On this day in History - Dec. 26

• 0268 - Pope Dionysius dies.
• 0418 - Pope Zosimus dies.
• 0795 - St. Leo III began his reign as Catholic Pope.
• 0838 - A heavy storm surge causes floods in nearly all the coastal areas of the Low Countries.
• 1194 - Frederick II was born in Iesi, Italy. German Emperor (1212-1250)/King of Sicily.
• 1350 - Jean de Marigny dies. French bishop.
• 1458 - Arthur III, Duke of Brittany dies (b. 1393).
• 1476 - Galeazzo Maria Sforza dies (b. 1444). Duke of Milan.
• 1481 - Battle of Westbroek - Holland defeats troops of Utrecht.
  
• 1492 - Christopher Columbus established the first Spanish settlement in the New World.
• 1530 - Babur dies (b. 1483). Emperor of the Mogul empire.
• 1532 - Guilielmus Xylander was born (d. 1576). German classical scholar.
• 1536 - Yi I was born (d. 1584). Korean Confucian scholar.
• 1542 - Tokugawa Ieyasu was born (d. 1616). Unifier of Japan and first Tokugawa Shogun (d. 1616).
• 1559 - Pope Pius IV is elected.
• 1574 - Charles of Guise dies (b. 1524). French cardinal.
• 1606 - First Performance of William Shakespeare's King Lear.
• 1620 - Elizabeth Báthory's crimes are uncovered.
• 1620 - Pilgrim Fathers land at what becomes New Plymouth in Massachusetts.
• 1624 - Simon Marius dies (b. 1573). German astronomer.
• 1634 - Liberdade de religião é concedida a todas as pessoas do Brasil – judeus e católicos.
• 1646 - Robert Bolling was born (d. 1709). English settler in Virginia.
• 1666 - Guru Gobind Singh was born (d. 1708). Tenth Guru of Sikhism.
• 1687 - Johann Georg Pisendel was born (d. 1755). German musician.
• 1716 - Thomas Gray was born (d. 1771). English writer.
• 1716 - Jean François de Saint-Lambert was born (d. 1803). French poet.
• 1723 - Friedrich Melchior, baron von Grimm was born (d. 1807). German writer.
• 1731 - Antoine Houdar de la Motte dies (b. 1672). French writer.
• 1736 - Antonio Caldara was born (d. 1670). Italian compose.
• 1737 - Prince Josias of Coburg was born (d. 1815). Austrian general.
• 1751 - Clement Hofbauer was born (d. 1820). Austrian missionary and saint.
• 1771 - Julie Clary was born (d. 1845). Queen consort of Naples.
• 1771 - Claude Adrien Helvétius dies (b. 1715). French philosopher.
• 1776 - American Revolutionary War: The British were defeated in the Battle of Trenton )
• 1778 - Juan Lovera was born in Venezuela (d. 1841). Artist, (‘artist of independence’: originator of Venezuelan historical painting: paintings commemorate Venezuela’s independence dates).
• 1780 - Mary Fairfax Somerville was born (d. 1872). British mathematician.
• 1780 - John Fothergill dies (b. 1712). English physician.
• 1782 - Filaret Drozdov was born (d. 1867). Metropolitan of Moscow.
• 1784 - Seth Warner dies (b. 1743). American revolutionary leader.
• 1786 - Gasparo Gozzi dies (b. 1713). Italian critic and dramatist.
• 1790 - Louis XVI of France gives his public assent to Civil Constitution of the Clergy during the French Revolution.
  
• 1791 - Charles Babbage was born (d. 1871). English mathematician and inventor.
• 1792 - Final trial of Louis XVI of France begins in Paris.
• 1793 - Battle of Geisberg - French defeat Austrians.
• 1793 - Wedding of Prince Friedrich Ludwig of Prussia and Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
  
• 1805 - Austria and France signed the Treaty of Pressburg.
• 1806 - Battle of Pultusk - indecisive battle between Napoleon and the Russians.
  
• 1807 - Uma força militar britânica, comandada pelo general Beresford, ocupou a ilha da Madeira.
• 1809 - José Estêvão Coelho de Magalhães was born (d. 1862). Portuguese journalist and politician.
• 1811 - A theater fire in Richmond, Virginia kills the Governor of Virginia George William Smith and the president of the First National Bank of Virginia Abraham B. Venable.
• 1812 - Delaware and Chesapeake blockaded during the War of 1812.
  
• 1815 - Casimiro Marcó del Pont reemplaza a Mariano Osorio en la Capitanía General de Chile. Fue el ultimo gobernador español en Chile.
• 1819 - E. D. E. N. Southworth was born (d. 1899). American novelist.
• 1822 - Dion Boucicault was born (d. 1890). Irish actor and playwright.
• 1825 - Several Imperial Russia army officers lead circa 3000 soldiers on the Senate Square in the failed Decembrist uprising.
• 1825 - The Erie Canal opens.
• 1830 - Gaetano Donizetti's opera Anna Bolena premiered in Milan.
• 1831 - Vincenzo Bellini's opera Norma premiered in Milan.
• 1837 - George Dewey was born (d. 1917). U. S. admiral.
• 1837 - Morgan Bulkeley was born (d. 1922). American politician and baseball commissioner.
• 1848 -The Phi Delta Theta fraternity is founded.
• 1853 - René Bazin was born (d. 1932). French novelist.
• 1859 - William Stephens was born (d. 1944). U.S. political figure.
• 1860 - The first ever inter-club football match takes place between Hallam F.C. and Sheffield F.C. at Sandygate in Sheffield, England.
• 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 Britain.
• 1862 - The largest mass execution in U.S. history occurred in Mankato following the Sioux Uprising. 38 Dakota Amerindians are hanged after a brief rebellion accused of murder and rape.
• 1862 - American Civil War: Start of the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou.
• 1862 - Four nuns who were volunteer nurses on board USS Red Rover were the first female nurses on a U.S. Navy hospital ship.
• 1865 - James H. Mason of Franklin, Massachusetts patented the coffee percolator.
• 1869 - Jean Louis Marie Poiseuille dies (b. 1797). French physiologist.
• 1870 - The 12.8-km long Fréjus Rail Tunnel through the Alps is completed.
• 1871 - Gilbert and Sullivan collaborate for the first time, on their lost opera, Thespis. It does modestly well, but the two will not collaborate again for four years.
• 1872 - Norman Angell was born (d. 1967). British politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
• 1873 - Thomas Wass was born (d. 1953). English cricketer.
• 1883 - Harbour Grace Affray between Irish Catholics and Protestant Orangemen causes five deaths in Newfoundland.
• 1883 - Maurice Utrillo was born (d. 1955). French artist.
• 1887 - Arthur Ernest Percival was born (d. 1966). British Army officer.
• 1890 - Uncle Charlie Osborne was born (d. 1992). American fiddler.
• 1890 - Heinrich Schliemann dies (b. 1822). German archaeologist.
• 1891 - Henry Miller was born (d. 1980). American writer (Tropic of Capricorn, Tropic of Cancer, Sexus).
• 1893 - Mao Tse-Tung was born in Shao-shan, Hunan (d. 9 Sep 1976). Chinese chairman of the Chinese People's Communist Party and leader of the People's Republic of China.
• 1894 - Antonio Molina was born. Composer.
• 1894 - Jean Toomer was born (d. 1967). American writer.
• 1898 - Marie and Pierre Curie announce the isolation of radium.
• 1900 - Antoni Zygmund was born in Poland; mathematician who exerted a major influence on 20th-century mathematics, particularly in harmonic analysis. In 1940 Zygmund escaped with his wife and son from German controlled Poland to the USA.Zygmund's book Trigonometric Series (1935) is a classic, definitive work on the subject.
• 1901 - Uganda railroad from Mombassa to Lake Victoria is completed.
• 1902 - Anatoli Lvovich Kaplan was born (d. 1980). Russian painter.
• 1903 - Arminda Correia was born in Lagos (d. 1988). Portuguese lyric singer.
• 1903 - Elisha Cook Jr. was born (d. 1995). American actor.
• 1904 - Alejo Carpentier was born (d. 1980). Cuban writer.
• 1905 - William Loeb was born (d. 1981). American newspaper publisher.
• 1906 - The Story of the Kelly Gang is released, widely considered to be the world's first feature film.
• 1906 - Imperio Argentina was born (d. 2003). Argentine actress and singer.
• 1907 - Albert Gore Sr. was born (d. 1998). American politician.
• 1908 - Jack Johnson becomes the first African American heavyweight boxing champion by defeating Tommy Burns in Sydney, Australia .
• 1909 - Frederic Remington dies (b. 1861). American artist.
• 1911 - Arsenio Lacson was born (d. 1962). Filipino politician and sportswriter.
• 1913 - Frank Swift was born (d. 1958). English footballer and journalist.
• 1914 - Annemarie Wendl was born (d. 2006). German actress.
• 1914 - Richard Widmark was born; American actor (Madigan, Judgment at Nuremberg, Murder on the Orient Express, The Halls of Montezuma, How the West was Won, The Alamo, Against All Odds, True Colors).
• 1915 - The German gunboat, the Kingani, is captured by the British on Lake Tanganyika. It is removed by portage through the jungle of the Belgian Congo .
• 1916 - Joseph Joffre is made Marshal of France .
• 1916 - Joaquim Vespasiano Ramos dies in Porto Velho (b. in Caxias on 13 Aug. 1884). Brazilian poet.
• 1918 - George Rallis was born (d. 2006). Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece.
• 1919 - Babe Ruth sold to the Yankees.
• 1921 - Steve Allen was born (d. 2000). American actor, comedian, composer, author.
• 1922 - Richard Mayes was born (d. 2006). English stage and television actor.
• 1924 - Frank Broyles was born. American athlete, long time athletic director of the University of Arkansas.
• 1925 - Communist Party of India founded.
• 1925 - Turkey adopts Gregorian Calendar.
• 1926 - Gina Pellón was born. Cuban painter.
• 1927 - Alan King was born (d. 2004). American comedian.
• 1927 - Denis Quilley was born (d. 2003). British actor.
• 1927 - Stu Miller was born. American baseball player.
• 1929 - Régine was born. French singer and nightclub owner.
• 1930 - Donald Moffat was born. English-born actor.
• 1930 - Jean Ferrat was born. French singer and songwriter.
• 1930 - Marisa Prado was born (d. 1982). Brazilian actress.
• 1931 - Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity was founded.
• 1931 - Melvil Dewey dies (b. 1851). inventor of the Dewey decimal classification.
• 1932 - An earthquake killed 70,000 in Kansu, China.
• 1933 - The Nissan Motor Company was organized in Tokyo, Japan.
• 1933 - FM radio is patented.
• 1933 - Ugly Dave Grey was born. Australian television personality.
• 1933 - Caroll Spinney was born. American puppeteer
• 1933 - Anatoly Lunacharsky dies (b. 1875). Russian literary critic and politician.
• 1935 - Abdul "Duke" Fakir was born. American singer (The Four Tops).
• 1935 - Norm Ullman was born. Canadian hockey player.
• 1936 - É fundada a Orquestra Filarmônica de Israel.
• 1937 - Alberto Pimenta was born. Portuguese essayst and poet. Ler "Discurso sobre o Filho da Puta".
  
• 1937 - John Horton Conway was born. British mathematician.
• 1937 - Jay Heimowitz was born. American poker player.
• 1938 - A declaração do Peru contra toda a intervenção estrangeira é aprovada pela Conferência Pan-americana.
• 1938 - Alamgir Kabir was born (d. 1989). Bangladeshi film director.
• 1938 - Bahram Beizai was born. Iranian playwright and film director.
• 1939 - Sucesso brasileiro nos USA. Carmen Miranda inicia seu caminho de sucesso em palcos internacionais. Uns afirmam que ela viajou para criar uma imagem positiva do Brasil no exterior, com patrocínio de Getúlio Vargas. Outros já afirmavam que a única razão de ter sido escolhida provinha de seu talento.
• 1939 - Fred Schepisi was born. Australian film director.
• 1940 - Edward C. Prescott was born. American economist, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1940 - Phil Spector was born. American music producer.
• 1940 - Ray Sadecki was born. Major league baseball pitcher.
• 1941 - Os Estados Unidos declaram a Manila, capital das Filipinas, como cidade aberta durante a II Guerra Mundial.
• 1941 - Winston Churchill é nomeado primeiro ministro britânico.
• 1941 - Daniel Schmid was born (d. 2006). Swiss film director.
• 1942 - Marco Vinicio Cerezo Arévalo was born. Guatemalan president.
• 1942 - Gray Davis was born. Governor of California, 1998-2003.
• 1943 - The German warship Scharnhorst sinks off the coast of North Cape in Norway after being attacked by the British Royal Navy late the previous evening.
• 1944 - The play The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams was first publicly performed.
• 1944 - American troops repulse German forces at Bastogne
• 1944 - Jane Lapotaire was born. British actress
• 1945 - CFP franc and CFA franc are created.
• 1945 - John Walsh was born. American talk show host.
• 1946 - Flamingo Hotel opens in Las Vegas.
• 1947 - Twenty-six inches of snow falls in 16 hours in New York City.
• 1947 - Carlton Fisk was born. American baseball player
• 1947 - James T. Conway was born. 34th Commandant of the United States Marine Corps
• 1948 - Cardinal Mindszenty is arrested in Hungary and accused of treason and conspiracy.
• 1948 - Candy Crowley was born. American journalist.
• 1949 - José Ramos Horta was born. President of East Timor, Human Rights activist. Awarded the 1996 Nobel Peace prize with joint recipient, Bishop Ximenes Belo.
• 1951 - Richard Skinner was born. British radio presenter.
• 1953 - Se realiza en París el primer trasplante de riñón de un donante vivo bajo la dirección del cirujano francés Jean Hamburger.
• 1953 - Henning Schmitz was born. German musician (Kraftwerk)
• 1953 - José Stênio Silva Dinis was born in Juazeiro do Norte, Ceará. Brazilian artist.
• 1953 - Leonel Fernández was born. Dominican politician and current President of the Dominican Republic.
• 1954 - Ozzie Smith was born. American baseball player.
• 1954 - Steve Steen was born. English actor.
• 1955 - Evan Bayh was born. American politician.
• 1955 - Sergi Mateu was born. Spanish actor.
• 1956 - David Sedaris was born. American essayist.
• 1957 - Dermot Murnaghan was born. British broadcaster.
• 1957 - Charles Pathé dies (b. 1863). French film and recording industries pioneer.
• 1958 - Adrian Newey was born. British engineer.
• 1959 - Mariano Barroso was born. Spanish film director.
• 1959 - Koji Morimoto was born. Japanese animated film director.
• 1960 - Jim Toomey was born. American syndicated cartoonist.
• 1960 - Temuera Morrison was born. New Zealand actor.
• 1960 - Tina Wesson was born. Winner of Survivor: The Australian Outback.
• 1960 - Watsuji Tetsuro dies (b. 1889). Japanese philosopher.
• 1961 - John Lynch was born. Irish actor.
• 1963 - Lars Ulrich was born. Danish-born drummer (Metallica).
• 1963 - George Wagner dies (b. 1915). American professional wrestler and television personality.
• 1964 - American Max Conrad sets a new world non-stop-flight record with his 7,878 mile journey from Cape Town, south Africa, to St Petersburg, Florida.
• 1964 - Elizabeth Kostova was born. American author.
• 1965 - Daúto Faquirá was born. Mozambican football coach.
• 1966 - The first Kwanzaa is celebrated by Malana Karenga, the chair of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach .
• 1966 - Time magazine awarded its Man of the Year cover to 'The Younger Generation'.
• 1966 - Sandra Taylor was born. American model and actress.
• 1968 - Dennis Knight was born. American professional wrestler.
• 1970 - James Mercer (musician) was born. Guitarist and vocalist (The Shins).
• 1970 - Radka Zrubakova was born in Bratislava. Slovakian tennis star (1994 Futures-Germany).
• 1970 - Krissada Terrence was born. Thai singer and actor.
• 1970 - Lillian Board dies (b. 1948). British athlete.
• 1971 - Jared Leto was born. American actor.
• 1971 - Jonathan M. Parisen was born. American film director.
• 1971 - Mika Nurmela was born. Finnish footballer.
• 1972 - The 33rd president of the United States, Harry S. Truman, died in Kansas City, Mo.
• 1972 - Esteban Fuertes was born. Argentine footballer.
• 1972 - Robert Muchamore was born. English children's author.
• 1973 - Comet Kohoutek reaches perihelion but is not such a display as expected.
• 1973 - The Exorcist starring Linda Blair premiered. It was classified as an X rated film.
• 1973 - Soyuz 13 lands on earth after a week in orbit.
• 1973 - Harold B. Lee dies (b. 1899). 11st President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• 1974 - Salyut 4 launched .
• 1974 - Josie Ho was born. Hong Kong singer and actor.
• 1974 - Joshua John Miller was born. American actor.
• 1974 - Jack Benny dies (b. 1894). American comedian.
• 1975 - 1st supersonic transport (USSR- Tupolev Tu-144) goes into service in Soviet Union .
• 1975 - Cariango, Angola is taken by Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola, (MPLA, Popular Liberation Movement of Angola) guerrillas.
• 1975 - Marcelo Ríos was born in Santiago. Chilean tennis player.
• 1976 - The Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist) is founded.
• 1976 - Lea De Mae was born (d. 2004). Czech adult film actress.
• 1976 - Simon Goodwin was born. Australian rules footballer.
• 1977 - Howard Hawks dies at 81. American film director (Rio Lobo, Hatari!, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Rio Bravo, etc...)
• 1978 - India's former Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, was released from jail.
• 1978 - Kaoru Sugayama was born. Japanese volleyball player.
• 1979 - Soviet Special forces troops take over presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan.
• 1979 - Opening night of the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea at the Hammersmith Odeon; a benefit concert for the citizens of Cambodia who were victims of dictator Pol Pot
• 1979 - Chris Daughtry was born. American singer.
• 1979 - Dimitry Vassiliev was born. Russian ski jumper.
• 1979 - Fabián Carini was born. Uruguayan footballer.
• 1979 - Mzbel was born. Ghanaian singer.
• 1980 - Aeroflot puts the Ilyushin Il-86 into service.
• 1980 - Todd Dunivant was born. American soccer player.
• 1981 - Paulo Renato dies (b. 23 Oct 1924). Portuguese actor.
• 1981 - Savithri dies. Indian actress
• 1981 - Amber Reeves dies (b. 1887). Feminist writer.
• 1982 - TIME magazine's Man of the Year was for the first time given to a non-human: the personal computer.
• 1982 - Kenneth Darby was born. American National Football League player
  1982 - Oguri Shun was born. Japanese actor/model.
• 1983 - Yasuhiro Nakasone, es reelegido primer ministro del Japón por la Cámara Baja del Parlamento.
• 1983 - Violet Carson dies. British actress.
• 1984 - Princess Astrid of Belgium marries Archduke Lorenz of Austria-Este .
• 1984 - Alex Schwazer was born. Italian race walker.
• 1985 - Yuu Shirota was born. Japanese Idol.
• 1985 - Dian Fossey dies (b. 1932). American gorilla specialist.
• 1986 - The first long-running American television soap opera, Search for Tomorrow, airs its final episode after thirty-five years on the air.
• 1986 - World Population reaches 5 billion according to http://www.ibiblio.org/ world population tracker.
• 1986 - Elsa Lanchester dies (b. 1902). British-born actress.
• 1987 - Adam Walker was born. British flautist.
• 1988 - The Nanjing Anti-African protests in Nanjing, People's Republic of China begin.
• 1988 - Start of the Nanjing Anti-African protests.
• 1988 - Glenn McCarthy dies (b. 1907). American oil tycoon and businessman.
• 1989 - Sergio Pérez was born. Mexican racing driver.
• 1989 - Doug Harvey dies (b. 1924). National Hockey League defenceman.
• 1990 - Results of a national referendum for independence of Slovenia were published.
• 1990 - Garry Kasparov beat Antatoly Karpov to retain the chess championship.
• 1990 - Aaron Ramsey was born. Welsh footballer.
• 1991 - Supreme Soviet meets and formally dissolves the USSR .
• 1991 - el integrista Frente Islámico de Salvación (FIS) obtiene la mayoría absoluta en la primera vuelta de las elecciones argelinas.
• 1992 - Nikita Magaloff dies (b. 1912). Russian pianist.
• 1993 - Antonov-26 crashes at Gyumri, Armenia, 36 killed .
• 1994 - Sylvia Koscina dies (b. 22 Aug. 1933). Croatian/Italian actress (Hercules).
• 1995 - Zach Mills was born. American actor.
• 1996 - Start of the largest strike in South Korean history.
• 1996 - The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification goes into force.
• 1996 - Six-year-old beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey (b. 1990) is found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family's home in Boulder, Colorado.
• 1997 - The Soufriere Hills volcano on the island of Montserrat explodes, creating a small tsunami offshore.
• 1997 - Cornelius Castoriadis dies (b. 1922). Philosopher.
• 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 - Severe weather in France kills over 100 people and causes extensive damage to property, trees and the French national power grid (see Lothar).
• 1999 - Alfonso Portillo, a populist lawyer, scored a resounding victory in Guatemala's first peacetime presidential elections in nearly 40 years.
• 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 (see Lothar).
• 1999 - Curtis Mayfield dies (b. 1942). American musician.
• 1999 - Shankar Dayal Sharma dies (b. 1918). President of India.
• 2000 - Jason Robards dies (b. 1922. American actor.
• 2001 - Nigel Hawthorne dies (b. 1929). English actor.
• 2002 - French Raelian scientist Brigitte Boisselier says Clonaid has delivered the first of a supposed five clone babies through cesarean section.
• 2002 - Herb Ritts dies (b. 1952). American photographer.
• 2002 - Armand Zildjian dies (b. 1921). American cymbal manufacturer.
• 2003 - A magnitude 6.6 earthquake devastates southeast Iranian city of Bam, with up to 43,300 killed, and 90,000 homeless; the citadel of Arg-é Bam destroyed.
• 2003 - Sir Alan Bates dies (b. 1934). British actor.
• 2004 - In the Ukraine, opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko [23 Feb 1954~] wins, against prime minister Viktor Yanukovich.[09 July 1950~], the rerun of the 21 November runoff presidential election, which was rigged to make Yanukovich the winner and was declared invalid by the Supreme Court, after massive protest demonstrations in the streets.
• 2004 - An earthquake measuring 9.3 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 - Marianne Heiberg dies (b. 1945). Norwegian mediator.
• 2004 - Troy Broadbridge dies (b. 1980). Australian football player.
• 2004 - Aki Sirkesalo dies (b. 1962). Finnish musician.
• 2004 - Reggie White dies (b. 1961). American football player.
• 2004 - Sir Angus Ogilvy dies (b. 1928). British businessman, husband of Princess Alexandra of Kent
• 2004 - Jonathan Drummond-Webb dies (b. 1959). South African pediatric heart surgeon.
• 2004 - Mieszko Talarczyk dies (b. 1974). Lead singer/Guitarist of grindcore band, Nasum.
• 2005 - Boxing Day shooting on a busy shopping street in Toronto.
• 2005 - Jane Creba dies (b. 1990). Canadian murder victim.
• 2005 - Muriel Costa-Greenspon dies (b. 1937). American mezzo-soprano.
• 2005 - Erich Topp dies (b. 1914). German submarine commander.
• 2005 - Kerry Packer dies (b. 1937). Australian businessman.
• 2005 - Vincent Schiavelli dies (b. 1948). American actor.
• 2006 - The 2006 Hengchun earthquake with 7.1 magnitude hit Taiwan.
• 2006 - Gerald Ford dies (b. 1913). 38th President of the United States.
• 2006 - Ivar Formo dies (b. 1951). Norwegian skier.
• 2007 - Joe Dolan dies (b. 1943). Irish singer and entertainer.
• 2007 - John A. Garraty dies (b. 1920). American biographer.
• 2007 - Stu Nahan dies (b. 1926). American Sportscaster.
• 2008 – Gösta Krantz dies (b. 1925). Swedish actor.
• Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia - Tsunami Awareness Day/Tsunami Memorial (or Remembrance) Day.
• R.C. Saints - Saint Stephen; St. Stephen's Day, a public holiday in Catalonia, Croatia, Czech Republic, and the Republic of Ireland.
• The second day of Christmas in Western Christianity.
• Boxing Day in the Commonwealth of Nations.
• Wren day in Ireland and the Isle of Man.
• First day of Kwanzaa.
• Australia - Proclamation Day (South Australian public holiday), for the foundation of the Australian state of South Australia on December 28, 1836 but commemorated on this day.
• Slovenia - Independence and Unity Day (1990).
• South Africa - Day of Goodwill, a public holiday.