Front View of Flamingo Hotel

1946

Bugsy Siegel opens Flamingo Hotel

Born on This Day

Mao Zedong (1893-1976) leader of chinese communist party president of Popular China 1949-1959 and 1968-1976, here c.1949

Mao Zedong

1893 - 1976

Chinese communist and founder of the People's Republic of China who played a key role in China's Cultural Revolution.

Academy Museum of Motion Pictures 3rd Annual Gala Presented By Rolex at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

Jared Leto

1971 -

Actor and singer known for films "Requiem for a Dream" and "Dallas Buyers Club" and fronting the band Thirty Seconds to Mars.

David Sedaris

David Sedaris

1956 -

Humorist and author known for his witty, autobiographical essay collections like "Me Talk Pretty One Day."

Mao Zedong

Getty Images

Jared Leto

Getty Images for Academy Museum

David Sedaris

Leonardo Cendamo

1862

DEC

26

The US Navy formally commissions its first hospital ship, the Red Rover. A captured Confederate side-wheel steamer, it treats 374 patients in its first seven months of service on the Mississippi, 332 of whom are discharged; 37 die and five desert.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on December 26th

1776

George Washington wins first major U.S. victory at Trenton

At approximately 8 a.m. on the morning of December 26, 1776, General George Washington’s Continental Army reaches the outskirts of Trenton, New Jersey, and descends upon the unsuspecting Hessian force guarding the city. Trenton’s 1,400 Hessian defenders were still groggy from the previous evening’s Christmas festivities and had underestimated the Patriot threat after months of […]

1:38m read read

1820

Moses Austin asks Spain for Texas colony

Hoping to recover from bankruptcy with a bold scheme of colonization, Moses Austin meets with Spain authorities in San Antonio to ask permission for 300 Anglo-American families to settle in Texas. A native of Durham, Connecticut, Austin had been a successful merchant in Philadelphia and Virginia. After hearing reports of rich lead mines in the […]

1:46m read read

1908

Jack Johnson wins heavyweight title

Jack Johnson becomes the first African American to win the world heavyweight title when he knocks out Canadian Tommy Burns in the 14th round in a championship bout near Sydney, Australia. Johnson, who held the heavyweight title until 1915, was reviled by whites for his defiance of the “Jim Crow” racial conventions of early 20th-century […]

Jack Johnson

1917

U.S. government takes over control of nation’s railroads

Eight months after the United States enters World War I on behalf of the Allies, President Woodrow Wilson announces the nationalization of a large majority of the country’s railroads under the Federal Possession and Control Act. The U.S. entry into the war in April 1917 coincided with a downturn in the fortunes of the nation’s […]

1:40m read read

1941

FDR establishes modern Thanksgiving holiday

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill officially establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.

1:34m read read

1941

Office of Price Administration announces automobile tire rationing

On December 26, 1941, the federal Office of Price Administration initiates its first rationing program in support of the American effort in World War II: It mandates that, beginning in early January the following year, no driver will be permitted to own more than five automobile tires. President Roosevelt established the Office of Price Administration […]

1943

Britain surprises German attacker in the Arctic

On December 26, the German battle cruiser Scharnhorst is sunk by British warships in the Arctic after decoded German naval signals reveal that the Scharnhorst is on a mission to attack an Anglo-American convoy to Russia. Hitler’s navy had posed serious threats to convoys shipping supplies to the Soviet Union since the fall of 1941. […]

1:08m read read

1944

General Patton relieves Allies at Bastogne

On December 26, General George S. Patton employs an audacious strategy to relieve the besieged Allied defenders of Bastogne, Belgium, during the brutal Battle of the Bulge. The capture of Bastogne was one of the key goals of the Battle of the Bulge. Bastogne provided a road junction in rough terrain where few roads existed; […]

1:04m read read

1956

Carmaker Preston Tucker dies

On December 26, 1956, the visionary carmaker Preston Tucker dies of lung cancer. He was just 53 years old. Tucker began his career in the auto industry as a mail messenger at General Motors. He quickly worked his way out of the mailroom, however, and before he turned 30 he was the vice president of […]

1966

The first Kwanzaa

The first day of the first Kwanzaa is celebrated in Los Angeles under the direction of Maulana Karenga, the chair of Black Studies at California State University at Long Beach. The seven-day holiday, which has strong African roots, was designed by Dr. Karenga as a celebration of African American family, community, and culture. In 1965, […]

2:02m read read

1972

Harry Truman dies

On December 26, 1972, former President Harry S. Truman dies in Independence, Missouri. Then-President Richard Nixon called Truman a man of “forthrightness and integrity” who had a deep respect for the office he held and for the people he served, and who “supported and wisely counseled each of his successors.” Truman was born in Lamar, […]

2:28m read read

1973

“The Exorcist” opens in theaters

On December 26, 1973, The Exorcist, a horror film starring the actress Linda Blair as a girl possessed by an evil spirit, makes its debut in theaters; it will go on to earn a reputation as one of the scariest movies in history. The Exorcist was based on William Peter Blatty’s 1971 novel of the […]

1996

Body of six-year-old JonBenét Ramsey is found

On the afternoon of December 26, 1996, six-year-old JonBenét Ramsey is found dead under a blanket in the basement of her family’s Boulder, Colorado, home. John and Patsy Ramsey, her parents, had called police at 5:52 that following morning to report their daughter missing. Although police found a ransom note demanding $118,000, the money would […]

1:36m read read

2004

Tsunami devastates Indian Ocean coast

A powerful earthquake off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, on December 26, 2004 sets off a tsunami that wreaks death and devastation across the Indian Ocean coastline. The quake was the second strongest ever recorded and the estimated 230,000 dead made this disaster one of the 10 worst of all time. It was 7:58 a.m. […]

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