On this day: 26 December
Events, births and deaths on 26 December. Every date is checked against Wikidata.
Years ago today
1 year ago2025
Nothing recorded for that year.
10 years ago2016
- Deaths · George S. Irving
- Deaths · Ricky Harris
100 years ago1926
- Births · Earle Brown
1000 years ago1026
Nothing recorded for that year.
Events · 25
- 1481(Julian date)Battle of Westbroek — battle of the Hook and Cod wars
- 1776Battle of Trenton — 1776 battle of the American Revolutionary War
- 1793Second Battle of Wissembourg — 1793 battle during the War of the First Coalition
- 1806Battle of Pułtusk — 1806 battle during the War of the Fourth Coalition
- 1811Richmond Theatre fire — theatre fire in Richmond, Virginia in 1811
- 1825Decembrist revolt — 1825 revolt and attempted coup in the Russian Empire
- 1862Battle of Chickasaw Bayou — 1862 battle of the American Civil War
- 1943Battle of the North Cape — 1943 arctic naval battle of World War II
- 1943Battle of Cape Gloucester — 1943 WWII battle in the Pacific Theater
- 1946Flamingo Las Vegas — casino hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada
- 1966Kwanzaa — African-American holiday
- 1968Communist Party of the Philippines — underground political party in the Philippines
- 1968Pan Am Flight 799 — 1968 airplane crash
- 1989United Express Flight 2415 — 1989 aviation accident
- 1991dissolution of the Soviet Union — process leading to the late-1991 breakup of the USSR
- 1993Kuban Airlines Flight 5719 — 1993 aviation incident in Armenia
- 1994Air France Flight 8969 — hijacking of an Air France commercial airliner by a terrorist group in 1994
- 1996killing of JonBenét Ramsey — 1996 unsolved murder in Boulder, Colorado, US
- 1999Cyclone Lothar — severe storm in Europe December 1999
- 2001Tropical Storm Vamei — Pacific and North Indian tropical storm in 2001
- 20032003 Bam earthquake — earthquake in Kerman Province, Iran
- 20042004 Indian Ocean earthquake — megathrust underwater earthquake and subsequent tsunami in the Indian Ocean
- 20042004 Ukrainian presidential election — election
- 20062006 Hengchun earthquake — earthquake
- 20132013 Irkutsk Antonov An-12 crash — 2013 aviation accident in Russia
Births · 60
- 1194(Julian date)Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor — King of Sicily, Holy Roman Emperor (1194–1250, 1220–1250)
- 1536Yi I — Joseon civil servant & Neo-Confucianist (1536 – 1584)
- 1618Elisabeth of the Palatinate — German princess, philosopher, and Calvinist (1618–1680)
- 1687Johann Georg Pisendel — German composer and violinist
- 1716Thomas Gray — English poet and classical scholar (1716–1771)
- 1769Ernst Moritz Arndt — German historian, writer and politician (1769-1860)
- 1780Mary Somerville — Scottish scientist, writer and polymath (1780–1872)
- 1791Charles Babbage — English mathematician, philosopher, and engineer (1791–1871)
- 1803Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald — Estonian writer, author of the national epic Kalevipoeg (1803–1882)
- 1837George Dewey — United States Navy admiral (1837–1917)
- 1864Yun Ch'iho — Korean independence activist (1864-1945)
- 1872Norman Angell — English politician (1872–1967)
- 1883Maurice Utrillo — French painter (1883-1955)
- 1888Kan Kikuchi — Japanese writer and businessman (1888-1948)
- 1891Henry Miller — American novelist (1891–1980)
- 1893Mao Zedong — 1st chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and founder of the People's Republic of China (1893–1976)
- 1904Alejo Carpanter — Cuban-French writer and musicologist (1904–1980)
- 1914Richard Widmark — American actor and producer (1914–2008)
- 1918Georgios Rallis — Prime Minister of Greece (1918–2006)
- 1921Steve Allen — American actor, comedian, musician and presenter (1921–2000)
- 1928Martin Cooper — American engineer, father of mobile phone
- 1930Jean Ferrat — French singer-songwriter and poet
- 1933Caroll Spinney — American puppeteer (1933–2019)
- 1937John Horton Conway — English mathematician (1937–2020)
- 1938Bahram Beyzai — Iranian film director (1938-2025)
Deaths · 60
- 268(Julian date)Dionysius — Pope and bishop of Rome from 259 to 268
- 1302Valdemar — King of Sweden (1239–1302)
- 1331(Julian date)Philip I, Prince of Taranto — Neapolitan nobleman
- 1413Michele Steno — Doge of Venice (1331-1413)
- 1441Niccolò III d'Este — Marquis of Ferrara
- 1458(Julian date)Arthur III, Duke of Brittany — Duke Of Brittany
- 1476(Julian date)Galeazzo Maria Sforza — Duke of Milan (1444-1477)
- 1530(Julian date)Babur — founder of the Mughal Empire (1526–1530)
- 1574(Julian date)Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine — French Catholic cardinal of the House of Guise (1524-1574)
- 1646Henri, Prince of Condé — French prince (1588-1646)
- 1731Antoine Houdar de La Motte — French author (1672–1731)
- 1771Claude Adrien Helvétius — French philosopher; (1715-1771)
- 1869Jean Léonard Marie Poiseuille — French physicist (1797-1869)
- 1890Heinrich Schliemann — German businessman and archaeologist (1822–1890)
- 1896Emil du Bois-Reymond — German physician and physiologist (1818–1896)
- 1909Frederic Remington — American painter and sculptor (1861-1909)
- 1923Dietrich Eckart — German journalist and politician (1868-1923)
- 1931Melvil Dewey — American librarian (1851–1931)
- 1933Anatoly Lunacharsky — Russian Soviet revolutionary, politician and writer (1875–1933)
- 1933Mary Ann Bevan — Side show performer, nurse (1874–1933)
- 1933Henry Watson Fowler — British lexicographer and linguist (1858–1933)
- 1966Guillermo Stábile — Argentine football player and manager
- 1966Herbert Otto Gille — German general (1897-1966) ; affiant in Pohl Trial (NMT 4)
- 1968Weegee — American photographer (1899–1968)
- 1970Lillian Board — British middle-distance runner
Dates verified against Wikidata (CC0). Titles and descriptions come from Wikidata.