Table of contents

1 Events 2 Births 3 Deaths 4 Holidays and observances 5 Other annual occurrences

Events

• 1620 - Elizabeth Bathory's crimes are uncovered
• 1776 - American Revolutionary War: The British were defeated in the Battle of Trenton
• 1790 - Louis XVI of France gives his public assent to Civil Constitution of the Clergy during the French Revolution
• 1793 - Battle of Geisberg - French defeat Austrians
• 1793 - Wedding of Prince Friedrich Ludwig of Prussia and Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
• 1806 - Battle of Pultusk - indecisive battle between Napoleon and the Russians
• 1812 - Delaware and Chasepeake blockaded during the War of 1812
• 1825 - The Erie Canal opens
• 1861 - Confederate diplomatic envoys James Mason and John Slidell are freed by the United States government, thus heading off a possible war between the United States and Great Britain
• 1862 - 38 Dakota amerindians are hanged after a brief rebellion accused of murder and rape
• 1908 - Jack Johnson becomes the first African American heavyweight boxing champion by defeating Tommy Burns in Sydney, Australia
• 1925 - Communist Party of India founded
• 1931 - Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity was founded
• 1933 - The Nissan Motor Company was organized in Tokyo, Japan
• 1933 - FM radio is patented
• 1944 - The play The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams was first publicly performed.
• 1944 - American troops repulse German forces at Bastogne
• 1945 - CFP franc and CFA franc are created
• 1946 - Flamingo Hotel opens in Las Vegas
• 1966 - The first Kwanzaa is celebrated by Maulana Karenga, the chair of Black Studies at California State University at Long Beach
• 1973 - Comet Kohoutek reaches perihelion but is not such a display as expected
• 1973 - Soyuz 13 lands
• 1974 - Salyut 4 launched
• 1975 - Tupolev Tu-144 goes into service in Soviet Union
• 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; a computer.
• 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
• 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 east 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
• 2002 - French Raelian scientist Brigitte Boisselier says Clonaid has delivered the first of a supposed five clone babies through cesarean section
• 2003 - Major earthquake devastates southeast Iranian city of Bam, at least 5,000 killed, and 30,000 injured; the citadel of Arg-é Bam destroyed

• 1194 - Frederick II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (d. 1250)
• 1532 - Guilielmus Xylander, German classical scholar (d. 1576)
• 1536 - the Confucian scholar Yi I (Yulgok) of []Joseon]] (d. 1584)
• 1716 - Thomas Gray, poet and letter-writer (d. 1771)
• 1735 - Prince Josias of Coburg, Holy Roman Empire general (d. 1815)
• 1751 - Clement Mary Hofbauer, Redemptorist missionary (d. 1820)
• 1791 - Charles Babbage, English mathematician and inventor of computing machines (d. 1871)
• 1819 - E. D. E. N. Southworth, US novelist (d. 1899)
• 1822 - Dion Boucicault, Irish actor and playwright (d. 1890)
• 1837 - George Dewey, Admiral in the United States Navy (d. 1917)
• 1853 - René Bazin, French novelist (d. 1932)
• 1883 - Maurice Utrillo, painter (d. 1955)
• 1891 - Henry Miller, writer (d. 1980)
• 1893 - Mao Zedong, Chinese military leader, politician and dictator (d. 1976)
• 1903 - Elisha Cook Jr, actor (d. 1995)
• 1914 - Richard Widmark, actor
• 1921 - Steve Allen, actor, comedian, composer, author (d. 2000)
• 1927 - Alan King, comedian, actor
• 1940 - Phil Spector, music producer
• 1942 - Gray Davis, former Governor of California
• 1945 - John Walsh, talk show host, television presenter
• 1949 - Jose Ramos-Horta, East Timorean Human Rights activist
• 1954 - Ozzie Smith, Baseball Hall of Famer
• 1956 - David Sedaris, essayist
• 1971 - Jared Leto, actor

• 268 - Pope Dionysius
• 418 - Pope Zosimus
• 1530 - Babur, first of the Mogul dynasty (b. 1483?)
• 1624 - Simon Marius, German astronomer
• 1771 - Claude Adrien Helvétius, French philosopher
• 1890 - Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist (b. 1822)
• 1909 - Frederic Remington, artist (b. 1861)
• 1963 - Gorgeous George, professional wrestler, television personality
• 1869 - Jean Louis Marie Poiseuille, French physiologist (b. 1797)
• 1972 - Harry S. Truman, 33rd president of the United States (b. 1884)
• 1974 - Jack Benny, comedian (b. 1894)
• 1977 - Howard Hawks, film director, writer (b. 1896)
• 1985 - Dian Fossey, anthropologist (b. 1932)
• 1986 - Elsa Lanchester, actress (b. 1902)
• 1999 - Curtis Mayfield, musician (b. 1942)
• 2000 - Jason Robards, actor (b. 1922)
• 2001 - Nigel Hawthorne, actor (b. 1929)
• 2002 - Herb Ritts, celebrity photographer (b. 1952)

• Boxing Day in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia
• The second day of Christmas in Western Christianity.
• St. Stephen's Day, a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland and Czech Republic
• First day of Kwanzaa
• Feast day of Saint Stephen (in the western Christian church), holiday in Croatia.
• Independence Day in Slovenia

• Period of Ursids meteor shower ends
• Wrenboys celebrate Wren in Ireland
• First day of Junkanoo street parade in the Bahamas (the second day is on the New Year's Day)

December 25 - December 27 - November 26 - January 26 -- listing of all days

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December