December 26 is the 360th day of the year (361st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are five days remaining until the end of the year.
Events
Up to 1900
1901 – 1950
1951 – 2000
- 1963 - The Beatles release the singles I Want to Hold Your Hand and I Saw Her Standing There in the United States, starting the so-called Beatlemania internationally.
- 1966 – The first Kwanzaa is celebrated by Maulana Karenga, the chair of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach.
- 1973 – Comet Kohoutek reaches perihelion but is not such a display as expected.
- 1973 - The horror movie The Exorcist, directed by William Friedkin, is released in US cinemas.
- 1973 – Soyuz 13 lands.
- 1974 – Salyut 4 launched.
- 1975 – Tupolev Tu-144 goes into service in the Soviet Union.
- 1976 – Foundation of the Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist).
- 1978 - The first Paris to Dakar Rally starts in Paris.
- 1979 – The divorce of Jack Catain Jr., an American businessman, and Marlene Noble, an American apparel sales associate, is finalized.
- 1979 – Soviet Special forces troops take over presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan.
- 1980 – Aeroflot puts the Ilyushin Il-86 into service.
- 1982 – TIME magazine's Man of the Year was for the first time given to a non-human; the personal computer.
- 1984 – Princess Astrid of Belgium marries Archduke Lorenz of Austria-Este.
- 1986 – The first long-running American television soap opera, Search for Tomorrow, airs its final episode after thirty-five years on the air.
- 1988 – Start of the Nanjing Anti-African protests.
- 1991 – Supreme Soviet meets and formally dissolves the USSR.
- 1996 – JonBenét Ramsey, a six-year-old beauty queen, was found murdered in her family's basement in Boulder, Colorado.
- 1996 – United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification goes into force.
- 1997 - The Soufriere Hills volcano on the Caribbean island of Montserrat explodes.
- 1998 – Iraq announced its intention to fire upon US and British warplanes that patrol the northern and southern "no-fly zones".
- 1998 – Severe gales over Ireland, northern England, and southern Scotland. Widespread disruption, widespread power outages in Northern Ireland and southern Scotland.
- 1999 – On the 26-28th, France and countries to the east, including Germany, are hit by severe storms and rain. Over 100 people were killed, and the storm caused extensive damage to property and trees and the French national power grid.
From 2001
- 2002 – French Raelian scientist Brigitte Boisselier says Clonaid has delivered the first of a supposed five clone babies through cesarean section.
- 2003 – Major earthquake, of magnitude 6.6, devastates southeast Iranian city of Bam, killing tens of thousands; citadel of Arg-é Bam is destroyed.
- 2004 – A massive earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter magnitude scale creates a tsunami causing devastation in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, The Maldives and many other areas around the rim of the Indian Ocean. The death toll is currently estimated at more than 300,000. Officials say the true toll may never be known, due to rapid burials. Indonesia was worst affected with as many as 219,000 people killed.
- 2004 – In a re-run of Ukraine's Presidential election Viktor Yushchenko defeats Viktor Yanukovich.
- 2006 – At least 260 people are killed when an oil pipeline in Lagos, Nigeria, explodes.
- 2012 - Shinzo Abe becomes Prime Minister of Japan for a second time.
- 2016 - Shinzo Abe becomes the first Prime Minister of Japan to visit the site of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, Hawaii.
- 2017 - Honduras and Panama decide to move their embassies in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
- 2017 - Former professional footballer George Weah is elected President of Liberia.
Births
Up to 1900
- 1194 – Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1250)
- 1532 – Guilielmus Xylander, German classical scholar (d. 1576)
- 1536 – Yi I of Joseon, Confucian scholar (d. 1584)
- 1622 - Cort Adeler, Norwegian admiral (d. 1675)
- 1687 – Johann Georg Pisendel, German violinist and composer (d. 1755)
- 1716 – Thomas Gray, English poet and letter-writer (d. 1771)
- 1723 – Friedrich Melchior, Baron von Grimm, German writer (d. 1807)
- 1735 – Prince Josias of Coburg, Holy Roman Empire general (d. 1815)
- 1751 – Clement Hofbauer, missionary (d. 1820)
- 1769 – Ernst Moritz Arndt, German writer (d. 1860)
- 1771 - Julie Clary, French wife of Joseph Bonaparte (d. 1845)
- 1777 - Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse (d. 1848)
- 1780 – Mary Fairfax Somerville, British mathematician (d. 1872)
- 1785 - Etienne Constantin de Gerlache, 1st Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 1871)
- 1791 – Charles Babbage, English mathematician and inventor (d. 1871)
- 1819 – E. D. E. N. Southworth, American novelist (d. 1899)
- 1822 – Dion Boucicault, Irish actor and playwright (d. 1890)
- 1837 – George Dewey, U. S. admiral (d. 1917)
- 1837 - Morgan Bulkeley, 54th Governor of Connecticut (d. 1922)
- 1853 – René Bazin, French novelist (d. 1932)
- 1859 - William Stephens, 24th Governor of California (d. 1944)
- 1863 – Charles Pathé, French movie pioneer (d. 1957)
- 1867 - Phan Boi Chau, Vietnamese nationalist (d. 1940)
- 1872 – Norman Angell, British writer, Nobel Peace Prize winner (d. 1967)
- 1874 - Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah, Bangladeshi educator, theologian and social reformer (d. 1965)
- 1880 - Elton Mayo, Australian psychologist (d. 1949)
- 1883 – Maurice Utrillo, French painter (d. 1955)
- 1890 – Uncle Charlie Osborne, fiddler (d. 1992)
- 1891 – Henry Miller, American writer (d. 1980)
- 1893 – Mao Zedong, Chinese military leader and politician (d. 1976)
- 1894 - Jean Toomer, American writer (d. 1967)
1901 – 1950
- 1902 - Anatoli Lvovich Kaplan, Russian writer (d. 1980)
- 1903 – Elisha Cook Jr., actor (d. 1995)
- 1904 – Alejo Carpentier, Cuban writer (d. 1980)
- 1905 – Anfilogino Guarisi, Brazilian-Italian footballer (d. 1974)
- 1905 - Mario Varglien, Italian footballer (d. 1978)
- 1906 – Imperio Argentina, Argentine-Spanish actress and singer (d. 2003)
- 1907 - Albert Gore, Sr., American politician (d. 1998)
- 1909 - Matt Gordy, American pole vaulter (d. 1989)
- 1911 – Princess Takamatsu of Japan (d. 2004)
- 1912 - Henk de Looper, Dutch field hockey player (d. 2006)
- 1913 - Elizabeth David, English cookery writer (d. 1992)
- 1914 – Richard Widmark, American actor (d. 2008)
- 1918 – George Rallis, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2006)
- 1921 – Steve Allen, American actor, comedian, composer, and writer (d. 2000)
- 1923 - Richard Artschwager, American artist (d. 2013)
- 1926 – Gina Pellón, Cuban painter
- 1926 - Earle Brown, American composer (d. 2002)
- 1927 – Alan King, American comedian and actor (d. 2004)
- 1927 - Stu Miller, American baseball player (d. 2015)
- 1931 - Roger Piantoni, French footballer
- 1933 – Caroll Spinney, American puppeteer
- 1935 – Gnassingbé Eyadéma, President of Togo (d. 2005)
- 1937 - John Horton Conway, British mathematician
- 1938 - Bahram Bayzai, Iranian director, screenwriter and producer
- 1939 - Fred Schepisi, Australian director
- 1939 – Phil Spector, American music producer
- 1940 – Edward C. Prescott, American economist
- 1941 - Daniel Schmid, Swiss movie director
- 1942 – Marco Vinicio Cerezo Arevalo, 28th President of Guatemala
- 1942 – Gray Davis, former Governor of California
- 1945 – John Walsh, American talk show host
- 1947 – Carlton Fisk, American Baseball Hall of Famer
- 1947 - Liz Lochhead, Scottish poet
- 1949 – José Ramos-Horta, East Timorean human rights activist and former President of East Timor
- 1949 - Mikhail Boyarsky, Russian actor and singer
- 1950 - Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, former Prime Minister of Pakistan
1951 – 1975
- 1951 - C. J. Henderson, American writer, critic and editor (d. 2014)
- 1951 - John Scofield, American jazz guitarist and composer
- 1952 - Alexander Ankvab, Abkhazian politician
- 1953 – Henning Schmitz, German musician (Kraftwerk)
- 1953 – Toomas Hendrik Ilves, President of Estonia
- 1953 – Leonel Fernandez, former President of the Dominican Republic
- 1953 - Michel Guimond, Canadian politician (d. 2015)
- 1954 - Peter Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer, explorer and son of Edmund Hillary
- 1954 - Susan Butcher, American dogsledder (d. 2006)
- 1954 - Tony Rosato, Italian-born Canadian actor (d. 2017)
- 1954 – Ozzie Smith, American Baseball Hall of Famer
- 1955 – Evan Bayh, US Senator from Indiana
- 1956 – David Sedaris, American essayist
- 1957 - Dermot Murnaghan, British newsreader
- 1959 – Koji Morimoto, Japanese director
- 1959 - Hans Nielsen, Danish speedway rider
- 1960 - Andrew Graham-Dixon, British art historian and broadcaster
- 1962 - James Kottak, German musician
- 1963 – Lars Ulrich, Danish musician (Metallica)
- 1969 – Thomas Linke, German footballer
- 1969 – Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, American-born German equestrian
- 1971 – Mika Nurmela, Finnish footballer
- 1971 – Jared Leto, American actor, singer and musician
- 1975 – Marcelo Rios, Chilean tennis player
From 1976
- 1976 – Lea De Mae, Czech actress (d. 2004)
- 1976 - Janina Karolchyk-Pravalinska, Belarussian athlete
- 1977 - Fatih Akyel, Turkish footballer
- 1979 - Fabian Carini, Uruguayan footballer
- 1979 – Mark Cueto, English rugby player
- 1979 – Chris Daughtry, American singer
- 1981 - Ilia Kandelaki, Georgian footballer
- 1982 - Shun Oguri, Japanese actor and model
- 1982 – Aksel Lund Svindal, Norwegian skier
- 1984 - Alex Schwazer, Italian race walker
- 1985 - Beth Behrs, American actress
- 1986 - Hugo Lloris, French footballer
- 1986 - Kit Harington, English actor
- 1987 - Mikhail Kukushkin, Kazakhstani tennis player
- 1989 - Yohan Blake, Jamaican athlete
- 1989 - Sofiane Feghouli, Algerian footballer
- 1990 - Andy Biersack, American singer
- 1990 – Aaron Ramsey, Welsh footballer
- 1990 - Denis Cheryshev, Russian footballer
- 1991 - Eden Sher, American actress
- 1992 - Jade Thirlwall, English singer (Little Mix)
- 1994 – Souleymane Coulibaly, Ivorian footballer
- 1994 - Stephanie Boscarino, American actress
- 1994 - Luisa Hartema, German model
- 1995 – Zach Mills, American actor
Deaths
Up to 1900
- 268 - Pope Dionysius
- 418 - Pope Zosinos
- 831 - Euthymius of Sardis, Byzantine bishop and saint (b. 754)
- 865 - Empress Dowager Zheng of China
- 1350 - Jean de Marigny, French archbishop
- 1458 - Arthur III, Duke of Brittany (b. 1393)
- 1476 - Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan (b. 1444)
- 1530 – Babur, Mughal Emperor (b. 1483)
- 1624 – Simon Marius, German astronomer (b. 1573)
- 1780 - John Fothergill, English physician (b. 1712)
- 1784 – Seth Warner, American revolutionary leader (b. 1743)
- 1786 - Gasparo Gozzi, Italian playwright and critic (b. 1713)
- 1811 - George William Smith, Governor of Virginia (b. 1762)
- 1867 – Jozsef Kossics, Slovenian writer (b. 1788)
- 1869 - Jean Leonard Marie Poiseuille, French physician and physiologist (b. 1797)
- 1890 - Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist (b. 1822)
1901 – 2000
- 1909 - Frederic Remington, American painter and illustrator (b. 1761)
- 1923 - Dietrich Eckart, German journalist and politician (b. 1868)
- 1931 - Melvil Dewey, American librarian (b. 1851)
- 1933 – Anatoly Lunacharsky, Russian literary critic and politician (b. 1875)
- 1960 - Tetsuro Watsuji, Japanese philosopher (b. 1889)
- 1970 – Lillian Board, British athlete (b. 1948)
- 1972 – Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States (b. 1884)
- 1973 – Harold B. Lee, American Mormon leader (b. 1899)
- 1974 - Farid al-Atrash, Syrian-Egyptian singer-songwriter, musician and actor (b. 1915)
- 1977 - Howard Hawks, American director (b. 1896)
- 1981 - Savitri, Indian actress, director and producer (b. 1937)
- 1983 - Violet Carson, English actress (b. 1898)
- 1985 – Dian Fossey, American gorilla specialist (b. 1932)
- 1985 - Harold P. Warren, American movie director (b. 1928)
- 1986 – Elsa Lanchester, British actress (b. 1902)
- 1994 - Pietro Pavan, Italian cardinal (b. 1903)
- 1999 – Shankar Dayal Sharma, President of India (b. 1918)
- 1999 – Curtis Mayfield, American musician (b. 1942)
- 2000 - Jason Robards, American actor (b. 1922)
From 2001
- 2001 – Nigel Hawthorne, English actor (b. 1929)
- 2004 – Marianne Heiberg, Norwegian mediator (b. 1945)
- 2004 – Khun Bhumi Jensen, Thai royal (b. 1983) (2004 Indian Ocean earthquake)
- 2004 - Angus Ogilvy, British businessman (b. 1928)
- 2005 - Kerry Packer, Australian businessman (b. 1937)
- 2005 – Vincent Schiavelli, American actor (b. 1948)
- 2006 – Gerald Ford, 38th President of the United States (b. 1913)
- 2006 - Ivar Formo, Norwegian cross-country skier (b. 1951)
- 2009 - Giuseppe Chiappella, Italian footballer (b. 1924)
- 2010 – Salvador Jorge Blanco, President of the Dominican Republic (b. 1926)
- 2010 – Teena Marie, American singer-songwriter (b. 1956)
- 2011 - Sarekoppa Bangarappa, Indian politician (b. 1932)
- 2011 – Sam Rivers, American jazz musician and composer (b. 1923)
- 2011 - Pedro Armendariz, Jr., Mexican actor (b. 1940)
- 2012 - Gerry Anderson, British writer, director and producer (b. 1929)
- 2012 - Fontella Bass, American singer (b. 1940)
- 2013 - Marta Eggerth, Hungarian-American actress (b. 1912)
- 2013 - Dr. Tangalanga, Argentine comedian (b. 1916)
- 2014 - Leo Tindemans, 43rd Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1922)
- 2014 - James B. Edwards, American politician, 110th Governor of South Carolina and 3rd United States Secretary of Energy (b. 1927)
- 2014 - Roberto Delmastro, Chilean politician (b. 1945)
- 2015 - Jim O'Toole, American baseball player (b. 1937)
- 2016 - Ashot Anastasian, Armenian chess player (b. 1964)
- 2017 - Shahnon Ahmad, Malaysian writer (b. 1933)
- 2017 - Johnny Bower, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1924)
- 2017 - Gualtiero Marchesi, Italian chef (b. 1930)
Observances
This article uses material from the Wikipedia Simple English article December 26, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license ("CC BY-SA 3.0"); additional terms may apply (view authors). Content is available under CC BY-SA 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
®Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wiki Foundation, Inc. Wiki Simple English (DUHOCTRUNGQUOC.VN) is an independent company and has no affiliation with Wiki Foundation.