December 26
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Events on This Day
---- - Boxing Day had its origins in England and is always celebrated on this day (except when December 26th falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the official holiday is moved to Monday) with government offices and many businesses closed. Folks throughout Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada celebrate Boxing Day with family, friends, food, fun and friendship.1799 - The late George Washington was eulogized by Congressman Henry Lee, “To the memory of the man, first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.” Washington had died December 14, 1799.
1865 - James H. Mason of Franklin, MA patented the coffee percolator that makes coffee good to the last drop! Mason would have loved all the coffee houses that have popped up throughout the world over the past few years. He’d probably be sitting at home inventing an espresso and/or cappuccino maker for next Christmas.
1898 - Pierre and Marie Curie announced their discovery of radium to the world. It was March 1902 before they were able to isolate enough radium to confirm its existence. The Curies were awarded the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics along with Antoine Henri Becquerel.
1902 - Oscar ‘Battling’ Nelson hit the canvas five times in a bout in Hot Springs, SD. That’s not the worst of it. Battling’s opponent, Christy Williams, saw little birdies and ate the canvas 42 times! Wow! That’s a record for knockdowns.
1931 - George Gershwin’s musical, Of Thee I Sing, opened at the Music Box Theatre in New York City. The show became the first American musical to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize.
1932 - 70,000 people were killed in a massive earthquake in China.
1939 - W.C. Handy of Memphis, TN one of the legendary blues composers of all time, recorded the classic St. Louis Blues. W.C. and his band recorded in New York for Varsity Records. Handy was one of the first to use the flat third and seventh notes in his compositions, known in the music world as ‘blue’ notes. On another note, the music awards for blues artists’ are called the W.C. Handy National Blues Awards. Now you know where they got that title.
1941 - Winston Churchill became the first British prime minister to address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress, warning that the Axis would “stop at nothing that violence or treachery can suggest.”
1943 - The 32,000-ton German battleship Scharnhorst sank off Norway following an Allied attack led by the British battleship Duke of York. Only 36 of the 1,900 crew of the "Scharnhorst" survived. Researchers located the wreck in 2000.
1944 - Tennessee Williams’ play The Glass Menagerie was first performed publicly -- at the Civic Theatre in Chicago.
1946 - The Flamingo Hotel and Casino opened in Las Vegas. The opening entertainment was provided by entertainers Jimmy Durante, Tommy Wonder, Eddie Jackson, Xavier Cugat & his band, and Rose Marie.
1947 - A monster snowstorm hit New York City, dumping up to 26 inches of snow on the Big Apple. It became the worst snowstorm in the city’s history, surpassing the snowfall totals from the Blizzard of 1888, which had 22 inches of the white stuff.
1952 - Big Sister was heard for the last time on CBS radio. The show had been on the air for 17 years. Big Sister was the ongoing story of Sue Evans Miller and her relationship with her big sister, Ruth Evans. Actresses who played big sister Ruth over the years: Alice Frost, Nancy Marshall, Marjorie Anderson, Mercedes McCambridge. Little Sister Sue was played by Haila Stoddard, Dorothy McGuire, Peggy Conklin and Fran Carlon.
1954 - One of radio’s most popular programs, The Shadow, lurked around the airwaves for the last time. Vigilante crime-fighter Lamont Cranston battled greed and corruption since 1930. “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows....”
1957 - Elvis Presley got a temporary draft deferment so he could finish the movie King Creole.
1958 - Stan Freberg presented a check for $1,000 to the Hemophilia Foundation of Southern California -- his royalties from the first year’s release of Green Chri$tma$. He went on to give all the proceeds from the song to charity, defusing any criticism that he was hypocritically profiting from the subject of his satire.
1960 - Do Re Mi with Phil Silvers premiered at the St. James Theatre in New York City. The musical ran for 400 Performances.
1963 - Capitol Records rushed to release its first single by the Fab Four, otherwise known as The Beatles. I Want to Hold Your Hand, backed with I Saw Her Standing There, reached #1 on February 1, 1964. The flood of music by John, Paul, George and Ringo had started the British Invasion; changing contemporary music forever.
1964 - More Beatles news: The Fab Four got their sixth #1 hit song since February 1, as I Feel Fine became the top tune this day. The first five #1 hits by The Beatles were: I Want to Hold Your Hand, She Loves You, Can’t Buy Me Love, Love Me Do and A Hard Day’s Night.
1967 - A sad day for jazz fans, as the Dave Brubeck Quartet formally disbanded after sax man Paul Desmond left the group. Desmond was a fixture with the quartet for 16 years and can be heard on all the immortal Brubeck standards, including Take Five.
1969 - The cover of LIFE Double Issue profiled the 1960s “Decade of Tumult and Change.”
1972 - Harry S Truman, 33rd president of the United States, died in Kansas City, Missouri, at the age of 88. Truman’s wife, Bess, died on October 18, 1982. They are buried side by side in the Harry S Truman Library courtyard in Independence, MO.
1974 - Super-star comedian and actor Jack Benny died in Los Angeles at the age of 80.
1977 - Anita Bryant was named one of People magazine’s 25 Most Intriguing People of 1977. Billy Carter (the President’s brother) topped the list.
1981 - AC/DC’s album, For Those About to Rock We Salute You was #1 in the U.S. for the first of three weeks. The tracks on the album were: For Those About To Rock (We Salute You), Put the Finger on You, Let’s Get It Up, Inject the Venom, Snowballed, Evil Walks, C.O.D., Breaking the Rules, Night of the Long Knives and Spellbound.
1982 - The Man of the Year in TIME magazine was a non-human for the first time. A computer received the honors as 1982’s “greatest influence for good or evil.”
1986 - Doug Jarvis, age 31, set a National Hockey League record as he skated in his 916th consecutive game. It was a record that started in 1974. Doug holds the individual record for most consecutive games played (964).
1986 - TV’s longest-running drama was seen for the last time. Search for Tomorrow ended its 35-year run on television. The program, seen on CBS, included show veterans, Wayne Rogers, Jill Clayburgh, Morgan Fairchild and Don Knotts.
1990 - Garry Kasparov beat Anatoly Karpov to retain the world chess championship. This was Karpov’s second attempt at regaining the championship from Kasparov. He had lost the title to Kasparov in 1985 and had tried to get it back in 1987.
1990 - U.S. Census Bureau officials reported that the U.S. population stood at 249,632,692 people.
1994 - French commandos stormed a hijacked Air France jetliner on the ground in Marseilles. The commandos killed four Algerian hijackers and freed 170 hostages. The Air France plane had been hijacked on Dec 24.
1996 - Six-year-old beauty pageant princess JonBenet Ramsey was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family’s Boulder, Colorado home. Her mother, Patricia Ramsey, phoned police early on the day after Christmas to report that she had found a ransom note demanding $118,000 for JonBenet’s safe return. Eight hours later, JonBenet’s father, John, found his daughter’s body. Days of investigation turned into weeks, weeks into months, months into years -- and the murder remains unsolved.
1999 - Alfonso Antonio Portillo Cabrera, a populist lawyer, scored a resounding victory in Guatemala’s first peacetime presidential elections in nearly 40 years.
1999 - Singer, songwriter Curtis Mayfield died in Roswell, GA. He was 57 years old. His hits included Superfly, Gypsy Woman and It’s All Right.
2000 - Veteran stage and screen actor Jason Robards died in Bridgeport, CT at 78 years of age. Robards was winner of two Oscars (All the President’s Men and Julia) and one Tony Award (The Disenchanted) during his long and illustrious career.
2001 - Hundreds of Iraqi Kurds, Afghans, Iranians and other refugees tried to march into England through the Channel Tunnel. Some 500 illegal refugees stormed the French entrance in two waves. The tunnel between the UK and France was closed to passenger and cargo trains after the refugees stormed past security guards and broke through electronic locks.
2003 - House of Sand and Fog opened in the U.S. The drama/thriller stars Sir Ben Kingsley, Jennifer Connelly, Ron Eldard, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Jonathan Ahdout, Kim Dickens, Frances Fisher and Carlos Gomez.
2003 - A 6.6 earthquake devastated the southeastern Iranian city of Bam, 630 miles southeast of the capital Tehran. The quake leveled more than half the city’s houses and its historic mud-brick fortress. At least 30,000 people were killed and over 10,000 were injured.
2004 - The most powerful earthquake in 40 years triggered massive tsunamis (tidal waves) that slammed into villages and seaside resorts across southern and southeast Asia. The initial estimated death toll of 9,000 soon rose to more than 225,000 people in twelve countries. The epicenter of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake was located 155 miles south-southeast of Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province on Sumatra, and six miles under the seabed of the Indian Ocean.
2005 - Memorial services around the world, including one in Banda Aceh, Indonesia attended by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, marked the one-year anniversary of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami which saw 170,000 people killed or left missing.
2006 - Former U.S. President Gerald R. Ford died on this day. The former Michigan Congressman and U.S. Vice-President (under Richard Nixon) had declared “Our long national nightmare is over” as he replaced Richard Nixon as president. But he may have doomed his own chances of being elected when he pardoned his disgraced predecessor.
2007 - An unmanned Russian cargo ship carrying 2 tons of supplies, including holiday gifts, docked at the international space station.
2007 - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ruled that employers could reduce or eliminate health benefits for retirees as they turn 65 and become eligible for Medicare.
2008 - Revolutionary Road opened in U.S. theatres. The drama stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Kathy Bates, Kathryn Hahn, Michael Shannon, Zoe Kazan and David Harbour.
2008 - Russia’s ruble fell to a three-year low against the dollar after the Central Bank allowed a third sharp drop in the currency in five days.
2008 - A power failure during a thunderstorm blacked out Oahu, Hawaii’s population of about 900,000 people. The blackout caught thousands of tourists, including vacationing President-elect Barack Obama, by surprise.
2009 - China unveiled what it said as the fastest rail link in the world. The train connected the cities of Guangzhou and Wuhan at an average speed of 350 km (217 miles) an hour.
2009 - Narain Dutt Tiwari, governor of Andhra Pradesh, in southeastern India, resigned a day after a TV news channel aired a recording allegedly showing the 86-year-old in bed with three women.
2010 - London’s Underground (subway) drivers went on a 24-hour strike in a dispute over holiday pay. Members of the Aslef trade union voted to walk out after transport chiefs refused union demands for triple pay and a day off for working on December 26, the day after Christmas (Boxing Day) being a national holiday in Britain.
2011 - Colombia officials in Medellin inaugurated a $6.7 million outdoor escalator system for residents of one of its poorest neighborhoods. The escalator provides the 12,000 residents of Comuna 13 a free ride up and down their steep hillside.
2012 - China opened the world’s longest high-speed rail line. It ran 2,298 km (1,428 mi) from the capital city of Beijing in the north to Guangzhou, an economic hub in the Pearl River delta, in southern China.
2012 - Fontella Bass, female singer, pianist who scored with the single Rescue Me in 1965, died of complications following a heart attack. She was 72 years old.
2013 - Midnight tragedy: A bus carrying holiday travelers plunged off one of Thailand’s highest bridges, leaving at least 29 people dead. “We suspect the bus driver fell asleep,” said Major General Sukit Samana, police commander of Phetchabun province.
2014 - International credit and debit card company Visa Inc said it would no longer support bank cards being used in Crimea, following U.S. sanctions imposed earlier in the month.
2015 - Chicago police shot and killed a 19-year-old engineering student and a 55-year-old mother of five. Police officers arrived at a home in West Garfield Park around 4:30 a.m. and were “confronted by a combative subject resulting in the discharging of the officer’s weapon, fatally wounding two individuals.” The 19-year-old, Quintonio LeGrier, was carrying a baseball bat and threatening his father when police arrived. A police statement said, “The 55-year-old female victim was accidentally struck and tragically killed.”
2016 - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stopped at several memorials in Hawaii, one day before he visited the site of the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor, during a trip intended to show a strong alliance between his country and the United States.
2017 - Russia’s defense minister said the country had started establishing a permanent military presence at naval and air bases in Syria.
2017 - During 2017 Venezuela’s currency weakened 97.5% against the U.S. dollar, meaning $1,000 of local currency purchased the previous year would be worth just $25.
2018 - U.S. Customs and Border Protection ordered medical checks on every child in its custody after Agustin Gomez (8) of Guatemala died. It was the second death of an immigrant child in the agency’s care in December.
2018 - Israel’s army located a fifth Hezbollah attack tunnel crossing into its territory from Lebanon and destroyed it with explosives.
2019 - Russia’s Ministry of Communications announced that it had successfully tested a countrywide alternative to the internet. The Russian sovereign internet law, which allows content to be blocked in an “emergency situation,” took effect in November, and Vladimir Putin signed a law that banned the sale of devices without the pre-installed Russian software.
2019 - A tour helecopter in Hawaii crashed with seven people aboard. The Eurocopter AS350 helicopter had taken off from Lihue for a tour of Kauai’s Na Pali Coast. The aircraft was located on that mountainous region of the island the next day. There where were no survivors.
2020 - The Center for Economics and Business Research predicted that China was on course to overtake the United States as the world’s biggest economy by 2028 -- five years earlier than previously forecast.
2020 - Cases of a coronavirus variant recently identified in the U.K. continued to be found in European countries. Spain and France confirmed their first infections of the variant, while Italy, Denmark, and the Netherlands had reported recent cases. It has also been found in Australia, Singapore, and Japan.
2021 - Archbishop Desmond Tutu died at 90 years of age. Tutu was a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and veteran of South Africa’s struggle against white minority rule. “The passing of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is another chapter of bereavement in our nation’s farewell to a generation of outstanding South Africans who have bequeathed us a liberated South Africa... He distinguished himself as a non-sectarian, inclusive champion of universal human rights,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said.
2021 - The air temperature at Kodiak hit 67°F (19.4°C), the highest December reading ever recorded in Alaska.
2022 - Holiday retail sales exceeded expectations, with Mastercard reporting sales were up 7.6 percent between Nov 1 and Dec 24, higher than the predicted 7.1 percent growth. Retail sales growth was down, however, when compared to the 8.5 percent increase in 2021 -- due in part to rising interest rates and recession jitters. Economic analyst at Morning Consult said, “Inflation concerns were a big downward pressure on spending. Consumers are working their way through their savings buffers they have built up.”
2022 - New York congressman-elect George Santos admitted to ‘embellishing’ parts of his resum. He admitted that he had lied about graduating from college and that he had made misleading claims a bout his employment. Santos, who previously misrepresented his Brazilian-born grandparents as “Holocaust refugees,” also attempted to clarify his ancestry: “I never claimed to be Jewish, I am Catholic. Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background I said I was ‘Jew-ish.’”
and more...
Birthdays on This Day December 26
1716 - Thomas Gray
poet: Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard: “The paths of glory lead but to the grave.”; also: “...where ignorance is bliss/’Tis folly to be wise.”; died July 30, 17711785 - Laurent Clerc
first deaf teacher in U.S.: helped establish American School for the Deaf in Connecticut; died July 18, 18691837 - George Dewey
Admiral of the Navy: Spanish-American War: hero of Manila: “You may fire when you are ready, Gridley.”; died Jan 16, 19171891 - Henry Miller
author: Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, Black Spring, Quiet Days in Clichy, The Wisdom of the Heart, Jours tranquilles a Clichy, The Air-Conditioned Nightmare; died Jun 7, 19801893 - Mao Tse-Tung (Zedong)
communist-revolutionist: founding father of the People’s Republic of China; died Sep 9, 19761914 - Richard Widmark
actor: Judgment at Nuremberg, Murder on the Orient Express, The Halls of Montezuma, How the West was Won, The Alamo, Against All Odds, True Colors; died Mar 24, 20081921 - Steve Allen
comedian, author, musician, composer, TV host: The Tonight Show, The Steve Allen Show; films: The Benny Goodman Story, cameo with wife Jayne Meadows: Casino; died Oct 30, 20001924 - Frank Broyles
football: University of Arkansas Athletic Director; sportscaster, analyst; died Aug 14, 20171927 - Alan King (Irwin Kniberg)
comedian, TV panelist: Hollywood Squares; producer, actor: The Anderson Tapes, Author! Author!, Casino; Las Vegas performer; died May 9, 20041927 - Denis Quilley
actor: Cleopatra [1999], The Marriage of Figaro, A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia, The Shell Seekers, Murder of a Moderate Man; died Oct 5, 20031930 - Donald Moffat
actor: Trapped in Paradise, Clear and Present Danger, Tales of the City, The Bonfire of the Vanities, The Bourne Identity, The Best of Times, The Right Stuff, The Long Days of Summer, Winter Kills, Mary White, Showdown, Rachel, Rachel; died Dec 20, 20181933 - Caroll Spinney
puppeteer: Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch [Sesame Street]; died Dec 8, 2019; more1935 - Abdul ‘Duke’ Fakir
singer: group: The Four Tops: Baby I Need Your Loving, I Can’t Help Myself, Reach Out I’ll Be There, Standing in the Shadows of Love, Seven Rooms of Gloom, Bernadette, Keeper of the Castle, Ain’t No Woman like the One I’ve Got, When She Was My Girl, Don’t Walk Away1935 - Norman Ullman
Hockey Hall of Famer [center]: NHL: Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers; career: 490 goals, 739 assists1936 - (James) Wayne Causey
baseball: Baltimore Orioles, KC Athletics, Chicago White Sox, Atlanta Braves, California Angels1939 - Ken Howard
composer, songwriter [w/partner Alan Blaikley]: Heart of Rome, I’ve Lost You, Have I The Right?; wrote for Elvis Presly, Dave Dee, Lulu, Bay City Rollers, Petula Clark, Engelbert Humperdinck, many others1939 - Phil Spector
‘Tycoon of Teen’: record company executive: originator of Wall of Sound; sang with The Teddy Bears; songwriter: To Know Him is to Love Him, Spanish Harlem; 4/29/09: Spector was sentenced to prison for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson; died Jan 16, 20211940 - Ray (Raymond Michael) Sadecki
baseball: pitcher: SL Cardinals [World Series: 1964], SF Giants, NY Mets [World Series: 1973], Atlanta Braves, KC Royals, Milwaukee Brewers; died Nov 17, 20141945 - Joyce Jillson
actress: Slumber Party ’57, Superchick; syndicated astrology columnist; died Oct 1, 20041945 - John Walsh
TV host: America’s Most Wanted; actor: Wrongfully Accused; his six-year-old son Adam was kidnapped and murdered in Florida in 1981; co-founder: National Center for Missing and Exploited Children; author: Tears Of Rage, No Mercy, Public Enemies)1947 - Carlton (Ernest) ‘Pudge’ Fisk
Baseball Hall of Famer: catcher: Boston Red Sox [all-star: 1972-1974, 1976-1978, 1980/American League Rookie of the Year: 1972/World Series: 1975], Chicago White Sox [all-star: 1981, 1982, 1985, 19911948 - Dave (David Martin) Rader
baseball: catcher: SF Giants, SL Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox1948 - Chris (Carroll Christopher) Chambliss
baseball: Cleveland Indians first baseman: American League Rookie of the Year [1971], NY Yankees [World Series: 1976-1978/all-star: 1976], Atlanta Braves1953 - Charles Lane
director: Sidewalk Stories, True Identity1954 - Susan Butcher
dog sled racer: won Iditarod Trail race [1986, 1987, 1988, 1990], set record [1990]: 11 days, 1 hour, 53 minutes, 23 seconds; died Aug 5, 20061954 - Ozzie (Osborne Earl) Smith
baseball: ‘The Wizard of Oz’: SD Padres [all-star: 1981], SL Cardinals [World Series: 1982, 1985, 1987/all-star: 1981-1992, 1994-1996]; National League Golden Glove winner [13: 1980-1992]; shortstop records: most years w/500 or more assists [8], most assists in a season [621: 1980], fewest errors in 150 or more games, most years [7] and most consecutive years [4] leading NL in fielding percentages1961 - John Lynch
actor: Isolation, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Alien Hunter, Re-inventing Eddie, Best, Sliding Doors1961 - Tahnee Welch
actress: Falcon Crest, Cocoon series, I Shot Andy Warhol, The Criminal Mind1963 - Lars Ulrich
musician: drums: group: Metallica: LPs: Kill ’Em All, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, ...And Justice for All, Metallica or [Black Album], Load, Reload, Garage Inc.1966 - Sandra Taylor
model [Playboy Playmate: July 1995], actress: Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, Batman & Robin, L.A. Confidential, The Princess Diaries, The Princess Diaries 2, Tomcats, Keeping Up with the Steins, Runaway Bride, Raising Helen1968 - Dennis Knight
pro wrestler/actor: WWF Superstars of Wrestling, Wrestlemania XII, Royal Rumble, Summerslam, Sunday Night Heat, WWF Backlash, WWF Smackdown!1969 - Shayla LaVeaux
actress [1992-2011]: X-rated films: Naked Truth, Carnival of Knowledge, Orgazmo, Strap-on Sally 10, Dirty Bob’s Xcellent Adventures 35, Suite Seduction, Consenting Adults1969 - Rene L. Moreno
actor: Heroes, Last Flight Out, Band of Brothers, All Lies End in Murder, Bio-Dome, Young Guns II, Teen Angel, Bones, Sex and the City, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Ugly Betty, Cold Case, Callback, ER1970 - Willie Williams
football [cornerback]: Western Carolina Univ; NFL: Pittsburgh Steelers, Seattle Seahawks; more1971 - Jared Leto
Academy Award-winning supporting actor: Dallas Buyers Club [2014]; My So-Called Life, Prefontaine, The Thin Red Line, Fight Club, American Psycho, Urban Legend, Requiem for a Dream, Panic Room, Alexander, Lord of War, Lonely Hearts, Chapter 27, Mr. Nobody; singer-songwriter, lead vocalist for band Thirty Seconds to Mars1983 - Alexander Wang
fashion designer: known for his edgy and masculine womenswear collections and for his use of black1985 - Beth Behrs
actress: 2 Broke Girls, American Pie Presents: The Book of Love, Chasing Eagle Rock, Castle, NCIS: Los Angeles, The Neighborhood1986 - Kit Harington
actor: Game of Thrones, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Testament of Youth, Pompeii1986 - Hugo Lloris
footballer [French goalkeeper]: Tottenham Hotspur [2012- ]; French national team in [2008-2022]: 2018 World Cup champs1991 - Eden Sher
actress: The Middle, Weeds, Star vs. the Forces of Evil1992 - Jade Thirlwall
songwriter, singer: group: Little Mix: nineteen top-ten singles, five number-ones, six top-five studio albums
and still more...
Hit Music on This Day December 26
1952I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (facts) - Jimmy Boyd
Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer (facts) - Gene Autry
1961
1970
1979
1988
1997
2006
2015
and even more...
Those were the days, my friend. We thought they’d never end...
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