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December 26 in history

187 sourced entries recorded on December 26, from 211 CE to 2025 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 795Leo III is elected to serve as Pope on the day his predecessor Adrian I is buried, and is consecrated the following day.source
  • 887In an assembly at Pavia (Northern Italy), the lords of Lombardia elect Berengar I, a grandson of former emperor Louis the Pious (through his daughter Gisela), as king of Italy. He is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy. After the deposition of Charles the Fat, the nobility chooses Ranulf II as duke (or 'king') of Aquitaine.source
  • 1076Bolesław II the Bold (or "the Generous") is crowned as King of Poland by Archbishop Bogumił in Gniezno Cathedral. Bolesław supports Gregory VII in his conflict against Henry IV.source
  • 1135Stephen of Blois is crowned at Westminster Abbey in London by Archbishop William de Corbeil. Matilda (pregnant with child) and her husband Geoffrey V ("the Fair") leave for their own safety to Normandy, where she plans how to overthrow Stephen and claim the English throne for her own.source
  • 1251King Alexander III of Scotland marries Margaret, daughter of King Henry III of England, precipitating a power struggle between the two monarchs.source
  • 1311Al-Mahdi Muhammad bin al-Mutahhar, the Shi'ite Muslim Imam of the Zaidiyyah state in Yemen, leads Zaidi troops to victory in a battle in the Sheref district against the Sunni Muslim Rasulid sultanate that dominates most of Yemen. A 10-year ceasefire agreement is brokered between Zaidiyyah and the Rasulid Sultan al-Mu'ayyad Da'udsultan.source
  • 1313Three days after receiving authorization from the English Parliament for a feudal levy, King Edward II issues a summons for eight earls and 87 barons to muster their troops at Berwick-upon-Tweed by June 10 for an invasion of Scotland.source
  • 1321Faced with an invasion of London during the rebellion of Thomas of Lancaster, by troops led by the English rebel, the Baron Badlesmere, King Edward II of England offers safe conduct for any rebels who come over to the royalist side, but orders the Sheriff of Gloucester to arrest Badlesmere.source
  • 1352The Earldom of Kent of the 5th creation in England becomes extinct.source
  • 1381Count Febus of Foix and the Duke of Berry meet at Capestang and work out an agreement to end their war, with the Duke agreeing to cease support of Febus's enemies, the Armagnacs, and Febus agreeing to recognize the Duke's authority over Languedoc.source
  • 1393Traders from the island of Java (now part of Indonesia) arrive in China for their first overseas commerce with the Chinese Empire.source
  • 1402(3rd waxing of Tabodwe 764 ME) Ava–Hanthawaddy War: In what is now Myanmar, the forces of the Ava Kingdom, led by King Minkhaung I defeat King Razadarit of the Kingdom of Hanthawaddy in the Battle of Nawin, forcing Razadarit to abandon the siege of Prome.source
  • 1413The rule of Michele Steno as the Doge of the Republic of Venice ends after 26 years upon his death. Tommaso Mocenigo is elected to replace him as Doge.source
  • 1421In India, Ahmad Shah I, the Sultan of Gujarat and his troops, camped at Sarangpur, resist a surprise counter-attack by the army of the Malwa Sultanate, led by the Sultan Hoshang Shah.source
  • 1458François II becomes the new Duke of Brittany upon the death of his uncle Arthur de Richemont.source
  • 1464Kettil Karlsson takes the title of riksföreståndare (national director) and reduces the role of King Karl VIII to figurehead status.source
  • 1474The betrothal of the son of King James III of Scotland and King Edward IV of England is formalized by proxy. After King Edward dies, the planned marriage is called off by the new monarch, Richard III.source
  • 1481At the Battle of Westbroek, Holland defeats the troops of Utrecht.source
  • 1502Cesare Borgia kills Ramiro d'Orco; this incident is referenced in Machiavelli's The Princesource
  • 1530Humayun starts to rule the Mughal Empire after Babur's death.source
  • 1552Pope Julius III issues a papal brief revoking resolutions passed by the colegii Papal State of Bologna in Italy.source
  • 1591Hugh Roe O'Donnell escapes from Dublin Castle but is recaptured within days.source
  • 1606William Shakespeare's play King Lear is given its first recorded performance, staged at the Palace of Whitehall.source
  • 1613The Burmese Army defeats the Siamese Army at Tavoy. The city is now part of Myanmar as Dawei.source
  • 1613The Date Maru, carrying the Japanese diplomatic mission commanded Hasekura Tsunenaga, reaches North America, sighting Cape Mendocino on the California coast.source
  • 1613The Earl of Somerset marries Frances Howard, following the September 25 annulment of her marriage to Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex; the event is the inspiration for John Donne's Eclogue.source
  • 1629the Archbishop of Dublin, Lancelot Bulkeley, the Mayor and a body of musketeers invade and suppress a clandestine friary in Cook Street, Dublin, during Solemn Mass.source
  • 1647the King signs a secret treaty with Scotland in which he promises to impose Presbyterianism in England in return for military assistance.source
  • 1659The Long Parliament reforms occur in Westminster.source
  • 1662Molière's play, The School for Wives, is given its première in Paris.source
  • 1662Molière's play The School for Wives premieres.source
  • 1670upper gallery of the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin collapses for the first time.source
  • 1679In modern-day Indonesia, the Trunajaya rebellion comes to an end with the surrender of Prince Panembahan Maduretno to the Sultan Amangkurat II of Mataram, ruler of the entire island of Java. While treated with respect as a prisoner of the occupying forces of the Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC), Panembahan is killed seven days later by Amangkurat after the VOC allows him to attend a ceremonial visit to the sultan's palace.source
  • 1709The first performance of the opera Agrippina by George Frideric Handel takes place at the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo in Venice.source
  • 1723Bach leads the first performance of Darzu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes, BWV 40, his first Christmas Cantata composed for Leipzig.source
  • 1736Andrew Michael Ramsay gives an oration, in which he relates the heritage and internationalism of Freemasonry to that of the Crusades.source
  • 1754Massachusetts becomes the third colony (after Pennsylvania and Connecticut) to reject the Albany Plan for an inter-colonial union, voting 48 to 31 to postpone consideration of the union question indefinitely.source
  • 1760Carron Company produces its first cast iron at Falkirk.source
  • 1776American Revolutionary War: Battle of Trenton – Washington's troops surprise the 1,500 Hessian troops under the command of Col. Johann Rall at 8 a.m. outside Trenton and score a victory, taking 948 prisoners while suffering only five wounded.source
  • 1790Louis XVI gives his public assent to Civil Constitution of the Clergy during the French Revolution.source
  • 1792The trial of Louis XVI of France begins.source
  • 1805The Peace of Pressburg between France and Austria is signed in the Primate's Palace, Pressburg (modern-day Bratislava).source
  • 1805Peace of Pressburg signed between France and Austria, as a consequence of the Austrian defeats by France.source
  • 1811The Richmond Theatre fire in Virginia kills 72 people, including the Governor of Virginia, George William Smith, and the president of the First National Bank of Virginia, Abraham B. Venable.source
  • 1815Count of Barca, title createdsource
  • 1825December 26 (O.S.)/December 14 (N.S.) – Some Imperial Russian Army officers stage the Decembrist revolt against Nicholas's accession in Saint Petersburg, but it is thoroughly suppressed by the government.source
  • 1825December 26 (December 14 O.S.) – 3000 Imperial Russian Army officers stage the Decembrist Revolt against Nicholas's accession in Saint Petersburg. The rebellion, however, is successfully suppressed by the government.source
  • 1831Global financial services business Assicurazioni Generali is founded in Trieste (at this time in the Austrian Empire) as Imperial Regia Privilegiata Compagnia di Assicurazioni Generali Austro-Italiche.source
  • 1834Ursulines of Jesus take up residence at St Margaret’s Convent in the Whitehouse in Edinburgh, the first Roman Catholic convent established in Scotland since the Reformation; it will be another 5 years before the first such modern establishment in England.source
  • 1836The Crown colony of South Australia is officially proclaimed (subsequently celebrated in the state of South Australia as Proclamation Day).source
  • 1836John Hughes, W.I. Haberfield and others from the Weller brothers whaling station at Otakou arrive in the Magnet and set up a whaling station on the north side of Moeraki Point.source
  • 1839Heinola in the Grand Duchy of Finland is granted town rights by Czar Nicholas I.source
  • 1848The Phi Delta Theta fraternity is founded at Miami University.source
  • 1849Electors ask J. McConnell, M.P.P. for Stanstead, if he favours annexation, which they believe will, alone, relieve depression.source
  • 1851December 26–27 – A British Royal Navy warship bombards Lagos Island; Oba Kosoko is wounded, and flees to Epe.source
  • 1856The Otago Colonist publishes its first issue. The newspaper changes its name to The Colonist in 1862 and is absorbed into the Daily Telegraph at the beginning of 1863.source
  • 1860The first Rules derby is held between Sheffield F.C. and Hallam F.C., the oldest football fixture in the world.source
  • 1862December 26–29 – Battle of Chickasaw Bayou – Another victory for the Confederate Army, outnumbered two to one, results in six times as many Union casualties, defeating several assaults commanded by Union general William T. Sherman.source
  • 1863Solvay chemical company founded.source
  • 1871Thespis, the first of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, premières in London. It does modestly well, but the two composers will not collaborate again for four years.source
  • 1873HMS Challenger arrives at Prince Edward Islands and contacts survey and charts the islandssource
  • 1878Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1878 that opened up Goa to British Raj.source
  • 1879the New Zealand Orange riots unfolds, when sectarian Irish Catholic rioters attacked Orange processions held by the New Zealand Orange Order, taking place in Timaru and Christchurch. These two events became known as the "Siege of Timaru" and the "Battle of the Borough" respectively.source
  • 1881December 25–27 – The Warsaw pogrom is carried out in Vistula Land, Russian Empire.source
  • 1883The Harbour Grace Affray takes place in Harbour Grace, Colony of Newfoundland.source
  • 1891The Mexican Army is attacked by Garza's followers in a raid from San Ygnacio, Texassource
  • 1898Marie and Pierre Curie announce the discovery of an element that they name radium.source
  • 1898Marie and Pierre Curie announce discovery of a substance they call radium.source
  • 1898Gatton murders - Three members of the same family are sexually molested and murdered near the town of Gatton, Queensland (unsolved).source
  • 1906The world's first feature film, The Story of the Kelly Gang, is first shown, at the Melbourne Athenaeum in Australia.source
  • 1906The national premiere of The Story of the Kelly Gang, generally regarded as the world's first feature length film, takes place at the Athenaeum Hall in Melbourne.source
  • 1915The Irish Republican Brotherhood Military Council decides to stage an Easter Rising in 1916.source
  • 1917United States President Woodrow Wilson uses the Federal Possession and Control Act to place most U.S. railroads under the United States Railroad Administration, hoping to transport troops and materials for the war effort more efficiently.source
  • 1919American baseball player Babe Ruth is traded by the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees for $125,000, the largest sum ever paid for a player at this time, a deal made public at the beginning of January 1920.source
  • 1926In the history of Japan, the Shōwa period begins from this day, due to the death of Emperor Taishō on the day before. His son Hirohito will reign as Emperor of Japan until 1989.source
  • 1926World première of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius's tone poem Tapiola by Walter Damrosch and the New York Philharmonic, the last substantial composition to be made public by the composer for the remaining 30 years of his life.source
  • 1927Marine accident The ship Sevinç sanksource
  • 1932El Salvador denounced the 1923 Central American Treaty of Peace and Amity.source
  • 1933Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States is signed by participants in the 7th International Conference of American States; it is significant in the development of the declarative theory of statehood.source
  • 1933The Nissan Motor Company is organized in Tokyo, Japan.source
  • 1933FM radio is patented.source
  • 1939Miners strike in Borinage, Belgium.source
  • 1941WWII: Winston Churchill becomes the first British Prime Minister to address a joint session of the United States Congress.source
  • 1944The original stage version of The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams premieres in Chicago.source
  • 1946A serious collapse at Bryn Eglwys slate mine near Abergynolwyn causes its closure.source
  • 1948Cardinal József Mindszenty is arrested in Hungary and accused of treason and conspiracy.source
  • 1952Joseph Ivor Linton, the first Israeli Minister Plenipotentiary in Japan, presents his credentials to the Emperor of Japan.source
  • 1966The first Kwanzaa is celebrated by Maulana Karenga, founder of Organization US (a black nationalist group) and chair of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach, from 1989 to 2002.source
  • 1967The Beatles' film Magical Mystery Tour receives its world première on BBC Television in the UK.source
  • 1968The CPP is founded under the guidance of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism by Joma Sison.source
  • 1968El Al Flight 253 attack: Two PFLP militants attack an attacked an El Al plane about to depart at the Athens International Airport, firing a submachine gun and throwing grenades at the plane as it sat on the runway warming up prior to take off. An Israeli mechanic was killed in the attack and two others were injured.source
  • 1969Pahang warrior, Mat Kilau came out into the open, accompanied by his son, Omar Mat Kilau, and announced his true identity at the Pulau Tawar Mosque near Jerantut.source
  • 1971Former teacher Patrick Critton hijacks Air Canada Flight 932, diverting the flight from Canada to Cuba. He would remain a fugitive for almost 30 years.source
  • 1979In Rhodesia, 96 Patriotic Front guerrillas enter the capital Salisbury to monitor a ceasefire that begins December 28.source
  • 1982Aksel Lund Svindal, alpine skier.source
  • 1982Time magazine's Man of the Year is given, for the first time to a non-human, the computer.source
  • 1990Inuka is born in Singapore Zoo, thus becoming the first polar bear to be born in the tropics.source
  • 1993December 26–28 – Four separate grenade attacks occur in Davao City. The first one, during an evening mass at San Pedro Cathedral, kills 6–7 people and injures more than 130 others. In the following two days, three mosques are likewise attacked, injuring six in the second one.source
  • 1999Cyclone Lothar kills 140 people as it crosses France, southern Germany, and Switzerland.source
  • 2003The 6.6 Mw Bam earthquake occurs in Iran.source
  • 2004The 9.1–9.3 Mw Indian Ocean earthquake shakes northern Sumatra with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). One of the largest observed tsunamis follows, affecting coastal areas of Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, Somalia, the Maldives, Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Indonesia, killing 227,000 people.source
  • 2004The largest earthquake in 40 years originates from the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Sumatra island in Indonesia, measuring 9.3 on the moment magnitude scale and creating tsunami waves that sweep across much of the coastlines of South Asia. More than 18,000 reported killed in India and 280,000 across the globe.source
  • 2004The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami have huge effects on Indonesia.source
  • 2014Inauguration of Heydar Mosque in Bakusource
  • 2018After weeks of losses the Dow Jones Industrial Average posts its largest ever one-day point gain: 1,086 points.source
  • 2019An annular solar eclipse is visible from South Asia. This is a part of Saros 132.source
  • 2022December 21–December 26 – A major winter storm hits the northern United States and southern Canada. Killing at least 91 people, the storm also severely disrupts North American air traffic, with Southwest Airlines alone canceling more than half of its schedule.source
  • 2024National Day of Thanksgivingsource
  • 2025Silvinei Vasques, a former commander of the Brazilian Federal Highway Police wanted for evading his conviction on charges of involvement in the 8 January Brasília attacks in 2023, is arrested at Silvio Pettirossi International Airport in Asunción and extradited to Brazil.source

Births

  • 225Lawrence, Christian martyr (died 258)source
  • 1194Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1250)source
  • 1249Edmund, English nobleman (died 1300)source
  • 1446Charles of Valois, Duke of Berry, French noble (died 1472)source
  • 144626 December Charles, Duke of Berry, Nobleman (died 1472)source
  • 1526Rose Lok, English businesswoman and Protestant exile during the Tudor period (died 1613)source
  • 1536Yi I, Korean Confucian scholar (died 1584)source
  • 1537Albert, Count of Nassau-Weilburg (died 1593)source
  • 1581Philip III, Landgrave of Hesse-Butzbach (1609–1643) (died 1643)source
  • 1618Elisabeth of the Palatinate, German princess, philosopher, and Calvinist (died 1680)source
  • 1628John Page, American politician (died 1692)source
  • 1629Jaswant Singh of Marwar, ruler of Marwar in the present-day Indian state of Rajasthan (died 1678)source
  • 1636Justine Siegemund, German writer (died 1705)source
  • 1646Élisabeth Marguerite d'Orléans, French noble (died 1696)source
  • 1646Robert Bolling, wealthy early American settler, planter and merchant (died 1709)source
  • 1716Thomas Gray, English poet, historian (died 1771)source
  • 1723Friedrich Melchior, baron von Grimm, German writer (died 1807)source
  • 1734George Romney, English painter (died 1802)source
  • 1737Prince Josias of Coburg, Austrian general (died 1815)source
  • 1740John Williams (Ioan Rhagfyr), musician (died 1821)source
  • 1742December 26 (bapt.) – George Chalmers, Scottish antiquarian (died 1825)source
  • 1780Mary Fairfax Somerville, British mathematician (died 1872)source
  • 1790Andreas Martin Seip, military officer and politician (d.1850)source
  • 1791Charles Babbage, British mathematician, inventor (died 1871)source
  • 1837George Dewey, American admiral (died 1917)source
  • 1893Mao Zedong, Chinese communist leader, founder of the People’s Republic of China (died 1976)source
  • 1939Phil Spector, American record producer (died 2021)source
  • 1986Marina Satti, singersource
  • 2019An unnamed female giraffe was born in Chapultupec Zoo, Mexico City. Jirafifíta was born there in March 2019.source

Deaths

  • 211Publius Septimius Geta, Roman emperor (born 189)source
  • 268Pope Dionysius dies in Rome after a 9-year reign and is succeeded by Felix I.source
  • 268Dionysius, bishop of Romesource
  • 831Euthymius of Sardis, Byzantine monk and bishopsource
  • 865Zheng, empress of the Tang dynastysource
  • 893Masrur al-Balkhi, Muslim generalsource
  • 956Wulfstan, archbishop of Yorksource
  • 1006Gao Qiong, Chinese general (born 935)source
  • 1191Reginald Fitz Jocelin, English bishopsource
  • 1194Aubrey de Vere, 1st Earl of Oxfordsource
  • 1238Alexander de Stavenby, English bishopsource
  • 1242Hugh de Lacy, 1st Earl of Ulster, Norman nobleman (born 1176)source
  • 1257Richard Blund (or Blundy), English bishopsource
  • 1278December 26/31 – Bolesław II the Horned, Polish nobleman (House of Piast)source
  • 1302Valdemar Birgersson, king of Sweden (born 1239)source
  • 1331Philip I, Prince of Taranto, titular Latin Emperor (born 1278)source
  • 1350Jean de Marigny, French bishopsource
  • 1360Thomas Holland, 1st Earl of Kentsource
  • 1413Michele Steno, Doge of Venice (born 1331)source
  • 1441Niccolò III d'Este, Marquis of Ferrara (born 1383)source
  • 1458Arthur III, Duke of Brittany (born 1393)source
  • 1458Arthur III, Duke of Brittany, ruler of Brittany (born 1393)source
  • 1476Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan, is assassinated by Giovanni Andrea Lampugnani while inside the Basilica di Santo Stefano Maggiore. Lampugnani, wearing hidden armour, stabs the Duke in the chest and two other aggrieved officials, Carlo Visconti and Gerolamo Olgiati, follow with other weapons.source
  • 1476Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan (assassinated) (born 1444)source
  • 1530Babur, founder of the Mughal Empire (born 1483)source
  • 1530Babur, Mughal Emperor (born 1483).source
  • 1646Henri, Prince of Condé (born 1588)source
  • 1677Bernhard Gustav of Baden-Durlach, general, Prince-abbot and cardinal (born 1631)source
  • 1705Fateh Singh and Zorawar Singh, sons of Guru Gobind Singh, are murdered by Wazir Khan for refusing to convert to Islam, and become hallowed martyrs in Sikhism.source
  • 1727Jean-Baptiste de La Croix de Chevrières de Saint-Vallier, Catholic bishop of Quebec (born 1653)source
  • 1727Jean-Baptiste de La Croix de Chevrières de Saint-Vallier (born 1653)source
  • 1731Antoine Houdar de la Motte, French writer (born 1672)source
  • 1734Salusbury Lloyd, politician,source
  • 1771Claude Adrien Helvétius, French philosopher (born 1715)source
  • 1772Pyotr Saltykov, Russian statesman and a military officer. (born c. 1697/1698/1700)source
  • 1777Ricardo Wall, Spanish-Irish cavalry officer (born 1694)source
  • 1780John Fothergill, English physician (born 1712)source
  • 1784Seth Warner, American revolutionary leader (born 1743)source
  • 1797John Wilkes, English radical (born 1725)source
  • 1831Stephen Girard, French-American banker (born 1750)source
  • 1886John A. Logan, American soldier, political leader (born 1826)source
  • 1890Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist (born 1822)source
  • 1909Frederic Remington, American cowboy artist, sculptor (born 1864)source
  • 1913Ambrose Bierce, American writer, journalist (disappeared on this date) (born 1842)source
  • 1972Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States (born 1884)source
  • 1977Howard Hawks, American film director (born 1896)source
  • 1985American naturalist Dian Fossey is murdered in her Rwandan cabin. It is still unknown who committed the murder.source
  • 2006Gerald Ford, 93, American politician, President (1974–1977), Vice President (1973–1974), arteriosclerotic cerebrovascular disease and diffuse arteriosclerosis.source
  • 2021Desmond Tutu, 90, South African Anglican prelate and civil rights activist, bishop of Johannesburg (1985–1986) and archbishop of Cape Town (1986–1996), Nobel Prize laureate (1984).source