On this day: December 26

Events on December 26

• 1606 The first known performance of King Lear, a tragedy written by William Shakespeare and based on the legend of Leir of Britain, took place before King James I. Wikipedia
• 1723 Johann Sebastian Bach directed the premiere of Darzu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes, his first Christmas cantata composed in Leipzig. Wikipedia
• 1723 Bach led the first performance of Darzu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes, BWV 40, his first Christmas Cantata composed for Leipzig. Wikipedia
• 1776 American Revolutionary War: George Washington led a Continental Army column across the Delaware River to launch a surprise attack against Hessian forces at the Battle of Trenton (painting shown). Wikipedia
• 1776 American Revolutionary War: In the Battle of Trenton, the Continental Army under General George Washington executes a successful surprise attack and defeats a garrison of Hessian forces serving Great Britain. Wikipedia
• 1790 Louis XVI of France gives his public assent to Civil Constitution of the Clergy during the French Revolution. Wikipedia
• 1799 Henry Lee III's eulogy to George Washington in congress declares him as "first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen". Wikipedia
• 1806 Battles of Pultusk and Golymin: Russian forces hold French forces under Napoleon. Wikipedia
• 1825 Advocates of liberalism in Russia rise up against Czar Nicholas I in the Decembrist revolt, but are later suppressed. Wikipedia
• 1898 At the French Academy of Sciences, physicists Pierre and Marie Curie announced the discovery of a new element, naming it radium. Wikipedia
• 1898 Marie and Pierre Curie announce the isolation of radium. Wikipedia
• 1941 U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day in the United States. Wikipedia
• 1943 World War II: In the Battle of Cape Gloucester, American and Australian forces bombarded Japanese positions on New Britain in the Territory of New Guinea while U.S. Marines invaded from two sides of the island. Wikipedia
• 1943 Second World War: The German battleship Scharnhorst was sunk at the Battle of the North Cape during an attempt to attack Arctic convoys. Wikipedia
• 1943 World War II: German warship Scharnhorst is sunk off Norway's North Cape after a battle against major Royal Navy forces. Wikipedia
• 1946 American gangster Bugsy Siegel opened The Flamingo Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, the oldest casino still in operation on the Las Vegas Strip. Wikipedia
• 1948 The last Soviet troops withdraw from North Korea. Wikipedia
• 1963 The Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "I Saw Her Standing There" are released in the United States, marking the beginning of Beatlemania on an international level. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1991 The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union meets and formally dissolves the Soviet Union, ending the Cold War. Wikipedia
• 1994 Four Armed Islamic Group hijackers seize control of Air France Flight 8969. When the plane lands at Marseille, a French Gendarmerie assault team boards the aircraft and kills the hijackers. Wikipedia
• 2003 The 6.6 Mw Bam earthquake shakes southeastern Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), leaving more than 26,000 dead and 30,000 injured. Wikipedia
• 2004 The 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, it affected coastal and partially mainland areas of Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Indonesia; death toll is estimated at 227,898. Wikipedia
• 2006 Two earthquakes in Hengchun, Taiwan measuring 7.0 and 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale kill two and disrupt telecommunications across Asia. Wikipedia
• 2012 China opens the world's longest high-speed rail route, which links Beijing and Guangzhou. Wikipedia
• 2015 A violent tornado moves through several suburbs of Dallas, Texas, killing ten and injuring almost 500 others. It was the deadliest tornado to ever hit Texas during the month of December. Wikipedia

Born on December 26

• 1194 Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1250) Wikipedia
• 1716 Thomas Gray, English poet and scholar (died 1771) Wikipedia
• 1780 Mary Somerville, Scottish mathematician, astronomer, and author (died 1872) Wikipedia
• 1791 Charles Babbage, English mathematician and engineer, invented the Difference engine (died 1871) Wikipedia
• 1803 Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald, Estonian physician and author (died 1882) Wikipedia
• 1864 Yun Chi-ho, Korean activist and politician (died 1945) Wikipedia
• 1872 Norman Angell, English journalist, academic, and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1967) Wikipedia
• 1891 Henry Miller, American author and painter (died 1980) Wikipedia
• 1893 Mao Zedong, Chinese politician, Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (died 1976) Wikipedia
• 1904 Alejo Carpentier, Swiss-Cuban musicologist and author (died 1980) Wikipedia
• 1928 Martin Cooper, American engineer, invented the mobile phone Wikipedia
• 1939 Phil Spector, American singer-songwriter and producer (died 2021) Wikipedia
• 1940 Edward C. Prescott, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2022) Wikipedia
• 1949 José Ramos-Horta, East Timorese lawyer and politician, 2nd President of East Timor, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1953 Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Swedish-Estonian journalist and politician, 4th President of Estonia Wikipedia
• 1953 Henning Schmitz, German drummer Wikipedia
• 1963 Lars Ulrich, Danish-American drummer, songwriter, and producer Wikipedia
• 1971 Jared Leto, American actor and musician Wikipedia
• 1986 Hugo Lloris, French footballer Wikipedia
• 1986 Kit Harington, English actor Wikipedia
• 1990 Aaron Ramsey, Welsh footballer Wikipedia
• 1990 Denis Cheryshev, Russian footballer Wikipedia

Died on December 26

• 268 Dionysius, pope of the Catholic Church Wikipedia
• 418 Zosimus, pope of the Catholic Church Wikipedia
• 1530 Babur, Mughal emperor (born 1483) Wikipedia
• 1771 Claude Adrien Helvétius, French philosopher and activist (born 1715) Wikipedia
• 1890 Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist, businessman and author (born 1822) Wikipedia
• 1925 Jan Letzel, Czech architect, designed the Hiroshima Peace Memorial (born 1880) Wikipedia
• 1933 Mary Ann Bevan, English nurse who, after developing acromegaly, toured the circus sideshow circuit as "the ugliest woman in the world" (born 1874) Wikipedia
• 1972 Harry S. Truman, American colonel and politician, 33rd President of the United States (born 1884) Wikipedia
• 1999 Shankar Dayal Sharma, Indian academic and politician, 9th President of India (born 1918) Wikipedia
• 2006 Gerald Ford, American commander, lawyer, and politician, 38th President of the United States (born 1913) Wikipedia
• 2021 Desmond Tutu, South African Anglican bishop, theologian and anti-apartheid and human rights activist (born 1931) Wikipedia
• 2021 Edward O. Wilson, American biologist (born 1929) Wikipedia
• 2021 Karolos Papoulias, Greek politician, President of Greece from 2005 to 2015 (born 1929) Wikipedia
• 2024 Manmohan Singh, Indian economist and politician, 13th Prime Minister of India (born 1932) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Boxing Day, except when December 26 is a Sunday. If it is a Sunday, Boxing Day is transferred to December 27 by Royal Proclamation. (Commonwealth of Nations), and its related observances: Day of Good Will (South Africa and Namibia) Wikipedia
• Boxing Day, except when December 26 is a Sunday. If it is a Sunday, Boxing Day is transferred to December 27 by Royal Proclamation. (Commonwealth of Nations), and its related observances: Family Day (Vanuatu) Wikipedia
• Boxing Day, except when December 26 is a Sunday. If it is a Sunday, Boxing Day is transferred to December 27 by Royal Proclamation. (Commonwealth of Nations), and its related observances: Thanksgiving (Solomon Islands) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Abadiu of Antinoe (Coptic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Pope Dionysius Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: James the Just (Eastern Orthodox Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Saint Stephen (Western Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Synaxis of the Theotokos (Eastern Orthodox Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Vicenta María López i Vicuña Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: December 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Independence and Unity Day (Slovenia) Wikipedia
• Mauro Hamza Day (Houston, Texas) Wikipedia
• Mummer's Day (Padstow, Cornwall) Wikipedia
• Saint Stephen's Day (public holiday in Alsace, Austria, Catalonia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovakia and Switzerland), and its related observances: Father's Day (Bulgaria) Wikipedia
• The first day of Kwanzaa, celebrated until January 1 (United States) Wikipedia
• The first day of Junkanoo street parade, the second day is on the New Year's Day (The Bahamas) Wikipedia
• The second day of the Twelve Days of Christmas (Western Christianity) Second day of Christmas (Public holiday in the Netherlands, Poland and Slovakia) Wikipedia
• Wren Day (Ireland and the Isle of Man) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “December 26” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.