December 26
Today in America's Present Past
1738 | Founder Thomas Nelson was born.
1776 | War of Independence: The Battle of Trenton was won.
1784 | Revolutionary war hero Seth Warner died.
1799 | Founder Henry Lee eulogized George Washington as “first in war, first in peace and first in hearts of his countrymen”
1819 | Author E. D. E. N. Southworth was born.
1837 | Admiral George Dewey was born.
1843 | David Farragut wed Virginia Loyall.
1848 | Phi Delta Theta fraternity was founded.
1862 | The largest mass execution in US history: 38 Dakotas were executed via hanging during the U.S.-Dakota War in Mankato, Minnesota.
1862 | US Navy formally commissions the first hospital ship, the USS Red Rover.
1865 | Inventor James H, Mason patented the first coffee percolator.
1877 | Socialist Labor Party of North America holds its first national convention in New Jersey.
1891 | Novelist Henry Miller was born.
1894 | Author Jean Toomer was born.
1899 | Cleric Dwight Moody died.
1902 | Poet Mary Hartwell Catherwood died.
1908 | Boxer Jack Johnson won the World Heavyweight Championship.
1909 | Artist Frederic Remington died.
1917 | POTUS: Democrat President Wilson nationalized domestic railroads for the duration of WWI.
1921 | Comedian Steve Allen was born.
1924 | Child actress Judy Garland debuted in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.
1928 | Mobile phone inventor Martin Cooper was born.
1931 | Librarian Melvil Dewey died.
1933 | Inventor Edwin Howard Armstrong granted a patent for a FM radio.
1940 | Film: “Philadelphia Story” debuted.
1941 | Congress: Winston Churchill addressed a joint session.
1941 | Democrat President Roosevelt signed a bill establishing Thanksgiving Day as the fourth Thursday in November.
1941 | Ella Fitzgerald wed Benny Kornegay.
1944 | WWII: George S. Paton led the victory at the Battle of Bastogne.
1944 | Activist William Ayers was born.
1946 | Duke Ellington musical Beggars Holiday debuted.
1946 | The Hotel Flamingo opened in Los Vegas, Nevada.
1951 | Film: “African Queen” debuted.
1956 | Author David Seders was born.
1966 | Jimi Hendrix wrote Purple Haze.
1966 | The first Kwanzaa was celebrated by Maulana Karenga in Long Beach, California.
1971 | Entertainer Jared Leto was born.
1972 | Vietnam War: As part of Operation Linebacker II, 120 American B-52 Stratofortress bombers attacked Hanoi, including 78 launched from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, the largest single combat launch in Strategic Air Command history.
1973 | Film: “The Exorcist” debuted.
1974 | Comedian Jack Benny died.
1977 | POTUS: President Harry S. Truman died.
1982 | Time announced its Man of the Year was a Computer.
1996 | The beaten body of JonBenét Ramsey was found.
2002 | Entrepreneur Amand Zildjian died.
2006 | POTUS: President Gerald Ford died.
2021 | Biologist Edward O. Wilson died.