December 26 is celebrated as Boxing Day in the United Kingdom. The tradition of Boxing Day includes giving gifts to charity.
Birthdays:
1971 ~ Jared Leto (né Jared Joseph Leto), American actor. He was born in Bossier City, Louisiana.
1964 ~ Elizabeth Kostova (née Elizabeth Johnson), American author. She is best known for her novel The Historian. She was born in New London, Connecticut.
1960 ~ Keith Ball (né Keith Martin Ball), American mathematician. He was born in New York, New York
1956 ~ David Sedaris (né David Raymond Sedaris), American comedian and author. He was born in Johnson City, New York.
1949 ~ José Ramos-Horta, 2nd President of East Timor and recipient of the 1996 Nobel Peace prize. He served as President from May 2007 until May 2012. He was awarded the Nobel Peace prize for his work towards working a peaceful solution to the conflict in East Timor.
1947 ~ Carlton Fisk (né Carlton Ernest Fisk), American baseball catcher who had a long career with the Boston Red Sox. He nickname was Pudge. He was born in Bellow Falls, Vermont.
1942 ~ Gray Davis (né Joseph Graham Davis, Jr.), 37th Governor of California. He served as governor from January 1999 until November 2003. He was born in The Bronx, New York.
1940 ~ Edward Prescott (né Edward Christian Prescott), American economist and recipient of the 2004 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. He was born in Glens Falls, New York.
1937 ~ John Conway (né John Horton Conway), English mathematician. He is known for his work in knot theory and number theory. He was born in Liverpool, England.
1933 ~ Caroll Spinney (née Caroll Edwin Spinney; d. Dec. 8, 2019), American puppeteer who brought Big Bird from Sesame Street to life. He was also played Oscar the Grouch. He was on Sesame Street from its inception in 1969 until 2018. He was born in Waltham, Massachusetts. He died in Woodstock, Connecticut 18 days before his 86thbirthday.
1927 ~ Alan King (né Irwin Alan Kniberg; d. May 9, 2004), American comedian and actor. He died at age 76.
1921 ~ Steve Allen (né Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen; d. Oct. 30, 2000), American actor and television personality. He died at age 78.
1917 ~ Rose Mary Woods (d. Jan. 22, 2005), American presidential secretary who protected President Nixon during the Watergate scandal. She is best known for erasing 18 minutes of the Watergate tapes. She died less than a month before her 88th birthday.
1905 ~ William Loeb, III (d. Sept. 14, 1981), American newspaper publisher of the ultraconservative Manchester Union Leader of Manchester, NH. He published his editorial views on the front page of the newspaper. He died at age 75.
1893 ~Mao Zedong (d. Sept. 9, 1976), Chinese communist leader and 1st President of the People’s Republic of China. His name is also sometimes transliterated as Mao Tse-Tung. He died at age 82.
1891 ~ Henry Miller (né Henry Valentine Miller; d. June 7, 1980), American writer best known for his books Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. He died at age 88.
1883 ~ Maurice Utrillo (né Maurice Valadon; d. Nov. 5, 1955), French artist. He died at age 71.
1872 ~ Sir Ralph Norman Angel (d. Oct. 7, 1967), British politician and recipient of the 1933 Nobel Peace Prize. He died at age 94.
1859 ~ William Stephens (né William Dennison Stephens; d. Apr. 25, 1944), 24th Governor of California. He was Governor from March 1917 until January 1923. He died at age 84.
1837 ~ George Dewey (d. Jan. 16, 1917), American naval officer who became known as the hero of Manila during the Spanish-American War in 1898. He was born in Montpelier, Vermont. He died 3 weeks after his 79th birthday.
1837 ~ Morgan Bulkeley (né Morgan Gardner Bulkeley; d. Nov. 6, 1922), 54th Governor of Connecticut. He served as governor from January 1889 until January 4, 1893. He died at age 84.
1791 ~ Charles Babbage (d. Oct. 18, 1871), English mathematician and inventor. He is considered the Father of the Computer, as he is credited with inventing the first mechanical computer, leading the way for others to create more complex designs. He died at age 79.
1780 ~ Mary Somerville (née Mary Fairfax; d. Nov. 29, 1872), Scottish mathematician and astronomer. She died less than a month before her 92nd birthday.
1194 ~ Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. Dec. 13, 1250). He reigned as Holy Roman Emperor from November 1220 until his death 30 years later. He was married several times. His first wife was Constance of Aragon (1179 ~ 1222). She was twice his age at the time of their marriage. His second wife was Isabella II, Queen of Jerusalem (1212 ~ 1228). His third wife was Isabella of England (1214 ~ 1241). He died 13 days before his 56th birthday.
Events that Changed the World:
2009 ~ China opened the world’s longest high-speed rail route, which linked Beijing and Guangzhou. The rail runs a length of 1,428 miles.
2004 ~ A 9.3 magnitude earthquake in the Indian Ocean created a tsunami killing over 230,000 people in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and the Maldives.
1996 ~ The body of six-year-old child beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey (1990 ~ 1996) was found beaten and strangled in her family’s home on Colorado. The crime has not been solved.
1994 ~ Four Armed Islamic Group hijackers seized control of Air France Flight 8969. The plane landed in Marseille and the French Gendarmerie assault team killed the hijackers.
1991 ~ The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union formally dissolved the Soviet Union.
1982 ~ Time magazine announced its “Man of the Year” was the personal computer. It was the first non-human to be awarded this title.
1941 ~ President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882 ~ 1945) signed a bill establishing the 4th Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day in the United States.
1933 ~ The FM radio was patented.
1925 ~ Turkey adopted the Gregorian calendar.
1919 ~ Babe Ruth (1895 ~ 1948) of the Boston Red Sox was sold to the New York Yankees by owner Harry Frazee (1880 ~ 1929)
1898 ~ Marie (1867 ~ 1934) and Pierre Currie (1859 ~ 1906) announced that they had successfully isolated radium.
1870 ~ The Fréjus Rail Tunnel, connecting France and Italy, through the Alps was completed. It was 12.8 kilometers long.
1846 ~ The Donner Party, trapped without food in the snow in the Sierra Nevadas, resorted to cannibalism.
1776 ~ The British were defeated in the Battle of Trenton during the American Revolutionary War.
Good-byes:
2018 ~ Sir Peter Swinnerton-Dyer, 16th Baronet (né Henry Peter Francis Swinnerton-Dyer; b. Aug. 2, 1927), British mathematician known for his work in number theory. He died at age 91.
2018 ~ Nancy Roman (née Nancy Grace Roman; b. May 16, 1925), American astronomer who shattered glass ceilings to get Hubble into orbit. She was one of the first female executives at NASA. She is known as the Mother of Hubble for her role in planning the Hubble Telescope. She died at age 93.
2016 ~ Petr Hájek (b. Feb. 6, 1940), Czech mathematician. He died at age 76.
2014 ~ James B. Edwards (né James Burrows Edwards; b. June 24, 1927), 3rd United States Secretary of Energy. He served from January 1981 until November 1982 under President Ronald Reagan. He had previously served as the 110th Governor of South Carolina from January 1975 until January 1979. He died of complications of a stroke at age 87.
2013 ~ Marta Eggerth (b. Apr. 17, 1912), Hungarian-born actress and soprano who became the grande dame of operetta. She died at age 101.
2010 ~ Teena Marie (née Mary Christine Brockert; b. Mar. 17, 1956), American singer-songwriter. She died at age 54.
2006 ~ Martin Kruskal (né Martin David Kruskal; b. Sept. 28, 1925), American physicist and mathematician. He died at age 81.
2006 ~ Gerald Ford (né Leslie Lynch King, Jr.; b. July 14, 1913), 38th President of the United States and only president who was never elected by the populous. Prior to becoming President, he had served as the 40th Vice President of the United States under President Richard Nixon, as he assumed that office following the resignation of Spiro Agnew. He died at age 93.
2005 ~ Vincent Schiavelli (né Vincent Andrew Schiavelli; b. Nov. 11, 1948), American actor. He died of lung cancer at age 57.
2002 ~ Herb Ritts (né Herbert Ritts, Jr.; b. Aug. 13, 1952), American photographer. He died of pneumonia at age 50.
2000 ~ Jason Robards (né Jason Nelson Robards, Jr.; d. July 26, 1922), American actor. He died of lung cancer at age 78.
1997 ~ Cahit Arf (b. Oct. 11, 1910), Turkish mathematician. He died at age 87.
1987 ~ Dorothy Bliss (née Dorothy Elizabeth Bliss; b. Feb. 13, 1916), American invertebrate zoologist and curator of the American Museum of Natural History. She was a pioneer in the study of hormonal control in crustaceans. She was born in Cranston, Rhode Island and died of cancer at age 71 in Providence, Rhode Island.
1985 ~ Dian Fossey (b. Jan. 16, 1932), American gorilla specialist. She was murdered by poachers in Africa. The exact date of her murder is not known, but it is believed to have been on December 26, 1985. Her body was found on the morning of December 27. She died 3 weeks before her 54th birthday.
1979 ~ Helmut Hasse (b. Aug. 25, 1898), German mathematician. He died at age 81.
1974 ~ Jack Benny (né Benjamin Kublesky; b. Feb. 14, 1894), American comedian. He died at age 80.
1972 ~ Harry S. Truman (b. May 8, 1884), 33rd President of the United States. He was President from April 1945, following the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, until January 1953. He had served as Vice President under Roosevelt’s third term. He died at age 88.
1968 ~ Weegee (né Ascher Fellig; b. June 12, 1899), Ukrainian-born American photographer. He died at age 69.
1956 ~ Preston Tucker (né Preston Thomas Tucker; b. Sept. 21, 1903), American automobile designer. He was the subject of the 1988 movie, Tucker: The Man and His Dreams, starring Jeff Bridges. Preston Tucker died at age 53 of lung cancer.
1931 ~ Melvil Dewey (né Melville Louis Kossuth Dewey; b. Dec. 10, 1851), American librarian and creator of the Dewey Decimal System for cataloging library books. He died of a stroke 16 days after his 80th birthday. In June 2019, the American Library Association voted to remove Dewey’s name from its top honor ~ the Melvil Dewey Award ~ due to Dewey’s reputation and history of racism, anti-Semitism and sexual harassment.
1930 ~ Kin Hubbard (né Frank McKinney Hubbard; b. Sept. 1, 1868), American cartoonist, humorist and journalist. He died at age 62.
1909 ~ Frederic Remington (né Frederic Sackrider Remington; b. Oct. 4, 1861), American artist best known for his depictions of the American West. He died at age 48 of complications following an emergency appendectomy.
1784 ~ Seth Warner (b. May 17, 1743), American captain in the Green Mountain Boys. He is best known for his role in the capture of Fort Crown Point in the siege of Quebec. He was born and died in Roxbury, Connecticut. He died at age 41.
865 ~ Zheng, Empress Dowager of the Tang Dynasty. She was the concubine of Emperor Xianzong and mother of Emperor Xuānzong. The date of her birth is not known.
418 ~ Pope Zosimus. He was Pope from March 417 until his death on this date nearly 2 years later. The date of his birth is not known.
268 ~ Pope Dionysius. He was Pope from July 259 until his death on this date 9 years later. The date of his birth is not known.
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