Hamza Day.
There are
5 days remaining in 2016.
Events
1776 – American Revolutionary War: In the
Battle of Trenton, having crossed the Delaware River during the previous night, George Washington and the Continental Army attack and successfully defeat a garrison of Hessian forces.
1799 – Four thousand people attend George Washington's funeral where
Henry Lee III declares him as "first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen".
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
Dakota warriors died.
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.
1898 –
Marie and
Pierre Curie announce the isolation of radium.
1919 –
Babe Ruth of the Boston Red Sox is sold to the New York Yankees by owner Harry Frazee, allegedly establishing the
Curse of the Bambino superstition.
1941 – U.S. President
Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill establishing the fourth Thursday in November as
Thanksgiving Day in the United States.
1944 – World War II:
George S. Patton's Third Army breaks the encirclement of surrounded U.S. forces at Bastogne, Belgium.
1963 – The Beatles' "
I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "
I Saw Her Standing There" are released in the United States, marking the beginning of
Beatlemania on an international level.
1965 - While spending Christmas at his father's home in Cheshire,
Paul McCartney crashed the moped he was riding and suffered a five-inch cut to his mouth.
1966 -
Jimi Hendrix plays an afternoon show at The Uppercut Club in London, and pens the lyrics to '
Purple Haze' in the dressing room.
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 –
Tu-144, the world's first commercial supersonic aircraft, surpassing
Mach 2, went into service.
1979 -
Pink Floyd’s
The Wall was at No.1 on the US album chart. (The album spent a total of 15 weeks at No.1 during a 35-week stay on the chart).
The Wall also spent a total of 5 weeks at No.1 on the UK chart.
1981 -
AC/DC started a three-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with '
For Those About To Rock We Salute You' the follow-up to their highly successful album '
Back In Black'. The name of the album was inspired by a book
Angus Young read, entitled '
For Those About to Die, We Salute You', about Roman gladiators.
2003 – The 6.6 Mw
Bam earthquake shakes southeastern Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), leaving more than 26,000 dead and 30,000 injured.
2004 – The 9.1–9.3 Mw
Indian Ocean earthquake shakes northern Sumatra with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). One of the largest observed
tsunamis follows, affecting the coastal areas of Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Indonesia; death toll is between 230,000–280,000.
2006 – An
oil pipeline in Lagos, Nigeria explodes, killing at least 260 people.
2012 -
Fontella Bass, who had the 1965 U.S. No.4 and UK No.11 single '
Rescue Me' died of complications following a heart attack aged 72.
Births
1791 – Charles Babbage (invented the
Difference engine); 1863 – Charles Pathé (co-founded Pathé Records); 1891 – Henry Miller (author Tropic of Cancer & Tropic of Capricorn); 1903 – Elisha Cook, Jr.; 1907 – Albert Gore, Sr.; 1914 – Richard Widmark; 1921 –
Steve Allen; 1927 – Alan King; 1930 –
Donald Moffat (that guy who was in that thing); 1935 - Abdul 'Duke' Fakir♪ ♫(The Four Tops); 1939 – Phil Spector♪ ♫; 1942 – Catherine Coulter; 1942 – Gray Davis; 1945 – John Walsh (created
America's Most Wanted); 1949 – Bob Hartman♪ ♫(Petra); 1961 – John Lynch; 1963 – Lars Ulrich

(Metallica); 1966 – Jay Farrar♪ ♫(Uncle Tupelo); 1970 – James Mercer♪ ♫(The Shins); 1971 – Jared Leto♪ ♫(Thirty Seconds To Mars); 1979 – Chris Daughtry♪ ♫(Daughtry); 1985 – Beth Behrs (2 Broke Girls); 1986 – Kit Harington (
Game Of Thrones); 1991 – Eden Sher ('Sue' on
The Middle)
Deaths
1909 – Frederic Remington

; 1931 – Melvil Dewey (created the Dewey Decimal Classification); 1963 – Gorgeous George; 1972 – Harry S Truman (33rd POTUS); 1974 – Jack Benny; 1977 – Howard Hawks; 1986 – Elsa Lanchester (
Bride of Frankenstein); 1996 – JonBenét Ramsey; 1999 – Curtis Mayfield♪ ♫; 2000 – Jason Robards (
The Night They Raided Minsky's, Once Upon a Time in the West); 2004 – Reggie White; 2005 –
Vincent Schiavelli; 2006 – Gerald Ford (40th VPOTUS, 38th POTUS); 2010 – Teena Marie♪ ♫; 2012 - Fontella Bass♪ ♫