This Day in History for 26th December

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All Events Birthdays
Weddings Deaths

Historical Events

Events 1 - 100 of 167

268 - Pope St Dionysius dies
418 - Pope St Zosimus dies
795 - 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 La Navidad (modern Môle-Saint-Nicolas) in New World founded, by Columbus
1568 - Uprising of Morisco's against suppression in Granada
1620 - Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth, MA
1620 - Elizabeth Báthory's crimes are uncovered.
1659 - Long Parliament reforms in Westminster
1748 - France & Austria signs treaty about Southern Netherlands
1773 - Expulsion of tea ships from Philadelphia
1776 - George Washington defeats Hessians at Battle of Trenton in American Revolutionary War
1792 - The final trial of Louis XVI of France begins in Paris.
1793 - Battle of Geisberg: French defeat Austrians.
1799 - George Washington is eulogized by Col Henry Lee as "1st in war, 1st in peace & 1st in hearts of his countrymen"
1805 - France & Austria signs Peace of Pressburg
1805 - Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts established, Philadelphia
1809 - English invasionary troop leaves Vlissingen
First US President George Washington 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.
1813 - Zamose, Modlin, Torgau surrenders 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
1848 - 1st gold seekers arrive in Panama en route to SF
1848 - William & Ellen Craft escape from slavery in Georgia
1848 - The Phi Delta Theta fraternity is founded at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.
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 Ft Sumter
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.
1862 - -Dec 28th) Battle of Dumfries, VA
1862 - 1st US navy hospital ship enters service
1862 - 38 Santee Sioux Indians hanged in Mankato Minnesota, due to their uprising
1865 - James H Mason (Mass) patents 1st US coffee percolator
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.
1872 - 4th largest snowfall in NYC history (18")
1877 - Socialist Labor Party of North America holds 1st natl convention
1878 - 1st US store to install electric lights, Philadelphia
1879 - John Brahms' "Tragic Ouverture," premieres
1883 - The Harbour Grace Affray between Irish Catholics and Protestant Orangemen causes five deaths in Newfoundland.
1890 - King Mwanga of Uganda signs contract with East Africa Company
1892 - Opera "Cristoforo Colombo" is produced (La Scala)
1899 - Mafeking: Bathe-Powells failed assault up fort Game Tree: 24 killed
1902 - Most knock downs in a fight, Oscar Nelson (5) & Christy Williams (42)
1908 - Jack Johnson TKOs Tommy Burns in 14 for heavyweight boxing title, becomes 1st black heavyweight champion
1916 - Joseph Joffre becomes marshal of France
1917 - 1st NHL defensemen to score a goal: Toronto Maple Leaf Harry Cameron
1917 - Fed government took over operation of American RR for duration of WW I
1918 - 1st day of 1st-class cricket in Aust after WW I (Vic v NSW)
Baseball Great Babe Ruth 1919 - Yanks & Red Sox reach agreement on transfer of Babe Ruth
1924 - Judy Garland, 2½, billed as Baby Frances, makes her show business debut
1925 - 1st East West football game at Ewing Park before 25,000 fans
1925 - NHL record 141 shots as NY Americans (73) beat Pitt Pirates (68) 3-1
1925 - Turkey adopts Gregorian calendar
1925 - NY's Jake Forbes makes 67 saves, Pitt's Ray Waters makes 70
1925 - The Communist Party of India is founded.
1926 - Prince-regent Hirohito becomes emperor of Japan
1928 - Johnny Weissmuller announces his retirement from amateur swimming
1928 - World record 10th wicket stand 307 (Kippax / Hooker) NSW v Vic
1931 - George/Ira Gershwin's "Of Thee I Sing," premieres in NYC
1931 - Pulitzer Prize-winning musical play "Of Thee I Sing" opens on Bdwy
1933 - Bradman scores 187* NSW v Victoria, 294 mins, 13 fours
1933 - US forswears armed intervention in Western Hemisphere
1933 - FM radio is patented.
Actress Judy Garland 1934 - Yomiuri Giants, Japan's 1st professional baseball team forms
1935 - Stalin views Dmitri Sjostakovitsj' opera "Lady Macbeth"
1936 - Israel Philarmonic Orch forms
1938 - Bradman scores 225 South Aust v Qld before Christ gets him out
1938 - Tom Goddard takes a cricket hat-trick for England v South Africa
1939 - Earthquake in East Anatolia Turkey
1939 - Mine strikes in Borinage Brussels
1940 - 1st-class debut of Arthur Morris, who scores 148
1940 - JA Fields/J Chodorov's "My Sister Eileen," premieres in NYC
1941 - Winston Churchill becomes 1st British PM to address a joint meeting of Congress, warning that Axis would "stop at nothing"
1943 - British sink German battle cruiser Scharnhorst
1943 - Chicago Bears win NFL championship
1943 - Earl Claus von Stauffenberg vain with bomb to Hitlers headquarter
1944 - Battle of Bastogne-US Gen Patton's 4th Pantzers repulse Germans
1944 - Budapest surrounded by soviet army
Playwright Tennessee Williams 1944 - Tennessee Williams' play "Glass Menagerie," premieres in Chicago
1945 - CFP franc and CFA franc are created.
1946 - "Beggar's Holiday" opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 111 performances
1946 - "Toplitzky of Notre Dame" opens at Century Theater NYC for 60 perfs
1946 - 35th Davis Cup: USA beats Australia in Melbourne (5-0)
1946 - Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas opens (start of an era)
1947 - "Cradle Will Ruck" opens at Mansfield Theater NYC for 34 performances
1947 - British transfer Heard & McDonald Is (Indian Ocean) to Australia
1947 - Heavy snow blankets Northeast, buries NYC under 25.8" of snow in 16 hrs That same day, LA set a record high of 84°F
1948 - Hungarian cardinal Mindszenty arrested
1950 - Gillette & Mutual buy All Star & World Series rights ($6M for 6 yrs)
1954 - "The Shadow," airs for last time on radio
1954 - Cleveland Browns win NFL Championship, beating Detroit 56-10
1955 - Cleveland Browns win NFL Championship, beating Los Angeles Rams 38-14
1955 - RKO is 1st to announce sale of its film library to TV
US General George S Patton 1957 - Roger Sessions' 3rd Symphony premieres in London
1960 - "Do Re Mi" opens at St James Theater NYC for 400 performances
1960 - Musical "Do re mi" with Phil Silvers premieres in NYC
1960 - Philadelphia Eagles beat Green Bay Packers 17-13 in NFL championship game

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Famous Birthdays

Birthdays 1 - 100 of 203

1194 - Frederick II, Iesi Italy, German Emperor (1212-1250)/King of Sicily
1532 - Guilielmus Xylander, German classical scholar (d. 1576)
1536 - Yi I, Korean Confucian scholar (d. 1584)
1542 - Tokugawa Ieyasu, unifier of Japan and first Tokugawa Shogun (d. 1616)
1618 - Elisabeth, Paltsgravin of Rhine/abbess
1633 - Charles E Biset, Flemish painter, baptised
1646 - Robert Bolling, English settler in Virginia (d. 1709)
1660 - Peter Schenck, German/Neth engraver/publisher, baptised
1666 - Guru Gobind Singh, Tenth Guru of Sikhism (d. 1708)
1687 - Johann Georg Pisendel, German violinist/composer
1716 - Thomas Gray, English poet (Elegy Written in a Country Church Yard)
1716 - Jean François de Saint-Lambert, French poet (d. 1803)
1723 - Friedrich Melchior, baron von Grimm, German writer (d. 1807)
1731 - Anthony Ziesenis, architect/sculptor (Town Hall of Westzaan)
1737 - Prince Josias of Coburg, Austrian general (d. 1815)
1738 - Thomas Nelson, merchant, signer of Declaration of Independence
1751 - Clement Hofbauer, Austrian missionary and saint (d. 1820)
1762 - Franz Wilhelm Tausch, composer
1770 - Pierre earl de Cambronne, French general (Waterloo, Elba)
1771 - Heinrich J von Collin, Austria dramatist/poet (Regulus)
1771 - Julie Clary, queen consort of Naples (d. 1845)
1778 - Juan Lovera, Venezuela, artist
1780 - Mary Fairfax Somerville, British mathematician (d. 1872)
1782 - Filaret Drozdov, Metropolitan of Moscow (d. 1867)
Inventor Charles Babbage (1792) 1792 - Charles Babbage, London, inventor (calculating machine), (d. 1871)
1793 - Franz Hunten, composer
1797 - Hans Skramstad, composer
1805 - Joseph-Leon Gatayes, composer
1808 - Albert Grisar, composer
1809 - William Nelson Pendleton, Brig Gen (Confederate Army), died in 1883
1812 - Wilhelm Volkmar, composer
1815 - Israel Bush Richardson, Mjr General (Union volunteers), died in 1862
1819 - E. D. E. N. Southworth, American novelist (d. 1899)
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, Mjr General (Union volunteers), died in 1914
1826 - Franz Coenen, composer
1826 - Martinus Nijhoff, founder Nijhoff's book/publisher (Van Dale)
1837 - Adm George Dewey, American naval hero of Manila
1837 - Morgan Bulkeley, American politician and baseball commissioner (d. 1922)
1845 - Salvatore Auteri Manzocchi, composer
1849 - Samuel E "Sam" van Beem, actor (Fanfan la Tulipe)
1853 - René Bazin, French novelist (d. 1932)
1855 - Arnold Ludwig Mendelssohn, composer
1859 - Johan F van Bemmelen, Dutch zoologist
1859 - William Stephens, U.S. political figure (d. 1944)
1861 - Friedrich Engel, German mathematician (group theory)
1862 - Alexander V Amfiteatrov, Russian/French/Italian writer [NS]
1869 - Harry Redman, composer
1872 - Norman Angell, British politician/cowboy/journalist, Nobel laureate (1933), (d. 1967)
1873 - Hubert Cuypers, Dutch composer/choir conductor (Minstrels)
1873 - Karel Moor, composer
1873 - Thomas Wass, English cricketer (d. 1953)
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
1887 - Arthur Ernest Percival, British Army officer (d. 1966)
1890 - Uncle Charlie Osborne, American fiddler (d. 1992)
Author Henry Miller (1891) 1891 - Henry Miller, Manhattan, New York, author/artist (Tropic of Capricorn, Tropic of Cancer, Sexus), (d. 1980)
1893 - Evgeny Karlovich Tikotsky, composer
1893 - Yury Nikolayevich Tyulin, composer
1893 - Mao Tse-Tung [Zedong], Chinese Prime Minister (1949-76), (d. 1976)
1894 - Antonio Molina, composer
1894 - Jean Toomer, American writer (d. 1967)
1897 - Willie Corsari, [Wilhelmina A Schmidt], Dutch writer
1901 - Georgy Mikhaylovich Rimsky-Korsakov, composer [NS]
1901 - Victor Hely-Hutchinson, composer
1902 - Anatoli Lvovich Kaplan, Russian painter (d. 1980)
1903 - Elisha Cook Jr, San Francisco California, actor (Maltese Falcon, Shane, Magnum PI)
1904 - Alentejo Carpentier, Cubans/French writer (Guerra del Tiempo)
1906 - Imperio Argentina, Argentine actress and singer (d. 2003)
1908 - Ralph Hill, US, 5K runner (Olympic-1932)
1910 - Lucy Faithfull, children's campaigner
Chinese Prime Minister Mao Tse-Tung (1893) 1911 - Arsenio Lacson, Filipino politician and sportswriter (d. 1962)
1911 - Steve Kordek, Chicago, Illinois, pinball machine designer, (d. 2012)
1913 - Frank Swift, English footballer and journalist (d. 1958)
1914 - Richard Widmark, Sunrise Mich, actor (Madigan, Judgement at Nuremberg)
1914 - Annemarie Wendl, German actress (d. 2006)
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
1918 - George Rallis, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2006)
1920 - Gote Carlid, composer
1921 - Steve Allen, NYC, comedian/TV host (Tonight Show, Steve Allen Show)
1921 - John Severin, Jersey City, New Jersey, comic book artist (Hulk, Mad Magazine), (d. 2012)
1922 - Richard Mayes, English actor (d. 2006)
1924 - Frank Broyles, American athlete, long time athletic director of the University of Arkansas.
1925 - Baron Baker, activist
1926 - Earle Brown, composer
1926 - Edgar D Ngoyi, South African ANC leader (17 yrs in Robbeneiland Jail)
1926 - Zlatko Pibernik, composer
1927 - Alan King, Bkln NY, comedian/actor (Anderson Tapes, Memories of Me)
1927 - Denis Quilley, London England, actor (Masada)
1927 - Stu Miller, American baseball player
1929 - Régine, French singer and nightclub owner
1930 - Donald Moffat, Plymouth England, actor (Kent-Logan's Run)
1930 - Sayed Mutawli imam ad-Darsh, scholar/broadcaster

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Famous Weddings

Weddings 1 - 9 of 9

1613 - Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset, marries Frances Howard, occasioning John Donne's "Eclogue".
1793 - The wedding of Prince Friedrich Ludwig of Prussia and Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz takes place.
1931 - SS-Sturmbannfuhrer Reinhard Heydrich marries Lina von Osten
1993 - Comedian Rodney Dangerfield (72) weds Joan Child (41) at Silver Bells Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas
1994 - Actor Jason Hervey (22) weds Kelley Patricia O'Neill (27)
1994 - President Clinton's brother Roger Clinton (37) weds 8-mo pregnant Molly Nartin (25)
2001 - "Harry Potter" author J. K. Rowling (36) weds anesthesiologist Neil Murray (30) in Aberfeldy, Scotland
2002 - Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal (30) weds Shaunie Nelson at The Beverly Hills Hotel's Crystal Garden
2004 - "Kill Bill" actress David Carradine (67) weds Annie Berman (43) at the seaside in Malibu

Famous Deaths

Deaths 1 - 100 of 125

1350 - Jean de Marigny, French bishop
1458 - Arthur III, Duke of Brittany (b. 1393)
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
1731 - Antoine Houdar de la Motte, French writer (b. 1672)
1736 - Antonio Caldara, composer, dies
1740 - Mauritius Louis II earl of Nassau, lt-gen (12 children), dies
1771 - Claude Adrien Helvétius, French philosopher (b. 1715)
1776 - Johann Gottlieb Rall, Hessian colonel/mercenary, dies in battle in American Revolutionary War
1780 - John Fothergill, English physician (b. 1712)
1784 - Seth Warner, American revolutionary leader (b. 1743)
1786 - Gasparo Gozzi, Italian critic and dramatist (b. 1713)
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 brig-gen, commits suicide at 52
1866 - Samuel Ryan Curtis, Union general-major, dies at 49
1869 - Jean Louis Marie Poiseuille, French physiologist (b. 1797)
1879 - Jean Leonard Marie Poiseuille, dies
1887 - Jules Francois Blasini, Curacaos pianist/composer, dies at 40
1890 - Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist (Trojan War), dies at 86
1909 - Frederic Remington, American artist (b. 1861)
1916 - Bernhard Scholz, composer, dies at 81
1916 - Frank Penn, cricketer (one Test for England v Australia 1880), dies
1917 - Louise J Gautier, French poetess/daughter of Theophile G, dies at 71
1918 - Bertram Luard-Selby, composer, dies at 65
1923 - Dietrich Eckart, German Nazi politician (b. 1868)
1931 - Melvil Dewey, inventor of the Dewey decimal classification (b. 1851)
1933 - Lunatscharski, writer, dies
1933 - Anatoly Lunacharsky, Russian literary critic and politician (b. 1875)
1937 - Ivor Gurney, composer, dies at 47
1942 - Bosinier de la Chapelle, Fren murderer of adm 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
1960 - Watsuji Tetsuro, Japanese philosopher (b. 1889)
1961 - Charlie Frank, cricketer (S Af Test centurion v Aust 1921-22), dies
1963 - "Gorgeous George" Wagner, wrestler, dies
1965 - Anthonie Donker, Dutch [Prof N Donkersloot], literary, dies at 63
1966 - Ina Boudier-Baker, Dutch author (Poverty), dies at 88
1966 - Klaziena "Ina" Boudier-Bakker, singer (Armoede, Finale), dies at 91
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
1970 - Lillian Board, British athlete (b. 1948)
1971 - Robert Lowery, actor (Circus Boy, Pistols 'n' Petticoats), dies at 57
1972 - Harry Truman, 33rd US Pres (1945-53), dies in KC 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
1974 - Farid al-Atrash, Arab composer, singer, virtuoso oud player, and actor (b. 1915)
1976 - Philip A Heart, (Sen-D-Mich), dies at 64
1977 - Howard Hawks, director (Rio Lobo, Hatari!), dies at 81
1977 - Ivan Rezak, composer, dies at 53
1980 - Tony Smith, American sculptor (b. 1912)
1981 - Savithri, Indian actress (b. 1937)
1981 - Amber Reeves, feminist writer (b. 1887)
1983 - Violet Carson, British actress (b. 1898)
1985 - Dian Fossey, zoologist (Gorillas in the Mist), murdered at 53
1985 - Harold P. Warren, American movie director (d. 1928)
1986 - Elsa Lanchester, actress (Bride of Frankenstein), dies at 84
1988 - John Loder, actor (Sabotage, Java Head), dies at 90
1988 - Glenn McCarthy, American oil tycoon and businessman (b. 1907)
1989 - Lennox Berkeley, composer, dies at 86
1989 - Peggy Thorpe-Bates, actress (Alcatraz Island), dies
1989 - Doug Harvey, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1924)
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/Neth welfare worker, dies at 74
1994 - Johannes J "Joop" Klant, Neth/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
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)