December 26 facts for kids

December 26 is the 360th day of the year (361st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; five days remain until the end of the year.

December 26th is a day filled with many interesting events throughout history, from important battles and scientific discoveries to the births of famous people and the start of special holidays. Let's explore some of the key moments that happened on this day!

Events

Historical Moments Before 1900

• 887 – Berengar I became the king of Italy. He was crowned in Pavia.
• 1481 – In the Battle of Westbroek, an army led by David of Burgundy, the Bishop of Utrecht, fought against a group of people from Utrecht.
• 1704 – During the Second Battle of Anandpur, two young children of Guru Gobind Singh were sadly killed.
• 1709 – The opera Agrippina by George Frideric Handel was performed for the first time in Venice.
• 1723 – Bach led the first performance of his Christmas Cantata, Darzu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes, BWV 40, in Leipzig.
• 1776 – American Revolutionary War: In the Battle of Trenton, the Continental Army successfully defeated Hessian soldiers.
• 1790 – King Louis XVI of France agreed to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy during the French Revolution.
• 1793 – In the Second Battle of Wissembourg, France defeated Austria.
• 1799 – Henry Lee III described George Washington as "first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen."
• 1805 – Austria and France signed the Treaty of Pressburg.
• 1806 – At the Battles of Pultusk and Golymin, Russian forces stopped French forces led by Napoleon.
• 1811 – A terrible theater fire in Richmond, Virginia killed 72 people.
• 1825 – Supporters of liberalism in Russia started the Decembrist revolt against Czar Nicholas I, but it was stopped.
• 1843 – The discovery of octonions by John T. Graves was announced to his friend William Hamilton.
• 1860 – The first ever "Rules derby" football match was played between Sheffield F.C. and Hallam F.C.. This is the oldest football game in the world!
• 1861 – American Civil War: Two Confederate diplomats, James Murray Mason and John Slidell, were released by the United States government. This helped prevent a war between the U.S. and the United Kingdom.
• 1862 – American Civil War: The Battle of Chickasaw Bayou began as General William Tecumseh Sherman started landing his troops.
• 1862 – The largest mass-hanging in U.S. history happened in Mankato, Minnesota, where 38 Native Americans died.
• 1871 – Thespis, the first opera created by Gilbert and Sullivan, was performed for the first time.
• 1898 – Marie and Pierre Curie announced that they had found radium.

Modern History: 1901–Today

• 1919 – Babe Ruth of the Boston Red Sox baseball team was sold to the New York Yankees. This event is linked to the famous Curse of the Bambino superstition.
• 1941 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a law making the fourth Thursday in November Thanksgiving Day in the United States.
• 1941 – British Prime Minister Winston Churchill spoke to the U.S. Congress.
• 1943 – World War II: The German warship Scharnhorst was sunk off Norway's North Cape after a battle with the Royal Navy.
• 1944 – World War II: George S. Patton's Third Army helped surrounded U.S. forces in Bastogne, Belgium, during the Siege of Bastogne.
• 1948 – Cardinal József Mindszenty was arrested in Hungary.
• 1948 – The last Soviet troops left North Korea.
• 1963 – The Beatles' songs "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "I Saw Her Standing There" were released in the United States. This marked the start of "Beatlemania" around the world!
• 1966 – The first Kwanzaa celebration was held by Maulana Karenga.
• 1968 – The Communist Party of the Philippines was created by Jose Maria Sison.
• 1972 – Vietnam War: As part of Operation Linebacker II, 120 American B-52 Stratofortress bombers attacked Hanoi. This was the largest single combat launch in Strategic Air Command history.
• 1975 – The Tu-144, the world's first commercial supersonic aircraft, began service. It could fly faster than Mach 2.
• 1978 – The first ever Paris-Dakar Rally began.
• 1980 – People reported seeing unexplained lights near RAF Woodbridge in England. This incident is sometimes called "Britain's Roswell."
• 1991 – The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union officially dissolved the Soviet Union, bringing an end to the Cold War.
• 1994 – Four hijackers took control of Air France Flight 8969. When the plane landed in Marseille, a French Gendarmerie team boarded the aircraft and ended the hijacking.
• 1998 – Iraq announced it would fire on U.S. and British warplanes in the no-fly zones.
• 1999 – The storm Lothar swept across Central Europe, causing many deaths and a lot of damage.
• 2003 – The 6.6 magnitude Bam earthquake hit southeastern Iran. It caused more than 26,000 deaths and 30,000 injuries.
• 2004 – The massive 9.1–9.3 magnitude Indian Ocean earthquake struck northern Sumatra. It caused one of the largest tsunamis ever seen, affecting many coastal areas and leading to an estimated 227,898 deaths.
• 2004 – Orange Revolution: The final election in Ukraine was held with close international observation.
• 2006 – Two earthquakes near Hengchun, Taiwan, measuring 7.0 and 6.9, caused two deaths and disrupted phone and internet connections across Asia.
• 2012 – China opened the world's longest high-speed rail route, connecting Beijing and Guangzhou.
• 2015 – During the December 2015 North American storm complex, a series of tornadoes hit the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. One powerful EF4 tornado caused 10 deaths and significant damage in Rowlett.

Births

Notable People Born Before 1900

• 1194 – Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, a powerful ruler.
• 1446 – Charles de Valois, Duke de Berry, a French noble.
• 1536 – Yi I, an important Korean philosopher.
• 1618 – Elisabeth of the Palatinate, a German princess and philosopher.
• 1716 – Thomas Gray, a well-known English poet.
• 1780 – Mary Somerville, a Scottish mathematician and astronomer.
• 1791 – Charles Babbage, an English mathematician and engineer who invented the Difference engine, an early computer.
• 1820 – Dion Boucicault, an Irish actor and playwright.
• 1837 – George Dewey, a famous American admiral.
• 1863 – Charles Pathé, a French record producer who helped start Pathé Records.
• 1872 – Norman Angell, an English journalist and politician who won the Nobel Peace Prize.
• 1883 – Maurice Utrillo, a French painter.
• 1891 – Henry Miller, an American author and painter.
• 1893 – Mao Zedong, a Chinese politician who became the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party.

Notable People Born After 1900

• 1903 – Elisha Cook, Jr., an American actor.
• 1914 – Richard Widmark, an American actor.
• 1921 – Steve Allen, an American actor, singer, and talk show host.
• 1927 – Alan King, an American actor and producer.
• 1928 – Martin Cooper, an American engineer who invented the mobile phone.
• 1933 – Caroll Spinney, an American puppeteer and voice actor, famous for playing Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch.
• 1937 – John Horton Conway, an English mathematician known for Conway's Game of Life.
• 1939 – Phil Spector, an American singer-songwriter and producer.
• 1940 – Edward C. Prescott, an American economist who won the Nobel Prize in Economics.
• 1942 – Gray Davis, an American politician who was the 37th Governor of California.
• 1945 – John Walsh, an American television host and activist, who created America's Most Wanted.
• 1947 – Carlton Fisk, a famous American baseball player.
• 1949 – José Ramos-Horta, a lawyer and politician from East Timor who won the Nobel Peace Prize.
• 1954 – Ozzie Smith, an American baseball player and sportscaster.
• 1956 – David Sedaris, an American comedian and author.
• 1958 – Adrian Newey, an English aerodynamicist and engineer, famous in Formula 1 racing.
• 1963 – Lars Ulrich, a Danish-American drummer and songwriter, known for the band Metallica.
• 1971 – Jared Leto, an American actor and musician.
• 1972 – Robert Muchamore, an English author.
• 1979 – Chris Daughtry, an American singer-songwriter.
• 1986 – Kit Harington, an English actor, known for his role in Game of Thrones.
• 1986 – Hugo Lloris, a French footballer.
• 1989 – Yohan Blake, a Jamaican sprinter.
• 1990 – Aaron Ramsey, a Welsh footballer.
• 1992 – Jade Thirlwall, an English singer.

Deaths

Important Figures Who Passed Away Before 1900

• 268 – Dionysius, a pope of the Catholic Church.
• 418 – Zosimus, another pope of the Catholic Church.
• 831 – Euthymius of Sardis, a Byzantine bishop.
• 1302 – Valdemar, the king of Sweden.
• 1476 – Galeazzo Maria Sforza, the duke of Milan.
• 1530 – Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire.
• 1771 – Claude Adrien Helvétius, a French philosopher.
• 1890 – Heinrich Schliemann, a German archaeologist.

Important Figures Who Passed Away After 1900

• 1909 – Frederic Remington, an American painter and illustrator.
• 1931 – Melvil Dewey, an American librarian who created the Dewey Decimal Classification for libraries.
• 1963 – Gorgeous George, a famous American wrestler.
• 1972 – Harry S. Truman, the 33rd President of the United States.
• 1974 – Jack Benny, a well-known American comedian.
• 1977 – Howard Hawks, an American director and screenwriter.
• 1986 – Elsa Lanchester, an English-American actress.
• 1999 – Curtis Mayfield, an American singer-songwriter and producer.
• 1999 – Shankar Dayal Sharma, the 9th President of India.
• 2000 – Jason Robards, an American actor.
• 2001 – Nigel Hawthorne, an English actor.
• 2004 – Reggie White, an American football player.
• 2004 – Several people died in the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, including Australian footballer Troy Broadbridge and Norwegian saxophonist Sigurd Køhn.
• 2006 – Gerald Ford, the 38th President of the United States.
• 2010 – Teena Marie, an American singer-songwriter.
• 2012 – Gerry Anderson, an English director and producer, known for shows like Thunderbirds.
• 2015 – Sidney Mintz, an American anthropologist.
• 2021 – Karolos Papoulias, the President of Greece from 2005 to 2015.
• 2021 – Desmond Tutu, a South African Anglican bishop and human rights activist who fought against apartheid.
• 2021 – Edward O. Wilson, an American biologist.
• 2023 – Tom Smothers, an American comedian.

Holidays and Observances

• Boxing Day is celebrated in many Commonwealth of Nations countries. It's a day for giving gifts to service workers.
  • In South Africa and Namibia, it's called Day of Good Will.
  • Family Day (Vanuatu) is celebrated in Vanuatu.
  • Thanksgiving (Solomon Islands) is observed in the Solomon Islands.
• Christian feast days:
  • Saint Stephen's Day is a public holiday in many countries like Austria, Germany, and Ireland.
  • The Feast of the Holy Family can also fall on this day.
• Independence and Unity Day (Slovenia) is celebrated in Slovenia.
• Mummer's Day is a traditional event in Padstow, Cornwall.
• The first day of Kwanzaa is celebrated in the United States. This holiday lasts until January 1.
• The first day of the Junkanoo street parade happens in The Bahamas.
• This is the second day of the Twelve Days of Christmas in Western Christianity.
• Veer Baal Divas is observed to honor the brave sons of Guru Gobind Singh ji.
• Wren Day is celebrated in Ireland and the Isle of Man.

See also

In Spanish: 26 de diciembre para niños